Projects, PIs and assignments: who works on what, at what rate
Updated on · Capalane
In short. In Capalane, a project holds its PIs, its sprints and its assignments. An assignment links a person to a project, with a role and a rate from 1 to 100%. The same person can be assigned to several projects: their rates add up and Capalane flags anything above 100%.
In a shared workbook, the question "who works on what, and at what rate?" means opening several tabs and trusting the formulas. Capalane answers it on a single, up-to-date screen, for all projects.
Projects, PIs and sprints
Each project is divided into PIs (Program Increments) and sprints. The project and each PI can carry a budget. One or more project leads are named per project: they have a manager's rights on that project, and a contributor's rights elsewhere.
PIs are not mandatory to get value from the tool: they serve as a management period. A team that does not practise SAFe tracks its projects by the week and the month.
One assignment = one person × one project
The person is created once in the organisation, with their country (for public holidays) and their leave. They are then assigned to each project they work on:
- Role: free text (developer, analyst, product manager…); it is also used to group reports.
- Allocation rate: from 1 to 100%, it weights their capacity on the project.
- Daily rate: optional, it feeds the project's financial tracking.
A person has only one assignment per project: no duplicates to reconcile, no row copied twice.
Overallocation shows up immediately
When the sum of a person's rates exceeds 100%, Capalane flags it on their record. The assignment is still possible: an overlap of a few weeks between two projects is sometimes intended. But it is displayed, instead of appearing at month end as a delay.
What each person sees
Rights follow the Capalane profiles: the Manager sees the whole organisation, the Project lead their own projects, the Contributor their own time entries. Managers are never billed: only the resources whose time is tracked count.
To go further: calculate a team's capacity and build its workload plan.
Frequently asked questions
Can a person work on several projects?
Yes. The person is created once, then assigned to each project with their own role and rate. Their time entries, leave and capacity are tracked across all their projects at once.
What happens if the rates add up to more than 100%?
Capalane flags it on the person's record. The assignment is still possible, as a temporary overrun may be intended, but it is visible instead of being discovered at month end.
Do I need to work in SAFe to use Capalane?
No. PIs serve as management periods; a team that does not practise SAFe can track its projects by the week and the month, without PIs.
Track your projects and resources in one place
Capalane calculates capacity with public holidays and leave, collects time in a grid that types like Excel and produces reports by project, by PI and by person.
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