When You're Stretched Too Thin as a Manager

 

 

 

 

 

Do you manage too many people? The more direct reports you have, the harder it is to give each of them individualized support and attention. Here’s how to create systems and processes to help you manage more effectively and make sure everyone feels supported.

First, delegate decision-making responsibilities. Trying to handle everything on your own can slow things down and cause bottlenecks. Instead, empower your team to have agency and autonomy over lower-stakes decisions while you focus on the big-picture, high-level strategy.

Then, leverage the power of groups. Individual autonomy is critical, but it’s not enough on its own. Teams need a culture that encourages everyone to hold each other accountable, give feedback, and learn from each other.

Next, get out of the way. Effective delegation comes down to trust. Once you establish your team’s autonomy, resist the urge to meddle or micromanage.

Finally, be proactive about connecting one-on-one. If you come across as too busy for your employees, you risk making them feel as if they don’t matter. Small check-ins can go a long way.

The more direct reports you have, the harder it is to give each of them personal attention. Yes, you’re stretched thin and you’ve got a lot on your plate, but when you come across as too busy for your employees, you make them feel as if they don’t matter. So...more

When you manage a large team, it’s easy to feel as though you spend more time wrangling people than guiding them. Providing personal attention and making sure everyone takes responsibility can be tough, especially when there are so many moving parts. So, how can you put in place systems and processes that help you manage more effectively? How can you make sure everyone feels supported? And, what’s the best way to create an environment where everyone takes initiative and ownership of their work — even when you’re not in the room?

What the Experts Say

To be clear: There’s no magic, one-size-fits-all number of direct reports. It depends on the work you’re doing, the people on your team, and your career stage. The trouble is, it can be hard to tell when you’ve reached your capacity. Every leader has a “breaking point,” where the number of direct reports becomes unmanageable, says Vishal Gupta, a professor of management at University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business. “You’re pulled in a million different directions and always worried that you’re going to miss something,” he says.

It’s a relatively common problem, according to Tiffany McDowell, principal in the people advisory services division at Ernst & Young and the author of Strategies for Organizational Design. “More often than not, managers inherit their teams, and they’re left to try to make do with what they have,” she says. But while the challenges of leading a large team are real, there are also positives. “When you have a wide range of direct reports, you’re not going to be able to micromanage or get in the weeds,” she says. Instead, you must become a “true people manager” and learn to trust your team members to give them agency and autonomy, “which is a strong driver of engagement and productivity.” Here’s how to do that.

Delegate decision-making

One of the biggest challenges of managing a large team is keeping up with the number of decisions and trade-offs that need to be made, says Gupta. Trying to handle them all on your own can slow everything down and cause a bottleneck. That’s why you need to “give your team members as much decision-making autonomy as possible,” according to McDowell. The key, she says, is to keep the high-stakes decisions for yourself and delegate the rest. You should still guide and advise your team members. But giving them the latitude to make their own decisions will not only increase their productivity, but it will also help them develop new skills. And you’ll be able to focus on big-picture, high-level strategy, instead of being bogged down in routine problems. “It’s one of the most freeing things you can do” as a leader.

Leverage the power of groups

Individual autonomy is critical, but it’s not enough on its own. Teams need a culture that encourages everyone to hold each other accountable and learn from one another. “Be intentional about asking people to collaborate,” says McDowell. “Have your people form teams with specific goals, give them the clarity and freedom to accomplish these goals, and amazing things can happen even without you there.” Say, for instance, you manage a marketing team of 30 and your job is to oversee the content they produce. Rather than reviewing every piece individually, you can create a system of peer review, where senior team members critique the work of junior members, and everyone gives each other feedback. Your goal is to “push decision-making into the group as opposed to having all decisions flow up to you.”

Then, get out of the way

Trust is a crucial part of the equation, says McDowell. Without it, you can delegate as much as you want, but it won’t result in the outcomes you’re looking for. “If you give people autonomy, and then swoop in and take over, they are going to learn helplessness,” she says. It’s also a recipe for frustration for both parties. Your team members will resent your meddling and “you’ll be left wondering why no one is taking ownership and accountability.”

You need to accept that your reports might make mistakes as they learn. Gupta recommends starting each day with a short team meeting so you can get updates and offer guidance. Ask your team members about the challenges they’re dealing with and how you can support them. Your job is, “to listen and respond, not to pontificate,” he says.

Manage up and down

Another difficulty of leading a large team is balancing your own professional needs with those of your team. You have to manage upwards — to provide the right level of detail to your boss to ensure you and your team members receive the recognition you deserve — while also coaching your employees and providing feedback on their performance, says McDowell. It’s a balancing act. She advises taking a Goldilocks approach. If the issues that consume your day are too small, you’re being too tactical and are likely interfering. If they’re too big, you’re not connected to what’s occurring on the front line. “But when they’re just right you’ll have a pulse for what’s happening on the ground and you’re able to spend time on longer term strategic priorities and on mentoring your teams.”

