Right Time, Right Work: Reshaping Utilization for Modern Teams

At a Glance

Issue

A professional services firm dependent on time-and-materials revenue needed clear, fair utilization expectations across roles, creating financial risk without shared accountability.

Response

Designed a utilization framework grounded in financial reality, achievable capacity, and transparent communication, explicitly avoiding rigid billable-hour mandates.

Outcome

Leadership gained real-time visibility into staffing and performance, team trust increased, and the firm met or exceeded utilization targets for ten consecutive months.

Bigger Picture

Demonstrates how operational systems can reinforce both financial discipline and company values when organizations outgrow informal expectations.

• CHALLENGE

  The client generates a significant portion of its revenue through time-and-materials contracts, making staff utilization a critical driver of financial performance. However, there were no established targets or systems for setting and tracking utilization rates across roles. Leadership recognized that industry norms such as rigid monthly billable-hour mandates are often unrealistic, unfair, and harmful to morale. They were committed to building a system that balanced financial responsibility with fairness, individual accountability, and alignment with company values.

  • No baseline utilization targets or definitions across roles

  • No existing systems for tracking or communicating performance

  • Desire to hold team members accountable while avoiding stress-inducing or demoralizing practices

  • Need to distinguish between availability for billable work and actual billed hours

• APPROACH

  I led the development of a utilization system rooted in financial realism, transparency, and team-wide alignment:

  • Conducted a capacity planning analysis to triangulate organizational billable needs, realistic overhead demands, and financial health metrics

  • Developed role-specific target utilization rates grounded in achievable hours, not idealized percentages

  • Framed targets as availability for billable work, recognizing when underutilization is systemic, not individual

  • Designed and led a company-wide communication rollout that positioned utilization as a fair and essential requirement, with transparency and empathy

  • Built internal dashboards and reporting tools for leadership visibility

  • Implemented an automated monthly email system to keep individual team members informed about their status

• OUTCOMES

  The new framework delivered measurable results while reinforcing trust and accountability across the organization.

  • Successfully rolled out a utilization accountability system that was both operationally effective and culturally aligned

  • Team members embraced the clarity and fairness of the new expectations

  • Leadership gained real-time insight into performance and staffing risks

  • The company met or exceeded its firm-wide utilization targets for ten consecutive months after implementation