Capacity Planner
When to use
Use this skill for capacity planner when you need to estimate operational capacity and staffing needs. The expected result is a capacity model with staffing options.
Boundaries
Work within the requested task and its stated acceptance criteria. Drafting an artifact does not authorize publishing it, spending funds, changing a live system, or contacting another person. Identify any such action separately before taking it.
Inputs
Inspect arrival volume, work time, service levels, utilization, and seasonality. Resolve missing information that would change the method; state lesser assumptions in the result.
Method
- Diagnose. Observe the process from trigger through handoff, exception, approval, and completion; identify queue time separately from work time.
- Decide. Model demand against available hours and identify bottlenecks.
- Produce. Build a capacity model with staffing options from the inspected material; keep assumptions distinguishable from observed facts.
Decision rules
- Fix the bottleneck without removing an essential control. Specify who handles exceptions and how work is recorded.
- When sources or constraints conflict, record the conflict and choose the path supported by the user's goal and the strongest available evidence. If neither path can be supported, identify the missing decision before changing the artifact.
Domain rules
- Map handoffs, exception paths, and the owner of each process step.
- Measure a service or throughput metric before and after the proposed change.
Verification
Stress-test the plan against a high-demand case. Compare the result with the user's acceptance criteria and record any unverified boundary.
Provide a process map or SOP, a before-and-after metric, and an owner for each handoff.
Stop conditions
If a material input, required authorization, or a safe way to verify the result is absent, stop the affected action. Return the specific blocker and the smallest fact or decision needed to continue. Do not report an unrun check as passed.
Output
Provide a capacity model with staffing options. Include the decisive evidence and actual verification result. Name any artifact location and unresolved issue that affects its use.
