Author:  Marnel Catlett

Report Explanation - Team Utilization report

Please note - All report examples are based on our Demo data.  Any similarities are purely coincidental.

If you prefer to watch a video explaining how to filter, the section at the end of this article contains the video.

Summary Page

Item 1 is the report name and the last date when the data was updated.

Item 2 shows all the available pages in this report.

Item 3 shows the most used report filters.

Item 4 shows the filter pane with many more filtering options. (Click on the arrow to expand)

The gauges represented by numbers 6,7 and 8 shows the overall percentage captured against Utilization, Realization and Billable Utilization for the selected team/s.

See the Terminology glossary further down in this document.

The charts below, numbered 8, 9 and 10 shows the trending over the last 12 months, with the line charts showing us the target and the % achieved against the staff available hours.  The targets can be set for each of Utilized, Billable and Realized hours and against each team.   One team may need to be 100% utilized (like sales) and another may be only 80% utilized (like a service desk who does hardware configurations)

KPI Table shows other relevant KPI figures.

Staff by month - Graphical representation of staffing numbers over the last 12 months.

Comparison Page

As previously mentioned, the page name is displayed directly under the report name. 

The comparison page is useful to compare the data capture statistics between different teams and even team members.  Use the page / report or detailed filters to create the views that is most useful to you.  As per instructions on the Basic Navigation documentation, Filtering at graphical level (point 3) will not change or retain filters across pages.  To achieve a report wide filter (where available), use the report filters in the header section as indicated by point 2.  Other useful information on the page reflects the filter criteria selected (e.g., Staff numbers under the filter (Item 2))

By using this report to compare a user’s performance over time we are easily able to gauge the effectiveness of our coaching efforts.   We can further use this data to drive improvement and standardization efforts.

It is also possible to “drill” into specific information.  Right click on the area that you wish to drill down on.  Then select the criteria.  You can then explore the data.

This function is a great way to analyze the underlying data of this table to understand the capturing habits of individuals and teams.

From this example you can see that our Technician has booked Annual Leave against a service request.  This information is captured incorrectly but we are now able to coach this person on the correct process and take corrective action.

Similarly, we can easily analyze other areas of the data like “Do not bill”, “Billable” etc.

This drill through also shows many other useful columns, including a link to view the ticket in ConnectWise Manage. 

Further Filtering is available from the filter pane on the right of the screen as explained in page 1 (Point 4)  

The drilldown functionality enables us to hone in on opportunities with regards to “Do not bill” and “No Charge” time entries which may have been billable in the first place but captured incorrectly.

When you are ready to return to the main screen, simply click on the big left arrow to return to the main page.

The easiest way to learn how to navigate within this report is to click through and explore the various options.  There is a lot of information, and you will find that in no time you will be able to find everything you need to have meaningful conversations to increase efficiency, accuracy and capturing compliance.

Users are more likely to work towards improvement when they can visualize the areas where improvement is required and how non-adherence affects the team and the business as a whole.  By filtering and sharing this information with your team you are enabling performance improvement.  Use this report to share insights quickly so that you can focus more of your time on your other priorities.  Knowledge is power.   Let the report work for you.  

Comparison Page (Dates)

The comparison page (Dates) is useful to look for information for a specific date range.  The same information as per the previous page is displayed but this one is designed to make it easy to find only data for the period you are interested in.  The drilldown functionality is also replicated here.  Simply complete the start and end date (You can type it in or use the calendar picker) Indicated as item 1 below or use the slider control (item 2 below) to adjust your date range.

Compare Periods

The Compare periods page allows us to compare one reporting period against another.  This is a very useful way to analyze performance over two quarters or any other period of comparison.  This comparison is a powerful way to demonstrate the effectiveness of coaching, training, and remedial activities. 

Further to this, all the filters and drilldown functionality is available, as per the previous pages.  To use the filters, simply complete the start and end dates (You can type it in or use the calendar picker or use the slider control to adjust your date ranges.  Item 1 is the date range control for the first period and Item 2 is the date range control for the second period.

Note:  the staff numbers reflect the number of staff for the selected period

By comparing one period against another you are now able to show performance changes from one period to the next. This is particularly helpful to drive behavioral changes.

Compare Teams (Aggregated by the selected team for the specified periods)

The Compare Teams replicates the Compare periods page but aggregates the data to the team or teams selected.  This also gives us insight as to master data inaccuracies, for example, we have 5,310 hours showing available under “unknown” with no Utilization which will create inconsistent views.  This is an opportunity to correct/update the master data to add these employees into the correct teams.

