LEARN. PRACTICE. GROW.Concept and mechanism
Planning should use more detail for near-term work and less detail for distant options, revisiting assumptions as learning occurs. Identify the goal, required work, capacity, dependencies, and completion evidence. A forecast is an estimate supported by current information; appearing on a roadmap does not make it a guarantee. Distinguish calendar duration, effort in person-days, and availability of required skills. Include operations, absence, and other obligations consuming capacity. If demand exceeds availability, expose scope, sequence, timing, or resource options. Assigning high priority to every item does not resolve the mismatch.
Guided application
In an original exercise, six people have ten working days each and 40% of that capacity is reserved for other obligations. That leaves 36 person-days. A 48-day plan has a twelve-day gap requiring a decision rather than cosmetic estimate changes. Even the 36 days are not interchangeable if only one person has the skill needed for a task. When discussing budget, distinguish the authorized allocation from the updated cost forecast. If 50 thousand euros have been spent and 30 thousand more are estimated to finish, the total forecast is 80 thousand; against a 70-thousand budget, the gap is ten thousand. These fictional amounts practice communication and commitment review rather than approving expenditure.
Capacity, forecast, and spending authorization are different concepts.
Common pitfalls
Assumed full availability; person-days treated as duration; false precision; budget confused with forecast.
Related topics: Mandate, outcomes, and collaboration · Flow, dependencies, and impediments · Governance, risks, and decisions
Expose assumptions, gaps, and the required decision before promising.
Reference: Planning in agile · Service Manual current public guidance; Kanban Guide May2025; DORA five-metric model; primary references reviewed 2026-09-30