The very many number of workload and resource variables require specialized management tools that forecast workloads and resource capacity and retrospectively report how well workloads and capacity were managed.
Managers conduct this four step process.
1. Assess their department's workload forecast for the month based on their historical trends.
2. Adjust the trend-based workload to incorporate this year's adjustment factor and other current factors such as special
marketing campaigns that are expected to modify the historical trend.
3. Check the resource trend and assess if resource capacity will meet the workload levels. This is the "normal" resource hours
that are pre-scheduled.
4. Adjust the resource hours to close capacity gaps and reduce excess capacity. This may involve moving work to other days or
changing resource schedules.