Managing Workload and Capacity Across Teams
When you oversee multiple teams or supervisors, workload problems are rarely as simple as one person having too much to do. Priorities shift, staffing levels change, unexpected work gets added, and one team may be stretched thin while another has more flexibility. Leaders need a clear view of where capacity exists, where bottlenecks are forming, and when to step in before workload issues begin affecting performance, quality, or staff engagement.
This session will help lab managers take a broader approach to workload and capacity planning. Attendees will explore how to assess demand across teams, work with supervisors to identify constraints, and make informed decisions about priorities, staffing, timelines, and resource sharing.
The session will also address how to balance immediate workload pressures with longer-term capacity needs without taking over decisions that should remain with frontline supervisors.
Key learnings
Attendees will learn how to:
- Assess workload and capacity across multiple teams, not just within individual departments
- Identify emerging bottlenecks and competing priorities before they create larger problems
- Work with supervisors to rebalance work, resources, and timelines across teams
- Clarify when to intervene and when to leave workload decisions with the leaders they oversee