How To Be a Better Manager

If you want to be a better manager, then you need to change how you think about increasing the workload of your team members. Very often, you may be tempted to give the them more and more work, when new projects and emergencies emerge.

Even your top performers will start to struggle with increasing demands and it could result in some important, day to day work not getting done.

In this episode of our Productivity Edge series, you will see how a simple tool, a rubber band, can help you understand the consequences of giving people more work.

What Productivity Questions Does This Video Answer?

How to be a better manager?
How much work should I give my team?
What are tips to be a better supervisor?
When should I cut people’s workloads?
How can I be a better leader?

Video Transcript

A rubber band can tell you how much you can stretch your team. A lot of effective leaders struggle when it comes to assigning a workload. Especially when you have a good team member, why just load them up, give them more to do?

Well, the problem is the productivity may fall and the frustration may go up. So I’ve come up with a way to think about it and it involves a rubber band and you can play at home.

Here it is. Okay, we have a rubber band. I’m stretching it out just a little bit, kind of making a rectangle. Inside this area, that is someone’s normal workload. That’s the stuff that they are normally able to do. They can accomplish it without much stress you can depend on them.

Okay, what happens if we just kind of expand the inside area but do it very thoughtfully. You can see, you get a little more work

Make sense?

Okay, what happens if we go back to that original orientation and then we have what I would call an emergency. That’s more like this.

So what happened? Well, you stretch someone out to cover new duties and new responsibilities but what about the stuff that used to be on the top and the bottom. Well, that’s now gone.

In other words, that’s work that’s not getting done or it’s work that someone is having to stay late, come in early in order to accomplish it all.

See the problem? When you have lots of last-minute changes or sudden requests or emergencies, well some of that stuff that you had before it disappears.

Keep that in mind. You can stretch people temporarily but over time, if you’re going to be making big changes or constant requests to people, something is gonna get missed.

About This Video Series

Ken Okel’s ongoing Productivity Edge video series will make you more effective on the job. Every week, you’ll learn a new, easy to understand tip that you can use right away.

Got a productivity problem or want to be a better manager? Let us know and we’ll feature it in an upcoming episode.

About Ken Okel

Ken Okel works with leaders and organizations to boost productivity, performance, and profits. At conferences, conventions, and company meetings, he engages audiences with new ways to maximize their time at work, including how to prevent mistakes at work. Sometimes audience members enjoying making paper hats during a special leadership exercise. To see a sample of his keynote and workshop presentations, visit: https://www.kenokel.com/videos/