Be mindful of your tone and persona — especially when it comes to how you interact with your team, says Gupta. “A lot of bosses are good at managing up but not managing down,” he says. “You don’t have to be selfless, but if your direct reports sense you care more about your own advancement that’s going to hurt you in the long run.”

Connect and offer support

The more direct reports you have, the harder it is to give each of them personal attention. Yes, you’re stretched thin and you’ve got a lot on your plate, but when you come across as too busy for your employees, you make them feel as if they don’t matter. “If your subordinates think you’re too busy for them, you’ll lose your grip and your ability to lead,” says Gupta. Instead, “you want them to feel that you have time and energy for them and that you have their back.”

When you’re one-on-one with team members, give them your full attention. Put away your phone and ignore your notifications, so you can be fully present. Celebrate their victories and successes. “Let them know they’re valued,” he says. McDowell recommends seeking out development opportunities for people on your team who want to move ahead. In particular, look for two-for-one opportunities that both help them grow and free up some of your time. “You’ll get work done that’s important to the organization and create visibilty for your up and comers.”

Think twice before asking for fewer reports

When you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, it’s tempting to ask for fewer direct reports, but it’s important to think through the potential risks of making that request. “It could send the wrong message to management,” says Gupta. You might be seen as wanting to step back from your responsibilities or as incapable of shouldering them, which could have unintended consequences for your career trajectory, he says. However, if you can demonstrate that the size of your team is too big for the kind of work you’re doing or that it poses risks to the organization — for instance, a nurse with dozens of direct reports — you should “feel empowered to escalate” the issue, says McDowell. “Articulate what the challenge is, why change is needed, and offer solutions.”

Principles to Remember

Do:

Give your team members as much decision-making autonomy as possible. They develop skills and initiative, and you get time to focus on the big picture.

Leverage the power of groups. Teams need a culture that encourages everyone to hold each other accountable as well as where people learn from one another.

Be mindful of your interactions with your team; if your direct reports sense you care more about your own advancement, it will undermine your leadership.

Don’t

Micromanage — it sabotages people’s motivation. Instead, offer guidance and support when your team members ask for it.

Act too busy for your employees — it’s alienating. Instead, be present and engaged with your team members and offer your support.

Be too quick to ask for fewer direct reports. It could send the wrong message about your commitment to your role, and it might impact your career.

Check out three related posts: 

Click here to read Keys To Empowering Instead of Micromanaging Your Team

Click here to read How to Harness the Power of Delegation for High Performing Teams

Click here to read How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Important

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, energy storage, facility services & maintenance, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

Keystone Habits: The Hyperlink to Elevating Your Leadership Impact

 

In a compelling and insightful book entitled, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg coined the term “keystone habit,” to refer to a select group of habits that help to supercharge our success. 

A keystone habit is no more difficult to form than any other habit, yet it provides the most benefits.

In particular, there are three things Duhigg claims that keystone habits do: 

• They extend small senses of victory - By completing a keystone “habit loop,” as he calls it (cue - routine - reward), we’re filled with a sense of accomplishment. It’s a small win that we can then build from, acting as the foundation for success.

• They act as the soil from which other good habits grow - When we complete a keystone habit loop, we’re more inclined to engage in other good habits. For example, when we exercise, we’re likely to drink more water, take a vitamin, and eat healthy meals.

• They provide you with energy, confidence, and the momentum to achieve more - As the keystone habit becomes solidified in our daily routine, it helps to build momentum. When we see progress in our leadership impact using a keystone habit, it creates a platform to engage other leadership behaviors.

In architectural terms, the keystone is the centermost stone in an arch that helps to interlock and hold the other stones in place, yet it bears the least weight. Without that keystone, the arch would collapse; it’s an integral part of the structure. Similarly, a keystone habit is an integral part of any good habit routine. 

Not only are they no more difficult to form, but they also help to promote other good habits while also helping to eliminate bad habits. In short, if you want to supercharge your impact as a leader focus on developing a set of keystone habits that will support and empower you.
 
Fundamentally speaking, habits themselves play a key role in our lives. In fact, where we are right now, today, has more to do with our habits than anything else considering that 45% of all human behavior is habit-driven. A large part of what we think, say, feel, and do are primarily controlled by our habits. 

The short cut to developing leadership skills and accelerating your influence is finding your keystone habits. Leadership skills are really chains of micro-behaviors.  And research has revealed that leadership skills are clustered into two distinct groups. The first group is called getting things done and second is focusing on people.

