Operations consulting · Problems we solve

We sold more than we can deliver.

A strong quarter, and suddenly the same few people are needed on every project at once. Dates slip, and nobody saw it coming.

Book a 30-minute conversation How we fix it
What usually gets tried

Why the usual fixes don’t hold

Overtime

It works for a few weeks, on the people who were already stretched.

Hiring

The shortfall is in one skill, and new hires in that skill take months to be productive.

Pushing the dates

Customers notice, and the next quarter’s sales get harder.

The shortfall sits in one skill, in the same few weeks.

Overall capacity looks fine on paper. But several projects need the same scarce skill at the same time, and averages hide it until dates slip. Seeing demand for that skill week by week, against the people who have it, shows the problem months earlier.

How we fix it

We trace what you’ve sold to the skills and people it needs.

Step 1

Trace the commitments

Every project you’ve sold, broken down into the skills it needs and when.

Step 2

Find the crunch

Real capacity for each skill against demand, week by week: where and when you’re short.

Step 3

Test the options

Stagger, pair, cross-train, or hire: what each one does to the dates and the money, tried before you choose.

What you get

What you’ve sold, against who can deliver it, week by week

6–10
weeks
60–100
hours of your people’s time, in total
Fixed
fee, agreed in a one-page scope before anything starts

We call this Capacity to Deliver.

  • What you’ve sold, traced to the skills and people it depends on
  • Real capacity against commitments, week by week
  • A priced plan for training, cross-training, and hiring
  • Which deals to take, stagger, or defer

Want to start smaller? A shorter first look at one team (2 to 3 weeks, about 8 to 12 hours of your people’s time) shows whether the full analysis is worth it. You decide.

Example

A strong sales quarter

Illustrative example: composite, synthetic data

A civil engineering firm

Five of fourteen projects needed stormwater modeling in the same 12 weeks: about 620 hours of demand against 600 hours of supply. One engineer led the work, and two could back it up. About $410,000 of fees due that quarter depended on it.

What changed: Two projects staggered by three weeks with client agreement, which cut demand to about 540 hours. One backup paired with the lead on every model, counted as capacity rather than overtime. Proposals now show the hours for that skill.

The idea underneath

Every operation has one limit that sets the pace.

When you know which skill or step limits what you can deliver, you can sell against it, plan around it, and invest in it first. That’s the idea behind everything Matrix does: find the limit, then decide what to do about it.

How we know: the methods behind the answer

Start with 30 minutes

Tell us where the work gets stuck.

A short, honest conversation. Here’s how the 30 minutes go:

  • 0–5We agree what we’re here for. Either of us can decide it isn’t a fit, and that’s fine.
  • 5–20You tell us what’s going wrong, in your words. Where does work get stuck? Who does everything go through?
  • 20–25We tell you honestly whether we can help, and recommend one step if we can.
  • 25–30You hear exactly what that step would ask of your people and what it costs. Then you decide whether to take it.

Book a 30-minute conversation

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