For an engineering consultancy, the hardest questions are often about people rather than money. Can we take on this project? Do we need another structural engineer by spring? Why is everyone overloaded one month and quiet the next? A workload forecast answers these by setting the work you have, and the work you're likely to win, against the capacity of the team.
Start with the work already secured
For each live project, estimate the remaining hours by role and spread them across the months ahead based on the programme. Engineering work is rarely even: design stages, reviews and site phases create peaks and troughs, so a straight-line spread will hide the pinch points.
Your project backlog is the starting point, but it needs converting from fees into hours to be useful for planning.
Add the pipeline, weighted
Next, add likely work from the pipeline at a weighted level. If a bid has a 50% chance of success, include half its hours from the expected start date. This gives a realistic view of demand without assuming you'll win everything. Your historic win rate is the best guide to the weightings.
Set it against real capacity
Capacity isn't simply headcount multiplied by 37.5 hours. Take out holidays, bank holidays, training, internal work and business development, and set a realistic chargeable target for each role. Directors and senior engineers usually have much less delivery time available than it first appears.
Comparing demand with capacity by role, month by month, shows exactly where the gaps are. See our page on capacity planning for more detail.
Reading the forecast
- Demand above capacity for a month or two: manageable with overtime, subcontractors or rescheduling.
- Demand above capacity for a sustained period: a hiring signal, and the lead time for experienced engineers means you need to act early.
- Demand well below capacity: a sales signal, telling you to push the pipeline before utilisation and margin fall.
- A single role consistently overloaded: a bottleneck that can delay projects even when the wider team has space.
Keep it live
A workload forecast is only useful if it's current. Update it monthly alongside timesheets and project progress, and review delivery variance so estimates improve over time. When projects slip, move the hours rather than leaving them in the original months.
Connect it to the finances
The workload forecast and the financial forecast should tell the same story. Hours delivered drive fees earned, which drive invoicing and cash. Linking them means a decision to hire, or to bid for a large project, can be tested for its effect on both capacity and cash before you commit.
Want a clearer view of the months ahead? Book a free strategy call and we'll look at how your workload and financial forecasts could work together.
