Why “We’re doing more with less” burns out your team quietly
“More with less” means nothing came off the list, so people stay late and quietly decide what to drop. Say what you are stopping so the rest can be done well.
THE QUICK ANSWER
Say this instead: “Here’s what we’re stopping, so we can do the rest well.” “We’re doing more with less” means nothing came off the list, so people stay late and quietly decide what to drop. Start with standing meetings that do not earn their cost.
GO DEEPER
Why “more with less” needs a stop list
When leadership cuts budget or headcount, “we’re doing more with less” sounds like a rallying cry. It sounds optimistic, and it sounds like you trust the team to rise to the challenge.
What your team hears is that nothing came off the list. The workload is the same or bigger, and there are fewer people to do it. So they stay late, and each person quietly decides what to drop, without telling you or each other. You find out when something important slips.
The fix is to name what you are stopping. “Here’s what we’re stopping, so we can do the rest well.” It does not have to be dramatic. A good place to start is standing meetings that do not earn their cost: add up the hourly cost of everyone in the room, and many of them look different.
Stopping things is a decision only you can make. If you leave it to the team, they will do it anyway, just less carefully and without your input. The meeting cost calculator makes the first conversation easy.
KEY TAKEAWAY
If nothing comes off the list it only gets heavier. Name what the team will stop, starting with low-value meetings.
TEST YOURSELF
Leadership says the team must do more with less. What should you do first?
PRACTISE IT
Try this lesson in the arcade
Quick retro games that start with this lesson’s situations. One thumb, one to three minutes, free.
