--- title: "Resource utilization: how to calculate it | attendo" description: "What resource utilization or team workload is, how to calculate it against actual hours, an example, how to read it and the mistake of using the average." url: "https://attendo.me/en/glossary/resource-utilization" lang: "en" --- # Resource utilization: who is overloaded before you promise a date Also known as: Team workload · utilization rate Resource utilization is the share of each person’s available hours that is already committed to planned work, measured by day, week or month. How to calculate it Utilization = planned hours ÷ that person’s available hours in the period ## Available hours are not eight a day They are the hours of each person’s actual schedule: minus the holidays on their calendar, vacation and time off. Measuring against a flat eight hours gives an optimistic figure that never holds. ## An example A technician has 32 available hours this week, because Thursday is a holiday, and 40 hours assigned across three projects. Her utilization is 125%. Before you promise a date to a fourth customer, something has to move. ## How to read it - **Above 100%**: overbooked. Something will be late. - **Close to 100% for weeks**: there is no room for the unexpected, and the unexpected always shows up. - **Very low**: either there is spare capacity or there is work nobody is planning. ## The usual mistake Looking at it only for the team as a whole. A team at 80% can have one person at 140% and another at 20%. The average hides exactly the bottleneck that delays projects. ## In attendo The utilization report matches the planned hours on each document against each person’s actual schedule, with their holidays and time off. You see it by day, week or month, with what is assigned, overbooked and free, next to the [Gantt chart](https://attendo.me/en/modules/gantt-chart). - [attendo Projects](https://attendo.me/en/projects) ## Where it is used in attendo ### Modules - [Gantt chart](https://attendo.me/en/modules/gantt-chart): Plan projects and construction jobs with dependencies and a baseline - [Projects and construction](https://attendo.me/en/modules/projects): Jobs and plant shutdowns with line items, progress and live cost - [Scheduling and calendar](https://attendo.me/en/modules/calendar): The team’s schedule, based on each person’s real working hours - [Time tracking](https://attendo.me/en/modules/time-tracking): Time per document and working time records, where work happens - [Appointments and online booking](https://attendo.me/en/modules/online-booking): Appointments your agent proposes or customers book, on the real schedule ### Industries that use these modules - [Energy and renewables](https://attendo.me/en/industries/energy-renewables) - [Contractors, construction and engineering](https://attendo.me/en/industries/contractors) - [Consulting and professional services](https://attendo.me/en/industries/professional-services) - [HVAC and refrigeration](https://attendo.me/en/industries/hvac) - [And any other business](https://attendo.me/en/industries) ## Related terms Projects ### Gantt chart Project timeline · schedule chart A Gantt chart is a project schedule drawn as bars: each task takes one row, and its bar starts and ends on its planned dates. Projects ### Timesheet Time entries · project time tracking A timesheet is the record of the time each person spends on each project, task or customer, used to know what each job costs and what is billable. Projects ### Task dependencies Finish-to-start · predecessors Task dependencies are the rules that tie the start or finish of one task to another, such as painting not starting until the plaster has dried. ### On the blog #### Project baseline: spot the drift while you can still fix it Almost every project drifts. The problem is finding out at the wrap-up meeting, when there is nothing left to fix. A baseline lets you see it in week two, not in the final week. 4 min read #### How to track time on projects without your team hating it Asking a team to log their hours usually sounds like surveillance. And when it happens on Friday, from memory, the data is useless. It can be done in a way that costs little and pays off, including for the people logging. 4 min read [See all 53 glossary terms](https://attendo.me/en/glossary) ## Shall we look at it with your data? We will show you how what you just read works in attendo, with your own assets, tickets and customers. If it is not a fit, we will tell you. - With your operation, not a generic demo - A real person from our team replies - No cold calls afterwards Would you rather talk first? - Phone [+34 910 053 530](tel:+34910053530) - Email [sales@attendo.me](mailto:sales@attendo.me) - Monday to Thursday 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Friday 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Spain time)