The Scoping
Cheat Sheet
Why you're always behind, and what to do before your team burns out.
For marketing and creative managers who never have enough time to get everything done.
Free. No email required.
Stop guessing. Start scoping.
Every project that runs over is a capacity problem disguised as a deadline problem. This cheat sheet covers four things: the hidden time costs that nobody accounts for, the warning signs that a project is about to take longer than planned, real time benchmarks for common design work, and a 2-minute calculator to find your actual capacity gap. Use the tables as reference. Use the calculator once, then come back to it every quarter.
Nobody falls behind on purpose. They fall behind because nobody taught them what to count.
14 Things That Sound Like 15 Minutes But Aren't
These are the phrases that eat your time without ever showing up in the brief.
10 Signs a Project is About to Blow Up
If you spot two or more of these before a project starts, your timeline just became unreliable. The more you spot, the more hours you'll lose.
You don't have a design problem. You have
a capacity problem. Everything else is a symptom.
How Long Design Actually Takes
When the brief is clear, the direction is agreed, and the work is scoped properly,
this is how long production actually takes.
Complexity key: Simple = template exists, content swap. Standard = new layout, existing brand. Complex = new concept, multiple stakeholders.
Production time estimates based on industry benchmarks and our experience across years of production work for Australian marketing teams. Assumes clear brief, approved direction, and established brand guidelines. Actual time varies by team, tools, and workflow.
Based on years of production work delivered across Australian marketing teams
So... Do You Have Enough Capacity?
This takes 2 minutes. We use this framework to evaluate our own capacity every quarter. After a few years of refining it, we've found it's the most reliable way to plan ahead without burning out the team.
Fill it in for your own team. The number might surprise you.
Count Your Monthly Output
*Averages use the Standard complexity midpoint from the table above. Adjust up or down based on your typical complexity.
Add the Hidden Time
The design is only part of the work. Every task carries time that never shows up in the brief.
Add these to every task in Step 1. Your real monthly need is always higher than the design time alone.
Compare to Your Capacity
Productive hour estimates based on labour cost studies averaging 1,558 productive hours/year for full-time employees (Law Insider, Asana Anatomy of Work Index). Senior figure adjusted for meeting and admin load.
For context: At typical Australian agency rates ($120–$250/hr), a 40-hour monthly gap costs $5,000–$10,000 in outsourced work. Hiring a mid-level designer to fill that gap costs $95,000+ per year once you add super, leave, and insurance, and $113,000+ in the first year after recruitment and equipment.
Sources: DesignRush, Cemoh, Design Business Council, SEEK, ATO, SafeWork Australia (2025–2026).
Now Check Your Worst Month
Your baseline tells you the average. EOFY campaigns, product launches, Black Friday, events, and Christmas don't care about your average.
Think about your busiest month last year. That's the number that breaks teams. Not your average month.
The Number You've Been Avoiding
The question isn't "can we handle it?" It's "what happens when we can't?"
Some teams hire. But recruitment takes months, onboarding takes longer, and one new designer doesn't always keep up with demand across every format and channel.
Some teams bring in vendors when it gets busy. That works for peak months. But if you're short every month, that's not a peak problem. That's a structural gap.
A production partner fills the structural gap. An extension of your in-house team. Consistent capacity that scales with demand. No recruitment. Minimal ramp-up. Built to learn your brand quickly.
You don't have a design problem. You have a capacity problem. Everything else is a symptom.
If you've found your gap, we should talk → andelo.com.au/book-a-call
Get the PDF version
Use the tables as reference. Use the calculator every quarter. Stop guessing.
If you've found your gap, we should talk.