If you’re reading this, you’re probably a resource or project manager or even a team lead in a hurry to put together a resource plan.
Instead of making you scroll through several sections explaining the basics of resource planning, we’re going to assume you know about them already and skip to giving you the resource plan templates right away.
If you want to learn more or need a refresher, you can check the FAQ section for a quick explanation or visit our resource planning guide. And now, without further ado, here are the templates you need + a better way to plan your resources when you’re tired of Excel formulas.
7 resource planning templates handpicked for you
1. Float resource planning template
Our resource planning template lets you create a simple resource plan quickly. You can collect and store information about your team such as their names, job titles, work hours, allocated hours, and project or task names.
This template is best suited for smaller teams (fewer than 10 people) managing a few projects and doing resource planning on a monthly or weekly basis.
2. Toggl resource capacity planning template
This template allows you to monitor team members’ workloads, including their available hours, blocked hours, and utilization levels for a month. It helps identify whether team members are overburdened or available for new tasks.
It is ideal for planners who want more information on team capacity and plan for incoming projects.
3. Clicktime resource planning and budgeting template
This free resource planning template helps you schedule and keep track of employee hours and billing rates. It contains fields for budget allocation, hours allocated, hours worked, and employee and project names.
This resource planning template is best for tracking project resource costs.
4. Smartsheet project resource planning template
This project resource plan template is very detailed and lets you plan your resources across phases. It contains fields for information about individual projects, resource requirements, expenses, and extra staffing.
It is best for complex projects that involve several departments.
5. Resource Guru scheduling template
This template from Resource Guru helps you track your team’s assignments and manage upcoming tasks.
It is best for managers who need visibility on timelines and assignments.
6. Resource requirements template
This resource requirements template helps you break down your resources and identify the people, equipment, and other resources needed for your projects.
7. Resource allocation template
With this resource allocation template from the Digital Project Manager, you can determine the people needed for the project based on skill sets, capacity, and availability.
➡️ Download the template here
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Looking for different templates? We might be able to help.
If you need more detailed templates or have narrower use cases, you can download one of our free work plan templates and share what needs to be done by your team in one place.
<tip-button>Take a look</tip-button>
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A better way to plan your resources (that doesn’t require you to be an Excel pro)
Under some conditions, spreadsheets can work as resource planners—for example, if you have a small team (give or take 20 people), have tons of time to update the sheets manually, and you’ve taken a lot of courses on Excel and know how to bend it to your will.
But spreadsheets are complex to operate, inevitably get unwieldy as your team grows, and are unusable when you get past a certain headcount.
After speaking to customers who switched from using spreadsheets for resource planning to using Float, we can safely say that resource planning templates might not be the best solution for you.
This was something that our customers at Scholz and Friends discovered when their team grew.
While they initially used Excel for planning, with an increasing number of projects and brands to manage, they realized the need for improved efficiency.
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<sme-author>Comfort Agemo</sme-author>
<sme-position>Senior Capacity and Freelance Manager at Scholz and Friends</sme-position>
<sme-quotes>Excel is great, but it can only do as much. As we got more projects and more brands to take care of, we found out that we needed to work more efficiently.</sme-quotes>
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When they started using Float, it became easier for them to understand their team members and interests using tags (something that Excel lacks), and they could find people to take on work when their team had too much on their plate.
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<sme-author>Comfort Agemo</sme-author>
<sme-position>Senior Capacity and Freelance Manager at Scholz and Friends</sme-position>
<sme-quotes>We noticed that team members could learn a little bit more about their colleagues than when they just looked in the Excel list. We could see how much work people are doing, which you didn't see in an Excel list. We can understand more and we feel we can help the people by finding available team members from somewhere else to support.</sme-quotes>
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So if you’ve reached the limits of your spreadsheets and want to graduate away from templates, here’s an alternative option for you: a dedicated resource management tool that makes it easier to create accurate project plans.
- Dedicated capacity planning tools offer a visual and highly interactive schedule overview that shows you who is assigned to what tasks and when they are scheduled
- Capacity management features like tags, work hours, and availability indicators help you allocate your team members to the right task
- You can switch between project and people views when necessary.
A dedicated tool like Float (yes, it’s us! 👋), for example, will automatically calculate and update resource capacity based on work hours, task allocations, time off, holidays, etc. It will integrate with other tools to import data, eliminating the need for manual data entry. And you’ll be able to easily compare planned time against actual time spent on tasks using detailed reports.
Resource planning shouldn’t be hard
Resource planning doesn’t have to take up most of your day or require you to manually update the sheet every time the direction of your project changes. It takes less effort if you use a purpose-built tool that automates capacity management, utilization tracking and project reports.
With a tool like Float, planning your team’s time and scheduling your resources can save you up to hours a week!
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Still using spreadsheets for resource planning?
Try built-for-purpose software that’s easy to use and get started
<cta-button>Get a free trial</cta-button>
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📚 Everything else you need to know about resource planning
This was just the beginning of your resource planning crash course—we have a lot more to share with you: 👇
- The ultimate guide to all things resource planning, with steps to create a plan of your own
- Practical resource allocation tactics to deliver projects on time without causing burnout
- Resource loading best practices to keep team members’ utilization at healthy rates
- Steps to build a solid resource scheduling process for visibility into your team’s time
- A tactical how-to guide to set up an accurate resource forecasting process
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FAQs
A resource plan template is a document with a pre-set format that you can use for collecting and organizing resource-related information.
With or without a resource planning template, there are five steps involved in creating a resource plan:
1. Lay out project tasks and the resources you have
2. Assign work based on availability, skills, and interests
3. Consider the future demands on resources
4. Get feedback from stakeholders on proposed allocations
5. Make adjustments to your resource plan when needed
Once you download a resource planning template that best matches your requirements, it will likely include some of the following details:
1. A list of the specific resources required for the project. This could include human resources (e.g., project team members), physical resources (e.g., equipment), financial resources (e.g., budget), and more.
2. Specifications of how each resource will be allocated to the project, including quantities, timeframes, and roles or responsibilities.
3. Information about the availability of each resource, taking into account factors such as working hours and time off.
4. Cost estimates of each resource
5. Reports and visualizations to provide insights into resource utilization and project progress.
