Resource Planning & Capacity Management Flashcards

What is 'shadow resourcing' in professional services capacity management?

Answer: Tentatively assigning resources to pipeline deals before contracts are signed to prepare for ramp-up

Shadow resourcing involves tentatively placing people on projected work still in the pipeline so the firm can plan ahead and avoid scrambling when deals close.

A professional services manager is deciding between hiring a specialist or outsourcing to a subcontractor for a niche engagement. Which factor MOST favors subcontracting?

Answer: The engagement is a one-time project with a very specialized skill unlikely to recur

When a skill is needed only once, hiring a permanent employee creates ongoing fixed cost with no future demand to justify it, making subcontracting the more economical choice.

Which approach is most effective for managing resource conflicts when two high-priority projects compete for the same specialist?

Answer: Escalate the conflict to a governance committee or leadership to make a priority decision

Escalating to a governance body ensures that resource trade-offs are made based on business priorities, risk, and client impact rather than arbitrary rules.

What does 'planned vs. actual utilization' variance analysis help a services manager identify?

Answer: Whether resource assignments are executing as planned or if scheduling adjustments are needed

Comparing planned to actual utilization reveals where resources are under- or over-deployed versus the staffing plan, enabling corrective action such as re-assignment or scope adjustment.

Which scheduling method prioritizes filling the most constrained resource (the bottleneck) first when building project staffing plans?

Answer: Theory of Constraints (TOC) resource scheduling

Theory of Constraints scheduling identifies the resource with the least available capacity (the bottleneck) and builds the schedule around it to prevent project delays.

In professional services, 'seat planning' for a project is best described as:

Answer: Mapping out which roles and seniority levels will be required at each phase of a project

Seat planning in a professional services context refers to defining the staffing structure—roles, levels, headcount—needed across the timeline of a project before specific individuals are named.

A services organization with 200 billable staff has a target billable utilization of 75%. If actual utilization is 68%, what is the approximate annual revenue impact assuming an average billing rate of $150/hour and 2,000 available hours per employee?

Answer: $4.2 million

The gap is 7% × 200 staff × 2,000 hours × $150 = $42,000,000 × 0.10 ≈ $4.2 million in lost revenue potential from the utilization shortfall.