Let's imagine that you pour water for a guest. The glass has overflowed. When you pick it up, the contents spill out. On the other hand, filling the glass to ⅓ of its volume will not be the best solution. A guest asked you for a glass of water, and you give him two sips?
Naturally, you will fill the glass to such a volume that it is almost full, but also so that it does not overflow. Utilization works in exactly the same way.
According to the Service Performance Index utilization in service companies ranges from 60 to 80%, with the highest level of average utilization observed among the most successful companies.
Capacity cannot be utilized 100%, because, with a high degree of probability, your employees will derail and burn out. You don't want to give them too little work because it would be a bizarre waste of the budget. You will strive to optimally assign tasks. It will be hygienic and profitable for both of you.
We measure the utilization rate to find this balance and that's why there's a Utilization report available in Primetric.
In this article, you'll learn what information the Utilization report provides you with and what formulas are covered under the data. At the very bottom, you'll find definitions needed to fully understand the topic.
You’ll find free so-called segments in the Utilization report.
👉 Personalized report with detailed data
General data chart
When you enter the Utilization report you should take a look at 4 important points:
1️⃣ Date range
Select the date range for which you want to download data:
2️⃣ Assignments and view:
Specify what types of assignments you would like to include in the data. You can see the chart divided into weeks and months. You select from Active, Scheduled and drafts. You can pick all of them if it’s needed.
3️⃣ Indicators needed to calculate the utilization
The brackets on the top of the page will show you the data on which the utilization was calculated. You will find the explanation of the given data below:
4️⃣ Chart
The chart will show capacity (border) and performance (fill):
Table
Scrolling down you will see a table with more detailed data. Note that you will find a button allowing you to save it to a file in the upper right corner:
When you hover over each of the headings, you will find information on how the data below was calculated.
In the infographic below you will find a collection of 12 formulas calculated in a table. This data is absolutely necessary to monitor the use of employees' working time
Personalized report with detailed data
You can create your own report as well! To create such a report just click Create detailed report button and pick the data you are interested in. Once you generate this report you'll be able to use your last preferences as a template.
Please note that reports generated this way are available only for the accounts in which they were created.
Definitions
Assignment - a work planned for a specific individual in a project set by the proper manager.
Billable - usually refers to the amount of time spent working that you can charge the client for
Contract capacity - the maximum number of hours an employee can spend working in a given period. It does not include time off, absences, and public holidays.
Contract Utilization - a work tracked by an employee that can be billed to a client, divided by the employee's contract capacity.
Non-Billable - usualy refers to the amount of time spent working that you cannot charge the client for
Scheduled - it refers to items that are planned, such as utilization, overheads, margin, work, budget, etc. Their value may differ from the Not settled or Settled values.
Time off - leaves requested by an employee with the employee role, which can have different statuses.
Tracked - usually refers to the recorded or logged time of a person's work, encompassing billable and non-billable projects, expressed in minutes, hours, and Full-Time Equivalent (FTE).
Utilization - the percentage of employee capacity that is allocated to projects. Tracked work by an employee that can be billed to a client, divided by the employee's capacity.