Featuring insights from Linda Goodrich, VP of Operations at CureIS Healthcare
Every project manager has been there.
Sales lands a deal and asks, “When can we start?”
All eyes turn to you.
And if you’re like most PMs, you’re stuck stitching together an answer from spreadsheets, email threads, and a few hallway conversations.
But what if you didn’t have to guess?
What if your superpower as a project manager was turning delivery capacity into a confident, data-backed answer before the work is even assigned?
That’s the muscle Linda Goodrich, VP of Operations at CureIS Healthcare, has built with her team. And she’s doing it using Project Insight.
Why this matters: Sales moves fast, but delivery teams need real answers to keep up.
When project managers don’t have accurate capacity data, sales timelines get disconnected from what’s actually possible. That leads to overpromising, rushed delivery, and unhappy customers.
“We didn’t always have a clean way to see how busy people were,” Linda shared. “It was a lot of gut feel and assumption.”
This disconnect creates pressure. PMs feel reactive. Teams get overbooked. And delivery starts with stress instead of structure.
That’s why visibility into team allocation isn't a nice-to-have—it’s your edge.
“When sales asks how soon we can deliver,” Linda said, “I don’t have to guess anymore. I look at what we’ve already committed to and we make a real decision based on data.”
Your playbook: How to lead the sales-to-delivery handoff with confidence
If you're a PM who wants to step into this role, here’s a practical framework to follow.
Step 1: Know your team’s actual capacity
Your superpower starts with data. Use a single software platform to track what each team member is working on, how much time they have, and what future work is already scheduled.
Project Insight makes this automatic and visible across all projects and departments.
CureIS uses it to monitor capacity across clinical, IT, and compliance teams, which keeps everyone on the same page.
Step 2: Get involved before the deal closes
Don’t wait for handoff. Ask to be included in late-stage sales conversations, just long enough to confirm if the delivery window makes sense. You can often do this in 10 minutes using
Project Insight's allocation view.
“It helps us set expectations before a project even starts,” Linda said. “We’re able to tell sales yes, we can take that work in two weeks—or no, we need more time.”
Step 3: Tie your timelines to availability
Use your capacity view to create realistic start dates. Avoid overcommitting by showing what’s actually possible. This builds trust with both the sales team and your delivery crew.
“The earlier you can get ahead of that and start to plan, the less reactive it feels,” podcast host Trina Schaetz added.
Step 4: Automate your project intake
Once the timing is right, use project templates and task assignments to get the work rolling immediately. With
Project Insight, you can pre-set roles, phases, and task types so the work begins aligned.
Steve West of Project Insight put it best:
“What we try to do is give that middle view—not so much that people get overwhelmed, but not so little that they feel blind.”
Step 5: Protect your people
Being the liaison between sales and delivery isn’t just about tracking hours. It’s about protecting the team. When you know who’s at capacity and who’s free to take on more, you keep your projects realistic and your team energized.
Linda explained it this way:
“It’s not about squeezing people into every open slot. It’s about seeing what we’ve already committed to and lining up new work in a way that makes sense.”
The best PMs don’t just manage timelines.
They guide the business in saying yes to the right work, at the right time.
That’s your superpower: turning delivery data into clarity, protecting your team, and giving sales the confidence to close.
Want to see how Project Insight helps PMs lead that process?