Utilization
Objective. Define utilization as used time over available hours and distinguish the question it answers from the one attendance answers.
Utilization is the headline efficiency ratio and the one most often quoted without its denominator. It only means something when you can state what time is in the numerator and what hours are in the denominator.
See it in the demo
Definition
Utilization is the share of available working time that was actually used on work - how fully the capacity you had open for the job was put to use. It is a ratio, expressed as a percentage, and its meaning depends entirely on what goes into each side of it.
How it is calculated
At app-logic level: utilization equals used/productive time divided by available hours. Numerator: time used on work (which the customer defines - active time, productive time or logged task time). Denominator: available hours, which is paid time after shrinkage, not scheduled paid hours. Both sides are configurable, so confirm with product exactly what counts as used time and what sits in shrinkage before quoting a utilization figure - do not assume the formula.
How to read it and the common misread
Read utilization as 'was present, available time used?' - a capacity-efficiency question. The key misread is confusing it with attendance: attendance asks whether people were here, utilization asks whether their available time was used, and the two can diverge sharply. A second misread is treating high utilization as high output - it measures time use, not work produced or its quality. Always state the denominator and never let utilization stand in for output.
Where it appears
Utilization appears across Time and Activity dashboards and capacity views, and informs planning in Capacity Planning. Exact numerator and shrinkage definitions are SME-validation-pending; confirm with product.
Interpretation check
Utilization is used time over available hours - a time-use ratio, not attendance and not output; its value is meaningless without stating both sides.
Practical task
For one team in the demo, record utilization and name both the numerator and the available-hours denominator, then write one line on what a high figure here would and would not prove to a customer.
Self-check
Attendance is high but utilization is low. What does that tell you?
People are present but their available time is not being used on work - idle time, waiting, poor task flow or thin demand. Attendance and utilization answer different questions, and this gap is exactly why both are needed.
A customer quotes utilization without saying what the denominator is. Why is that unsafe?
Utilization changes entirely with what counts as used time and what sits in shrinkage. Without the denominator the percentage is not comparable or defensible, so you cannot act on it.
Does high utilization prove the team is producing enough?
No. Utilization measures how fully time was used, not how much good work came out. You need output and quality metrics to answer that; a team can be highly utilised and still under-deliver.
Verified vs demo. Utilization is shown in the Time and Activity demo; the numerator definition and shrinkage in the denominator are configurable and SME-validation-pending - confirm with product.