Project delivery · Original fictional case
Find staffing shortfalls without netting away busy periods
A coordinator has staffing requirements and available people for four one-hour slots. Quantify unmet coverage and keep surplus time separate.
Related work: Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks · O*NET task 11363.
Your source data
| slot | required people | available people |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 3 | 2 |
| 10:00 | 2 | 3 |
| 11:00 | 4 | 2 |
| 12:00 | 2 | 2 |
The rules
- Each slot lasts one hour. Staff are already assigned to slots; moving them is outside this calculation.
- Unmet person-hours per slot = max(required − available, 0). Surplus uses max(available − required, 0).
- Do not offset a shortfall at one time with surplus at another. Count any slot with positive unmet coverage.
A method you can reuse
- The 09:00 slot is short one person-hour; 10:00 has one surplus person-hour.
- The 11:00 slot is short two person-hours, while 12:00 is exactly covered.
- Total unmet coverage is three person-hours across two slots. The single surplus hour is useful context, but does not cover a different time slot.
A common wrong turn
Subtracting total available from total required yields two, hiding one additional uncovered hour behind surplus at a different time.
Use it in a handoff
A scheduling decision also needs skill coverage, availability and break constraints. This exercise produces the shortage summary that a scheduler can inspect before reassigning anyone.
Check your calculation
Enter numbers without currency or percent symbols. A matching result confirms this exercise’s calculation; keep the method in your review note.
See the worked answer
Unmet person-hours: 3
1 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 3.
Slots with a shortfall: 2
09:00 and 11:00.
Surplus person-hours: 1
Only 10:00 has surplus.
Source and practice material
Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.
Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.