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Portfolio Capacity & Demand Management Training Course

Teaches how to match demand for projects, programmes and change with the organization's real capacity to deliver and absorb it, avoiding overcommitment.

PPMO · Programme & Portfolio ManagementAll Levels#2305ClassroomEnglish , Arabic
Duration
5 Days
Download BrochureView Upcoming Dates

Free substitution at any time · 30+ days' notice: full refund minus 10%. Cancellation policy

Course Overview

The Portfolio Capacity & Demand Management Training Course equips portfolio managers, PMO leaders, resource managers, and senior decision makers with the methods and tools needed to match the demand for projects, programmes, and change with the organization's real capacity to deliver and absorb it. In government entities, ministries, public authorities, banks, healthcare systems, energy and utility companies, and large corporations, the volume of requested initiatives, regulatory changes, system enhancements, and improvement activities almost always exceeds available people, skills, budgets, suppliers, and management attention. Without deliberate capacity and demand management, organizations overcommit, start too much work at once, and deliver less value, more slowly, than they could with a more focused portfolio. Many organizations approve new initiatives based on funding availability alone, without considering whether the necessary skills, business staff, suppliers, and decision makers are available at the right time. Specialist resources may be allocated to multiple projects simultaneously, business units may face more change than they can absorb, and bottlenecks in particular skills or functions may delay entire portfolios. Demand arrives through multiple channels, is poorly visible, and is rarely forecast, while capacity data may be incomplete or unreliable. As a result, projects compete for the same people, schedules slip, quality suffers, staff experience burnout, and leadership lacks a clear picture of what the organization can realistically achieve. This course provides a structured and practical approach to portfolio capacity and demand management, informed by recognized portfolio management, resource management, and flow-based delivery practices. Participants learn the types and sources of demand, including strategic projects, regulatory and mandatory work, enhancements, maintenance, and business-as-usual activities, and how to establish demand intake, pipeline management, and demand forecasting. The program covers the dimensions of capacity, including people and skills, financial capacity, supplier and vendor capacity, business change absorption capacity, and governance and decision-making capacity, and how to measure and model capacity using skills inventories, availability, and utilization data. Participants then learn capacity and demand gap analysis, bottleneck identification, scenario planning, prioritization and sequencing to fit capacity, limiting work in progress, capacity allocation models across run, grow, and transform investments, and strategies to close capacity gaps, including reprioritization, deferral, stopping work, recruitment, contracting, outsourcing, training, and automation. The course also addresses change saturation and business readiness, integrated portfolio planning and capacity review forums, supporting tools and data, capacity and flow performance measures such as utilization, throughput, and lead time, and building a sustainable capacity management practice. The course is delivered through an interactive, application-focused approach with capacity and demand modeling exercises, portfolio scenario simulations, bottleneck analysis, and case studies. Participants leave with a demand intake and pipeline template, a demand forecasting worksheet, a capacity model covering skills, finance, suppliers, and change absorption, a capacity-demand gap analysis tool, a scenario planning template, a capacity allocation framework, a capacity review forum design, and a capacity and demand management implementation roadmap.

Learning Objectives

  • Analyze the importance of balancing demand with capacity and the consequences of portfolio overcommitment on Day 1.
  • Identify the types and sources of demand, including strategic projects, regulatory and mandatory work, enhancements, maintenance, and business-as-usual activities.
  • Design demand intake, pipeline management, and demand forecasting processes that provide visibility of current and future demand.
  • Assess the dimensions of capacity, including people and skills, financial capacity, supplier capacity, business change absorption capacity, and decision-making capacity.
  • Measure and model capacity using skills inventories, availability, utilization, and productivity data.
  • Conduct capacity and demand gap analysis and identify bottlenecks that constrain portfolio throughput.
  • Apply scenario planning to evaluate alternative portfolio options and their capacity implications.
  • Prioritize and sequence initiatives to fit available capacity and apply limits on work in progress.
  • Design capacity allocation models across run, grow, and transform investments and between strategic, mandatory, and discretionary work.
  • Develop strategies to close capacity gaps, including reprioritization, deferral, stopping work, recruitment, contracting, outsourcing, training, and automation.
  • Assess change saturation and business readiness and incorporate change absorption into portfolio decisions.
  • Establish integrated portfolio planning and capacity review forums, performance measures, and an implementation roadmap for capacity and demand management by the end of Day 5.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for portfolio managers, PMO heads and managers, resource and capacity managers, and programme managers responsible for planning and balancing portfolios of projects and change initiatives. It is also highly relevant for strategy and planning professionals, IT and digital delivery leaders, functional managers who provide people to multiple initiatives, finance and budget professionals, and human resources and workforce planning professionals. It is particularly valuable for professionals in ministries, government entities, and public authorities managing multiple strategic, regulatory, and digital initiatives with limited specialist capacity; in banks and financial institutions balancing regulatory, technology, and business change demand; in healthcare systems managing change alongside clinical operations; and in energy, utilities, telecommunications, and technology organizations managing large volumes of projects and enhancements. Senior executives and portfolio board members who approve portfolio commitments will also benefit from the course.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
  • Explain why aligning demand with capacity improves portfolio delivery and value.
  • Identify all sources of demand on their organization's delivery capacity.
  • Establish a clear intake process and pipeline view of incoming demand.
  • Forecast demand for skills, funding, and business involvement.
  • Build a practical capacity model that goes beyond headcount.
  • Identify capacity gaps and bottleneck resources before they cause delays.
  • Compare portfolio scenarios and their capacity implications.
  • Sequence initiatives and limit work in progress to improve throughput.
  • Allocate capacity across different types of investment in a transparent way.
  • Choose appropriate actions to close capacity gaps.
  • Consider the organization's ability to absorb change when approving new initiatives.
  • Run effective capacity review forums and measure capacity management performance.

