You have a team with an overwhelming workload. How can you help them meet their deadlines?

First off, I'd start by sorting through tasks, giving priority to the most crucial ones. Then, I'd work on smoothing out our processes, cutting out anything unnecessary to boost efficiency. I'd make sure to delegate tasks according to each team member's strengths and workload capacity. Communication would be key—I'd encourage open dialogue, welcoming any concerns or ideas my team might have. And of course, I'd be there to offer support and extra resources, like training or tools, to help everyone stay productive. Lastly, I'd focus on maintaining a positive atmosphere, because recognizing achievements and promoting collaboration can really boost morale.

To meet the deadlines effectively, I plan to organize my team into two categories: Expert and Intermediate. High-risk tasks will be assigned to the Expert team members, leveraging their specialized skills and experience. Meanwhile, the Intermediate team will handle low-risk tasks and additional workload, ensuring efficient task allocation and timely project completion.

What i have found to be helpful is to let the team explain , listen and hear them out ... Acknowledge and create A psychological safe zone for them ... Ask for there feedback on how they see the workload to be broken down and divided .. Facilitate vs dictate ... Ask clarifying questions so both sides understand , confirm your role with them and what support they need ... I love sharing time management tools like the 4 quadrants or other ideas ... Sharing not dictating... And trust them to find a path forward ..

Anytime your team has an overwhelming workload, you have the opportunity to take ownership of the situation. This is not a time to simply motivate your team members by saying things like "I'm here if you need anything!" or "You've got this!" because all you are doing is telling them "You guys go ahead and continue working and if you need anything I'm over here." Many times, team members won't take you up on this offer. So, try a different approach. Get your team together (in-office or via zoom) and hear each one of them out. What are their thoughts on the situation? How do they believe we can solve this together? Find the 1 thing that they feel is taking the most of their time and see how you can get involved and knock it out with them.

évaluer la situation même stressante et qui semble impossible est d’une certaine manière facile à évaluer. La force de frappe n’est pas en vous mais dans vos équipes. Partager de manière franche et concrète les objectifs et le sens a apporter. L’idée n’est pas challenger mais de bien conna?tre ses équipes la confiance est primordiale. Mais une fois l’effort fait n’oubliez pas de remercier.

Set up a daily stand up with the team, along with a group chat which allows for communications alignment. Ask the team how they want to receive information - do what works best for them. Given the pressure the team is under I would encourage the servant leader to do a weekly check in on each member of the team to see how they are coping. It doesn't have to be a meeting. Just call them and have a chat. Establishing an open connection and being genuine in your concern for the welfare of the team is a valuable approach. The team will feel supported and they will be more inclined to reach out to convey concerns or ask for what they need. You never know what challenges people are facing in life. Creating a culture where we care is crucial.

Do daily check-ins where you help them: 1. Prioritize tasks by identifying urgent ones. 2. Delegate tasks based on skills and expertise. 3. Set realistic deadlines to avoid overburdening. 4. Provide necessary resources and support. 5. Foster open communication for early issue identification. 6. Encourage time management techniques. 7. Be flexible to adapt to changing priorities and challenges.

Over communicate with full & clear details avoiding any misunderstanding. Define strategy & communication protocols according to the situation. Adopt one window decision making process in min time to ease the process

I would add to Riette's post.... - Protect as much as possible your overwhelmed resource from external interruptions This is normally one of the main reasons why resources get overcharged and less productive at the same time

Effective communication of goals, deadlines, and feedback fosters collaboration among team members and aligns their efforts towards achieving project success.

Les méthodes agiles sont un bon moyen pour gérer une équipe. Vous pouvez par exemple utiliser un backlog et ajouter des post-it avec les taches et leur degré de difficulté. Analyser le ressenti de l'équipe et en fonction de la difficulté, essayer de diviser une tache pour en réduire la difficulté ce qui pourra également augmenter la rapidité de réalisation.

Always know the conditions surrounding the project. Set realistic deadline to avoid finishing up with errors. The team needs to be empowered by creating necessary tools to educate and train them. You can use tools like coaching, mentoring, or training to help you empower your team.

Empower your team by delegating tasks based on strengths, providing autonomy, support, and fostering a culture of learning and celebration to drive ownership and responsibility.

Reach out to your team early after setting a deadline to make sure they have the tools they need to achieve it. If not, that's up to you as a leader to ensure they have those tools. Deadlines are great but if you're not equipping your team then you should not be surprised when they miss them. Also consider introducing a % chart that shows progress week by week towards their goal. This can be private to you or public, but it will avoid being blindsided by a team member being way behind on their goal.

Delegation always follows understanding and communication at third. Prioritizing work and distributing it to more than 2-3 experts to finish it on an urgent basis is what a good leader would do. That's how the tight deadlines can be met.

