If the calendar shows activity but hides bottlenecks, start by preserving one representative example. It gives the investigation a concrete reference and makes the eventual correction easier to judge.
Find the likely cause
Stages do not reveal where work is waiting.
Treat this as an explanation to verify against the actual work. Look at the input, the relevant decision, and the final result together. If the evidence does not support this diagnosis, investigate the mismatch before applying a convenient but unrelated fix.
Make the targeted correction
Track ready, blocked, review, and approved states with clear ownership.
An editorial calendar is a coordination tool that should make priorities, dependencies, and ownership visible.
Check that the repair worked
Identify the oldest blocked item and its required next action.
Repeat the check on the final version that the reader or customer will encounter. An approved draft, a preview, and a published result can differ; the acceptance decision should concern the version people actually use.
Prevent the next related failure
A separate issue to watch for is this: the calendar is full but writers do not know what to do. Attach the reader outcome, required inputs, and responsible person.
Monitor the useful outcome
Track on-time completion, blocked work, and the usefulness of published pieces.
Keep a short record of the original symptom, the evidence behind the diagnosis, and the result of the acceptance check. That record makes the solution reusable when the same condition appears again, without assuming that every superficially similar problem has the same cause.