Use case · Management & Strategy
Project Management & Team Utilisation
Project management and team utilisation tracking follows every project through your stages, like a product on an assembly line. Each stage has its own lead and tasks, everyone sees the view that fits their role, reminders reach the right person before a deadline slips, and a dashboard shows who has capacity and who is already fully booked.
- Projects tracked, not loose tasks
- By stage
- Reminders climb from assignee to project manager
- 3 levels
- Utilisation for every person
- Day · week · month
What is project and team utilisation tracking?
Project and team utilisation tracking is a database and automation build that records each project as it moves through fixed stages, with substages, stage leads and tasks, and compares each person's assigned task hours with the hours they have available. Managers see every project's stage, progress and deadline in one view, and who has room for more work.
It's built for businesses running several projects at once through the same sequence of stages and teams, where a delay at one stage holds up the next.
Why do projects slip when they're tracked in spreadsheets?
Projects slip in spreadsheets because each team keeps its own version, so nobody can say at a glance which stage a project is at, which tasks are overdue or whether a delay in design will hold up the site team. Tracking every task on its own doesn't fix it: one project can carry 30 to 50 tasks over its life.
Every team has its own version
Spreadsheets, documents, MS Project files and follow-up messages never quite agree.Hundreds of tasks, no picture
A handful of live projects soon means hundreds of tasks in one list, and the list stops being read.Workload by guesswork
New work goes to whoever answers first, so one person is booked at 150% while another sits at 30%, and nobody notices until a deadline is missed.
How does automated project tracking work?
Automated project tracking moves each project through your stages, from planning to handover, and adds the work for each stage as it goes. One record holds the client, project manager, current stage, stage lead and every linked task, with hours, overdue tasks and completion calculated for you. Reminders climb the hierarchy, and AI keeps each project's status summary current.
With AI automations
A new project is created, a task or stage is updated, a due date approaches, or a scheduled run
Track the project, not just the tasks
Each project moves through fixed stages, such as Planning, Design, Execution, Quality control and Final review & handover. Each stage can have substages, and each substage has its own tasks.Keep one record per project
Client, project manager, current stage and substage, stage lead and every linked task, with estimated hours, actual hours, overdue tasks, completion percentage and due dates calculated for you.Record your people and their capacity
Each team member's role, whether they're full-time or a contractor, their available hours per day, week or month, and the tasks assigned to them.Send reminders that climb the hierarchy
As a due date gets close, the assignee is reminded. If the task is still open, the stage lead is told, then the project manager.Show schedules and timelines
A Gantt-style schedule shows each project's stages, dependencies and due dates, and a roadmap view shows how long each project has taken and the stage it's at now.Write AI status summaries
Every time a project changes stage or status, AI updates its summary and status report, listed on an insights page with progress and the tasks behind it.
What does each role see?
Each role sees the view that fits its job. Directors and project managers see every project, stage leads see the projects in their stage broken down by substage, and team members see only their own tasks. Nobody has to filter a master list, and each stage lead moves a project forward when a substage is done.
| Role | What they see |
|---|---|
| Directors and project managers | Every project, with its stage, progress, schedule and AI summary |
| Stage leads | The projects in their stage, broken down by substage, ready to move forward when a substage is done |
| Team members | Only their own tasks, as a list and as a To do → In progress → Done board, with a record of what they've completed |
How does a team utilisation dashboard work?
A team utilisation dashboard compares the hours of the tasks assigned to each person with the hours they have available, per day, week or month. It shows who is at 30%, who is at 100% and who has room for more before you assign the next job. It's only as good as the hour estimates on each task.
Logging actual hours against tasks makes it sharper over time, because estimated and actual hours can then be compared.
What else can project tracking cover?
Beyond stages, reminders and utilisation, project tracking can log time against tasks, let clients sign off the milestones that need them, collect daily progress reports with photos from site teams, link orders and supplier invoices to each project's budget, and post reminders and stage changes to Slack, email or WhatsApp.
- Time logging. Team members log hours against tasks, so estimated and actual hours can be compared.