Defend your team to the hilt Stress comes from senior management expectations being too high Do not let there be any doubt in your team's ability, or confidence will sink

It's the part of a SUCCESSFUL person and it can be learned by examples and experiences. Stress means the urgency. And urgency needs attention. And attention to some extent is the result of progress. If you think stress as an enemy So you will never be the person who you want to be. Management of stress is a well equipped technically and entirely habitual thing with all of us. We should make the essential work order Then we should work from that pattern And listen to the loops and flaws with inner eyes and ears. By this practice they will overcome stress successfully.

Stress can overwhelm the mind and not everyone deals with it the same. Deadlines can cause work paralysis, especially if there is a fear of it leading to consequences if missed. Check in with your team about their life and not just their work. If you feel they've been a bit burned out chasing your deadline, consider giving them half-day/full-day break to reset and come back stronger.

An example I have seen is stress can highly disrupt the team’s motto and make it more difficult to bounce back. I can understand stress is inevitable but there are ways we can keep the work environment calm and peaceful. Always make sure to breathe,when you feel you are struck with a particular work load. Make sure to distract yourself with something of your liking, communicate with your colleague ( just some small talk). Go for a quick break, breath in and breath out. You can also hear your song when you get some break. A small secret tip is, MAKE SURE YOUR LIPS IN SMILING POSITION, try it you will less stressed ( tried and tested method). This will cools down anyone who is speaking in the opposite side.

Every coaching seasons and many training sessions, I start with a shortly guided breathing exercise to distract people’s busy minds, get them focused and more relaxed. During stressful times it’s too easy to self-sabotage. 3 deep breaths, focusing on the 5 senses or a guided meditation of just a minute or more can be a game change in the following work and their results. It’s well invested time.

Flexibility is key when it comes to managing a heavy workload. After communicating with team members and taking a full inventory of situation, being willing and able to pivot and reallocate responsibilities is critical. Recognizing where a shift could occur in order to drive greater efficiency will produce better results, every time.

Adjusting and improving our approach to deadlines has been crucial for achieving success. For example, after a project deadline was missed, we conducted a retrospective to analyze what went wrong and gathered feedback from team members. I agree that monitoring progress and soliciting feedback are essential steps. However, it's equally important to act on this feedback promptly. By implementing changes based on the lessons learned, such as improving communication channels or reallocating resources, we were able to meet subsequent deadlines more effectively.

Prioritize in collaboration with your team, clearly communicate the most important (not urgent) tasks and ensure the workload is evenly spread across the team

Understand the situation and Team, go further help the team to accomplish goals. Don't put pressure on the team. An employee always looks for a leader to lead the team not by acting as a boss.

One of the Best Motivational Tactics is Asking Each & Every one of your Team Members about their own Motives & what Drives them to Join The Co. You might find that the biggest motive of one of them is to provide medical treatment for his parents, imagine if you provide him/her a medical insurance for their Parents, watch how they will become super motivated & the biggest fan & promoter of your brand

You always have to guide and give little assistance to your team while planing to do work. This will help them to reduce some pressure and this way you wull give needfull support that every team member require.

Motivating your team to maintain momentum and meet deadlines is crucial. You can achieve this by inspiring them with the significance and impact of their work, connecting it to their personal and professional goals. Reward and recognition play a vital role, expressing appreciation, and offering incentives and growth opportunities. Foster a sense of belonging and purpose by involving them in decision-making and creating a shared vision. Utilize tools like praise, feedback, and recognition programs to reinforce motivation and keep the team engaged.

The challenge is: Everything is important. However, NOT EVERYTHING IS A PRIORITY. Agile practices help to slice the elephant.

I will consider Divide&Conquer where possible.While setting a ground rule that the space is a safe place to seek support.After ground rule is established,where a team member is overwhelmed,I will place these requests on what exact help is required & openly communicate to ask for help from others in the team who may be able to handle the task easily & pair them together to complete the tasks at hand.Where I can communicate & adjust the deadline with a client for the team, I will also quickly do so.I will also be ready to roll my sleeves up to help where required.After, I will hold a post mortem with the team for open dialogue on how did we get overwhelmed,what else can we do to prevent such future occurrence so we are ready the next round.

In addition to workload assessment and communication, it's crucial to consider each team member's strengths and workload capacity. Tailoring tasks to match skill sets and providing training where needed can optimize productivity. Creating a supportive environment where team members feel comfortable expressing concerns and proposing solutions is also important. Furthermore, monitoring progress and adjusting deadlines as necessary fosters adaptability and reduces stress. Lastly, promoting work-life balance through flexible scheduling and well-being initiatives contributes to sustained productivity.

All of those are important and applicable, encourage your team to teamwork, clear communication and support them with setting priorities. At the same time appreciate, give constructive feedback and help with prioritising. Make sure they have breaks, do something fun after difficult time passes and objectives have been completed. Have 1:1’s at the end or team meeting to discuss how did all go, how everyone is feeling and what could go better. Be ready and open minded for their ideas and opinions.

In such situations, planning takes an crucial role. Making your team understand the importance of their contribution in the process and the planning how can you all as a team will complete the task on or within the given deadline. If employees gets the feeling of responsibility and accountability, they will not only complete the given work on time but also make sure the accuracy of it.