Staff Workload Module is a process of distributing work among employees and monitoring people’s utilization over time. The goal is to make sure the work is delivered within the planned time frame, but also to keep a healthy balance in terms of the amount of work every team member needs to do. Without workload management you learn about the danger when it’s too late to prevent the consequences: usually when people hand in their resignation papers or when project’s progress is seriously impeded. Monitoring workload helps you spot problematic trends and areas earlier, giving you a chance to solve issues before they escalate.
What are the most effective workload management strategies?
- Visibility – key to successful workload management. When browsing through your team’s resource calendar look out for
- Overtime
- Differences between planned and actual working time.
- Employees with few or no vacation days taken (except for sick leaves)
- What to do, when signs of unbalanced workload occur? When the workload isn’t distributed evenly across the team, check if you can allocate tasks to the less busy employees. It’s not always possible, especially when you have a conflict of skills/experience.
- Prepare for challenges in advance. Reports with historical data are handy for predicting future workload challenges.
