Plan with utilisation and availability
- Who
- Owners and Admins set it up; managers see and record absence for their people
- Working week
- Team/Org › Settings › Team Settings
- Project time from
- Team Builder, Jira and Tempo, Business Central or a custom source
- Absence from
- HR systems (dates and percentages only), managers, Admins or the API
MuchSkills shows who is busy and who has time, next to who has the skills. Utilisation comes from project time, planned in Team Builder or synced from Jira and Tempo, Dynamics 365 Business Central or your own planning tool. Absence comes from your HR system or is entered by an Owner or Admin. This guide shows how to set it up and use it when you plan.
How it works
MuchSkills combines three things to show who has time:
Utilisation is the share of a person's working week that is planned on projects. Availability is what is left after projects and absence.
| What | Where it comes from | Who sets it up |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | One working week for everyone, in Team Settings, with changes per person where needed | An Owner or Admin |
| Project time | Planned by hand in Team Builder | Whoever builds the team |
| Synced from Jira and Tempo: Tempo plans become planned time | An Owner or Admin, in Settings › Integrations | |
| Synced from Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | Set up with us, as part of your implementation | |
| Read from your own planning or PSA tool, through a custom utilisation source | Set up with us, as part of your implementation | |
| Absence | Synced from your HR system as dates and percentages only | Through your HR connector |
| Added by managers in My Circle, or by Admins in Manage Members | Managers and Admins | |
| Sent to the MuchSkills API | Your technical team |
You then see utilisation and availability wherever you plan: candidates in Team Builder, cards in Discover, your people in My Circle, and the utilisation reports in Team/Org › Reports.
Before you start
- Decide your standard week, for example 37.5 hours over 5 days. It is what 100% means.
- Choose one source per project. A project planned in Tempo should not also be planned by hand in Team Builder.
- Choose one source for absence. If your HR system syncs absence, let it be the only source for leave.
Steps
Set the working week
- Set the team default. Go to Team/Org › Settings › Team Settings. Under UTILISATION DEFINITIONS FOR YOUR TEAM, enter the hours per week that equal 100% utilisation, and the days in your Work week.
Utilisation definitions in Team Settings.
- Change it for individuals. For part-time staff or different contracts, open the person in Team/Org › Settings › Manage Members and go to utilisation & availability. Change their hours and days. Click reset to team default to undo.
Bring in project time
- Plan time in Team Builder. When you add someone to a team, set their utilisation for the project period under Add utilisation %. See Build a project team in Team Builder.
- Or connect your planning tool. Connect Jira and Tempo yourself in Team/Org › Settings › Integrations. For Business Central or another tool, contact us and we set it up with you. Synced teams show Utilisation values coming from the source system, and the time is changed there.
Record absence
- Let your HR system send it. If your HR connector syncs absence, it arrives as dates and percentages, with no reasons. Nothing more to do.
- Or add it by hand, if you have no HR system sync. A manager opens the person in My Circle and opens their edit panel; an Owner or Admin can also open anyone in Team/Org › Settings › Manage Members. Go to the utilisation & availability tab and click Add unavailability. Enter the Start date and End date, the Percentage unavailable (100 for a full absence, less for part of the day) and a short Reason for unavailability. Keep the reason general and never enter health details.
- Let managers keep it current. Managers see their people's unavailability in My Circle and can add or change it on the same utilisation & availability tab. Plan around absence and holidays has the step-by-step.
Use it when you plan
- Find people with time. In Team/Org › Discover, filter on AVAILABILITY for the months you need, and set a minimum Avg. Daily Availability. See Find people fast with Discover.
- Check before you staff. In Team Builder, sort suggested people by Utilisation, and check each person's average utilisation for the project period before you add them.
- Watch the whole picture. In Team/Org › Reports › Utilisation, see people and projects over time, past, present and future. By Availability shows who has room in the next three months. See Utilisation reports.
Check it worked
- A person's card in Discover shows their hours per week and days per week, and their availability per month.
- People on a project show planned time in the team's Team Utilisation tab.
- Absence shows as red periods in the utilisation reports and on the person's timeline.
Tips
- Plan ahead. Utilisation for the next three months tells you who is rolling off and who will be free when a new project starts.
- Keep drafts in mind. Time planned on draft teams shows as draft utilisation, so you can test a staffing plan before you launch it.
- Look for over-booking. Anyone above 100% is a risk to delivery and to their wellbeing. Rebalance early.
- Partial absence counts. A training day or parental leave at 20% reduces availability without blocking the person completely.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone shows 0% utilisation | No project time has reached MuchSkills | Plan time in Team Builder, or check that your planning tool is connected and syncing |
| Utilisation looks too high for part-time staff | They use the team's standard week | Change their hours and days in utilisation & availability |
| An absence cannot be edited | It came from your HR system | Change it in the HR system; it updates at the next sync |
| You cannot assign time for yourself | You cannot add unavailability for yourself | Ask your manager or an admin to add it |
| Please enter a valid utilisation from 0 to 100 | The percentage is outside 0 to 100 | Enter a number from 0 to 100 |
| Absence appears twice | Two sources send the same absence | Keep one source, for example the HR system |
| A synced team shows Error syncing utilisation data with Jira and Tempo | The connection to Jira or Tempo has stopped | An Owner or Admin checks the connector in Settings › Integrations |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between utilisation and availability?
Utilisation is how much of a person's working time is planned on projects, as a percentage of their working week. Availability is the time they have left after projects and absence. Someone at 60% utilisation with no absence has 40% of their week available.
Where does utilisation come from?
From project time. You plan it in Team Builder, or it comes from Jira with Tempo, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or your own planning tool through a custom set-up. MuchSkills calculates utilisation from that time and each person's working week.
Does MuchSkills import the reason for an absence from our HR system?
No. Absence from HR systems arrives as dates and percentages only. Reasons are never imported. When a manager or admin adds unavailability by hand, keep the reason general, such as Vacation or Training, and never enter health details.
Can I change an absence that came from our HR system?
No. Absence synced from an HR system is shown with the system's icon and can only be changed in that system. The change reaches MuchSkills at the next sync.
Someone works part time. How do I show that?
Open the person in Team/Org › Settings › Manage Members, go to utilisation & availability and change their hours per week and days per week. Click reset to team default to go back to the standard week.
What happens when someone is planned above 100%?
MuchSkills still records it. In Team Builder and the utilisation reports, the part above 100% is highlighted, so you can spot over-booked people and move work before it becomes a problem.
Who can see absence details?
A manager sees and can add unavailability for the people who report to them. Owners, Admins and Analysts see it for everyone, and Owners and Admins can add it for anyone.
Can we send absence through the API?
Yes. PUT /api/v2/profile/{email}/pto replaces all of a person's absences each time. When an HR integration manages absence, the API does not overwrite it. Send absence from one source only.