This is currently a beta feature available on request under the Standard and Advanced Plans. If you are interested, please fill out the sign-up form here.
What is scenario planning?
Scenario planning is a way to explore different possible futures so you can make better decisions today.
A simple scenario planning process consists of 4 steps:
Steps | Examples |
1. Start with a baseline scenario |
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2. Create alternative scenarios |
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3. Compare the impact |
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4. Choose actions |
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In short, scenario planning helps you see the consequences of different choices before you commit resources.
Create and compare different scenarios in Runn
Only Admins and Managers can create and edit Scenarios. All scenarios you create are private and visible only to you - other users won't see them.
In Runn, you can select a specific group of tentative projects and save that as a custom private scenario. Scenarios are visible only to the creator and are not shareable.
After creating multiple scenarios, you can select each one and see its capacity impact at a glance, making it easy to compare and forecast across scenarios.
In the example image below, notice how the utilization % for Engagement Manager has increased when the scenario is switched from only considering the workload of projects with 90% chance of winning to 60%+ chance of winning:
Before you start
Set up Tentative Projects
If you plan to create different scenarios based on certain project attributes e.g. Client, winning probability, etc., make sure the data is accurately recorded in Runn
Use Project Custom Fields if you need to customize the categorization of your tentative projects
Understand how the Scenario Toggle works
Every user who has access to the Planners can view the default All Tentative Scenario.
When you turn on the Scenario Toggle, by default, all Tentative Projects are toggled on and visible on the Project Planner. Their workload will be reflected in the People Planner, Charts and Reports:
You can create custom private scenarios to forecast capacity impact based on a specific group of tentative projects.
Before creating your own scenarios, learn more about viewing the capacity impact when the All Tentative scenario is selected here.
Create a scenario based on Filters
Example
As a Resource Manager or Delivery Lead, I want to model what future workload and capacity would look like if we close all 90% winning-probability projects vs close all 60%+ winning-probability projects to ensure we have enough capacity to deliver all the projects in the pipeline.
From the People Planner, click on the grey arrow next to the Scenario Toggle to open the scenario dropdown menu
Click Create New Scenario
A side panel pops up showing a list of all tentative projects
To create a scenario based on a project attribute that you've already set up in Runn, click Filter and apply the relevant data attribute
Only Project filters are available at the moment. You cannot apply person-based filters here. Learn more about how our filter works here.
Make sure the "Linked Filter to Scenario" setting is enabled (default setting):
This ensures that any new projects attached to the selected filter will automatically be added to the scenario.Add a Name to the Scenario
Click Create
Repeat the same steps to create alternative scenarios
View the capacity impact when a scenario is selected
When a scenario is selected,
Only the workload of the tentative projects in that scenario is included in the metric calculation
Your confirmed projects always remain visible, so you're always seeing committed work alongside the "what if" set.
Learn about how to read the capacity impact from the People Planner, Charts or Reports here.
Switch between different scenarios
Click on the grey arrow next to the Scenario Toggle to open the scenario dropdown menu, select another scenario from the dropdown:
⚡ Pro Tip: side-by-side comparison
You can duplicate your browser tab and select different scenarios in each tab for a side-by-side comparison.
👀 Using Linked-filter Scenarios in Custom Views
Linked filters apply across views. When you select a scenario with a linked filter, the included projects must match both the scenario filter and the filters in the current view. This means switching between views can change which projects are included in the scenario.
For example, you have set separate custom views for projects under Client A and Client B, and a "winning probability 90%" Scenario with a linked filter to the winning probability custom field:
When you select the scenario in the Client A view, only Client A projects with a 90% winning probability are included.
When you select it in the Client B view, only Client B projects with a 90% winning probability are included.
When you select it in the All view, all projects with a 90% winning probability are included, across both Client A and Client B.
Alternative:
Create a scenario based on selecting individual projects
You can also create a scenario based on selecting projects individually without applying a filter.
Example
Both Client A and Client B would like us to deliver several projects for them within the next 6 months. As a Resource Manager or Delivery Lead, I want to model which projects we can commit to for both clients. It should be a balanced mix of projects from Client A and Client B to maintain good relationships with both.
Click Create a Scenario from the Scenario dropdown
From the side panel, enter a keyword that matches the Project Name or Client Name in the search box to locate a specific project; or
Apply a filter to the list (in this example, the Client filter is applied)
Turn off 'Link Filter to Scenario' to enable toggling each project on or off individually.
