Teambook for Resource Managers
If you are managing a 15-50 person team in spreadsheets and constantly double-checking formulas, tabs, and holiday trackers, this guide is for you! (and it will also be of interest for staffing managers in larger organizations!)
The real problem with spreadsheet-based resourcing
Spreadsheets work until they do not.
As teams grow, resource planning spreadsheets become fragile:
- One copy-paste breaks a formula
- Time off lives in a separate tab or file
- Capacity calculations require manual updates
- Multiple versions exist at the same time
Most of your time goes into maintaining the spreadsheet instead of making good resourcing decisions.
Why resource planning needs a single source of truth
Effective resource management depends on three things being visible at once:
- Who is working on what
- Who is available
- Who is not available due to time off or other commitments
When these live in separate tools or tabs, errors are inevitable. Teambook replaces static spreadsheets with a live schedule that updates automatically and stays consistent for everyone.
Step 1: Centralize your data
In spreadsheets, project work, time off, and capacity are usually split across different tabs.
In Teambook, these are layered on the same schedule.
When:
- A user books time off
- A project booking is added or moved
- A working schedule changes
The schedule updates instantly. This prevents common mistakes like booking someone who is actually on vacation or already at capacity.
Step 2: Adjust plans with drag-and-drop
Rescheduling work in spreadsheets is slow and error-prone.
In Teambook:
- Click a booking
- Drag it to a new date or week
- Capacity and total project hours update automatically
This makes it easy to respond to delays, shifting priorities, or scope changes without rebuilding plans from scratch.
Step 3: Plan pipeline work with tentative bookings and placeholders
Spreadsheets struggle with tentative work.
In Teambook, Tentative bookings let you plan future projects without committing yet. Once the project is confirmed, you can confirm the booking in seconds, may it be by a right click or a bulk edit feature.
And you you may as well create "placeholdesr" with generic users yet to be hired (you don't need any email to create users - nor will you be paying for their seat). What about a Senior UI Engineer Q3-2024 ?
Same apply for the projects, you may simply use an appropriate status To Be Confirmed.
Use such placeholders to:
- Visualize future demand on team capacity
- Spot upcoming bottlenecks early
Step 4: Get answers without manual calculations
Instead of building pivot tables, use the Analysis views to answer common resourcing questions and related KPI.
You can quickly see:
- Who is overworked or underutilized
- Project burn to track remaining hours against budget
- Who can take on new work in the coming weeks
This turns reporting into a decision-making tool, not an administrative task.
What success looks like
When resource planning moves out of spreadsheets:
Everyone works from the same up-to-date plan
- Time off is accounted for automatically
- Rescheduling takes minutes instead of hours
- Fewer mistakes happen due to outdated data
Resource management becomes proactive instead of reactive.
What to do next
To transition smoothly:
- Import your current projects and team schedules into Teambook
- Define working schedules and time-off rules for your team
- Start using unassigned bookings for pipeline planning
- Review capacity and availability weekly instead of fixing spreadsheets daily
If you need help migrating from spreadsheets or setting up your first schedules, contact support and we can guide you through the setup in Teambook.