Track Capacity on Items

Set capacity commitments for an Item Team and add people to the team based on their capacity

Important: The features described on this support page require the Capacity Planning Module, which is currently in a closed BETA.

When a Template includes at least one Capacity Category and an Item of that Template Type has Capacity Tracking enabled, team members can commit portions of their capacity to the Item.

This support page will discuss:

Who can work with Capacity Tracking on Items?
Enabling Capacity Tracking on Items
Picking an Item's Capacity Category
Setting Commitments for the Team
Add a person to the Team based on their Current Capacity
When do Commitments impact Current Capacity?

Who can work with Capacity Planning on Items?

To enable Capacity Planning or adjust Commitments for any Team member on an Item, you must:

Have the Enable Capacity or Capacity Administrator Permission included in your System Role Permissions, and
Be able to edit the Item

Important: To adjust the commitment for the Responsible or Assigner Team Role, you must also have the Assign or Request permission, which is required to modify those roles.

How to Enable Capacity Planning on an Item

Whether Capacity Planning is automatically enabled for an Item depends on its Template. If a Template does not enable Capacity Planning by default, you must manually turn it on for each Item where you want to track capacity.

Navigate to the Capacity Panel of an Item, then:

Select the Enable Capacity Tracking button. This will open the Edit Capacity window.
If you see the Enable Capacity Tracking checkbox, Capacity Planning can be turned on or off for this Item. If it does not appear, capacity tracking will always be on for this Item.
- Select the checkbox to start tracking capacity for this Item.
- Unselect the checkbox to stop tracking capacity for this Item.
If you see the Current Commitment and Current Capacity columns, Capacity Tracking is already enabled for this Item, and you can edit the Capacity Category being tracked on the Item or start setting commitments.

Pro Tip: The location of the Capacity Panel will change depending on your Template design.

Pick the Capacity Category tracked on an Item

Depending on the Template, you may need to pick which Capacity Category will be tracked on this Item.

After Enable Capacity Tracking is selected, a dropdown selection will appear:

Use the dropdown to select which Capacity Category you want to track
If the Template for your Item only has one Capacity Category, you will not see the dropdown.

Pro Tip: You can only track one Capacity Category per Item. You can change which Capacity Category is tracked on the Item at any time, but only the current selection will count toward users’ Current Capacity.

Set Commitments for Team members

When Capacity Planning is enabled on an Item, the edit window of the Capacity Panel displays each Team Role for which Capacity Tracking is enabled and has two additional columns.

Caution: If you have the Capacity Administrator permission but not the Assign or Request permission, you won’t see the Responsible or Assigner Team Roles in the panel, since you don’t have permission to modify them.

Current Commitment: Set the Commitment for each team member. This is the number that will count toward each user’s Current Capacity.
- If the measurement for the Capacity Category enabled on this Item is Hours per Week, you set the hours the user will spend on this Item each week.
- If the Capacity Category’s measurement is Number of Items, you select a checkbox to count the Item toward the user’s Current Capacity.

Current Capacity: Reference the Current Capacity bar for each Team member to assess their capacity for accepting new work.
- If the user does not have a Max Capacity set for the Capacity Category tracked on this Item, no bar will appear.
- The dark green portion of the bar represents the user's Current Commitments on other Items. The light green portion represents the user's commitment to the current Item.
- If the bar is red, the user has exceeded their Max Capacity.
  - You can still assign a user to a Team and set their commitment, even if they've reached or exceeded their Max Capacity.
- Hover over a user's Current Capacity Bar to learn more about the user's maximum capacity and remaining capacity.

Select Save when you are finished setting commitments for Team members.

Pro Tip: You cannot adjust the Team's commitments through the Capacity Panel when the Item is in Complete or Deferred Status.

Add a person to the Team based on their Current Capacity

You can also add new people to the Item Team in the Capacity Panel. To do this, you can either type their name in the Team Role fields or you can open the User Search window to find candidates based on their Current Capacity. The User Search is a great tool when you are unsure of who you need on the Team and want to base the decision on capacity.

In the Edit Capacity window, hover over a Team Role field, and select the user icon.
The User Search window will open:
- By default, the People List will display a column showing each User’s Current Capacity.
  - Click the dark green or red portion of the bar to see a list of other Items the user is currently committed to.
  - The light green portion of the bar represents the user's commitment to the current Item.
- Use the Location and User Filters to find the best person to add to the Team. The Capacity quick filter is especially useful for identifying individuals who are over or under capacity in any Capacity Category.
- Select the checkbox beside the person you want to add.
- Select Save.

When does a Commitment start counting toward a user’s current capacity?

The Commitment logged for each Team member will not start impacting a user’s Current Capacity until the Item is activated.

Commitments for Items in New, Planned, Deferred, and Complete Items will not count toward a user’s Current Capacity.
Commitments for Items in Active, Overdue, and Resolution Submitted Items will count toward a user’s Current Capacity.