Get Accurate Capacity and Utilization Reporting in WorkBook

By Tangram, a Deltek WorkBook Partner.

The current COVID-19 crisis is having an impact on agency workloads and revenue. As a result, it has lead agencies to review their numbers. In some cases this has unfortunately, lead to redundancies. In other cases, agencies have been asking staff to reduce their working hours or take unused leave, in a bid to realign the business to the reduction in revenue.

All of these things have an impact on an agency’s ability to take on new work. So knowing your agency’s capacity has never been more important.

To make the necessary changes to an employee’s hours and still get accurate capacity and utilization reporting, requires a considered approach.

In Deltek WorkBook, managing this can be done in numerous ways.

My employee is working fixed days/hours

Updating an employee’s capacity profile is the perfect solution for this scenario.

How to amend a capacity profile in WorkBook:

• In the Resources module > Employee Settings Grid > highlight the employee you wish to make the changes to
• Open the Employee Card > go to Settings > Capacity Profile
• Amend the Capacity Profile by duplicating the previous one and changing the capacity start date accordingly
• Amend the hours as required and click apply

In the example above, Steven is no longer working Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Steven’s reduced capacity is also reflected in the scheduling views.

What if my employee is working different days each week?

Don’t worry, if the days or hours an employee is working change depending on agency workload, WorkBook has a solution for this as well. Actually, WorkBook has three methods for managing capacity when an employee is working flexible days or hours. So, you are spoiled for choice.

Each method will:

• Show an up-to-date capacity for each employee
• Reflect accurate scheduling views
• Show accurate utilization in report 323 Employee Profitability

We’ve outlined each method below so, you can make an informed decision about which approach will work best for your agency.

1. Manage capacity via an unpaid leave absence entry

This is the only method which does not require a change to an employee’s capacity profile. Instead, you ask the employee to create an unpaid leave entry for the days/hours they will not be working.

Good for:

• Staff are able to manage the days and hours they’re working
• An approval process can be put in place if needed
• Capacity will reflect normal, contracted hours and non-working time will be shown as leave in report 323

Instructions on how to manage capacity using an unpaid leave absence entry can be found here.

2. Manage capacity using an exception profile

This method allows you to create a capacity profile that is flexible. For example, one week an employee may have Friday off the next week it could be Monday.

Good for:

• Most accurate working hours per day while, also reducing capacity
• Applying the same capacity profile to multiple employees at the same time
• Capacity will reflect new, reduced working hours in report 323

Instructions on how to manage capacity using an exception profile can be found here.

3. Manage capacity by totaling hours per week

This method focuses on the number of hours an employee is expected to work each week, rather than the days of the week. The hours are spread evenly over the week and it’s up to project or resource managers to under/over schedule accordingly and communicate with staff on expectations.

Good for:

• Reducing administration
• Accountability is on project and resource managers to manage schedules and team hours
• Capacity will reflect new, reduced working hours in report 323

Instructions on how to manage capacity by totaling hours per week can be found here.

Remember: whichever method you use, previously scheduled tasks may need to be moved to accommodate the changes to employees’ hours or days of work.

Once you have setup your method correctly, accurate capacity and utilization reporting will be available for your agency.

This article is courtesy of our partner, Tangram. The original post can be found here.

About Tangram

TANGRAM works with Marketing & Communications businesses of all sizes across the globe on optimization projects focused on the end-to-end implementation of enterprise software, business transformation and change management. For more information, visit bytangram.com.