Course Outline

Course Outline:

Day 1

Foundations of Capacity and Demand Management

  • The capacity and demand challenge and the costs of overcommitment
  • Types and sources of demand: strategic, mandatory, enhancements, maintenance, and business as usual
  • Portfolio flow, work in progress, and throughput concepts
  • Capacity and demand management within portfolio governance
  • Practical application: participants map sources of demand and assess the current level of overcommitment in their organization
Day 2

Managing and Forecasting Demand

  • Demand intake and pipeline management
  • Demand classification, sizing, and minimum information requirements
  • Demand forecasting for skills, funding, suppliers, and business involvement
  • Visibility and transparency of demand across the organization
  • Practical application: participants develop a demand intake and pipeline template and a demand forecast for a case study portfolio
Day 3

Measuring and Modeling Capacity

  • Dimensions of capacity: people and skills, finance, suppliers, change absorption, and decision making
  • Skills inventories, availability, utilization, and productivity data
  • Building a capacity model
  • Capacity and demand gap analysis and bottleneck identification
  • Practical application: participants build a capacity model and perform a capacity and demand gap analysis for the case study
Day 4

Balancing the Portfolio to Capacity

  • Scenario planning and portfolio options analysis
  • Prioritization and sequencing to fit capacity
  • Limiting work in progress and managing flow
  • Capacity allocation models and strategies to close capacity gaps
  • Practical application: participants run portfolio scenarios, sequence initiatives, and develop a capacity allocation framework
Day 5

Change Absorption, Governance, and Implementation

  • Change saturation and business readiness
  • Integrated portfolio planning and capacity review forums
  • Capacity and flow performance measures: utilization, throughput, and lead time
  • Tools, data, and building a sustainable capacity management practice
  • Final workshop: participants design a capacity review forum and present a capacity and demand management implementation roadmap

Upcoming Dates

CityDatesPrice per ParticipantEarly Bird
AmsterdamScheduled
9 – 13 Nov 2026€5,400—
BarcelonaScheduled
9 – 13 Nov 2026€5,400—
BerlinScheduled
16 – 20 Nov 2026€5,800—
CairoScheduled
23 – 27 Nov 2026€3,300€2,970until 2 Nov
CasablancaScheduled
30 Nov – 4 Dec 2026€4,300€3,870until 9 Nov
DammamScheduled
7 – 11 Dec 2026€4,200€3,780until 16 Nov
DohaScheduled
14 – 18 Dec 2026€4,400€3,960until 23 Nov
DubaiScheduled
20 – 24 Dec 2026€4,400€3,960until 30 Nov
FrankfurtScheduled
21 – 25 Dec 2026€5,800€5,220until 30 Nov
GenevaScheduled
28 Dec 2026 – 1 Jan 2027€6,300€5,670until 7 Dec
IstanbulScheduled
4 – 8 Jan 2027€4,700€4,230until 14 Dec
Kuala LumpurScheduled
11 – 15 Jan 2027€4,400€3,960until 21 Dec
LisbonScheduled
18 – 22 Jan 2027€5,400€4,860until 28 Dec
LondonScheduled
25 – 29 Jan 2027€5,600€5,040until 4 Jan
MadinahScheduled
1 – 5 Feb 2027€4,200€3,780until 11 Jan
MadridScheduled
8 – 12 Feb 2027€5,400€4,860until 18 Jan
MakkahScheduled
8 – 12 Feb 2027€4,200€3,780until 18 Jan
ManamaScheduled
15 – 19 Feb 2027€4,700€4,230until 25 Jan
MarrakeshScheduled
22 – 26 Feb 2027€4,300€3,870until 1 Feb
MilanScheduled
1 – 5 Mar 2027€6,000€5,400until 8 Feb
MunichScheduled
8 – 12 Mar 2027€5,400€4,860until 15 Feb
MuscatScheduled
15 – 19 Mar 2027€5,300€4,770until 22 Feb
OnlineScheduled
21 – 25 Mar 2027€1,700€1,530until 1 Mar
ParisScheduled
22 – 26 Mar 2027€5,700€5,130until 1 Mar
RabatScheduled
29 Mar – 2 Apr 2027€4,300€3,870until 8 Mar
RiyadhScheduled
5 – 9 Apr 2027€4,200€3,780until 15 Mar
RomeScheduled
12 – 16 Apr 2027€5,800€5,220until 22 Mar
TrabzonScheduled
19 – 23 Apr 2027€4,700€4,230until 29 Mar
ViennaScheduled
26 – 30 Apr 2027€5,700€5,130until 5 Apr
AmmanScheduled
2 – 6 May 2027€3,100€2,790until 12 Apr

Available in: Istanbul · Dubai · London · Riyadh · Doha · Amsterdam

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