What is Utilisation used for?

In ControliQ, the planned work to be done is divided into two types of work: Core Task and Diverted Task; see Identifying your team's tasks for an explanation of the work that falls into each of these two categories. Utilisation is a measure of the proportion of time that staff spend carrying out core work, compared to the time they are at work.

In practical terms, the distinction between Core and Diverted Tasks is that Core Tasks are measured in items (and then converted to standard time), whereas Diverted Tasks are only measured in terms of time taken. Sometimes some work, which could reasonably be described as a Core Task, is difficult to count as items and hence is measured only in terms of time taken and is categorised as a Diverted Task. Provided this does not form a large proportion of the workload, this does not present a problem. If, however, a lot of the Workgroup's main activities are placed in the diverted category, then the team will have less control and be less able to plan. Under these circumstances, efforts should be made to convert this diverted work into core work by establishing a unit count.