SOP: Calendar scheduling vs queue/capacity scheduling

SOP: Calendar scheduling vs queue/capacity scheduling

Run this when planning how recurring work gets timed.

Stage 1 — Classify the work (owner: ops lead)
☐ Does it have to happen at a specific time (publish, report, payroll)?
☐ Or just needs to get done within a window as capacity allows?
☐ Is arrival steady or bursty?

Stage 2 — Choose
☐ Calendar/cron: fixed times, predictable, easy to communicate. Use for time-bound deliverables. Cost: pile-ups if a run overruns; idle slots when there's nothing to do.
☐ Queue + capacity: work flows in, gets pulled when a slot frees, throttled by WIP limit. Use for bursty, time-flexible work. Cost: no guaranteed completion time without an SLA.

Stage 3 — Guardrails (owner: ops lead)
☐ Calendar → add a catch-up rule for missed/overrun runs.
☐ Queue → set a max age that triggers escalation.
☐ Done-when: nothing can silently sit forever.

Trigger: planning recurring work timing. Done-when: model and overflow rule set.

Save this. Run it every time.