The reporting & Insights are driven from the data.  While the data is inaccurate the reporting loses its effectiveness, making you work harder to understand the current situation and hinders your ability to act on the insights.

If you have multiple teams across multiple locations (office locations) then you can select those from the dropdown to quickly view one team’s statistics against another.

Please note that this must be maintained for the data to be useful.  If your team master data is not maintained as separate teams from one location to the next, then this feature won’t be any more helpful than other similar pages on this report.

Non-Billable time

A powerful page in the report allows us to look at all the time that was captured as non-billable.  This ensures that any capturing errors can be addressed quickly to ensure that appropriate billing has been applied.

The company’s revenue could suffer tremendously when billing is not completed.  By catching errors early we optimize revenue.

Daily Time Span

This is the go-to page for those who wish to analyze team effectiveness.  This report makes it easy to see the start and end time of data entries over the period selected.  From this we can see the hours per week that a person has logged, their start time each day as well as their end time each day.

This is particularly helpful to monitor across all team members regardless of their workday structure.  For instance, we have an employee that does a split shift – the first half starts at 4am until 7am with the second shift from 2pm until 6pm. We can compare their available time against the time booked.  That means if this employee booked 32 hours for the week, but they had an availability of 40 hours we have visibility of the behavior and we can address any concerns straight away (Increasing efficiency)

In companies there are sometimes a mismatch between allocated work from one individual to another.  With the pandemic it has become even more important for employees to work effectively while considering their time spent working (it’s easy to forget to stop working when you are not thinking about traffic etc).

By using this page of the report you can see the effective hours for each employee to ensure that the workload is spread across the team and that no single user is picking up the lion’s share of the work.   Productivity will increase as well as employee satisfaction.

The first thing to note is that the data is always aggregated by week, starting from the Monday of that week, regardless of the selection from the report filter at the top of the page. 

This is quite a useful page for performance management so we will spend a little more time explaining the benefits of this report.

On this page, Item 1 shows the report filters.  Any changes made to this filter also updates the other pages on this report.

Based on our selection of all teams and all technicians, Item 2 shows the total daily span and total Labor Hours by week for each team and individual.

Item 3 shows us the data for all teams and all team members (Based on our selection criteria)

Item 4 is a graphical representation of the hours logged in each department, sorted from the highest to the lowest.  There are also clearly opportunities to improve our data accuracy as there are a lot of entries listed under “unknown”.

Item 5 shows the average Daily span by team (based on our selection) and is also sorted from highest to lowest.

Again, based on our selection in step 1, we finally have a line chart that shows us the weekly average for users over the last 6 months.

 You can now use this information in conjunction with the “comparison” data to help guide conversations with staff and for planning and optimizing efficiency.

This helps you to answer some of the following questions.

*If a technician’s Labor hours are low against span hours, it is a good idea to see where their time is being utilized.  Are they in a lot of internal meetings, or capturing non-billable work etc.  Look into Comparison to see what is going on with their time.

The factors contributing to low output may not be immediately obvious from a single report.  By using the drill down function in the various report pages we can get a full understanding of an employees work methods and are then able to take corrective actions where required.

Daily Chart

This graphical representation of time entries is useful to view capturing information at a high level while giving you the ability to drill down into specifics.

At the highest level, we get the breakdown of Utilized, Realized, Billable Utilized, Do not Bill and No Charge.

This is then broken down by day but grouped by week for the date range selected.

Item 1 shows the average Hours per day for each of Utilized, Realized, Billable Utilized, Do not Bill and No Charge. 

Item 2 shows the week starting date and the graph to the right shows the day by day hours based on the report period selected.

Non-Business Hours

This page contains information of all Realized time that occurred outside of core business hours.

In the current time with the global pandemic, it is commonplace for employees to work a little more flexible which may mean work being undertaken outside of core business hours.  By understanding an employee’s cadence, we are able to better support our employees while being able to address any concerns when they arise.

You can use the drill down functionality to get further information.

An informed decision is now possible with regards to time entry standard adherence and % of work utilized, realized and other key metrics.

Report Information

Our reports contain an “Information” page to help navigate the report terminology.

Video instructions

The video below will guide you through the team utilization report in just a few minutes. If you prefer to learn step by step, the instructions above will guide you through each page of the report.

Please contact support@cognition360.com for further support.