The signals that a schedule has been outgrown
The earliest indicator is almost always consumables. A washroom that never ran out now empties before the next visit, and staff start reporting it. Kitchen waste follows shortly afterwards, with bins reaching capacity earlier in the day than they used to. Both are volume signals rather than quality ones, and both point at frequency rather than at how well the work is being done.
The subtler indicator is time rather than volume. When routine work starts consuming the whole attendance and periodic tasks are repeatedly deferred to the following month, the schedule has quietly become too small for the premises it is serving. That one is easy to miss because nothing looks obviously wrong on any given day, but it shows up clearly in a periodic register carrying three overdue items.
