A project can be attractive and still not fit the team’s next week. Before promising a start date, compare the new work with the hours that the right people actually have available. Total team hours are not interchangeable: spare design time does not necessarily cover a development task.
Use a small forward-looking worksheet. The purpose is to support a start-date decision, not to produce a precise forecast or guarantee timely delivery.
Choose one planning period
Pick the week or other period in which you want work to start. List the people or roles required for the first meaningful step. For each, estimate the hours available for the type of work in question after known absence. Then subtract current commitments and the support or maintenance work you expect to handle.
Use the same time unit and period throughout. An estimate of total project effort is not the same as effort required next week. A task waiting three days for client approval does not consume three days of active work, but it may move the next step beyond the proposed date.
Show the arithmetic before making a promise
Fictional example for one required role in one week:
| Capacity item | Hours |
|---|---|
| Available work time after known absence | 40 |
| Existing commitments in this period | −24 |
| Reserved support and maintenance | −8 |
| Remaining capacity | 8 |
The proposed first task needs an estimated 12 hours. It does not fit the remaining eight. A full calendar is not the only reason: the support allowance is part of the planned workload, not a pool to erase whenever a new project appears.
If an additional four-hour absence is discovered, available time falls to 36 and remaining capacity to four. Do not subtract an absence twice if it was already included in the initial available-time figure.
Use a range where the work is uncertain
For a poorly understood task, record a low and high effort estimate and explain what drives the range. A first task estimated at 6–12 hours fits eight hours only at the low end. That does not justify an unconditional promise.
You can narrow the task, investigate the uncertainty, propose a later start, or reserve more capacity through an explicit reprioritization. Name which existing work would move and who agrees to the tradeoff. Do not silently assume that a colleague will work extra hours.
Use this worksheet for each necessary role:
| Role or person | Available hours | Existing work | Support allowance | Remaining | New task range | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required specialist | 40 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 6–12 | Narrow scope or move the proposed start |
Check dependencies outside the team
List the material needed before the first task can begin: access, approved copy, source files, a decision, or another completed step. Write who supplies it and the date needed. Capacity does not make missing input available.
If the work can begin independently, specify that first step and its limit. For example, you may prepare a structural outline while waiting for approved images, but you cannot promise finished design on that basis. Distinguish an internal preparation date from a client-facing delivery commitment.
Give a conditional, usable answer
A useful response might be: “We can start the agreed outline next Tuesday if the approved brief arrives by Monday. Image-dependent work will be scheduled after the files are available.” Use that structure only when your actual worksheet and dependencies support it.
Record the chosen date, scope, assumptions, and person responsible for updating the decision. Recheck when an estimate, absence, or priority changes. Do not keep repeating an old capacity figure after its inputs change.
The worksheet makes the tradeoff visible. It cannot remove uncertainty, but it can prevent a new project from being promised against hours already committed elsewhere.