Workload management: How to manage your team's workload

Are you having a difficult time delegating work to your team? You’re not alone. As a leader, you have the huge responsibility of keeping your team members focused, productive, and on track. You also have to make sure that your team’s workload is divided fairly. Organizing and productivity expert, Julie Morgenstern, put it best: “If you overwork your high performers, you will lose them because they start to resent the fact that they’re doing more.” Balancing your team’s workload is no easy task, and we’re here to help you effectively manage it.

What is workload management?

Workload management is the process of efficiently distributing and managing work across your team. When successfully done, workload management maximizes employee performance and helps melt away chaos, leaving you and your team feeling satisfied at the end of each day rather than overwhelmed. Team members will feel confident about their work volume and deliver higher-quality work at a faster pace.

Why is workload management important?

Recent research shows that 80% of global knowledge workers report feeling overworked and close to burnout. Further, four out of five (82%) employees say they feel less engaged at work when they’re stressed. Workload management enables you to distribute work across your team more effectively, which not only reduces burnout for stressed employees but also prevents them from feeling overworked in the first place. Workload management tools provide real-time insight into the tasks your team has on their plate, so you can manage your team workload effectively and promote balance, not burnout.

The five-step guide to workload management

If you haven’t given much thought to workload management, you’re not alone; the International Institute of Directors and Managers reports that few people are actually trained in this much-needed skill.

The good news is there are tools that can help you keep everyone and everything moving forward simultaneously (see item five below). But in order for a tool to really help you manage your team members’ workloads, you’ll need to make sure some of your other project management skills are in prime shape. Put these five steps into action so you can successfully manage your team’s workload.

1. Figure out your team’s workload and capacity

With your team’s work scattered among multiple different project briefs, plans, and tools, it’s hard to understand just how much total work you all need to tackle. Having that knowledge is key to figuring out how much each team member is doing or what they can take on. You can get past that and figure out what your team’s workload actually is by getting your plans in order:

1. Put together a full list of projects and processes your team is responsible for. These can be projects your team is driving, or cross-functional work they'll be contributing to.

2. Determine the scope and timing of work for each. Are these big, complex projects with multiple deliverables or are these smaller in scope? How much of each project or process is your team responsible for?

3. Break down projects into smaller tasks and workstreams. Once you have a big picture understanding of your team’s work, use a work breakdown structure to break it into smaller chunks so you can know what their weekly or daily loads look like.

4. Prioritize work based on importance and urgency. This way, you’ll also know what your team needs to tackle first through a needs assessment and can better schedule when you’ll be working on each project.

Knowing how much work you need to tackle is only one half of the equation, though. You’ll also have to know how much bandwidth your team and each individual has. Once you’ve taken into account meetings, vacations, and recurring responsibilities, how much does each team member have left to devote to these projects? Assess each team member’s workload, or ask them to do so for you, to get a sense of what else they can take on.

Workload measuring example:

Your analytics team has to produce nine different reports in Q2. It’s a mix of new reports that will take longer to build, and repeatable ones they already have systems set up for. Before you start assigning them out to individual team members, get an understanding of timing (when does each have to be delivered by), importance (what work is this blocking?), and the amount of time you expect it to take to create each.

Based on this research, you now know how much additional work your analytics team is responsible for. You may have even discovered that it’s too much for your small team’s bandwidth, but knowing that some of the reports are low-priority, you can smartly defer less important requests in favor of more impactful ones.

2. Allocate resources and break down individual workloads

Now that you have an overview of everything your team needs to do, you can now figure out who will be working on what and when. And while assigning out the individual pieces of work may sound straightforward, as the sage folks at the Harvard Business Review report have pointed out, workload management can actually be quite complicated.

Resource allocation can help you effectively identify and assign available resources to an initiative. If you've never tried resource allocation before, use these five tips to keep everyone’s workloads balanced and manageable:

• Assign the highest-priority work first. Order your team’s to-do lists and projects in terms of priority, and work on staffing the top priorities first.

• Balance start and due dates. Now that you know who will be doing what, start scheduling each task or project. You can also implement time management strategies, like time blocking, to help team members be more intentional about their work.

• Make sure you’re matching the right people to each task or project. Take into account their availability, as well as their skill sets and experience.