- Client approvals. Clients see and sign off only the tasks and milestones that need them, such as design approvals or snag closures, through a client portal.
- Daily progress reports. Site teams submit a standard report with photos, rolled up into the project record.
- Procurement and budget. Orders, supplier invoices and payments linked to each project, to see spend against budget.
- Team alerts. Reminders and stage changes posted where your team already talks, through internal comms.
Which systems deliver it?
Project management and team utilisation tracking is delivered by AI automations on a database. We usually build on Airtable with Make.com or n8n, with an interface for each role. Larger teams, or projects that need client and site-team access at scale, can run on a custom app built on Supabase.
| System | Trigger | What it does | Package note |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Automations | Project created, task or stage updated, due date close, scheduled run | Moves projects through stages, calculates totals, sends climbing reminders, writes AI status summaries | Usually Airtable with Make.com or n8n |
| Web Development | Client and site-team access at scale | A custom project app with logins for each role | Built on Supabase |
Where is it used?
Project tracking suits any business running several projects at once through a fixed sequence of stages and teams. Interior design and fit-out firms track projects from planning to handover, contractors and trades follow site work, agencies and studios move client work through production, and consultancies see each consultant's capacity.
Same job, their words
Planning to handover. Each project moves through Planning, Design, Execution, Quality control and Final review & handover, the design manager is told when drawings are running late, and clients sign off design approvals and snag closures.
What should you know before you start?
Project tracking is mapped to how your projects really run: your stages, substages and roles, which can change as your process does. The utilisation dashboard depends on the hours put on each task, and some interface features and user permissions depend on the Airtable plan you're on, which we explain upfront.
- Your stages, not ours. Stages, substages and roles are mapped to how your projects really run, and can change as your process does.
- Estimates drive utilisation. The dashboard is only as good as the hours on each task. Logging actual hours makes it sharper.
- Any platform. We usually build on Airtable with Make.com or n8n. Larger teams can run on a custom app built on Supabase.
- Plan limits matter. Some interface features and user permissions depend on your plan. We tell you upfront what it allows.
How would we build it for you?
We haven't delivered project tracking for a client yet, but we have built it as a demo. A demo we built in Airtable tracked projects through five stages with substages, stage leads and tasks, with views for directors, stage leads and team members, a Gantt-style schedule, a utilisation dashboard and AI status summaries.
- Project createdPlanning
- Stage lead setDesign
- Task due in 2 daysassignee reminded
- Still openstage lead told
- Stage completeAI summary updated
- Utilisation checked30% · 100%
For your business, we'd map your stages and roles first, move projects, people and tasks out of spreadsheets, build the role views and climbing reminders, then add utilisation and AI summaries once hours are on the tasks.
Frequently asked questions
Questions
Answer
How is team utilisation calculated?
Team utilisation is the hours of the tasks assigned to a person divided by the hours they have available, for a day, a week or a month. Someone with 20 hours of tasks in a 40-hour week is at 50%. The figure depends on the estimates on each task, so logging actual hours lets you compare and correct them over time.
Can clients see how their project is going?
Yes, if you want them to. Through a client portal, clients see and sign off only the tasks and milestones that need them, such as design approvals or snag closures, without seeing your internal tasks or other clients' projects. Larger client and site-team access usually runs on a custom app built on Supabase rather than Airtable interfaces.
What does AI add to project management?
AI writes and updates each project's status summary and report every time the project changes stage or status. An insights page lists every project with its summary, progress and the tasks behind it, so directors and project managers can catch up without opening each project. The stages, reminders and utilisation figures themselves come from the database rules.
Will it work with our own stages and roles?
Yes. Project tracking is built around your stages, substages and roles, not a template. A fit-out firm might run Planning, Design, Execution, Quality control and Final review & handover; an agency might run brief, production, review and delivery. Stages and roles can change later as your process does, without rebuilding the whole system.
Can team members log the hours they actually work?
Yes. Time logging lets team members record hours against each task, so estimated and actual hours can be compared per task, per project and per person. That makes the utilisation dashboard more accurate over time and shows which kinds of work are regularly under-estimated before you quote or schedule the next project.