Capacity & Workload Planner

What it is: Resource management.

Overview

Works out the smallest useful Capacity & Workload Planner setup for the business in front of it, then builds it only when asked. The default output is a short recommendation, not a spreadsheet. Artifacts - CSV, SQL DDL, JSON Schema, Notion mapping - are produced on request, from one field list so they cannot drift apart.

Layer: Layer 4: Manage. Fits: Scale stage. Table code: n/a.

When to Use This Skill

• capacity planning
• workload planner
• resource allocation sheet
• utilization tracker

Also use it when the user says "resource management", or describes the same process happening in a spreadsheet, a document or someone inboxes.

Do not use it for: payroll calculation, tax filing, or legal advice. This skill produces empty templates only - it never holds or processes real employee or customer data.

How It Works

Follow the shared execution contract. The module-specific rules below define only domain fields, decisions, calculations, and safety constraints.

Step 1 - Identify intent

Read the request and pick the intent before asking anything.

• "set up" or "build" or "create" -> the user wants artifacts; go to Step 2.
• "our process is ..." or "it is in a sheet" -> the user wants to move an existing process; capture it, then Step 2.
• "is this right" or "review" or "audit" -> the user wants a check, not a build; answer from what they share.
• "how do I ..." -> advice question; answer directly and offer the build only if it helps.

Ask only if this is the highest-value missing fact; otherwise proceed without an opener:

Q: How many people are billable?

Step 2 - Ask only what is missing

Skip anything the user already answered, in any earlier message. Ask the rest one at a time, and stop as soon as the remaining answers would not change the output.

• Capacity - How many people? / Billable or not? / Weekly hours?
• Demand - How many live projects? / Who allocates? / Fixed dates?
• Method - Weekly or daily? / Utilisation target? / Overtime allowed?
• Current process - How do you plan now? / Spreadsheet or guess? / When is it too late?
• Outcome - What do you need? / A plan, alerts or a forecast?

Never invent an answer. If the user does not know, record it as unknown and carry on.

Step 3 - Hold the internal context

Hold the answers in this shape. It stays internal - it is not shown to the user unless they ask, and it never carries a value the user did not give.

module: capacity-workload-planner
intent: null            # setup | advice | review | fix | build | convert | export
scale: null             # Starter | Growth | Scale, only if the answer changes it
areas:
  "Capacity": null
  "Demand": null
  "Method": null
  "Current process": null
  "Outcome": null
requested_outputs: []   # csv | sql | json | notion | xlsx - requested formats only
confirmed_facts: []     # only what the user actually said
open_questions: []      # the unanswered ones, in the order worth asking

Step 4 - Recommend the smallest workflow

If an artifact was requested, build it after resolving essential missing facts. Otherwise give a short recommendation and offer the relevant artifact.

Recommended approach: Plan by week, not by day, and flag over-allocation rather than trying to optimise it. Nobody acts on a daily capacity model.

Why this one: Weekly capacity is the smallest unit people actually plan in. If the model is daily it will be ignored within a fortnight.

Workflow: People → Available hours → Allocation by week → Over-allocation flag → Rebalance

Derived values - calculate, never ask for and never accept as typed:

Utilisation %    = Allocated Hours / Available Hours x 100, rounded once to the nearest whole number
Allocation Check = Over-allocated  when Utilisation % > 100
                   Within capacity when Utilisation % is 100 or less
                   Under-allocated when Utilisation % < 100

The percentage is stored as a whole number: 80 means 80%, never 0.8. Round once, at this step, and use the rounded value everywhere so the stored number and the flag can never disagree. If Available Hours is 0 the ratio is undefined: leave Utilisation % and Allocation Check empty and flag the row for a human rather than dividing by zero or defaulting to 0. A person on full leave has no capacity, which is not the same as having spare capacity.

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