• Include your team in the conversation by asking them what extra bandwidth they believe they have. Not only will they know their own workloads and capacities the best, but they’ll also feel more empowered when you involve them in planning.

• Always let someone know why you’re assigning a particular task to them. This is a great way to increase engagement and set expectations from the outset.

Resource allocation example:

You need two people to work on ad designs for an upcoming campaign, and have five people on your team. You could assign the work randomly, but you’ll get better results if you look at team members backgrounds’ (e.g., have they worked on previous campaigns before?), check for any team members who may already be overloaded, then ask your top picks if they feel they have the capacity to take on this new project.

3. Check in with your team members and adjust workloads as needed

Even the best-laid plans and project timelines hit roadblocks, and you’ll need to be prepared to make adjustments in real time before deadlines are missed.

To proactively manage and track each team member's current task list, implement regular 1-1 check-ins as a key part of your workload management strategy. If those check-ins reveal that a team member feels overloaded with responsibilities, check to see who might be able to take on something else.

When you reassign tasks or projects, be sure to communicate with your team about the changes so they understand why they’re now being pulled in a different direction. This can be done via a change control process. Alternatively, consider coaching opportunities to help them become more efficient and organized and always recognize your team members’ hard work.

Check-ins example:

You’ve noticed that two of your account managers are staying late night after night, and another one is emailing you in the wee hours of the morning. This could be a sign they’re overloaded. Schedule check-ins with each person on your team to see where they stand with their work; offer to shift or defer responsibilities if needed; and provide coaching to anyone who reveals a need. If you don’t already, schedule regular check-ins for each team member going forward to avoid similar problems cropping up in the future.

Pro tip: Don’t forget about team culture

In addition to 1-1 check-ins, make sure to save time for team-wide moments of connection and celebration. Whether your team is in the office, distributed, or remote, it’s important to have face time and connect. Depending on the size of your team, consider planning a weekly stand up meeting, a biweekly happy hour, or a larger monthly gathering.

4. Improve team efficiency when workloads are heavy

While you’re mainly focused on the big picture, encourage your team to develop their own system to manage their workload. When there’s a lot to do, it’s important that they’re doing the right things, efficiently.

• Suggest time management strategies that fit their individual styles, like timeboxing or time blocking.

• Minimize the amount of meetings the team is required to attend. Find new ways to communicate that don’t take as much time.

Help your team understand what project management is and how an organized plan saves time.

Team efficiency example

One of your direct reports always turns in their work early, and through conversations you learn that they have been using some new strategies to work more efficiently. Encourage that person to share their experience with the team, and consider creating a shared space where team members can post time-saving tips as they come across them.

5. Onboard a work management tool

Imagine being able to see everything that’s going on with every project and every team member in one single location. Talk about saving time. Using a work or project management tool does just that.

When you adopt a work management tool, every team member is able to see how their work feeds into larger team and company initiatives. Communication happens within tasks, so finding the information you need takes five seconds instead of five minutes. Timelines keep everyone on track because projects can be viewed individually or together.

Work management tool example:

You’ve loaded all the tasks and steps of your production schedule into a workload management tool, and work is moving smoothly. Because all team members have a view of the status and where they fit in the process, you’re able to avoid conflicts and save time.

Pro tip: Establish team conventions

The best work management tool is one your entire team is using. But it’s important to set team conventions and best practices for using your tool. Not only will that make it easier for your team to adopt your new tool, but it’ll also reduce the barrier to entry, because your team won’t have to worry that they’re using the tool "incorrectly." Your work management tool should have a how-to guide and videos to help you get started—set some time aside to go through those with your team and establish shared conventions.

Common team workload management issues

Effective team workload management is fundamental to project planning, and the first step toward improvement is to identify common issues that affect a team's performance. Uncovering these challenges not only helps with workload balancing but also strengthens team productivity and employee satisfaction. Here are some prevalent workload problems teams face.

Unrealistic expectations

Unrealistic expectations often stem from a disconnect between project schedules and actual team capacity. For instance, setting aggressive deadlines for complex tasks without considering the team's current workload or external dependencies can lead to stress and burnout. This misalignment is common in environments where milestones are prioritized over realistic deadlines.

Introducing workload management software can help in setting more realistic deadlines by providing visibility into team capacity and dependencies.

Uneven workload distribution

Uneven workload distribution occurs when some team members are overloaded while others are underutilized, which can lead to resentment and decreased team morale. 

