Capacity planning
Capacity planning matches future consultant supply (headcount, skills, availability) against future demand from committed missions and weighted pipeline, so hiring and training decisions come before the gap bites.
Definition
Capacity planning compares the supply you will have next quarter, headcount, skills and availability dates, with the demand you expect: missions already committed plus the part of the pipeline you choose to weight. It answers hiring and training decisions. Allocation answers a different question, who is on which mission today. The two are read together, never confused.
The unit is days or person-days per period, compared skill pool by skill pool, never headcount globally. Forty consultants is the wrong unit when the demand is for senior Java developers. A global average hides a bench in one pool next to a shortage in another, and that average is the number that triggers both failure modes at once.
Formula
Capacity for a period = sum over people of (available working days x billable share); demand = sum over committed and targeted missions of required days.
Example: 10 consultants x 20 days x 80% = 160 billable days available against 175 days of committed demand, a 15-day gap before the pipeline even counts.
Why it matters
Two failure modes book most of the damage. Over-hire against an optimistic pipeline and the bench eats the margin you counted on. Under-hire against real demand and you miss placements, then subcontract at worse rates to keep clients whole. Both come from the same shortcut, one global headcount number instead of a pool-by-pool view of days. Planning per pool turns a vague worry into a dated gap you can decide on.
How to make capacity planning useful
- 1
Plan per skill pool, never per global headcount. A single average hides a bench in one pool and a shortage in another, and both cost money.
- 2
Refresh the supply side with real leave plans, not theoretical calendars. Availability dates move, and a plan built on assumed presence overstates capacity every quarter.
- 3
Decide each gap explicitly: hire, subcontract, or decline. Write the decision down with a date, so the next review starts from a choice and not a hope.
How Okouro shows it
The Okouro allocation board shows current placements and upcoming end dates per person, which is exactly the supply side a capacity plan starts from. Keep headcount, skills and availability in one view, and start from the free plan.