A keystone habit is most likely to start a chain reaction of behavior changes within the group of leadership skills where it conceptually belongs. For example, if you develop a tasked-oriented skill like Manage Priorities, the habit will likely spread to related skills, such as Plan and Organize Work, Create Urgency, Analyze Information, Make Good Decisions, or Delegate Well, because all of these skills focus on getting things done. But the same habit is unlikely to influence people-oriented behaviors like Listen Actively, Show Caring, Or Mentor and Coach.

Most Likely Keystone Leadership Habits 

Getting Things Done

The three leadership skills that are most strongly related to all other task-oriented behaviors are:

1. Plan and Organize Work
2. Manage Priorities
3. Create Urgency

Focusing on People

The three leadership skills that are most strongly related to all other people-oriented behaviors are:

1. Influence Others
2. Overcome Individual Resistance
3. Coach and Mentor

Great leadership have skills that belong to both groups—they get things done while focusing on people. Based on the situation, they automatically respond to their habitual behaviors, sometimes providing support and other being directive. In order to be a great leader, you too, will need to develop or improve skills in both getting things done and focusing on people, so you will need to establish at least two keystone habits, one that accelerate your development of skills in each group.

Keystone habits work because they focus on making a dynamic change in your impact as a leader They produce a trickle-down effect. Soon you will notice more opportunities for improvement from the keystone habits that you're forming.

Success with a keystone habit happens when you take that first step. Right now, make a list of all the leadership habits you'd like to develop or improve. Pay close attention to the ones that can have a ripple-effect in your role.  Then focus on forming this habit over the next 60 days. You'd be surprised at how this small change can generate many positive outcomes.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, facilities management providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth--even in disruptive times.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

 

How to Stretch Outside of Your Comfort Zone (Where the magic happens)

 

 

 

 

 

Growth and learning happen beyond your comfort zone

Your life is waiting at the other side of your comfort zone.

Inspirational quotes encourage you to do something you wouldn’t normally do —you are missing out on life, they tell you.  

However, crossing the line of your comfort zone is not easy —science shows that experimenting with new things makes everyone anxious and worried.

The paradox of the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) approach is that, rather than neutralizing the fear, it creates more anxiety— those who are afraid of uncertainty get more stressed out.

What if you could stretch beyond your comfort zone on your own terms? Not because someone else pushes you to do so.

First, you must get rid of the dualistic approach — being comfortable is not the opposite of living dangerously.

Meet Your Comfort Zone

“Discomfort may be a doorway; don’t run from it.” ― Joseph Deitch

According to Merriam-Webster, our comfort zone is the level at which one functions with ease and familiarity. The term was initially coined after the temperature range within which most people feel comfortable, and feel neither cold nor hot (68 to 72 °F or 20 to 22 °C).

The comfort zone is a psychological state where one feels safe or at ease and without stress or anxiety.

Judith Bardwick, the author of “Danger in the Comfort Zone,” defines the term as “a behavioral state where a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position.” It’s a perceived certainty where we believe we have access to all we need — we feel we have some control.

This neutral state is both natural and human — our brain is lazy by nature, and leans toward the easiest path. We can continue living on autopilot or embrace discomfort to reap more significant rewards. Simply put: do you want to live or to thrive?

Research has demonstrated that a state of relative comfort creates a consistent and steady performance. However, relative anxiety — a state where our stress level is higher than normal — can maximize your performance. Conversely, too much anxiety drops your productivity off.

The challenge is finding what Robert Yerkes and John Dodson called “Optimal Anxiety” — the sweet-spot between arousal and performance.

Being Comfortably Numb

 "Is there anybody in there?

 Just nod if you can hear me

  Is there anyone at home?” — Pink Floyd

Sometimes life hurts.

To avoid suffering, we build a wall around ourselves.

Comfortably Numb is a Pink Floyd song from the album “The Wall.” Pink, the character from the namesake movie, is burnt out — he creates a bubble to protect himself from the outside. This wall seems to alleviate the pain but doesn’t allow Pink to overcome the cause of his suffering.

Having a comfort zone is not a problem — building a wall around it makes us feel numb.

When we stop stretching beyond our limits, we stop learning and growing. That’s the danger of staying in the comfort zone all the time — you end up bored and unchallenged.

Start by getting rid of the ‘comfortable is safe; uncomfortable is dangerous’ dualism. You don’t have to put your life at risk to leave your comfort zone.

There are actually three, not two, zones where you can live.

The opposite of the Comfort Zone is the Danger space — personal growth happens in between both: in the Learning Zone.

Stretching beyond your comfort zone is not about being courageous but curious.

Only by crossing the line of certainty and familiarity, you can grow. That’s what our current education and parenting model got wrong — by wrapping up kids in bubble plastic, they seeded fear and anxiety. We need to recover the value of ‘no pain, no gain.”

