Covering the symptoms, impact and resolution for overloaded teams.

1. Overloaded Teams
Project Management Helpline

2. Overload Teams – Symptoms
Overloaded teams tend not to produce the expected output and generally have several or
more of the following symptoms:
➢ High rates of overtime, off icial or otherwise
➢ High attrition rates
➢ High sickness rates
➢ Simple tasks not being completed on time or not completed properly
➢ Many surprises due to a lack of proactive management
➢ Continually missing and pushing back deadlines
➢ Poor quality deliverables
➢ Bad inter- and intra-team relations, including blaming each other and scape-goats

3. Overload Teams – Impact
The impact of overloading teams affects all areas including:
➢ A lack of key resources due to attrition
➢ Only the immediate tasks are addressed with little or no future planning leading to many
surprises and f iref ights
➢ Poor quality of plans and other deliverables
➢ An inability to keep to schedules and generally poor coordination
➢ Poor team morale and a lack of cooperation
➢ No proactive management of issues and risks
➢ Poor communication with management since the team members may have given up
thinking they will never be listened to or acted upon

4. Overload Teams – Resolution
When teams are overloaded there is a tendency to try to micro-manage and require even
more detailed reporting which can be counter-productive. Instead you should look to reduce or
remove workload as follows:
➢ Create communication outlets to get all issues and risks on the table
➢ Identify all the work being done as often there are tasks which are not reported
➢ Identify, agree and communicate priority and non-priority tasks and accept delays in the
latter
➢ Work smarter by removing ineffective steps or making tasks more eff icient
➢ Add key resources with the right skills
➢ Give support for non-specialist tasks e.g. admin
➢ Ask the team what support/tools etc. they need and what can help them the most
➢ Review the plans, identify what is and is not possible, and communicate upward