A computer implemented method for operating an analytical laboratory, comprising a plurality of laboratory instruments configured to obtain a measurement value indicative of a characteristic of the biological sample, the method comprising the steps of: - receiving and identifying a plurality of biological samples; - retrieving one or more test orders corresponding to each biological sample, each test order defining at least one analytical step to be carried out on the biological sample by at least one of the plurality of the laboratory instruments, each test order comprising a processing priority; - determining a processing workflow for processing each biological sample based on corresponding test order(s) and corresponding processing priority, wherein the processing workflow is determined such that test order(s) with higher processing priority are completed before test order(s) with lower processing priority; - determining a forecast availability of analytical result(s) corresponding to each test order; characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: - determining a staff workload and a workload threshold at the time of forecast availability corresponding to each test order; - decreasing the processing priority corresponding to the respective test order if the staff workload is greater than a workload threshold; - increasing the processing priority corresponding to the respective test order if the staff workload is lower than the workload threshold; - controlling the plurality of laboratory instruments of the analytical laboratory to process each biological sample according to the corresponding processing workflow and reporting test results obtained by the at least one analytical step on the biological samples performed by the at least one of the plurality of the laboratory instruments if the staff workload matches the workload threshold. - receiving and identifying a plurality of biological samples; - retrieving one or more test orders corresponding to each biological sample, each test order defining at least one analytical step to be carried out on the biological sample by at least one of the plurality of the laboratory instruments, each test order comprising a processing priority; - determining a processing workflow for processing each biological sample based on corresponding test order(s) and corresponding processing priority, wherein the processing workflow is determined such that test order(s) with higher processing priority are completed before test order(s) with lower processing priority; - determining a forecast availability of analytical result(s) corresponding to each test order; - determining a staff workload and a workload threshold at the time of forecast availability corresponding to each test order; - decreasing the processing priority corresponding to the respective test order if the staff workload is greater than a workload threshold; - increasing the processing priority corresponding to the respective test order if the staff workload is lower than the workload threshold; - controlling the plurality of laboratory instruments of the analytical laboratory to process each biological sample according to the corresponding processing workflow and reporting test results obtained by the at least one analytical step on the biological samples performed by the at least one of the plurality of the laboratory instruments if the staff workload matches the workload threshold.