How Can a Family Estimate the Workload a New Office Will Need to Handle?

Estimate the workload by documenting the work the family expects the office to perform, then matching that demand to available capacity. Start with actual tasks and handoffs, not a desired org chart. The estimate will be useful only if it reflects the family's real requirements and the time needed to meet them.

Build a Work Inventory

List recurring activities across administration, reporting, investment oversight, coordination with advisers, and family support. For each activity, record how often it occurs, who handles it now, what information it requires, and what happens if it is delayed. Include seasonal or deadline-driven work, along with requests that arrive irregularly. This inventory helps expose the work that may be invisible when it is spread among family members and outside providers.

Separate routine processing from work that needs judgment or specialist knowledge. Record where several people touch the same task, where information must be reconciled, and where one person is the only source of knowledge. These points often create workload beyond the task itself. The operational processes guide can help you map those recurring activities.

Match Demand to Skills and Capacity

For each task, identify the skills required and estimate the capacity needed based on its frequency and difficulty. Avoid assuming one person can absorb every responsibility simply because the tasks appear manageable individually. A small office may have people wearing several hats, but the combined demands still need to fit their experience and available time.

In my book, I describe offices that rely on senior executives with broad experience and specialists who can be brought in as needed. I also note that back-office functions such as record-keeping or tax work may be outsourced. Use that as a prompt to distinguish work that requires close family knowledge from work that can be performed by an outside provider. The talent search guide can help frame the skills assessment, while the compensation estimator can support staffing cost comparisons.

Test the Estimate

Review the draft workload with family members, current staff, and advisers who understand the existing arrangements. Ask them to identify missed tasks, bottlenecks, duplicate effort, and work that only appears occasionally but carries significant consequences. Test the plan against disruption scenarios, such as a key employee being unavailable or a family event creating an urgent need for coordination.

Then compare the workload with several operating options: a lean internal team, a larger staff, or a mix of employees and outside providers. Include the time needed to supervise vendors and coordinate information, since outsourcing does not remove all work from the family office. The provider guide can help assess that coordination burden, and the cost calculator can help connect the workload estimate to an operating budget. Revisit the inventory as the family's needs change.

I believe back-office functions (record-keeping or taxes, for example) are not a competitive advantage and may be outsourced.

Sources: The Single Family Office. Informational only, not financial, legal or tax advice.