How To Calculate Magic Number in Basecamp | Arithmix

Calculating the magic number in Basecamp is a simple process that can help you better understand your team's productivity and efficiency. But before we dive into the steps, let's first define what the magic number is and when it's valuable to calculate it.

What Is Magic Number?

The magic number is a metric that measures the average number of active projects per team member. In other words, it tells you how many projects each team member is working on at any given time. This metric is useful because it can help you identify if your team is overworked or underutilized.

For example, if your team's magic number is too high, it could mean that your team members are spread too thin and may not be able to give each project the attention it needs. On the other hand, if your team's magic number is too low, it could mean that your team members are not being fully utilized and may have too much downtime.

When Is It Valuable To Calculate Magic Number?

Calculating the magic number can be valuable in a variety of situations. For example, if you're a project manager, you may want to calculate the magic number to ensure that your team is not overworked and that each project is getting the attention it needs. Additionally, if you're a business owner, you may want to calculate the magic number to ensure that your team is being fully utilized and that you're getting the most out of your resources.

Furthermore, calculating the magic number can help you identify trends over time. For example, if your team's magic number is consistently increasing, it could mean that your team is taking on too many projects or that you need to hire more team members. Conversely, if your team's magic number is consistently decreasing, it could mean that your team is becoming more efficient or that you need to assign more projects to each team member.

Now that we've defined what the magic number is and when it's valuable to calculate it, let's move on to the steps for calculating it in Basecamp.

Step 1: Log in to your Basecamp account and navigate to the "Projects" tab.

Step 2: Count the number of active projects that your team is currently working on.

Step 3: Count the number of team members who are currently active.

Step 4: Divide the number of active projects by the number of active team members to get the magic number.

Step 5: Analyze the magic number and use it to make informed decisions about your team's workload and productivity.

Overall, calculating the magic number in Basecamp is a simple process that can provide valuable insights into your team's productivity and efficiency. By understanding the magic number and using it to make informed decisions, you can ensure that your team is working effectively and efficiently towards your business goals.

How Do You Calculate Magic Number in Basecamp

Basecamp itself isn’t naturally geared towards letting you calculate complex metrics like Magic Number. As an alternative, teams typically use products like Arithmix to import data from Basecamp and build out dashboards.

What is Arithmix?

Arithmix is the next generation spreadsheet - a collaborative, web-based platform for working with numbers that’s powerful yet easy to use. With Arithmix you can import data from systems like Basecamp, combine it with data from other systems, and create calculations like Magic Number.

In Arithmix, data is organized into Tables and referenced by name, not by cell location like a spreadsheet, simplifying calculation creation. Data and calculations can be shared with others and re-used like building blocks, vastly streamlining analysis, model building, and reporting in a highly scalable and easy to maintain platform. Data can be edited, categorized (by dimensions) and freely pivoted. Calculations are automatically copied across a dimension - eliminating copy and paste of formulas.

Arithmix is fully collaborative, giving your entire team access to your numbers and the ability to work together seamlessly.

Calculating Magic Number in Arithmix

Calculating metrics like Magic Number is simple in Arithmix. Once you've created your free account, you’ll be able to import your Basecamp data, and use it to create natural language formulas for metrics like Magic Number.

Arithmix is designed to give you the power to build any calculations you want on top of your Basecamp data, while also being easy to use and collaborate on. You can share your dashboards with users inside and outside of your organisation, making it easy to empower your whole team.