How does an Engineering Manager plan team capacity realistically?
An Engineering Manager plans realistically by starting from available time (working days minus leave, run work, meetings, and training), applying a focus factor to gross capacity, and committing to the remaining net capacity. They then compare that capacity with the demand from each project.
Capacity planning for the Engineering Manager
Make sustainable commitments and protect the team from overload.
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Main challenges
- Requests arriving from several projects with no overall view of the team's workload.
- Unpredictable run work eating into the capacity planned for projects.
- Commitments made on unrealistic gross capacity.
- The difficulty of making an overload objective to stakeholders.
What the Engineering Manager expects from a tool
- Net capacity per sprint or month, leave and run work included.
- A view of the team's workload across all projects.
- Planned vs actual that refines estimates from one cycle to the next.
- Shareable figures to say no at the right time.
Engineering Manager indicators
| Indicator | Definition |
|---|---|
| Team net capacity | Gross capacity × focus factor, after leave and run work. |
| Team allocation rate | Planned workload ÷ net capacity; keep it under 100%. |
| Run share | Proportion of capacity absorbed by operations and support. |
| Estimate accuracy | Gap between planned and actual effort. |
Typical workflow with Workload
- Enter the team and leave, and assign run time to Run projects.
- Review net capacity for the coming periods.
- Compare it with the workload requested by each project.
- If workload exceeds capacity, share the quantified gap and propose a trade-off.
- After each period, compare planned and actual and adjust the focus factor.
FAQ
Which focus factor should you use?
It generally ranges from 60 to 80%. Measure it on your team: compare time actually spent producing with gross capacity.
How do you account for on-call and support?
By creating a Run project to which on-call and support time is assigned: that time is then no longer available for Build projects.
Does velocity replace capacity?
No, they complement each other: velocity measures the team's throughput, capacity measures available time. Velocity is adjusted for planned absences.
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