The best examples of capacity planning template examples for project management in 2025

Real examples of capacity planning template examples for project management

Let’s start where most project managers actually start: a spreadsheet. The best examples of capacity planning template examples for project management aren’t fancy; they’re simple, reliable, and easy to update during a standup.

A classic example of a capacity planning template is a weekly resource grid in Google Sheets. Down the left side, you list team members. Across the top, you list weeks. Each cell shows available hours (or story points) minus confirmed work. Conditional formatting highlights anyone over 100% allocation in red. It’s not pretty, but it immediately surfaces overbooked people and underused capacity.

From there, teams usually evolve into more specialized formats. Below are several real examples of capacity planning template examples for project management that I’ve seen work across software, marketing, IT, and professional services.

Example of a sprint-based capacity planning template for software teams

Software teams often think in sprints, not months. A practical example of a capacity planning template for Scrum teams is a sprint capacity sheet that ties together:

• Team members and roles
• Average availability per sprint (in hours or story points)
• Planned time off
• Historical velocity

In a typical layout, each row is a team member and each column is a sprint. You calculate base capacity (e.g., 80 hours per 2-week sprint), then subtract meetings, PTO, and non-project work. The remaining hours are what you can realistically commit to user stories.

This example of capacity planning template helps you avoid the classic trap of assuming that a 40-hour workweek equals 40 hours of coding. Many teams use a rule of thumb that only 60–70% of time is truly available for project work once you factor in meetings and support. That aligns with research on context switching and knowledge work interruptions from places like Harvard Business School, which shows how multitasking erodes effective capacity.

Teams usually review this template during sprint planning. If the total estimated story points exceed calculated capacity, you cut scope before the sprint starts instead of discovering the problem on day nine.

Example of a portfolio capacity planning template for PMOs

If you manage multiple projects across departments, you need portfolio-level visibility. One of the most useful examples of capacity planning template examples for project management at this level is a portfolio heatmap.

In this setup, rows represent departments or key skill groups (e.g., Backend Dev, UX, Data Science, QA), and columns represent months or quarters. Each cell shows:

• Total available capacity (e.g., 6 FTEs × 160 hours = 960 hours)
• Hours (or FTEs) reserved for active projects
• Remaining capacity

Color-coding turns this into a quick diagnostic: green cells show spare capacity, orange indicates tight staffing, and red flags over-allocation. The PMO can instantly see that, for example, Q3 is overloaded for Data Science but light for QA.

This example of a capacity planning template is especially useful when you’re doing annual planning or weighing new initiatives. You can model scenarios: “What happens to capacity if we add a new compliance project in Q2?” or “Can we pull in the marketing analytics project without hiring?”

For organizations that care about long-term workforce planning, this template can be paired with external labor market data from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to inform hiring plans.

Examples of capacity planning template examples for project management in agencies and consulting

Agencies and consulting firms live and die by billable utilization. Their favorite examples of capacity planning template examples for project management usually revolve around:

• Forecasted billable hours by client
• Staff utilization targets
• Revenue projections tied to capacity

One common example of a capacity planning template here is a client–resource matrix. Each row is a client or project. Each column is a week. Inside each cell, you track:

• Planned hours for that client
• Which role is assigned (e.g., Senior Designer, Strategist)
• Whether those hours are billable or non-billable

You then add a summary view per person that compares planned hours vs. utilization targets. If a designer is trending at 140% of target for three weeks straight, you know you’re on the path to burnout and potential quality issues.

Firms that want to get more data-driven will sometimes connect this template to time-tracking data and compare planned vs. actuals. That feedback loop tightens forecasting and helps you adjust capacity assumptions. It also aligns with broader research on workload and burnout, such as findings from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health about the health impact of chronic overwork.

Example of a skills-based capacity planning template

Not all hours are interchangeable. A senior cloud architect and a junior front-end developer are not plug-and-play substitutes. That’s where a skills-based example of a capacity planning template comes in.

In this template, you list skills or competencies down the left (e.g., React, AWS, Salesforce, Data Engineering, Technical Writing). Across the top, you list team members. In each cell, you capture two things:

• Proficiency level (e.g., 1–5 scale)
• Availability for that skill (e.g., 20% of time)

You then add a separate section where upcoming projects are mapped to required skills and estimated effort. The template compares demand for each skill against available capacity. If three upcoming projects all require senior-level AWS work, and you only have one architect at 50% availability, you have a clear risk.

This is one of the best examples of capacity planning template examples for project management in organizations that rely on scarce, specialized expertise. It guides decisions on:

• Hiring and upskilling
• Vendor or contractor usage
• Project sequencing to avoid skill bottlenecks

Example of a maintenance and operations capacity template for IT

Project managers in IT rarely deal with pure project work. There’s always a stream of operational tasks: incidents, upgrades, security patches, compliance audits. A realistic example of a capacity planning template for IT teams explicitly separates:

• Project work (new systems, migrations, major upgrades)
• Operational work (tickets, incidents, BAU tasks)

In this template, each row represents an IT function (e.g., Help Desk, Infrastructure, Security, Applications). For each function, you estimate the percentage of time historically spent on operations vs. projects, based on ticketing data or time tracking.

