Being an effective leader is challenging in the best of times. And while "best of times" is a rather subjective measure, few folks are calling our current business environment the best of times.
From dealing with a tumultuous economy to navigating a dysfunctional labor market, leaders in practically all business categories are being challenged to do more with less.
These situations are difficult and run the risk of becoming more so. Chronically understaffed operations run the risk of losing even more of their better employees.
Once you fall into the vicious cycle of high turnover and perpetually inexperienced teams, it becomes even harder to do "more with less."
All that said — and acknowledging that my role is often to be the "Well, on the bright side … " participant in many management discussions — challenging times often free us to make positive changes we may not have otherwise considered.
In a recent conversation with the CEO of a smaller operation, he shared how the departure of one of his longtime employees had left them scrambling to reassign duties. During our chat, he mentioned a particular task that jumped out to me.
I know the job function he referenced that was taking that person a half-day to complete can easily be completed in about 15 minutes. When I explained that, I could hear the doubt in his voice.
He listed the things involved with the task and I smiled and said, "You're still walking a mile and back to the well to get water when there is a faucet in the kitchen. I'm not saying what your person was doing didn't get the job done, but there are much more efficient and effective options to do it."
I have little doubt that within a few weeks, they'll be wondering why that change wasn't made long ago. But the answer should be clear.
They never had to. It was never a priority, as a task that a longtime employee performed always got done. No one questioned whether it could be done more efficiently and effectively until they had to.
The issue isn't about whether that employee's position was necessary as much as it is how that small team could have benefitted had that person not regularly misspent half of their day on an inefficient process.
Sure, that's one example from one small operation. And some (often larger) operations do a better job than others at regularly analyzing job functions and processes.
If the wide spectrum of pandemic-related operational changes has done anything in recent history, it forced institutions of all sizes to reevaluate operations and job functions.
They've been able to get a better picture of whether many long-held standard operating procedures were necessary and/or as efficient as possible.
While few enjoyed the initial pain of instant operational changes, valuable lessons were provided. Whether or not those lessons were learned remains to be seen.
The subsequent, seemingly broken labor market has given leaders even more impetus to find efficiencies and rethink job duties up and down the org charts. Along with that, I've been strongly suggesting to managers that they redouble their efforts to help their teams prioritize their activities.
All businesses have checklists they ask their teams to complete each day. Some are obvious and visible, and some are largely unseen. And yes, many unseen tasks are absolutely essential.
That said, there is a tendency for daily checklists to grow and never shrink. It's not that each item taken individually doesn't have merit. It's that it becomes harder for team members (especially new ones) to prioritize them.
It's of little use to complete 12 of the 14 things on the checklist today if the two that were missed are vital to business success. Without clear priorities, people can become more busy than productive.
I've recently been using an admittedly silly example to make that point. A gym near my home has 18 "Outdoor Pool Rules" posted on a metal sign. Besides the fact that having a list as long as a pilot's pre-flight systems check in order to swim is a bit much, the rules themselves are interesting.
One of the rules is, "Pool water not suitable for drinking, avoid swallowing pool water." I suggest to groups that this sounds more like a helpful suggestion than a rule, but it's pretty high up on the gym's list.
After a few jokes about that, I ask, "How many 'Don't drink the pool water' rules are on your team's daily checklists?" The smiles and head nods (especially from front-line and middle managers) tend to tell the story.
Beyond positive communication, effective leaders continually strive to help their teams remain focused on the things that matter most. Our teams only have so much time and energy in each day.
Continually strive to help your teams prioritize theirs.
