Introducing enhanced capacity management and insights

[#1]

Hey, everyone! I am here to announce another big launch in Jira Align – capacity! The new capacity feature is a tremendous leap for Jira Align to support your end-to-end quarterly planning, and we are so excited that it’s now available to you.

This capacity launch follows up our forecast by feature work that we announced last quarter. To recap, forecast by feature allows users to input estimates for features in Jira Align for the first time, helping your teams set better, more accurate and more granular expectations on the work that they plan to do. In the time since we launched forecast by feature, Jira Align users have been forecasting more than ever, with 3-digit MoM% increases across the board, proving that there is deep desire for us to keep making enhancements in this area of the product.

The truth is that launching forecast by feature only solved half of the planning equation. We have heard from customers that they need to know how much they can accomplish in order to contextualize what they want to accomplish. The difference between can and want needs to be abundantly clear because it's the ultimate indicator of whether they are planning effectively, planning too much, or planning too little. And time needs to be measured in the same estimation system.

That's why we are excited about this capacity launch, which gives customers insight into what teams can accomplish in a planning increment, and then compares it to what they want to accomplish.

What can capacity do?

At its core, capacity allows users to determine teams' available capacity; rolls that capacity up to the program, solution, and portfolio levels; and then compares that capacity to forecasted work in order to determine if they are under, over, or at capacity.

The following sections outlines how capacity accomplishes these goals.

Spreadsheet-like functionality

People are used to planning in spreadsheets. Therefore, we created an experience that resembles a spreadsheet, but more structured and flexible.

Users can tab through the table like they would with any spreadsheet, updating the four variables contributing to their available capacity. It’s familiar, it’s quick, and it automatically updates all of the connected information on the page.

We have migrated data from the existing plan capacity modal to this new spreadsheet; however, it is important to note the following changes to functionality: 

• We've removed the ability to name and create multiple buffers per team, and replaced this with a simplified experience in the spreadsheet. Use the Buffer column to represent the total buffer needed for the team in member weeks or points.
• We also removed the ability to create specialists, as this new feature is focused on determining available capacity for a team instead of individuals.

Optionality

What makes Jira Align’s capacity feature more powerful than spreadsheets is its interconnectivity, and specifically its ability to pull data from different parts of Jira Align. By clicking the carat available in each team level cell, users can supplement their spreadsheet with data that already exists in Jira Align.

Is a team committing to the same percentage of project work last quarter? Is a team’s velocity accurate and representative of what they can accomplish next quarter, and therefore needs no overwriting? Simply pull in that data, and the available capacity will immediately update.

Bulk actions

As an enterprise product, Jira Align needs to be prepared to handle planning across hundreds of teams and programs. Entering information for hundreds of teams cell by cell can be onerous, so we created bulk actions that can shrink hundreds of clicks and tabs into one.

Bulk actions allow you to apply data across an entire program, solution, or portfolio. They are available in each column header.

Examples of how bulk actions will save users manual effort:

• They can quick-start their planning process by pulling in data from their previous plan, which they can then adjust individually if needed.
• They can apply blanket assumptions such as using average team velocity for the “points per sprint” field, lowering the number of sprints to account for holidays, or mandating the team allocate 60% of their time on project work and 40% on other projects (developer productivity, side projects, or bugs).

Whatever the use case, bulk actions simplify the editing experience by allowing users to edit en masse with just one click.

Aggregations

The 'plan summary' portion of the page showcases aggregated information all the way up to the portfolio level. This data is helpful to users who want quick summaries on the number of teams in portfolio, the number of points they can accomplish per sprint, and ultimately, their total available capacity for the planning increment (among other insights).

Additionally, each summary card showcases the previous plans' insights in order for users to quickly check if they are growing or shrinking in any way.

Comparing forecast to capacity for more effective planning

The forecast versus capacity bar shows users if they have planned effectively by comparing their forecasted work to their available capacity. The forecasted work is pulled in from the forecast feature, and the available capacity is what is output from the capacity feature. Smashing those two numbers together shows teams if they are under capacity, over capacity, or if they have planned perfectly and they right at capacity.

For consistency, this bar will soon start showing up in other parts of Jira Align, such as the backlog and the program room, which currently use other representations of the same information.

Thank you!

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has provided my team and me invaluable feedback as part of this forecast and capacity journey – we hope you see your asks sprinkled throughout the enhancements announced today! Let’s keep building the future of Jira Align together!

If you have comments or questions, please comment below, or schedule time with your rep for a more detailed capacity walk-through!

[Regina Skaggs]

Does the Sprint Capacity report tie into this functionality or are they entirely separate?

@Jake Comito 

[Ahmet Kilic _catworkx]

@Regina Skaggs

@Shiri Feldman

here is Ahmet from catworkx. Capacity Management in Jira Align is tied to forecasting for only Portfolio and Program levels.

This also means the numbers are belonging to neither Team members in Team nor Anchor sprints assigned to any team.

The logic behind that any manager can play around with capacity and forecasting so that they get quite answers to:

- how much time

- how many resources

they need to achieve the planned and forecasted work.

@Jake Comitoplease correct/add me if needed.

I hope, it helps.

Best,

Ahmet