Columns represent weeks or months. You forecast known project work, then layer in a baseline for operations (e.g., Help Desk spends 70% on tickets, 30% on projects). If a major rollout is planned, you model a temporary spike in operations as users file more tickets.

This example of capacity planning template keeps IT leaders honest about how much project work they can take on without sacrificing system reliability or security. It also aligns with IT service management guidance from organizations like itSMF USA and ITIL-style practices, which emphasize balancing change with stability.

Examples include time-phased capacity templates for long projects

Long-running projects—construction, infrastructure, large ERP implementations—need time-phased planning. In these cases, examples of capacity planning template examples for project management often look like a resource-loaded Gantt but focused on capacity rather than dates alone.

You break the project into phases or milestones, then estimate required effort per role for each phase. The template shows, for example:

• Phase 1 (Design): 2 Architects, 1 PM, 0 QA
• Phase 2 (Build): 3 Developers, 1 QA, 0.5 PM
• Phase 3 (Pilot): 1 Developer, 2 QA, 1 PM

Each phase is mapped against the calendar, and the template compares required roles with available staff in each period. If Phase 2 overlaps with another large project that also needs QA, you’ll see the conflict months in advance.

This example of capacity planning template is particularly helpful for organizations that manage capital projects or large transformations, where hiring and contracting decisions need to be made well ahead of the work.

Example of a remote and hybrid team capacity template in 2025

Post-2020, remote and hybrid work changed how we think about availability. A modern example of a capacity planning template accounts for:

• Time zones
• Core collaboration hours
• Part-time and flexible schedules
• Meeting load by role

In this template, each team member has:

• Home time zone
• Preferred working hours
• Core hours overlap with the rest of the team
• Percentage of time reserved for meetings and cross-team syncs

You then use this data to calculate effective collaboration capacity, not just raw hours. Two developers who share only one overlapping hour per day will struggle with pair programming or rapid code reviews, even if they both show 100% capacity on paper.

This has become one of the best examples of capacity planning template examples for project management in global teams. It helps you choose:

• Which projects to staff with co-located vs. distributed teams
• When to schedule key milestones requiring heavy collaboration
• Where asynchronous work patterns can offset time zone gaps

Trends shaping capacity planning templates in 2024–2025

The examples above are not static. A few trends are reshaping how teams design and use capacity planning templates:

More data, less guesswork. Teams are connecting templates to time tracking, issue trackers, and HR systems to compare planned vs. actual capacity. This feedback loop improves estimates over time.

Focus on well-being. After years of elevated burnout, many organizations are using capacity templates to protect people, not just timelines. That means capping planned utilization and monitoring sustained over-allocation, aligning with research from sources like the National Institute of Mental Health about chronic stress.

Scenario planning. Instead of a single plan, modern examples of capacity planning template examples for project management often include multiple scenarios: optimistic, realistic, and constrained. This helps leadership see trade-offs clearly.

Cross-functional visibility. Capacity templates are no longer just for individual teams. PMOs and executives expect portfolio views that roll up capacity across product, engineering, marketing, and operations.

How to choose among these examples of capacity planning template examples for project management

With so many patterns on the table, the right example of a capacity planning template depends on your context.

If you run a single Scrum team, a sprint-based capacity sheet plus a simple skills matrix might be enough. You care about velocity, story points, and making sure you don’t overload your one QA engineer.

If you’re in an agency, start with the client–resource matrix and utilization view. You care about billable hours, profit margins, and keeping senior talent from burning out.

If you’re a PMO or director, the portfolio heatmap and time-phased templates will be your daily tools. You care about which projects start when, and whether the organization has the capacity to deliver without constant fire drills.

And if you’re in IT or any ops-heavy environment, you’ll want a template that clearly separates project and operational work so leadership understands why you can’t simply “fit in” another project.

The point is not to find a single perfect template. The best examples of capacity planning template examples for project management are the ones your team actually updates and uses to make decisions.

FAQ: examples of capacity planning template examples for project management

What are some simple examples of capacity planning template examples for project management for small teams?
Two of the easiest starting points are a weekly resource grid (people vs. weeks with available hours) and a sprint capacity sheet that adjusts for meetings and PTO. Both can be built quickly in Excel or Google Sheets and give immediate visibility into who is overbooked.

Can you give an example of a capacity planning template that works across multiple projects?
A portfolio capacity heatmap is a strong example of a capacity planning template for multi-project environments. It shows departments or skill groups against months or quarters, with color-coded cells indicating under-, fully, or over-utilized capacity across the entire portfolio.

How often should I update these capacity planning templates?
Most teams update sprint-based or weekly templates at least once a week, usually before or during planning meetings. Portfolio and time-phased examples of capacity planning template examples for project management are often updated monthly or quarterly, with ad-hoc updates when major projects are added, delayed, or canceled.

Are there any standards or best practices that inform these examples?
Yes. While there’s no single official standard, many practices align with guidance from project management bodies and research on workload and productivity. For instance, recognizing that not all working hours are project hours aligns with studies on knowledge work and interruptions from universities like Harvard and guidance on workplace stress from NIOSH.

What’s the most important thing when adapting these examples of capacity planning template examples for project management?
Keep them lightweight enough that people actually maintain them. A slightly imperfect, regularly updated template beats a complex, abandoned one every time. Start with one example of a capacity planning template that fits your team, then iterate based on how you actually use it.