No Time to Manage Employees?

A lack of time is the number one reason managers will give as the reason they are unable to manage their employees / direct reports as well as they’d like. Setting goals, providing direction, coaching on progress, providing feedback, celebrating wins and offering corrective guidance is, quite literally, a full time job. Most managers, however, already have a full time job so this stuff gets relegated to the edges if at all.

More Time Working from Home?

So here we are nearly five months into a work-from-home protocol where many of us have no commute, presumably a shorter walk to the washroom and fewer colleagues stopping by our desk to chat about the weather. You would think we’d have just a teensy bit more time on our hands. But alas those time savers have likely been eaten up.

Putting in the Time Gets Results

Ok, so we probably don’t have a whole lot more spare time. But we know, rationally, that if we spent a few more minutes upfront being clear about expectations that we would save hours on the back end not having to unravel the misalignments. And we know in our heart of hearts that if we took the time to say what we actually thought about the mediocre performance being demonstrated that the offending performer might shape up or ship out thereby saving all kinds of time currently spent re-working, re-directing and re-banging our head against the wall in frustration. And we definitely believe that taking the time to let a team member know how invaluable their contribution was to that important project we completed last week increases the likelihood that the team member – who is a star by the way – is less likely to quit when they find an offer that seems to better appreciate what they do.

Time is Not the Problem

The thing is, I don’t think it’s truly a matter of not having enough time. It’s the fact that managing is hard and – if you’re doing it right – makes your stomach queasy and it’s easier to put it off when there are more pressing and less awful things to spend our time on. But that’s not your job. Your job is to manage employees and that requires having meaningful conversations of substance with each of your direct reports on a regular basis about their performance, their accomplishments and their connection to your organization.

It’s Time to Connect. It’s Time to Manage.

Quick! Pick up the phone, open FaceTime or boot up a meeting on Zoom and connect with your employee. Here’s a guide: Say hello. Ask how they’re doing. Acknowledge this is an unusual time. Ask if there is anything they need. Acknowledge some stuff you are struggling with/had to solve (noisy home, no work desk, spouse working at home too, etc.). Let them know you’re available if they need anything. Thank them for being there and contributing what they can right now. Say good bye and wish them a good evening.

Want to Really Save Time?

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