Team allocation & capacity

FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) measures how much of a person's time is allocated to a given area. An FTE of 1.0 means one full-time person; 0.5 means half their time.

Jellyfish computes FTE by analyzing where engineers spend time across investment categories: Feature Development, Keep the Lights On (KTLO), Tech Debt, and Growth / Scaling. Use these views to identify imbalances and realign capacity with strategic priorities.

There is no universal split — the right balance depends on your team's context, product maturity, and business priorities. Review your team's allocation trends over time and discuss significant shifts in your next planning session. Jellyfish's patented Work Model automatically calculates these allocations from work items — no manual time tracking required.

Three topics every SM should track:

1. FTE drift — Compare planned vs. actual FTE each sprint. Use allocations_by_team to detect teams silently absorbing KTLO at the cost of features.
2. High spread individuals — Engineers working across 4+ categories lose context-switching efficiency. Flag them in allocations_by_person and discuss focus in 1:1s.
3. Unallocated capacity — Any FTE not mapped to a category is invisible to planning. Run allocations_by_investment_category regularly and drive unallocated to zero before quarter close.