What is people planning?
At CivicActions, we talk about people planning, not resource planning. People planning should share the request, the impact, the risks, and the constraints. It's important that we be transparent about why someone is the best fit for staffing a project. Review the people planning presentation slidedeck.
When discussing staffing for a new project, we consider:
- Does the skill set match?
- What does Forecast look like?
- Is the person willing and interested in the project?
Slack people-planning channel
People planning is largely managed on slack, in the #people-planning channel. Anyone is welcome to join this channel and participate in conversations. This channel is often used by project managers to ask for support, or to offer up a team member who is about to have available time for a new project. When a team member is the named person, we use @ mentions to include them in the conversation. After decisions are made, a project manager updates Forecast and communicates with impacted teams about upcoming changes.
PM People planning calls
Every other Thursday, CivicActions project managers meet to discuss people planning needs for their projects. This call is open to anyone who wants to join, to discuss needs or ask questions. This is also a place to get more specific about conversations started on slack.
Forecasting in Unanet
Project managers are tasked with keeping Unanet People Plans up to date with team member allocations and durations.