Workload management is the process where you breakdown project and non-project related work into individual tasks and assign these tasks to the each member of your team. This process requires a fine balance to be maintained between two factors, the first is ensuring the even distribution of tasks amongst the team members and the second is on time completion of the work (especially with project related work).
In today’s business world, most organisations handle more than one project simultaneously and have a different team handling each project. In some cases an employee with a specialised skill set may be working on a couple of projects simultaneously. In such complex work situations effective planning of workload management is absolutely essential to ensure individual tasks are effectively completed thereby enabling on time project delivery, while also maintaining employee morale. Let us first look at what happens when there is ineffective workload management in an organisation.
Effects of Ineffective Workload Management
Where there is a large volume of project (with a stipulated time frame) and non-project related work to be completed, ineffective workload management can cause numerous problems (as mentioned below):
- Uneven distribution of tasks among team members
- Those members with unique skill sets who are assigned a larger share of the workload will eventually face both physical and emotional exhaustion.
- Even those members who get a lesser share of the workload may not necessarily be pleased, for their career growth prospects may be stalled because of this.
- This will lead to job dissatisfaction and employee attrition
- Job dissatisfaction will affect successful completion of individual tasks, which will create a setback in meeting project deadlines
All these drawbacks show how important it is to establish an effective workload management system in any organisation including yours, so let us take a look at a few guidelines on how you can go about doing this.
Establishing Effective Workload Management
Planning is Key
Before the assigning of tasks it is important to look at the work (both project and non-project related) to be completed in its entirety and the manpower available to carry out this work. Accordingly an action plan can be undertaken keeping the following aspects in mind.
- Equal Distribution of Workload – It will be a good idea to ensure as fair a distribution of the workload as possible. For example, if a highly skilled team member has extra workload on their plate for a particular project, then the other team members can share this particular member’s non-project related work amongst themselves. This can help contain overworking and fatigue.
- Involving Team Members – An important aspect of workload distribution is making your team members a part of the discussion process. This can open up whole new avenues of opportunity, for example: some employees may express an interest in taking on tasks requiring a small enhancement of their current skill set.
- Providing Training – In such cases a short training course can be provided to help them upgrade their skills. This will not only help in relation to the current project but also help the job growth prospects of these employees.
- Approachability – Knowing you have their back in case they face any work related issues will instill a sense of confidence in your team and make them be willing to go the extra mile for the organisation.
Communication and Co-ordination is also Key
Once the assignment of tasks has been done and the work is underway, a system of periodic review for the whole team will be helpful to ensure that the work is progressing on the right track and within the stipulated time frame. In addition to these team update meetings, ensuring the line of communication between the individual team members is kept open will enable them to co-ordinate their individual tasks to facilitate the on time and successful completion of the project and non-project related work.
By setting up an effective workload management system in this manner, you will not only be able to ensure the successful completion of work but in the process also ensure your employees are happy and enjoy their work.
