During a recent coaching session, a long-time business owner and I reflected on his company’s inevitable Q4 crunchtime and its impact on his people. He talked about the importance of checking in with each of them and sharing timely guidance knowing client needs are stretching the team’s capacity and elevating stress.
A significant number of his teammates are parents with young children, and it’s especially important to honor the flexibility they need for their kids AND still deliver for their clients.
Overall, he’s relying on consistent messages to his team that are positive, encouraging, and motivating. As he opened up, I summarized his key themes and guidance below.
Key Themes:
– We’re all stretching right now (shifting from 7-9 hours/day to 10-11 hours/day)
– You can’t suffer in silence (asking for help early and often is critical)
– We need you right now
– We can strip out non-essential work
– Timely guidance for alignment on their current reality and expected thinking and behaviors:
– Over the next 11 weeks, I’m not asking myself or anyone else to go beyond cracking for 11 straight weeks. I am asking myself and everyone else to give more in the days and weeks you can and ask your teammates for support when you can’t.
– This cycle does have a crest (it’s temporary).
– There are multiple things in our control to navigate this busy season.
– Inefficiency equals misery (meet only when necessary and make the meetings count!).
– Determine one thing you can do differently to focus on impact (not just activity).
– Our team is the right team to do this work and make the best of it.
– Service clients’ needs first (and be very selective addressing wants unless capacity allows).
– Not everything carries the same urgency.
– We are going to make mistakes (see each other and our clients as people, not as problems).
– Acknowledge that we all have the capacity to be a solution-oriented teammate or a problem-causing teammate.
– “Yes” isn’t your only answer. “I can’t right now (here’s why), AND here’s what I can offer…” often leads to transparency and co-crafted solutions where we don’t drop any balls.
– Comparing and contrasting your experience relative to your peers often digs up assumptions that aren’t based in reality.
– You’re not the only one who feels close to cracking…it’s getting busier right now.
– As you run into your inevitable “busy seasons” and feel the strains on capacity, borrow the above wisdom. It goes a long way in keeping our thinking and behaviors on track to lead and perform in the ways our teams need us to perform.