Spot Overloaded People Before the Deadline Slips

Deadlines rarely slip because everyone is slow. They slip because one person quietly has three people's work in the same fortnight. A workload view makes that visible early.

What the view shows

Each row is a person and each column is a week. The bar is how much work lands on them that week, measured in points or in plain task counts. A task with a start and a due date is spread over the working days between them, and a task with only a due date lands in its due week.

Set a capacity, even a rough one

The bar only means something against a limit. Type in what a normal week looks like for each person, for example ten points or five tasks. When the load goes past it, the bar turns red. Do not agonise over the number; adjust it after a month of real weeks.

Points or tasks?

• Points if your team already estimates. They weigh a big task more than a small one.
• Tasks if you don't estimate. It is rougher, but it is honest and it needs no setup.

When a bar goes red

• Move a task to someone with room, or to a later week.
• Split a large task so part of it can go elsewhere.
• Cut something. The honest answer is sometimes that it does not all fit.

Do this weekly and overload stops being a surprise. The same view works for a single list, a project, or a whole team.