How do we get more margin? Every leader wants the team to maximize efficiency. And in this quest for efficiency and productivity some team members can become so overwhelmed that there’s no possible way to get everything done.
The resulting frustration can be devastating to morale and retention.
To keep team members from becoming overwhelmed, leaders must incorporate margin – plenty of it – into position descriptions.
I once had an administrative assistant who was regularly talking about how overloaded he was – to me and to his colleagues.
He had been in the position only a short while. Interestingly, prior to hiring him, we divided the position into 4 positions. Meaning that the team member that preceded him had significantly more responsibility and performed it well.
One morning we sat down to discuss his frustration. I was primarily interested in making sure I understood the challenges he was facing.
Then we spent some time brainstorming on a white board. After a few minutes we had listed four ways to create more margin.
These were things that he and I could work on together. So here they are…
Four Ways to Create Margin
1. Focus
This particular team member worked in the central hub of the organization. He was the first person that many team members and clients approached when they wanted to see members of the executive team.
This meant he was constantly interrupted and his phone rang every few minutes. As a result, he had trouble completing his core responsibilities.
To provide more margin, we scheduled another administrative team member to handle the host and reception duties for an hour or two each day. He could then go to an unused office or conference room to concentrate on completing assigned work.
2. Develop Efficiencies
He turned the task of sorting and distributing messages into a game. He planned fifteen minutes for this task, set a timer, and raced to accomplish it before the timer went off.
He learned to focus on a specific job instead of trying to multitask. He learned that it was ok to let seemingly urgent phone calls go to voice mail and to return calls at specific times throughout.
Often the caller would simply leave a message and it wasn’t necessary to call them back. He could simply pass the message on – saving valuable time.
3. Shift Responsibilities
Every leader should regularly evaluate the load of each team member and balance responsibilities among the team. If one position has an excessive amount of margin, you may need to shift some of the workload from an overburdened team member.
Team members often procrastinate on jobs they dislike. And I’ve learned that one team member may enjoy a particular responsibility that another team member despises.
One of the best ways to accomplish this shifting of responsibilities is to gather the team together and have each person tell what they like and don’t like about their jobs. Then allow them to select tasks from other members that they would rather do.
Often the team will leave the room excited to be working on tasks they are passionate about.
4. Grow Your Team
I once had someone on my staff who had become very efficient. She was doing such a great job another company offered her a top-level position. And I was encouraged when she accepted the position – I want to see our team members grow and move-up.
When we began to search for her replacement, I again realized that one person would not be able to manage the responsibilities this position had grown into, especially someone new to the organization. We ended up hiring five people to replace this one high performer.
If you identify the need to add more staff, hire them – sooner than later. You will be in better shape adding to your payroll than overworking and frustrating your team.
I’d also add, hire a VA! That’s what I’m in the process of doing!
Yes Amy. That’s a good one also. A virtual assistant can significantly improve productivity.
To add another angle, look where the team member gets his/her energy. Some people are more productive alone in their cube. Others like to be surrounded by people. Most like a combination of both. Also, it’s important for team members respect boundaries. If someone is on a deadline and doesn’t want to be bothered for a couple of hours, that person should be able to schedule it like an appointment and people should respect it.
Good ideas – thanks for adding them!