Calculate how much work a remote employee or team can sustainably handle after meetings, administration, communication, breaks, interruptions, and focus efficiency. Compare demand with capacity and estimate additional staffing needs.
The main result is sustainable weekly capacity after non-production time, interruptions, focus loss, and a safe utilization allowance. It is lower than contracted hours by design.
Do not treat temporary overtime as permanent capacity. Long-term plans should use sustainable capacity rather than peak output.
Five team members working 40 hours provide 200 gross hours. After 50 non-production hours, 15% interruption loss, and 85% focus efficiency, effective capacity is 108.38 hours. At an 80% sustainable utilization target, capacity is about 86.70 hours.
Divide sustainable weekly capacity by the average number of hours required per task. Use actual task completion data when possible.
Start with contracted hours, subtract meetings and other non-production work, then adjust for interruptions, focus efficiency, and a sustainable utilization target.
Divide the workload shortfall by the effective sustainable capacity of one employee and round up when a whole-person staffing decision is required.
A range around 70% to 85% is generally sustainable because it leaves room for unexpected work, collaboration, and variation in task estimates.
Meeting loss is the total team time spent in meetings. Interruption loss is the remaining available time multiplied by the interruption rate.
| Module | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Gross Capacity | Contracted hours across the team |
| Effective Capacity | Hours remaining after operational losses |
| Sustainable Capacity | Capacity suitable for long-term planning |
| Task Capacity | Estimated tasks completed per week |
| Additional FTE | Staffing required to close a shortfall |