The toughest challenge for any manager is to find the lean mean work quotient for every team member who works with them The lean mean work quotient is –
The work – that’s best suited, that sufficiently challenges, for which the employee is rightly equipped, doesn’t overwhelm, doesn’t stress, doesn’t overload, makes the employee connected to the purpose – is the lean mean work. Yeah, the definition will leave you out of breath then imagine implementing it.
Only when the employee is given lean mean work do they perform at their best, show their best productivity and have high job satisfaction, probably have more loyalty too.
And yet a manager’s job is the most ridiculed. (That’s an aside gripe)
Anyways, so to have a lean mean work quotient, the org in itself has to be lean and mean where the roles and responsibilities of each individual are clearly defined. When the organisation isn’t lean and mean it’s hard to define a lean and mean team. When the team isn’t lean and mean the responsibilities are duplicated and that’s when the teams get lost.
Even in a ballooned-up organisation leaders of individual units and managers of teams can build their respective team structures in a lean and mean way. For that, managers themselves should know the scope of work, volume of work, what’s the skill required etc. Not only knowing, but then building a team around it and clearly speaking and agreeing with the team on what everyone’s roles and responsibilities are. Letting the team figure out the best way to share responsibilities sometimes works, but most of the time fails. I have tested it. Because no one wants the low-hanging fruit, everyone, well most of them wants the work that’s deemed to bring more limelight to them but not everyone is equipped to do everything. And as a leader, it’s your job to spread the work to the right team member and also give them the confidence that the low-hanging fruit kinda task will be balanced with other challenging work. There will always be a mix of challenging work and boring work. Only you have the bigger picture to show to your team members why every task and job matters. And if there are mundane tasks to do away with, hopefully, you have the team members with bright ideas to do away with the task.
So to build a lean mean team, the key lies with managers and leaders, to know what you are managing and leading. To consciously choose not to balloon up your team. To clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each team member, not letting them figure it out themselves.
Once you have the lean and mean team in place defining the lean mean work quotient should be an easy-peasy task, well not easy-peasy but at least you have a solid base to build over.
Image : Pexels