Decide whether to hire or redistribute the work

Map the work at task level

Break the overloaded area into recurring tasks, projects, decisions, and coordination. Record who performs each item, how often it occurs, and what happens when it waits. A statement such as marketing is stretched is too broad to guide a hiring decision. A map may reveal that most pressure comes from one approval step while the specialist work itself has enough capacity.

Check the duration of the need

A launch, audit preparation period, or temporary vacancy may need short-term support. Permanent ownership, growing customer volume, or a capability central to the operating model may justify a role. Be careful with recurring temporary fixes: repeatedly borrowing the same person can indicate durable work. Equally, a permanent hire should not become the default response to one unusually busy month.

Test redistribution honestly

Redistribution has a cost even when it needs no new budget. Name the work the receiving person will stop, the skills they need, and who will support the transition. Do not spread a full role across five people and call the problem solved. Fragmented ownership increases coordination and can leave unattractive tasks permanently secondary.

• Which tasks move together as coherent ownership?
• What will the receiving owner stop doing?
• What training or access is required?
• When will workload be reviewed?

Compare the risks

Hiring preserves current responsibilities but requires search, selection, and onboarding. Redistribution can begin sooner and develop existing people, but may weaken focus elsewhere. Redesigning the process can remove work, yet may require upfront attention from the same overloaded team. Choose based on the consequence of delay and the long-term ownership needed, not only the easiest approval path.

Run a reversible trial

Illustrative example: a customer success team wants a coordinator because renewals require repeated internal follow-ups. A four-week trial assigns one owner, removes two duplicate status reports, and introduces a standard hand-off. The remaining workload is smaller but still durable. The final brief requests a role focused on renewal operations rather than recreating the original collection of scattered tasks.

Check the arrangement after real use

Set a review based on a meaningful work cycle rather than an arbitrary date. Ask whether deadlines improved, which work was displaced, and whether ownership stayed coherent. Invite the people doing and receiving the work, not only the manager who proposed the change. If redistribution fails, use the evidence to sharpen the hiring brief. If it works, formalise responsibilities so the temporary arrangement does not remain invisible labour.