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Capacity Planning
Capacity planning helps you schedule the right amount of work for your team - not too much, not too little.
Understanding Capacity
Raw Capacity
The total hours your team is rostered to work.
Example: 3 team members, each with 6 hours capacity = 18 hours raw capacity
Effective Capacity
Raw capacity minus overhead for non-billable work:
- Travel between visits
- Team coordination
- Equipment setup/breakdown
- Admin and paperwork
Example: 18 hours raw - 15% overhead = 15.3 hours effective capacity
Overhead Percentage
Default overhead is 15%. Adjust in Settings → Company → Operations based on your experience.
Available Capacity
Effective capacity minus already scheduled visits:
Available = Effective Capacity - Scheduled Visit TimeExample: 15.3 hours effective - 12 hours scheduled = 3.3 hours available
Viewing Capacity
On the Schedule
The schedule header displays capacity at a glance for each day:
Format: 5h 45m of 7h 36m
- First number = scheduled visit time (booked)
- Second number = team capacity (from roster)
Hover for details: Hold your cursor over the capacity indicator to see:
- Scheduled - Total time booked for visits
- Capacity - Total team availability from roster
- Remaining - Available time left to schedule
- Utilization - Percentage of capacity used
Color coding:
| Color | Utilization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Grey | 0% | No visits scheduled |
| Green | 1-74% | Plenty of availability |
| Yellow | 75-89% | Getting busy |
| Orange | 90-99% | Nearly full |
| Red | 100%+ | At or over capacity |
No Capacity Shown?
If you only see scheduled time without "of X hrs", no roster entries exist for that day. Add team members to the roster to enable capacity tracking.
Daily Capacity View
Shows capacity for a specific day:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Raw Capacity | 18 hrs |
| Overhead (15%) | -2.7 hrs |
| Effective Capacity | 15.3 hrs |
| Scheduled Visits | -12 hrs |
| Available | 3.3 hrs |
Weekly Capacity View
Shows capacity across the week with daily breakdown:
| Day | Effective | Scheduled | Available | Utilisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 15.3 hrs | 12 hrs | 3.3 hrs | 78% |
| Tuesday | 15.3 hrs | 14 hrs | 1.3 hrs | 92% |
| Wednesday | 10.2 hrs | 11 hrs | -0.8 hrs | 108% |
| Thursday | 15.3 hrs | 8 hrs | 7.3 hrs | 52% |
| Friday | 15.3 hrs | 15 hrs | 0.3 hrs | 98% |
Capacity Indicators
Utilisation Levels
| Range | Status | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0-60% | Under-utilised | Opportunity for more work |
| 60-85% | Optimal | Good balance |
| 85-100% | Near capacity | Limited availability |
| >100% | Over capacity | Risk of delays or overtime |
Visual Indicators
- Green - Available capacity, good for scheduling
- Yellow - Near capacity, schedule carefully
- Red - Over capacity, review before adding more
Using Capacity in Scheduling
When Creating Visits
YardPilot shows available capacity for each day:
- Select the date for a visit
- See available capacity displayed
- Green = safe to schedule, Red = review needed
Scheduling Suggestions
The system can suggest optimal days:
- Enter visit budget (expected time)
- YardPilot highlights days with sufficient capacity
- Choose the best fit
Over-Scheduling
You can still schedule beyond capacity, but you'll see a warning. This might be intentional (overtime planned) or might need adjustment.
Team Capacity
By Team
View capacity per team:
- Useful for routing (different teams cover different areas)
- Helps balance workload across teams
By Skill
Some visits require specific skills:
- Pool maintenance (certified)
- Tree work (licensed)
Filter capacity by skill to see qualified availability.
Capacity Reports
Weekly Summary
Shows weekly capacity metrics:
- Total available hours
- Total scheduled hours
- Utilisation percentage
- Trend vs previous week
Forecasting
Project capacity for upcoming weeks:
- Based on roster patterns
- Accounts for known leave
- Identifies capacity gaps
Adjusting Capacity
Add Capacity
Options when you need more capacity:
- Add team members to roster
- Extend hours for existing team
- Schedule overtime (flagged separately)
Reduce Scheduled Work
When over capacity:
- Move visits to other days
- Reassign to other teams
- Extend visit dates if client agrees
Best Practices
- Target 75-85% utilisation - Leaves buffer for emergencies
- Review weekly - Catch imbalances early
- Plan ahead - Schedule 2+ weeks out when possible
- Track actual vs planned - Refine your overhead estimate
Integrations
P4P (Pay for Performance)
Capacity data feeds into P4P calculations:
- Scheduled capacity = baseline
- Actual time = measured
- Efficiency = budget / actual
Payroll
Rostered capacity informs expected payroll:
- Expected hours from roster
- Actual hours from timesheets
- Variance reporting
Next Steps
- Weather Adjustments - Handle schedule disruptions
- Time Tracking - Record actual hours