If you’ve ever pushed yourself to get to the next level in sports, creativity, or learning new skills, you know that feeling —pain is a signal of learning. We all struggle to do something for the first time. We all find it difficult to push ourselves harder and harder.

Pain is the voice of resistance — when you stop listening to it, you can focus on making progress.

Your brain, just like your body, needs training. Neurons that are weak, unused, or that don’t fit the job are pruned. Neurons that are exercised get stronger and develop more connections.

When you start reaching a point where your inner voice tells you “stop,” that’s when you need to keep going.

Every time I go biking, I set a goal. When I get halfway through the miles I decided to ride; my brain sends me a signal telling me to turn around. However, I challenge its laziness — I keep riding for a couple more miles. That’s how I keep pushing myself to bike more.

Leaving your comfort zone is not as dangerous as you might think — explore the Learning Zone, not the Danger Zone. Also, though it sounds counterintuitive, there are significant dangers that lurk in the Comfort Zone. If you get too comfortable, you can start to hold yourself back. Also, our comfort zones tend to shrink as we get older.

John F. Kennedy said: “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.”

How to Stretch Beyond Your Comfort Zone–and Grow

“The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.” ― Benedict Cumberbatch

1. Find Balance

Living outside of your comfort zone all the time can be as harmful as staying put. Training your mind, like in sports, requires not just effort, but regulating your pace.

Enjoying life is a balancing act between familiar and unfamiliar things. Some people will label you as comfortable if you don’t want to skydive. However, that’s your call. Those who approach life as “Gamblers” are driven by the thrill of the chase — by desperately avoiding comfort, they end living in the Danger, not Learning, Zone.

2. Alternate Your Dynamics

To gain better results, mix the intensity and frequency of the challenges.

If you run, let’s say 10 miles at the same average speed every day, you are not making real progress. It’s not that continually exercising is wrong, but always running at a steady pace improves your endurance, not your speed.

Running intervals is the best way to increase your overall speed — run at speeds faster than you would race at for small periods.

3. Become Your Own Benchmark

What’s your baseline? How do you deal with risk and uncertainty? What most extremists miss is that everyone’s comfort zone is different — you can’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach.

Those who are familiar with me know that I’m always challenging myself (and those around me). However, my experience as a leadership coach is teaching me a great lesson: you can’t help others applying your standard. I say 'teaching me' because I still struggle with applying my standard to others.

How much are you willing to stretch beyond their comfort zone? Don’t push yourself too hard.

4. Incremental Progression Changes Your Shape

Expanding your comfort zone requires multiple progressions to achieve long-lasting results.

Think of your comfort zone as a rubber band. If you stretch it all of a sudden, you might be deceived by its apparent larger shape. Once you let go of the rubber band, not only it will go back to its original form, but it can actually hit you.

The Ten Percent Advantage is an approach to create everyday progress: focusing on small 10% increments will move you forward. The most important part: it will help you build the momentum to turn to leave your comfort zone into a habit, not a one-off.

5. There’s No Trying; There’s Only Doing

Paraphrasing Yoda, trying doesn’t count; it’s doing what matters.

Do the same things differently. Do things that scare you. Do things that you love but stopped doing them. Do something for the first time. Do something everyone is telling you shouldn’t do.

The common theme is doing — that’s how you leave your comfort zone. And, when what was once uncomfortable, becomes the new normal; it’s time to do more.

Remember, when you leave your comfort zone, you won’t find danger, you’ll be entering the learning zone.

Confucius said, “knowing and not doing is not really doing.”

Bridge the know-do gap by doing some of these things:

+ What are some small ways you could step out of our comfort zone this week?

Possible ideas:

·        Taking a new route to work,

·        Inviting someone new to coffee or lunch,

·        Change your daily routine,

·        Try an exercise class that you wouldn’t normally consider,

·        Go one week without watching TV,

·        Volunteer for a new task or responsibility at work,

+ Tell a friend how you plan to stretch outside your comfort zone this week—and then do it!

+ To find out how far in or out of your comfort zone you normally work, think of a project you’ve recently completed and jot down the answers to the following questions.

Best to go quickly so that you don't censor:

·        At the time of doing your project, what aspects felt comfortably inside your Comfort Zone?

·        What aspects of the project felt slightly outside your Comfort Zone?

·        What aspects felt totally outside your Comfort Zone?

·        What did you do in this project that felt challenging at the time, that   you now take for granted?

·        What did you do in this project, that you still can't believe YOU did?

 

·        What part(s) of this project did you think you would find challenging but turned out not to be?

·        What really scared you in this project? Did you do it?

·        If so, how did you feel after?

·        If not, why not? How did you feel after?

Once you complete the exercise, look over the answers and see how what you did and felt during your project relates to stretching outside your comfort zone. 

In the light of this, is there anything you would change about your approach for your next project?

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

 

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, facilities management providers, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth--even in disruptive times.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.