How to use this guide
This is general operational guidance for New Zealand SMEs. Adapt it to the business and the decisions involved. It is not a complete compliance checklist, legal opinion or a substitute for advice about a particular situation. Examples are illustrative and do not describe client engagements or promised outcomes.
What information should the team collect?
Choose a representative period and a manageable work category. Record work arriving, work completed, work waiting and work returned for correction. Distinguish time spent doing a task from elapsed time while it waits for information or approval. Note predictable variation such as seasonal demand, key staff availability and a supplier’s schedule. A weekly average alone can hide the days when the service becomes difficult to deliver.
Check the definitions with the people doing the work. A task marked complete in one system may still need customer confirmation or final review. Use ranges when estimates are uncertain and record the basis for them. Avoid presenting approximate effort data as precise staff-productivity rankings. The first purpose is to understand the work and its constraints, not to create a new performance label.
How can a review support a practical decision?
Identify the constraint that most directly limits completion: a specialist skill, missing information, approval availability, equipment or too much work in progress. Compare a few feasible options, including changing the release of new work, reducing avoidable rework or clarifying priority rules. If a proposed option affects spending or cash, have the financial assumptions checked by the person responsible for those decisions.
- Agree what counts as arrival, completion, waiting and rework for the selected work.
- Locate the main constraint and test assumptions against actual cases and team observations.
- Trial one change and review completion, backlog and service effects before scaling it.
A working structure
Capacity review worksheet
- Work category and observation period
- Arrivals, completions and current backlog
- Processing time, waiting and rework
- Constraint, dependencies and uncertain estimates
- Option, cost assumption and decision owner
- Trial measure and date for reassessment
Illustrative example
Illustrative example: a growing business sees a backlog and considers recruiting immediately. A short workflow review finds that many tasks wait for one technical approval while staff start more work to stay busy. The business trials scheduled approval windows and a clearer limit on unfinished work, then compares completion and customer delays. Recruitment may still be appropriate, but the decision can now consider the actual constraint rather than the backlog alone.
Questions about this guide
Can this predict exactly how much work we can sell?
No. It provides a decision model based on an observation period and assumptions. Test demand, availability and service requirements separately, and revisit the model when the operating conditions change.
Does capacity planning replace cash-flow forecasting?
No. Workload and cash timing answer different questions. Use the workflow review alongside an appropriately prepared financial forecast; Business.govt.nz explains cash-flow forecasting and when to involve an accountant or bookkeeper.
Official sources and further guidance
These primary sources provide additional context. The operational suggestions and working outlines above are YJ Consulting’s general guidance; the links do not establish that an authority has endorsed this guide.
When YJ Consulting can help
YJ Consulting can help an Auckland or New Zealand SME map the current practice, organise the relevant records and turn the findings into an agreed improvement plan. The engagement starts by confirming the question, responsible adviser, information available and useful outputs. Legal, payroll, financial or other specialist questions should be identified and assigned separately.
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