When your team is stretched: 3 actions to take immediately
I am relaunching my blog with a new name, Succeed from the Middle, focused on a three-part topic I hear so much about today from middle managers -- your team is stretched, stressed, and burnt out.
Through December, we will explore all three topics. All are related as one typically fuels the other and can even be experienced as a continuum of sorts. Bad feelings can start with being stretched, lead to stress, and, if ignored, result in full-on burnout.
Our main goal is to prevent this continuum from becoming a reality, so we need to start with the front of the tail and not the end. Unfortunately, it seems this continuum is most acute when we close out the year. We set annual goals in January or mid-year in June, and we are in a rush to get them completed. Some were realistic; some were derailed due to other priorities that came out of nowhere, but the pressure is still there to show results whether we have the time, budget, people, and resources to do so successfully.
What can we do if our team comes to us and says they are stretched too thin, have too many projects, or are juggling too many competing priorities? What we can do are the same things we can do to prevent such feelings. Remember that it is never too late to get the team back on course and performing instead of feeling pulled.
There are three things we can do immediately to remedy the situation. These actions are not complicated, but they may not be easy depending on your culture or hierarchy. The less empowered you are as a middle manager, the less you may feel you can do to impact the situation. These three areas should be addressed continually to prevent the stretch, stress, and burnout continuum.
Fight for your rights.
I am not talking about the Beastie Boys here (although feel free to party when you can!). Middle managers can have influence especially if they pool their resources and voices together. If your team is stretched, you should have the responsibility and authority to do something about it. If not, then make a case to your leader to take action. You are closest to your team and can advocate for them and help them manage their work, priorities, and resources. That should be a part of your job description.
Review and adjust expectations.
If your team is stretched, it is time to look at the workload and expectations. Ask yourself five questions about your workload:
1) Is it within our defined scope? Too often, we take on activities that may not fit our team charter, but we do it anyway at the sacrifice of our core work and goals.
2) Is it critical to the business? If it is not critical to the business, consider shifting the work to a lower priority or moving it to next year. We can't do everything all at once despite how much we try. It is okay to shift things around for the sanity of your team.
3) Is it highly impactful to fill in the blanks (company, customers, efficiency, productivity, engagement, clarity, mission, etc.)? If not critical, the work may still be significant. Review the work to see if it truly will move the needle in your overall direction. If the answer remains "no", then consider shifting it to next year.
4) Do we have the staff (internal and external) and capabilities to be successful? If the work is important, do we have the people we need to complete it successfully in the remaining time? Did we lose someone on the team? Did we not get the consulting dollars we asked for? Is this too much of a stretch for current team members? Please note the answer here is not to take on the work yourself as a middle manager. You have enough to do; don't add to your feelings of being stretched.
5) Are there any obstacles in our way that may be hard to remove? If everything lines up, perhaps something is in the way preventing you from being successful. This can be politics, funding, competing priorities, readiness of the impacted groups, change in mission, change in strategic direction, etc. Middle managers need to keep their finger on the pulse of these areas and be able to raise these concerns as they come up.
Personalize communications.
Once adjustments are made based on the answers above, communicate with your team members so everyone gets the same message -- the why and what. Then, hold individual conversations to work with each team member to get the workload appropriate for their capability (skills to do a quality job) and capacity (time and space to do the job successfully). Ask questions to hear their concerns and ask more questions to help coach them to be successful. Finally, ask them how you can help support them. Usually, your team will have an answer!
If we fight for empowerment, continuously review our workload and expectations to ensure they are achievable, and work with our team members individually to ensure work plans and expectations fit them and us, we will succeed in avoiding the feeling of being stretched.
While the above may not be easy, try it out anyway. If your leader isn't on board, model how this can work, and you might win them over.