# Workload balance survey

Identify conflicting priorities and work that exceeds available capacity.

If nothing was unclear or difficult, say so. Skip questions about steps you did not experience; use not applicable where appropriate.

## 1. How often do assigned deadlines compete with each other?

Answer: ____________________

## 2. Which activity takes time without adding enough value?

Answer: ____________________

## 3. What could be stopped or deferred this month?

Answer: ____________________

## 4. Which recurring deadline needs a clearer trade-off?

Answer: ____________________

## 5. Who helps decide what to defer when capacity is limited?

Answer: ____________________

## Author notes / illustrative keys where applicable

1. Find the deadlines that collide and the period of overlap; workload totals can hide specific scheduling conflicts.
2. Identify low-value recurring work and who uses its output before suggesting that it be removed.
3. Invite a concrete candidate for deferral; do not assume the respondent has authority to cancel a commitment.
4. Expose the decision between competing deadlines so the team can state which outcome takes priority.
5. Check whether capacity decisions have an owner; avoid placing the responsibility for incompatible demands on individual employees.

Interpretation caution: Measure workload conditions rather than diagnosing stress or health.


## Illustrative finding and follow-up

Observation: Illustrative answers identify three urgent requests with no shared priority owner.

Action to test: Name the person who can resolve competing deadlines and publish the deferred work.

Follow-up: After testing the action, revisit this original observation: Illustrative answers identify three urgent requests with no shared priority owner. Repeat the relevant experience prompts with people who encountered the change. Compare specific explanations and sample differences; do not claim causation from the before-and-after responses.