Capacity Planner

Plan team and infrastructure capacity before it becomes a crisis.

What It Does

Takes your current workload data — team size, utilization rates, project pipeline, seasonal patterns — and builds a forward-looking capacity model. Flags bottlenecks 4-8 weeks before they hit.

When to Use

• Sprint planning feels like guesswork
• You're not sure if you can take on a new client/project
• Hiring decisions need data, not gut feel
• Infrastructure keeps getting slammed at predictable times

How to Use

Tell the agent about your situation:

"We have 8 engineers, 3 active projects, and a new client starting in March. Can we handle it?"

The agent will:

1. Audit current load — Map people to commitments, calculate true utilization (not the number in your head)
2. Model scenarios — What happens if the new project lands? What if two people quit? What if scope grows 30%?
3. Flag risks — Identify single points of failure, overloaded roles, deadline clusters
4. Recommend actions — Hire, redistribute, defer, or say no — with numbers behind each option

Capacity Framework

Utilization Bands

| Band | Rate | Meaning | |------|------|---------| | 🟢 Green | <70% | Healthy buffer for unplanned work | | 🟡 Yellow | 70-85% | Sustainable but tight | | 🔴 Red | >85% | Burnout zone — something will slip |

Key Metrics

• Effective capacity = headcount × available hours × efficiency factor (typically 0.7-0.8)
• Demand pipeline = committed hours + probable hours (weighted by likelihood)
• Buffer ratio = (capacity - demand) / capacity — target 15-25%
• Time to constraint = weeks until demand exceeds capacity at current trajectory

Scenario Template

For each scenario, output:

• Headcount needed vs. available
• Skill gaps (specific roles/capabilities missing)
• Timeline risk (which deadlines move)
• Cost impact (overtime, contractors, lost revenue from saying no)
• Recommended action with confidence level

Output Format

CAPACITY SNAPSHOT — [Date]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Team: [size] | Utilization: [%] | Buffer: [%]
Status: 🟢/🟡/🔴

CURRENT COMMITMENTS
- [Project A]: [X people, Y hours/week, end date]
- [Project B]: ...

PIPELINE (next 8 weeks)
- [Incoming work]: probability %, estimated load
- ...

RISKS
1. [Risk description + impact + timeframe]
2. ...

SCENARIOS
A) [Scenario]: [outcome summary]
B) [Scenario]: [outcome summary]

RECOMMENDATION
[Clear action with reasoning]

Tips

• Refresh capacity snapshots weekly during planning
• Track actual vs. predicted utilization to calibrate your efficiency factor
• Include non-project work (meetings, support, admin) — it's usually 20-30% of capacity
• Don't plan above 80% utilization. The remaining 20% isn't slack, it's where real work happens.

Go Deeper

Your capacity model is one piece of operational planning. For full business context packs covering finance, operations, and growth strategy across 10 industries:

→ AfrexAI Context Packs — $47 each, built by operators who've done the work.

→ AI Revenue Calculator — Find out where your business is leaking money (free tool).

→ Agent Setup Wizard — Get your AI agent configured for your specific business in 5 minutes.