When tenders, drawing packages and live projects overlap, the pressure often lands on the same few people. Capacity planning makes that workload visible before an estimator or project manager becomes the bottleneck.
Start with a simple four-week view for each function: estimating, drafting, project support and finance. Keep site labour on a separate plan because the work and constraints are different.
Make a four-week capacity sheet
For each person, record their working hours, planned leave and recurring commitments. Then list the tenders and project tasks due each week, with an estimated number of hours and time reserved for review. Use hours from similar past jobs where you have them. If not, make an initial estimate and improve it after the work is done.
Example: Two estimators each have 38 paid hours in a week. After allowing 8 hours each for meetings, clarification and existing project work, the working estimate is 60 hours of tender production across the pair. If the pipeline needs 85 hours plus senior review, there is a 25-hour production gap to resolve. These figures illustrate the method; use your own actual hours.
The gap does not automatically mean you need a full-time hire. You might decline a low-value tender, move a due date, adjust who prepares the work or add a person if the gap repeats.
Separate production from approval
List what your experienced people must decide and what someone else could prepare for them. A civil estimator, for example, could assemble take-offs, BOQs, supplier RFQs, quote comparisons and an auditable workbook. Your senior Australian lead may still own methodology, risk, margin and final tender approval.
The same distinction helps with drafting and administration. Identify who prepares drawings or registers, who answers technical questions and who authorises issue. A new hire only adds useful capacity when those handovers are clear.
Look for recurring pressure, not one busy week
Review the sheet weekly during a tender peak and at least monthly in normal periods. Watch for repeated late estimates, senior staff doing routine follow-up, overdue drawing revisions and project records falling behind. Ask where work waits and why. A missing approval or unclear scope can slow the team as much as a missing person.
When the same gap appears over several weeks, write a role brief around the work rather than a broad title. Include project types, software, required Australian experience, working hours, the likely first assignments and the reviewer on your side.