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Effective project management relies not only on having talented resources but also on how you use those resources efficiently. Resource utilisation is how effectively you allocate your people, tools, and time so the projects you deliver are successful, without burnout, waste, or missed deadlines. In a 2025 survey by Runn, 60% of organisations want to improve resource utilisation and productivity, but only 47% say they have reliable data on resource usage to make informed planning decisions.
In this article, you will learn about resource utilisation, will dive into what it is, why it’s important, the intention of resource utilisation, examples of resource utilisation, and the factors that can be measured and tracked to calculate resource utilisation, as well as practical ways in which you can improve resource utilisation. By the time you finish reading, you will have a clear plan to maximise efficiency through adequate resource utilisation. You will also see how proper resource utilisation allows for better decision-making and reduces the problems seen when work is not allocated well.
Resource utilisation is a key focus of project management because it drives effective resource planning and prevents unproductive use. Resource utilisation benefits your organisation by focusing on productivity and employee happiness while helping to mitigate costs and improve project outcomes.
With the right metrics, methods of calculation, and optimisation strategies, you can monitor utilisation, break bottlenecks, and project staffing levels. Resources can be individual employee hours, tools, or equipment, but optimised use of a resource to meet project outcomes is optimal use that improves productivity.
In project management, resource utilisation is the practice of measuring and managing how efficiently people, time, and tools are leveraged to help reach project objectives. It helps manage work within a decent balance, reduce waste, while maximising productivity on all tasks and resources. Resource utilisation allows project managers to see whether resources are overused, underutilised, or just right to meet project needs, and are being adequately matched with time.
The purpose behind resource utilisation is to give an organisation the ability to see how the resources are utilised and to control those resources. If utilisation is not tracked properly, organisations put themselves at risk for wasted hours, delayed projects, and increased costs. Understanding utilisation rates allows managers to estimate capacity demands, balance workloads across insufficient resources, and ensure fairness in allocating workloads.
Resource utilisation can occur and be measured across different industries and applications. Here are some examples to demonstrate the application of resource utilisation:
If a software developer is allocated to a coding effort for 30 hours in a 40-hour work week, for example, the developer is at a 75% resource utilisation level. This number indicates productivity at the developer level but is not overly demanding on the developer.
If for a construction project the crane is either engaged or utilised for 5 out of the 7 days it is available, then the crane is listed at a 71% utilisation. If utilised, this number will determine whether equipment is being used to its maximum potential.
A member of the marketing team can report using 20 hours for social media campaigns and 15 hours for email marketing in one week. Allocation tracking can provide insight to balance a member's workload.
In the service industry, such as a consulting organisation, allocation is often regarding billable hours and internal hours. If a consultant submitted an allocation report with 30 billable hours associated with the projects and 10 hours attributed to internal work, this consultant would have a utilisation rate of 75%.
In the IT services industry, a member of the team can report that their time might be split between two projects. Allocation provides transparency regarding a member's work commitment, and a measure of whether the committed hours meet or exceed planned total hours available; it flags concern if the deadlines are realistic.
These metrics will give the managers the information needed to make sure resources are not overused, underused, or lead to inefficiencies. If tracked on an ongoing basis, tracking metrics will lead to balanced workloads, increased productivity, and timeliness to project completion .
The utilisation rate measures the proportion of an asset's available time that is spent on productive work. A higher utilisation rate indicates that an asset is being qualitatively used, while a very high utilisation rate may indicate impending burnout. It helps fairly allocate workloads.
Monitoring billable and non-billable hours allows you to track the amount of employee time that contributes directly to revenue. This metric helps you understand how your resources are allocated so that your employees can focus on sales-generating projects while also addressing their internal or non-revenue-generating tasks.
Capacity and demand are the measures of the total capacity of resources concerning the actual demand of tasks. It provides visual insight into instances of potential over-allocation of resources or gaps in utilisation. This promotes better, more realistic assignment of workload, and can alleviate project delays.
