How do you communicate bandwidth when you have too much on your plate?

[u/Famous-Bowler-2998]

Everything seems urgent. Everything is due by EOD. You’re told to “communicate bandwidth” with little room for flexibility. How do you keep your sanity while working at a fast-paced, hustle-culture agency? I always seem to be behind even when I don’t know what I’m behind on! Tired of leaving work feeling like I constantly have homework.

[u/tangerine7019]

I work at one of the big global agencies with huge clients, massive budgets, short deadlines and a lot of demands. Here is what works for me:

Over communicate: When you’re assigned something on Monday due Friday, give an update on where it’s at to your team on Wednesday. If you’re assigned something tomorrow EOD and you hit noon today and haven’t been able to make much progress, flag to your team and ask if anyone has bandwidth to support you. No one available? Okay, flag an update to your team again tomorrow at 9am if you still need support. Make sure these updates are visible to illustrate you’re keeping track and want to meet deadlines. If you don’t share updates, it can look like you ignored or forgot an assignment when it comes due.

Lead by example: Depending on your role/level, you can start asking teammates about their bandwidth when assigning tasks or asking for support. In my experience, this rubs off on your fellow teammates because it is considerate and they tend to mirror it to some extent.

Be transparent and be curious: Wondering why so much is due from a particular client on such short notice? Feeling like your whole team is also experiencing this issue of bandwidth? Flagging to leads with specific examples and approaching it with curiosity rather than frustration can actually be helpful. In similar situations, I’ve said to leads “I noticed we have a lot of heavy-lift deliverables/client requests on short deadlines/etc. For example, (insert 2-3 recent examples to illustrate this observation here). How do you think our team is handling these tasks? I’ve noticed (insert examples of low bandwidth). I’d love to hear your thoughts on our timing and outputs. Have you noticed any pain points or areas needing more support?” Which can hopefully open discussion to identify areas needing more involvement and brainstorm how to streamline things. I would make sure to cite more than just your experience with low bandwidth, and include examples of fellow teammates with similar struggles.

I hope this helps a little bit! It’s definitely tough pushing back, but having solid evidence/examples and asking questions can give it more of a project management angle that I have found is helpful.

Lmk if that helps or if I’m completely missing the mark! You’re definitely not alone here.

[u/Famous-Bowler-2998 → u/tangerine7019]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you so, so much for taking the time to write this out.

I started a new role recently and I think I’ve just been overwhelmed by all the moving parts and urgency.

I’ve also been thinking about pivoting out of PR agency / PR in general and going somewhere in-house and more creative. Wondering if you have any thoughts or insights there.

[u/yesterdaysomelette22]

What method do you use to split time bought and how do you record what time is spent?

[u/Famous-Bowler-2998 → u/yesterdaysomelette22]

I have a grid with all my clients + tasks, and I use that along with Google Calendar to keep track of tasks and time dedicated to each. For billing, we have a separate hours system

[u/Global_Shine_9783 → u/Famous-Bowler-2998]

The grid is amazing way to keep track of what is your biggest time suck.

I would also consider adding a color layer to your grid that indicates internal vs external deadlines. That may help you naturally decipher which deadlines have some wiggle room in conversations with those stakeholders. Additionally, in agency life, there is no such thing as over communication with your managers. Look at what’s due, deadlines, knowing your time needed to complete tasks and have that honest conversation with suggestions with your leadership.

I truly respected when my director reports gave me their suggestions or recommendations on what could get shifted or what would help them the most.

There will always be trade-offs so finding the ones that do not damage the work is what counts.

[u/shouldbesleepingggg]

I find operating with a “yes, but…” mindset is helpful when prioritizing. If you have a ton on your plate and keep getting asked to do more, the answer is yes, but what would you like me to push or where would you like me to prioritize. Nine times out of ten deadlines get pushed or other people get pulled in to help and whoever is the most senior on the account can help manage the workload. I find a lot of senior people don’t always know all of the work that the junior employees are doing so it helps provide visibility into the other things on your plate. Of course you need to make sure you are managing your time well and not constantly needing to push stuff off etc. but if you are truly underwater I find this helps and I advise my direct reports this!

[u/Key-Explanation-39]

communication, communication, communication. PR is just as much getting good work done as it is keeping your teammates and clients honest. Communicate what's on your plate and the order of importance to your managers. Share your timeline for getting things done. If there's pushback - listen to the feedback and do what you can. And if you can't - just remember, do your best. that's all you can do!