Capacity Expansion / Article
How to schedule work when one specialist is the constraint
By Mark Rawlins
A team can have spare hours overall and still miss a deadline if one qualified person is needed for several tasks at once. Schedule the scarce skill by date, not just by the weekly team total.
01
Find the work that needs the specialist
For the planning period, list each item requiring the skill, its estimated specialist hours, earliest start, deadline and dependencies. Include reviews, support, expected corrections and work already underway. Mark estimates that lack enough information to schedule confidently.
Ask whether each task truly requires the specialist or only an approval at a particular point. Another qualified person may prepare material, but moving preparation does not remove the specialist's review time. Preserve any required approval and access restrictions.
02
Place hours on the calendar
Start from the specialist's scheduled hours and subtract leave, meetings and other known commitments once. Place the remaining work into actual time slots, allowing for dependencies and interruptions. A task due Tuesday cannot use free hours that occur on Friday.
Hypothetical example: a specialist has 12 usable hours this week: four on Monday and eight on Thursday. Three tasks need four hours each. Two are due Tuesday and the third Friday. Although total demand equals 12 hours, Monday has a four-hour shortfall for the Tuesday work. Thursday's spare hours do not solve that deadline conflict.
03
Resolve the conflict before promising delivery
Check whether either Tuesday task can begin earlier, whether a qualified backup is available in time, or whether the customer can agree to a different scope or date. Record who can approve the choice and who will communicate it. If the estimate is uncertain, identify what information would narrow it and when it will be available.
Avoid treating a proposed backup as available until their other commitments and required permissions are checked. If no safe option fits, show the unmet work and agree a revised commitment. An estimate above 100% identifies planned overload; it does not create extra working time.
04
Keep the schedule useful
Review actual work and remaining estimates as tasks progress. Capture unplanned requests separately so the next plan reflects them. If the specialist repeatedly becomes the constraint, consider training cover or redesigning a handoff, with time for instruction and quality review included in the plan.
Watch downstream queues and outcomes as well as the specialist's schedule. A full calendar can conceal work held for missing information or an approval that could not yet be completed.
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