3 June 2026

Monday planning without heroics

If your weekly plan depends on one person’s memory, you do not have a plan — you have a performance. Here is a lighter rhythm that spreads the load.

Weekly planning notes and calendar spread on a desk

Hero planners are admired until they take leave. A steadier Monday meeting uses three columns everyone can see: promised work, available hours by crew, and known risks (maintenance, training, weather for field teams).

Keep the ritual short. Thirty-five minutes is plenty if pre-work arrives by Friday afternoon. The meeting’s job is to make trade-offs audible — which job slips if a machine is down — not to re-enter every order from scratch.

When Harbourline runs a Capacity Planning Clinic, we often find the spreadsheet is fine; the missing piece is agreement on what counts as “available.” Once that definition is shared, the heroics quiet down.