The One Data Point That Changed Everything

We thought we had it figured out. Forecasts were solid. Project plans looked good. Tasks were broken down. People were assigned. And yet, we were still missing deadlines. Projects were slipping. Clients were getting frustrated. And no one could really explain why.

That changed the moment we added one simple thing to our system: live, per-person availability. Not estimated capacity. Not static weekly planning. But real-time, hour-by-hour visibility into who was actually available to do billable work.

Once we integrated live availability, accounting for PTO, internal projects, dispensations, client support, and non-billable responsibilities, everything clicked. We weren’t just assigning people based on rough capacity anymore. We were resourcing based on real, adjusted availability. And the difference was night and day.

Previously, someone might’ve been planned to work 4 hours a day on a project, but never hit it. Why? Because they weren’t really available for 4 hours. They had internal responsibilities, a half-day off, or unexpected team obligations that weren’t accounted for. Once we made that visible live, in our system, our planning started making sense.

We went from guessing to knowing.

We learned that monthly and even weekly forecasting is too broad. Teams work in daily rhythms. People’s time flexes constantly. If you're not updating your visibility daily, you're behind and probably frustrating your team without even realizing it.

This one change had ripple effects we didn’t expect:

• Project timelines got tighter and more accurate.

• Employee satisfaction improved. No one was being overbooked or burned out.

• Client confidence increased. They saw things running smoother.

• Utilization went up. Not because we pushed harder, but because we planned smarter.

• Our resourcing team finally had the full picture.

We could slice data by role, team, pod, department and understand why we were missing targets, why certain teams were overwhelmed, or why other groups had bench time. We saw the bottlenecks. We saw the gaps. And we could actually do something about them.

It made us better not just at resourcing but at delivery, at scoping, at hiring, at client communication.

The truth is, without accurate and live availability data, your entire operational model is built on hope. Hope that people are free when you think they are. Hope that capacity is there when the work lands. Hope that teams are being used efficiently.

Hope is not a strategy.

Real-time availability changed that for us. And it can change it for any team running hours-based services.

It wasn’t just a tactical improvement. It was a strategic unlock.

Because once you give your people visibility into reality and build your systems around what’s actually true today, you start planning for the real world, not a spreadsheet fantasy.

If you want a healthier team and happier clients, this is where you start.

Richard