# Capacity Planning Software > See your team’s real capacity against the work in front of them, optimize your staffing, and plan the next quarter with data. Get started free. Source: https://asana.com/uses/capacity-planning-software #### Why capacity planning falls apart in a spreadsheet Resource capacity planning sounds simple until project capacity changes. A spreadsheet helps to plan team capacity the first time, but it breaks down when new projects come in or current projects run long. #### The spreadsheet is out of date the moment you build it A capacity spreadsheet is a snapshot of assumptions on the day you build it. Projects slip, scopes change, new requests come up, people take leave, and none of these shifts flow back into the sheet. If the spreadsheet says a teammate has 40% of their capacity available next month, this is just a guess based on stale data. #### Commitments are invisible across projects Most people work on more than one project at a time, and no single spreadsheet view shows the total. So when three project leads each assign the same person a reasonable-looking workload, they unknowingly overallocate their team member’s schedule (and no one notices until the work is late). #### You find out about the overload from the person, not the plan Without a live view of capacity, the first signal of overallocation is a missed deadline or someone telling you they're drowning. When a team member flags burnout in a one-on-one, they’ve already been sitting at more than 100% for weeks. The cost of adjusting capacity when it’s too late is their trust, and sometimes loyalty to your company. #### How Asana works as capacity planning software Asana provides insight into your team’s capacity. You can spot who’s overloaded (or underutilized) and fix it before the deadline. Then you can plan the next quarter with real-time data. See your team’s real capacity, calculated from real work Assignments and effort estimates are stored on the tasks themselves. That means [Workload](/features/resource-management/workload) calculates capacity based on the actual work in your projects. Asana updates capacity when your work moves and compares your team’s availability against their assignments. Add [time tracking](/features/resource-management/time-tracking), and you can compare planned effort against what the work actually took, while the capacity view stays as up to date as the projects it's built from. Spot overallocation across every project at once With one view, you can see each team member’s total commitment across all the projects they're on. Asana automatically flags anyone over capacity. [Portfolios](https://asana.com/features/goals-reporting/portfolios) then roll that view out across all teams, so overallocation shows up during team capacity planning before it leads to a missed deadline. Rebalance before the deadline, not after Reassign or reschedule work directly from the capacity view, and watch as everyone’s workload updates immediately. When you move the work, you can see its effect on your team’s capacity before anyone falls behind. Plan the next quarter against what you can actually deliver Asana models upcoming projects against your team’s obligations, allowing you to see if next quarter's plan fits your team’s availability before you commit. Use percentages or estimated time, whichever matches how your team views effort. Reach beyond day-to-day [capacity planning](/features/resource-management/capacity-planning) tools with in-depth features, like viewing allocations by person or by project across several months and team-level capacity, to support your estimates. #### Purpose-built for teams that plan people, not machines Every team that uses resource capacity planning software to plan workloads looks a little different, but they all need real numbers indicating how much work their people can take on. #### Agencies and services teams #### See who has room before you scope the next client Committing to a client project without knowing your team’s actual availability means either turning down revenue or overloading the team. With Asana, the capacity for every client project is in one view, so account leads can see who has room before scoping the next engagement with realistic deadlines. Say yes to the work you can deliver, and know why when you say no. #### Operations & resource managers #### One live view, zero roll-ups You're accountable for allocation across the whole organization, but you usually assemble that picture by hand from an obstructed or fractured view. One live view in your [resource capacity planning](/uses/resource-planning) software replaces your manual roll-up, making it easier to base resourcing decisions on live data and stop overallocation in its tracks. #### Product & engineering leads #### Plan sprints against reality You make sprint commitments against a team's theoretical capacity, which ignores support tickets, interruptions, and cross-team requests that consume hours. Asana makes all of a person’s work visible. That way, their capacity reflects what they're carrying, and you plan sprints against reality instead of an idealized week. #### Blackboard’s design team quantifies work capacity with Asana. Blackboard is a leading edtech company whose online learning tools fuel education across K-12 schools, secondary institutions, government learning, and corporate training. With Asana, the company’s design team took stock of their own work and capacity, allowing them to advocate for additional headcount where necessary. Because design is a shared service at Blackboard, we’re at the whims of different business units’ priorities. Consolidating our work to see our designers’ active projects helps us understand their capacity and helps with resourcing. - [Read Blackboard's story](/case-study/blackboard) #### Know what your team can take on - [Try for free](/create-account) - [Use template](/templates/capacity-planning ) #### Frequently asked questions about capacity planning software #### What is a capacity planning tool? A capacity planning tool shows