Concepts

Workload

A team member's assigned work, including all tasks, projects, and responsibilities allocated to them. Workload represents the total amount of work planned for an individual across all their active projects and commitments.

Availability

A team member's available working time, which can be defined as:

• Hours per week/day: Specific number of hours available for work
• Employment type: Full-time, part-time, contractor, or freelancer status
• Schedule constraints: Time zones, working days, or specific availability windows
• Capacity: Maximum workload a team member can handle effectively

Actual Hours

The real time spent working on a project or task, as opposed to estimated or planned hours. Actual hours are tracked to:

• Compare against initial estimates
• Improve future project planning
• Calculate accurate project costs
• Measure team productivity and efficiency

Projects

Client work initiatives with defined scope, timeline, and deliverables. Projects are the primary work units that consume team member availability and generate billable and/or non-billable hours.

Clients

Organizations or individuals who engage your agency for services. Client management includes tracking their projects, budget, communication preferences, and overall relationship status.

Team

Your organization's workforce, including:

• Full-time employees: Permanent staff members
• Part-time employees: Staff with reduced hour commitments
• Freelancers: Independent contractors hired for specific projects

Capacity Planning

The strategic process of determining how much work your team can handle based on available resources, skills, and time constraints. This helps answer questions like "Can we take on this new project?" and "Do we need to hire more people?"

Resource Allocation

The assignment of team members to specific projects and tasks based on their skills, availability, and project requirements. Effective resource allocation ensures optimal use of your team's time and expertise.

Workload Balance

The distribution of work across a team member's available time, focusing on sustainable and healthy work patterns. This metric helps identify:

• Team members with excessive workload
• Team members with capacity for additional work
• Opportunities to redistribute work more evenly

Billable Hours

Time spent on client work that can be charged to the client. This is a subset of actual hours and directly impacts revenue generation.

Non-billable Hours

Time spent on non-billable work, such as internal meetings, training, or other non-client-facing activities. Non-billable hours are not included in the utilization rate calculation.