Case Study:

Problem Statement: Management is planning for 5 new projects to start next month. Leadership needs to
understand whether we can support the new projects with existing resources. A critical input to this decision will
be the team’s capacity data. Leadership has asked you to review the resources’ project utilization below, identify
trends in the % variance, and make recommendations to the Resource Manager for updating forecast hours for
Month 4. The target % variance at the project and resource level is +/- 10%.

Assignment: The table below shows the forecast and actuals (in hours) and the % variance for the last 3 months.
Based on this data, what recommendations would you make to the Resource Manager for updating the
resources’ forecast hours for Month 4? Please add the recommended forecast hours for Month 4 for each
project (highlighted in yellow).

Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4

Forecast Actuals % Forecast Actuals % Forecast Actuals % Forecast
(h) (h) Variance (h) (h) Variance (h) (h) Variance (h)
Dan 160 155 -3% 160 155 -3% 160 162 1%  
Project A 20 50 60% 20 45 56% 20 50 60%  
Project B 100 60 -67% 100 65 -54% 100 70 -43%  
Project C 40 45 11% 40 45 11% 40 42 5%  
Jane 145 155 6% 145 155 6% 145 155 6%  
Project A 70 75 7% 70 75 7% 70 75 7%  
Project B 75 80 6% 75 80 6% 75 80 6%  
John 150 185 19% 175 212 17% 175 205 15%  
Project B 50 60 17% 100 77 -30% 100 80 -25%  
Project C 100 125 20% 75 135 44% 75 125 40%  

% Variance Legend
 0-10%  -1 to -10%
 11-25%  -11 to -25%
 26-50%  -26 to -50%
 51% or more  -51% or less