Capacity Reforecast After Scope Change (Delivery)

Capacity Reforecast After Scope Change (Delivery)

1. 01

   Log the scope change as a dated line item before anyone edits the plan

   Capture requester, client, original deliverable, added deliverable, and the date the request arrived. A change that lives only in a Slack thread cannot be reforecast against.

2. 02

   Re-estimate hours on the affected tasks rather than the project total

   Task-level deltas surface which role absorbs the work. A 12-hour addition split across strategy and production has a different margin effect than 12 hours landing entirely on one senior contractor.

3. 03

   Pull current utilization for every role the change touches

   Platforms such as Productive, Teamwork, and Wrike expose booked-versus-available hours per person. Read the next four weeks, not the current week, because the collision usually appears two to three weeks out.

4. 04

   Identify the displaced work and name it explicitly

   Capacity is finite, so an addition means a subtraction somewhere. Write down which task slips, which client sees a later date, or which contractor gets extra hours.

5. 05

   Price the change against the retainer or issue a change order

   If the addition exceeds the contracted scope, route it through the same approval path as the original statement of work. Absorbing it silently trains the client to expect free revisions.

6. 06

   Update dependencies and downstream dates in the shared plan

   Adjust predecessor links so the Gantt or timeline view reflects reality. Stale dependencies are the most common reason a reforecast looks fine internally and wrong to the client.

7. 07

   Notify the delivery lead and account owner in the same message

   One notification with the revised dates, revised hours, and the commercial decision prevents the account side from promising a timeline the delivery side has not accepted.

8. 08

   Recheck the change at the next weekly review and close it out

   Confirm actual hours landed within roughly 15 percent of the reforecast. Persistent variance means the estimating baseline, not the individual project, needs attention.