One person on three projects: making overload visible
Each project manager sees a reasonable workload. Added up, those workloads exceed the person's capacity. As long as nobody does the sum, the overload stays invisible.
Seen by its project manager
What Martin has to do
41 h for a 35 h capacity · +6 h
Martin works on three projects. The manager of the line relocation asks him for 26 hours in week 46. The manager of the workshop extension study, 9 hours. The manager of the packaging line installation, 6 hours.
Each finds their request reasonable, and it is. But Martin has to do 41 hours in a 35-hour week.
Nobody sees the sum
Each project manager looks at their own schedule. None sees the other two. Martin knows, but he rarely says so in time: nobody likes admitting they will not make it. The overload is discovered at the end of the week, as a delay.
A view per person, across all projects
The answer is not a better schedule per project. It is a view per person that adds up all their projects, week by week, against their capacity. The team lead sees Martin at 41 hours, and where those hours come from.
Who decides?
A project manager cannot decide alone on another project's workload. The decision belongs to whoever sees the whole picture: the team lead or the portfolio manager. With the per-person view, they decide on a precise quantity: move 6 hours, hand them to someone else, or revisit a priority.
Key points
- a reasonable workload per project can add up to an overload per person;
- only a per-person view, across all projects, shows the sum;
- the decision belongs to whoever sees the whole picture, not to each project manager.