Workload management
Workload management is the balancing of work across people so that nobody is persistently overloaded while others have room. It differs from capacity planning by looking at the individual rather than the total: a team can have capacity overall while two of its members are at their limit.
Why does overload concentrate on individuals?
Because requests go to whoever delivered last time. Each request is reasonable, each requester sees only their own, and the person who is good at saying yes accumulates the work. Without a view of all commitments on one person, nothing in the process catches it.
How is workload measured?
Committed hours per person per period against what that person actually has available, with absences deducted. Anything above available means the plan already assumes overtime, whether or not anyone said so out loud. Measured per person rather than per team, it shows who is at their limit even when the team has capacity overall.
What is the difference between workload management and capacity planning?
Capacity planning works with totals, workload management with individuals. A team at 80 per cent can still contain one person at 130 and another at 40, and only the second view shows that. Workload management exists so that nobody is persistently overloaded while others have room.
What are the early signs of a workload problem?
The same name on every urgent project, hours recorded outside working time, and estimates that keep being revised upwards for one person's tasks and not for others. All three appear in the records before anyone raises them. A view of all commitments on one person is what makes these signs visible early.