How to Efficiently Manage Consultant Downtime in Your IT Services Business

Did you know the average bench time for consultants can reach 30%? That means consultants in IT professional services firms may be unassigned nearly a third of the time. Left unmanaged, that downtime fuels demoralization and poor morale—and risks your best people looking elsewhere. The answer isn’t simply “sell more.” It’s to proactively manage downtime so it drives value, learning, and growth.

Why manage consultant downtime

Consultants who aren’t busy get discouraged fast. Morale drops, productivity slips, and motivation fades. Idle time is also expensive: you’re paying premium talent not to produce. By actively managing bench time, you protect culture, extract more value from your investment, and increase profitability.

Making the most of bench time

There should never be a reason for a consultant to have nothing to do. While client billing is the priority, every consultant can contribute to value-added, non-billable work that grows the firm. Instead of scattering tasks as a checklist, build a simple plan for each person on the bench. Have them support marketing and sales by writing articles, case studies, and thought leadership, or by assisting with proposals and points of view. Direct them to develop intellectual property—delivery playbooks, reusable code, accelerators, templates, or demo environments—that shorten future project timelines. Encourage them to enable demand through webinars, talks, community posts, and reference architectures tied to your target services. Pair that with structured skill development: certifications, lab work, and cross-training on tools and platforms aligned to your roadmap. Finally, invest time in internal quality—documentation, test automation, CI/CD improvements, and knowledge base updates—so delivery improves when billable work returns. The key is to make these efforts part of KPIs and quarterly plans so non-billable time remains purposeful and outcome-driven.

Who should manage bench time

Accountability should sit with Directors or Partners, working closely with project or resource managers. Leadership sets utilization targets, prioritizes internal initiatives, and approves a concise bench backlog aligned to strategy. Resource managers forecast demand, schedule assignments, and place consultants on internal projects when gaps appear. An 8–12 week rolling utilization forecast helps you see trouble early. A living internal project backlog ensures bench hours are immediately directed to the highest-value work rather than spent waiting for instructions.

Measuring consultant utilization

Track billable and non-billable hours with enough detail to act on the data. Billable utilization shows the percentage of time billed to clients. Productive non-billable time covers defined, value-adding categories such as IP development, marketing assets, and roadmap-aligned training. Unassigned idle time should be driven toward zero. With this visibility, you can identify underutilized consultants early, match them to internal priorities, and forecast revenue and profitability more accurately. Better insight leads to better staffing, earlier pipeline action, and smarter training investments.

Putting it together: a simple operating rhythm

Establish a weekly cadence to review utilization, update forecasts, and assign bench work from the internal backlog. Each month, report on outputs such as assets shipped, articles published, or certifications earned, not just hours logged. Each quarter, realign the skills and IP roadmap with your target services, sales plays, and revenue goals. This rhythm keeps downtime intentional and connected to growth.

If the 30% downtime statistic applies to you, a third of your expensive staff hours can be redeployed to develop the firm—more than enough to support growth when managed well. By defining value-added work, assigning clear ownership, tracking utilization, and investing in relevant training, you keep consultants motivated, engaged, and productive—and keep your business on a profitable trajectory.