Free Resource Planning Templates

Resource planning answers a question every project assumes and few check: are the people available when the plan needs them? A person assigned at 60 percent to one project and 70 percent to another is a conflict that will be resolved by whichever project manager shouts louder, unless a plan shows it first. Resource planning is the plan that shows it first, across all projects, by week, with the business-as-usual work that nobody schedules but everybody does.

The templates are a resource plan by role for one project, an allocation matrix of people against projects, a weekly availability sheet that accounts for leave and BAU, a utilization tracker that compares allocated with available hours, and a resource request form for the conversation between a project and a resource owner. The Excel workbook flags over-allocation; the Word and PDF versions carry the request form and the plan summary.

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The five templates

• Project resource plan. Roles, named people, skills, hours per week and dates for one project, with the source of each resource.
• Allocation matrix. People against projects and BAU in percentages, with over-allocation flagged.
• Weekly availability. Contracted hours less leave and BAU equals hours for projects; utilization against it.
• By-week view. Allocated hours per week per person with peak load, which is where conflicts hide.
• Resource request form. The negotiation between a project and a resource owner, recorded.

Business as usual is the hidden allocation

The commonest resource planning error is treating a 37.5-hour week as 37.5 hours of project time. After meetings, email, support, admin, training and the work that keeps the lights on, most people have 20 to 25 hours a week for planned project work, and less in a management role. The availability sheet subtracts leave and BAU explicitly; the allocation matrix carries BAU as a column so a person at 40 percent on two projects and 40 percent BAU is correctly shown at 120. The team capacity planning guide covers the measurement of BAU.

Finding conflicts before they find you

Percentages across a quarter hide the week where three projects all need the same person. The by-week sheet spreads allocations by week and shows the peak; a person at 60 percent average with a 140 percent peak in week six is a schedule problem in week six, not a staffing problem overall. Resolve peaks by moving tasks, not by assuming the person will work the extra, and record the decision on the request form so the project that gave way knows why. The resource-loaded schedule does the same at task level inside one project.

A resource planning process that holds

• One owner of the allocation matrix, usually a PMO or operations lead; project managers request, they do not assign.
• Review weekly for the next four weeks and monthly for the quarter.
• Utilization targets of 70 to 85 percent of available hours for project staff; 100 percent is a plan with no room for anything to go wrong.
• Under-allocation is information too: a person at 40 percent is either available or doing unplanned work.
• Hire or contract when the gap persists for more than a quarter; the workforce planning templates take it from there.

Key takeaways

• Resource planning checks that people are available when every plan needs them, across projects and BAU, by week.
• Subtract leave and BAU before allocating; most people have 20 to 25 project hours a week.
• Look at peak weeks, not quarterly averages; conflicts live in the peaks.
• One owner of the matrix, weekly review, 70 to 85 percent utilization target.