For instance, if a few team members consistently handle the majority of important tasks, it might indicate a need for better workload balancing. Tools like Gantt charts and task management software can aid in identifying and correcting these imbalances.

Under-resourcing

Under-resourcing occurs when there's a gap between the workload and the resources available, including personnel, tools, or time, to complete the task at hand. For instance, expecting a small team to handle a large volume of project tasks without appropriate workload management software or sufficient time can lead to missed deadlines and decreased quality of work.

This calls for effective resource management and capacity planning to ensure that teams have what they need to manage their workload efficiently.

Over-demanding work culture

An over-demanding work culture often prioritizes quantity over quality, expecting team members to multitask extensively. This can be seen in environments where back-to-back team meetings, constant multitasking, and long hours are the norm. 

This often leads to decreased team productivity and a negative impact on overall team morale. However, emphasizing well-being and incorporating time tracking can help create a more balanced environment.

Effective workload management tips

Maximizing the full potential of your team requires more than just identifying issues; it demands practical solutions. Integrating tools for managing workloads, along with practical strategies, makes for a supportive and productive workplace. 

• Prioritize and set realistic deadlines: Use workload management software to categorize your team’s tasks and subtasks by urgency and importance. This ensures alignment with team capacity and project milestones.

• Introduce agile methodologies: Adopting agile practices like scrum or Kanban can improve any team’s workload management process. These methodologies help team leaders regularly reassess workloads and ensure tasks are distributed based on goals and resources.

• Implement effective resource management: Ensure all necessary resources are available for efficient task list completion and to avoid bottlenecks in project planning.

• Foster open communication: Encourage regular team meetings and open dialogues to discuss workload distribution, dependencies, and over-demanding tasks. Effective communication helps maintain a healthy work-life balance and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

• Integrate automation and project management tools: Streamline workflow with automation and use project management software to optimize team productivity. To-do lists and automated reminders can be effective in keeping the team focused and organized.

• Monitor and adjust workloads regularly: Use time tracking and workload management software to measure and adjust the team's workload so that tasks align with project goals and schedules.

• Encourage a culture of well-being: Promote a work culture that values team members' well-being, sets boundaries for work hours, and prioritizes tasks without compromising personal time.

FAQ: Workload management 

How can I manage conflicting deadlines and priorities?

Workload management isn’t always as smooth as we’d like it to be. Sometimes the team members who are best suited for a project are already busy with another, equally high-priority initiative. Sometimes, your entire team is in crunch mode, and it’s hard to imagine adding more work to their plates. While there may not always be a perfect answer, knowing your team’s workload in advance can help you anticipate these resourcing problems and address them before they hit.

For example, if you know there’s an upcoming, high-priority deliverable with a short turnaround time, can you shift lower-priority work earlier or later in the month? When you have a window into your team’s bandwidth, you’re better equipped to help them manage their workload—both in the near and long term.

How can I empower my team to be more effective and efficient?

Efficient teams do things right, whereas effective teams do the right thing. Ideally, you want to empower your team to be both efficient and effective in order to ensure they’re doing the right thing.

If you don’t already, make sure everyone on your team is using the same work management tool so they have clarity on who’s doing what by when. Your work management tool should also easily integrate with your favorite business tools, so your team spends less time switching between apps and digging through spreadsheets and more time on their high-impact work. And of course, look for a work management tool that has a built-in workload management component, so you can track team workload right where work happens.

What are the strategies for managing workload?

Workload management strategies include task list prioritization, effective delegation, setting realistic deadlines, conducting regular team meetings, and adopting agile methodologies. These strategies collectively contribute to optimizing team efficiency and enhancing project management.

How do you track and manage workload?

Tracking and managing workload effectively generally requires workload management software that monitors your team’s tasks, sets deadlines, and assesses team capacity. Regularly reviewing and adjusting workloads based on project schedules, milestones, and team feedback is also important for maintaining balance and ensuring efficient task completion.

Set your team up for success

Are you feeling empowered to improve your time and workload management skills? Remember, workload management is all about efficiently assigning work, managing those tasks, and updating stakeholders on your projects. The tips we’ve outlined above, combined with a work management tool like Asana, can help you sort through conflicting deadlines and priorities to manage your team’s heavy workload.