When a manufacturing line in a factory is running efficiently, one can see lines of robotic arms working synchronously, conveyor belts moving smoothly, and goods being produced. Unfortunately, when it comes to knowledge work, it’s much tougher to get an understanding of how much a team of people is producing.
What to Do If Your Team Is Too Busy to Take On New Work
Before you rush to hire more people, try these three steps.
October 04, 2018
Summary.
Project overload is real. But as a leader, how do you know whether your team is really needs more resources, or whether they could be working more efficiently? First, ask people to identify their key activities and how much time they spend on them in a typical week. Then see if you can eliminate work — what are people spending time on that’s not required? After deciding which tasks you can simply stop doing, look for other ways to reduce workload by doing the work differently. And last but not least, look for tasks that can simply be done more quickly. If your team is still struggling after these steps, it might be time to just hire more people.
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New!
HBR Learning
Team Management Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Team Management. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Build a better team and achieve more of what matters.