I need to build a simple model to measure staff utilisation and
recovery rates for a very small start up consulting firm...any ideas
on something
simple on an excel spreadsheet that I can get consultants to use
without having to purchase software?

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Request for Question Clarification by answerguru-ga on 12 Oct 2003 11:25 PDT

Hi there,

Are you thinking of something that would model a timesheet such that
you can analyze "idle time"? Also it would be helpful if you could
describe your interpretation of "recovery rates". In general, the more
details you can provide the better :)

Thanks,
answerguru-ga

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Clarification of Question by amanda67-ga on 13 Oct 2003 04:37 PDT

Yes I want to measure idle time/time spent working on projects and
also at a higher level occupied time versus time available in the
year.  I want to be able to benchmark across a small office of
consultants e.g. you have been utilised 26% of the time this month
compared to target of 65%
Basically I need for consultants to have a simple model..maybe an
excel spreadsheet where they can log their time spent and against time
availalbe I can produce simple utilisation statistics

For recovery rates I was hoping someone more learned than I would be
explaining to me....however I THINK that If I sell a piece of work at
100,000 dollars and I base this on a recovery rate of 50% It is
actually costing me a)50,000 to do the work and I'm making b)50,000
profit.
Figure a) is based on  how much I am selling my consultants x how many
man days.

As I go through the project however the man days may
change...slippage, over achievment etc and subsequently my recovery
rate on the project will change. ALl basic consulting stuff I was
told. I just need a spreadsheet for consultants to enter info and
track the changes on a month by month basis

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Request for Question Clarification by answerguru-ga on 13 Oct 2003 07:53 PDT

I see where you're going with this...the only real way to achieve this
is by tapping into information that would typically be found in
timesheets. Just as a first impression, this sounds like a tedious job
if done in Excel (considering that you are trying to track mutiple
consultants). What I'll do is leave this for another researcher in
case they are able to come up with something for you.

answerguru-ga