Why are group utilization charts useful?
Viewing your team’s upcoming utilization in a visual chart lets you quickly see how busy people are and when they’ll be available for new work. This visibility helps you spot bottlenecks early, plan hiring or resourcing needs, adjust schedules, and set realistic client expectations before issues arise.
Examples
For example, when grouped by Default Role, you can tell if a specific role (such as JavaScript developers) is consistently over-utilized and more work is coming, it may be time to hire or bring in a contractor.
When grouped by Skills, you can tell if an upcoming project requires a specific skill and those staff are already booked, you can reschedule work, upskill the team, or hire ahead of time.
How to view the group utilization charts?
Select display by Utilization on the People Planner
Group by any attributes other than "All" (e.g. Team or Default Role)
The charts represent the utilization of these groups of people. That is, the percentage of the group's total capacity that has been assigned to both billable and non-billable.
With the group utilization charts, you can glance at your planner and quickly see the group utilization at a high level.
Understanding the charts
The charts show the Total Utilization for the group based on Scheduled Hours: The calculations use the sum of everyone's Effective capacity and workload (both billable and non-billable):
Scheduled Hours / Effective capacity * 100
The charts include only the people you can see on the planner. This means that when you use the search and filter bar to narrow down your results, the charts adjust
The charts do not factor in actuals hours logged on timesheets, it is calculated based on scheduled work only. For utilization based on past actual hours, please refer to Reports or Insights.
Reading the colors
Grey dotted line across each chart row - indicates the 100% utilization mark
Blue area (up to the dotted line) - represents the group's utilization. The height indicates how utilized the group is
If it sits on the dotted line, utilization is 100%
If it falls below the dotted line, the group is under-utilized
Red peaks above the dotted line - represents over-utilization
The maximum rate shown is 200% utilization
Gray shaded area - represents no capacity in the group
When everyone in the group has time off (and placeholders don't have work allocated)
Green line - represents 0% utilization
When no work has been allocated but there is available capacity
Full red area - represents infinite utilization
When there is no capacity but work has been allocated
Calculations Example
# Day 1 - Group under-utilized
Person 1:
Effective Capacity = 8 hours
Scheduled Hours = 4 hours
Person 2:
Effective Capacity = 4 hours
Scheduled Hours = 4 hours
Sum of Effective Capacity: 8 + 4 = 12 hours
Sum of Scheduled Hours: 4 + 4 = 8 hours
Utilization: 8 / 12 * 100 = 66.6%
# Day 2 - Group fully utilized
Person 1:
Contract Capacity = 8 hours
Time off = 8 hours
Effective Capacity = 8 - 8 = 0 hours
Scheduled Hours = 0 hours
Person 2:
Contracted Capacity = 4 hours
Time off = 0 hours
Effective Capacity = 4 - 8 = 4 hours
Scheduled Hours = 4 hours
Sum of Effective Capacity: 0 + 4 = 4 hours
Sum of Scheduled Hours: 0 + 4 = 4 hours
Utilization: 4 / 4 * 100 = 100%
Still have questions? We're happy to help!