Capacity Reconciliation Before Sprint Commit (Delivery)

Capacity Reconciliation Before Sprint Commit (Delivery)

1. 01

   Freeze the billable roster 48 hours before the sprint commit meeting

   Lock the list of named people who can be assigned client work that week, excluding anyone on PTO, bench rotation, or internal build. A roster that shifts mid-meeting turns capacity math into guesswork.

2. 02

   Pull logged hours from the prior two weeks per person, not per project

   Per-person history exposes the real ceiling: someone booked at 34 billable hours across four accounts has roughly six hours of slack, regardless of what the project view claims.

3. 03

   Subtract non-billable commitments already on the calendar

   Internal standups, sales support, and admin duties consume hours that never appear in project allocations. Ignoring them is the most common source of overcommitment in agency delivery.

4. 04

   Compare remaining capacity against the incoming scope in hours, not task counts

   A 40-task campaign and a 12-task campaign can consume identical hours. Convert scope to effort estimates before comparing against the roster.

5. 05

   Flag any person projected above 85% utilization for the sprint window

   Sustained utilization past that line correlates with missed deadlines and quiet burnout. The flag is a scheduling signal, not a performance judgment.

6. 06

   Resolve conflicts by moving scope, not by assuming overtime

   Either push the start date, split the deliverable, or bring in a contractor. Overtime assumptions hide the true cost of the retainer and surface later as margin erosion.

7. 07

   Publish the committed allocation to the client-facing workspace within one business day

   Shared visibility on who is doing what by when reduces status-chasing emails. Platforms such as Teamwork, Productive, or Wrike can carry this view if permissions are set so clients see allocation without seeing internal rates.