Operating Cadence
Part of Startup capacity planning
Estimating team workload from actual commitments
Turn accepted work and standing duties into a dated workload estimate by stage and skill, then compare it with usable team time.
Estimate workload by listing work the business has agreed to do. Break it into stages that need particular skills, and place each stage in the period when it must happen. Compare that demand with usable availability. Keep possible sales and optional projects in separate scenarios.
Build the commitment list
Start with accepted orders, agreed customer dates, recurring service work, standing internal duties and approved initiatives. Check the records where each commitment was made; a task board may omit a promise made in a customer exchange.
Give each item an owner, due point and source record. If its scope is disputed, mark it for a decision rather than silently using the smaller estimate.
Separate confirmed work from work conditional on an input or approval, and from possible work such as a sales opportunity. Record what would make conditional work firm and the earliest time it could need capacity.
Estimate each stage where it lands
For each commitment, identify the stages, the skill or resource each needs, and when each must occur. A customer setup may require coordination, specialist work and review in different periods.
Use comparable completed work to inform the effort estimate where records exist. Check whether those cases included corrections, customer questions and review.
For unfamiliar work, ask the person likely to do it what could make it take longer. Label the estimate accordingly. Include meaningful handover and supervision time, including another person's time needed to support a new colleague. Avoid counting the same work twice because several people discuss it.
| Commitment | Stage and skill | Due period | Estimate basis | Uncertainty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accepted work or standing duty | The work and required resource | When the stage must occur | Comparable case or labelled estimate | Missing input, variation or dependency |
The table is a working method, not a government formula. It lets someone trace a demand figure back to the promise and the work behind it.
Compare with usable time
Ask each person what time is available under their actual work arrangement. Account for leave, existing duties, required meetings and known interruptions. Do not treat routine extra hours as free capacity.
The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes a maximum weekly hours fact sheet covering minimum workplace entitlements. Check the arrangement and circumstances of the people involved.
Compare demand and availability by period and skill. A whole-team total can hide an overloaded reviewer. If demand exceeds usable capacity, show which commitments compete for that resource and when. Keep unlike skills and slots separate.
Reconcile the estimate
At the next review, compare expected effort with what the work actually required. Was the difference caused by scope, a missing input, rework or the estimate itself? Use relevant completed cases to improve the next estimate while keeping genuine variation visible.
The result should answer which commitments fit, which depend on an uncertain assumption and which need a changed date, scope or resource. It is an estimate for making that decision, not a promise that every hour will unfold as planned.