Turn off the toggle next to each tentative project individually from the side panel to exclude it from the metric calculation:
After toggling on the individual projects, you can remove the filter and select a different one to look for another project. The workload of the projects you've toggled on will remain included in the metric calculation.
Example:
First, apply the Client filter and select Client A. Toggle on several projects on the list.
Remove the Client A filter, and apply the Client B filter. Toggle on several projects on the list from Client B.
Observe the change in availability or utilization as you toggle the projects on and off from the People Planner or Charts
Once you have selected all the projects, give the scenario a name and click Create
Switch between scenarios to compare the capacity impact
👀 Using Scenarios unlinked to filters in Custom Views
We recommend avoiding switching between views when viewing a scenario that is not linked to filters.
In an unlinked scenario, only the specific projects toggled on are included. If you switch to another custom view where those projects are not visible, they may no longer appear in the scenario, which can make it seem like projects have been unexpectedly excluded.
Edit or delete a Scenario
From the People Planner, click on the grey arrow next to the Scenario Toggle to open the scenario dropdown menu
Click the pencil icon next to the scenario name
The side panel will pop up, displaying all the projects in the scenario
Change the combination of tentative projects in a scenario
Add or remove projects as needed
Click Save... and decide if you would like to save the changes to the existing scenario, or save as a new scenario
Edit the Name of a Scenario
Click on the 3-dot icon next to the scenario name
Click Edit Name
Delete a Scenario
Click on the 3-dot icon next to the scenario name
Click Delete Scenario
FAQs
I am on the Lite Plan. How do I do scenario planning in Runn?
I am on the Lite Plan. How do I do scenario planning in Runn?
Creating saved scenarios is not available under the Lite Plan. You can still use the Tentative Toggle to turn all tentative projects on or off, or turn each project on or off individually.
If you are interested in getting a free trial of the feature or consider upgrading your plan, please reach out to us via the in-app Chatbox or help@runn.io
Can I just toggle on /off projects without creating a scenario?
Can I just toggle on /off projects without creating a scenario?
Yes. You can begin by clicking on Create New Scenario, then experiment with the toggles and filters to see how availability or utilization changes when you toggle projects on and off in the People Planner or Charts. If you decide not to save this as a scenario, simply click Cancel.
Can I create a Scenario in Reports?
Can I create a Scenario in Reports?
No. You can only create a scenario from the Project Planner or the People Planner. You can switch between scenarios in Reports.
Can I create a custom report when a scenario is selected?
Can I create a custom report when a scenario is selected?
Yes. However, the private scenario will not be visible to other users when they open the report. The scenario toggle will default to off, and all tentative projects will be excluded from their view. As a result, what you see in the report will differ from what other users see.
Can I apply scenarios in Insights?
Can I apply scenarios in Insights?
Scenarios are not available in Insights at the moment. However, you can still click on the Tentative Workload toggle in an insight dashboard to apply filters, select specific tentative projects and view their capacity impact directly.
How do I create different scenarios based on different project start dates or project teams?
How do I create different scenarios based on different project start dates or project teams?
At the moment, the feature doesn't directly support modelling different versions of the same project. But here is a workaround:
If you would just like to model different start dates for a single project:
Duplicate the tentative project
Reschedule the duplicated project to an alternative start date
Click Create a Scenario (just to surface the side panel)
Toggle on each project individually to see the capacity impact
Deleted the unwanted version of the tentative project
Similarly, you can duplicate the project and assign a different project team to see which version works best for you.
How do I model supply-side scenarios or phase-level scenarios?
How do I model supply-side scenarios or phase-level scenarios?
This is currently not supported at the moment. Please share your feedback with us via the in-app Chatbox so we can keep it in mind as we improve the feature!
I don't see any differences when I switch between the scenarios on the Project Planner. Why?
I don't see any differences when I switch between the scenarios on the Project Planner. Why?
Try to turn on Chart on the Project Planner so you can see the capacity impact. Switching the scenarios on the Project Planner without Chart only affects the visibility of tentative projects' timelines. You will need to turn on Charts to see the differences in the workload.
How do I make a feature request to improve scenario planning?
How do I make a feature request to improve scenario planning?
Please contact us via the in-app Chatbox or at help@runn.io. We greatly appreciate your feedback!
Still have questions? We're happy to help!