Managers can see discrepancies when they compare planned usage of resources to actual usage. They will be able to confirm that the schedules are realistic and can help in adjusting the planning for the next project even more accurately.
Resource availability indicates when resources are available as opposed to already assigned or working on tasks. It helps prevent conflicts of commitment or availability, and ensures the right resources, whether people or equipment, are available when you need them the most.
Project managers can calculate resource utilisation with a basic equation to track the amount of time a resource's available time is spent productively. This information is important to see if resources are being used efficiently without overworking some resources or allowing others to be underutilised. With a few simple steps, a project manager can easily track utilisation and apply the results to improve the planning process.
Resource Utilization = (Actual Hours Worked ÷ Total Available Hours) × 100
The formula tells you the number of hours spent productively on tasks as a percentage.
Begin by determining the total working hours for a resource. For example, if an employee works 40 hours a week, the available time is 40 hours.
Track actual hours worked on productive project work. For example, if the employee worked 30 hours on tasks, this will be the actual hours worked.
Now, plug in the numbers: (30 ÷ 40) × 100 = 75%
This means the employee’s utilisation rate is 75%.
A utilisation rate of 75% means the employee is being utilised as efficiently as possible, but still has some buffer. If utilisation increases to above 90%, that may lead to burnout , whereas below 50% indicates likely underutilization.
To improve usage is not simply about adding a new workload; it's about finding equilibrium, efficiency, and effectiveness in the long term. Here’s how organisations can improve their utilisation:
Determine your project goals and work towards completing them with your resources. In this way, you are making sure that resources are always spent on the most important item (as best as possible), instead of feeling like they are all over the place.
Use software tools like Time Champ that increase the visibility of workloads/resources/availability/utilisation documentation. These resources can help you have better reallocation of places to work and avoid bottlenecks.
Take time to understand your resourcing needs for both your current and next portfolio, so that you do not need to rush to get what you need and to deliver what you have planned to deliver successfully. Anticipating resource needs can also be used to help set priorities and ultimately get the best use of your resources.
Support the team in starting to adapt, even if you set a plan in place. Building flexibility helps keep projects open and helps keep resources engaged. Flexibility allows for movement, for adaptation, and keeps the team from losing engagement during unforeseen challenges.
Don't just look at your utilisation reports. Make a habit of regularly reviewing your utilisation reports. Taking time to reflect upon your utilisation reports and plan for continued improvement will help ensure the plan will work. It is also a time to acknowledge where a team may be bottlenecked and ensure team utilisation becomes optimised
Resource utilisation means ensuring human and equipment resources are being used to their very best potential, not just that they are kept busy. When properly executed, resource utilisation can optimise performance, minimise waste , and improve project results. Some other advantages of resource utilisation include:
With the right resources assigned to the right tasks, teams are able to work effectively and accomplish more in less time, ultimately increasing overall productivity. This also ensures that the work performed is always adding direct value to the project.
With utilisation, this will minimise lost time and prevent unnecessary overallocation, which ultimately lowers costs and saves a valuable resource. Additionally, over time, utilisation will improve financial predictability for projects.
When workloads are levelled and utilisation of resources is efficient, deadlines are met with fewer delays or last-minute interruptions. This creates the potential for more orderly project flow and elevates client satisfaction.
When workloads are distributed in a fair manner, they help prevent the possibility of burnout and stress. Employees will experience a higher degree of employee engagement and employee satisfaction when they can adequately utilise their skills in a meaningful way. Concurrently, this improves retention and long-term team stability.
When a manager has clear visibility into how resources are being consumed, they are able to rely on data to make better allocation and planning decisions. This helps to mitigate risk and prevent any further bottlenecks by being proactive.
Resource utilisation and resource allocation are two closely related concepts, but they have separate functions in project management . Allocation refers to the assigning of resources, while utilisation refers to the checking of how well those resources are being used. Knowing the differences will help teams plan better and lead to success with their projects.
| Aspect | Resource Allocation | Resource Utilization |
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