Bench
GeneralThe people who still have uncommitted time in a planning period and can be assigned to work. In a services firm, being on the bench means being available rather than billable.
Why it matters
Bench time is paid time that earns nothing, so knowing who is free, and how free, is the first step to filling a staffing gap from inside the team instead of hiring or subcontracting. A growing bench is also an early sign that sales is not keeping pace with capacity.
Worked example
Planning September, a resource manager sorts the bench by Most free and sees a developer at 60% free on average. Before booking her for three weeks, the manager checks the individual weeks, because an average can hide a week that is already full.
In Flowtly
On the Resourcing page the bench is a strip along the bottom listing everyone with room in the period on screen, each shown with their average free share of their own contract. Dragging a person onto a role creates a draft booking.
Related terms
In the knowledge base
See it live in Flowtly
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