how much work a team is committed to and compares it against project requests or reassignments. Also known as capacity management software, these tools update as work progresses, keeping your team’s capacity view accurate. #### Can you do capacity planning in a spreadsheet? Yes, you can plan team capacity in a spreadsheet. Plenty of teams start here, as spreadsheets work well for planning team capacity once. However, the spreadsheets start to fall short when work shifts, because none of the changes flow back in automatically. Software keeps the picture up to date without anyone needing to maintain it. #### What’s the difference between capacity planning and resource planning? Capacity planning asks how much work your team can absorb, while [resource planning](https://asana.com/uses/resource-planning) asks who does which work, and when. When comparing capacity planning vs. resource planning debate, remember that they’re two halves of the same decision, and Asana supports both. #### How do you calculate team capacity? To calculate team capacity, start with each person's available hours and subtract known commitments, such as leave, meetings, and support work. Compare what’s left against the effort the upcoming work requires. Asana runs from the tasks themselves rather than a separate spreadsheet, so your view stays current even as the numbers change. #### Does capacity planning work if the team doesn’t estimate every task? Capacity planning works better with estimates, but they don’t need to be perfect. A rough estimate of the effort on your team’s significant work is usually enough to reveal who's overloaded. Start with estimates, then refine them as you gain more relevant data. #### How does Asana know how much capacity someone has? Asana knows your team’s capacity from the work itself. Each assignment, due date, and anticipated effort rolls up for each person across all projects they’re assigned to, measured against the capacity you set for them. And since the data comes from live projects, the view shifts as the work changes. #### Which Asana plan includes workload and capacity planning? Workload for a single project or portfolio is available starting with the Advanced plan, included under resource management. Organization-wide workload across every project and dedicated capacity planning is available on Enterprise plans. See [Asana pricing](/pricing) for current details. #### Can I plan capacity across multiple teams or departments? Yes. Since capacity rolls up across projects and portfolios, or organization-wide on Enterprise plans, you can view and adjust capacity across multiple teams and departments. This also makes it possible to efficiently move work between teams. #### What is a capacity planning tool? A capacity planning tool shows how much work a team is committed to and compares it against project requests or reassignments. Also known as capacity management software, these tools update as work progresses, keeping your team’s capacity view accurate. #### Can you do capacity planning in a spreadsheet? Yes, you can plan team capacity in a spreadsheet. Plenty of teams start here, as spreadsheets work well for planning team capacity once. However, the spreadsheets start to fall short when work shifts, because none of the changes flow back in automatically. Software keeps the picture up to date without anyone needing to maintain it. #### What’s the difference between capacity planning and resource planning? Capacity planning asks how much work your team can absorb, while [resource planning](https://asana.com/uses/resource-planning) asks who does which work, and when. When comparing capacity planning vs. resource planning debate, remember that they’re two halves of the same decision, and Asana supports both. #### How do you calculate team capacity? To calculate team capacity, start with each person's available hours and subtract known commitments, such as leave, meetings, and support work. Compare what’s left against the effort the upcoming work requires. Asana runs from the tasks themselves rather than a separate spreadsheet, so your view stays current even as the numbers change. #### Does capacity planning work if the team doesn’t estimate every task? Capacity planning works better with estimates, but they don’t need to be perfect. A rough estimate of the effort on your team’s significant work is usually enough to reveal who's overloaded. Start with estimates, then refine them as you gain more relevant data. #### How does Asana know how much capacity someone has? Asana knows your team’s capacity from the work itself. Each assignment, due date, and anticipated effort rolls up for each person across all projects they’re assigned to, measured against the capacity you set for them. And since the data comes from live projects, the view shifts as the work changes. #### Which Asana plan includes workload and capacity planning? Workload for a single project or portfolio is available starting with the Advanced plan, included under resource management. Organization-wide workload across every project and dedicated capacity planning is available on Enterprise plans. See [Asana pricing](/pricing) for current details. #### Can I plan capacity across multiple teams or departments? Yes. Since capacity rolls up across projects and portfolios, or organization-wide on Enterprise plans, you can view and adjust capacity across multiple teams and departments. This also makes it possible to efficiently move work between teams. #### Capacity planning software: see what your team can take on before you commit When a project request lands, you need to be able to assign it quickly without being bogged down by outdated spreadsheets. Capacity planning software shows your team’s availability, including how much work they're already committed to. With Asana, you gain visibility into [capacity planning](/resources/capacity-planning) through adaptable views and responsive adjustments, enabling data-driven decision-making. - [Contact sales](/sales) - [View demo](/demo/main-video) capacity planning software