When Capacity Became a Four-Letter Word
Tips on Avoiding Managerial Mistakes After Layoffs
It has been an especially rough few weeks for employment news. We refresh our LinkedIn pages and the updates about layoffs create a terrible scrolling experience.
If there is a silver lining, these career-related disruptions spark multiple offers from people to help with networking or simply acknowledging the effect of a macroeconomic development on another human.
Like many of us, my career includes both receiving and delivering the news about position eliminations and restructuring. In fact, a conversation with a former colleague prompted this #WritingWednesdays column. It is flagging a word—capacity— that managers and team leaders left behind after layoffs will undoubtedly hear.
A lot happens in the chaos of layoffs, and Sharon Epperson of CNBC offers some good tips on how to navigate the new world with those who remain. One of Ms. Epperson’s key themes rings true, as layoffs lead to “workers feeling insecure in their jobs and higher levels of stress …to counter those negative sentiments, experts say leaders need to communicate the organization’s near-term goals and plans very clearly with front-line managers.”
In the midst of this communication, the word capacity (or something akin to it) will come up in meetings. Honestly, I wish someone had flagged how this term would emerge in this scenario because I would have handled things differently a long time ago.
For context, in the midst of a massive economic downturn, the wonderful team I had the privilege of leading shrank by 40 percent. In the days and weeks that followed the layoffs, almost every single meeting across all organizational units became a forum for a “we don’t have the capacity” response to every question about what comes next.
I grew tired of hearing the word. Yes, I understood it reflected a genuine way for us to mourn the loss of coworkers and deal with the stress of deciding which tasks would come off the proverbial to-do list.
Here is where I fell way short as a manager. I recall saying something, like, “Capacity means we’re talking about what we can’t do. Priorities means we are focusing and moving forward.” I even drew one of those Just Say No to Drug signs (thank you, Mrs. Reagan) on a whiteboard with the word capacity in the middle. I was on a mission to replace the term with priorities. Mission not accomplished!
The problem was I had not bothered to tell anyone that capacity had become a four-letter word to me. I made the flawed assumption that everyone was in the same place as I was. Weren’t we at the same meetings? Wasn’t it obvious that the word capacity was eating away at our souls? Apparently not.
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So, here are a couple of suggestions to managers out there to avoid looking callous at the exact wrong time. Rest assured, prioritizing will take place, but there is a much better way to light that path.
Acknowledge Feelings and Share Your Own.
The emotions are especially raw, so it is important to listen. Call a specific meeting to be up front about what you are hearing. Share the themes you have noticed and ask the team if these words still reflect where they are at the moment.
Here is the time to reveal your version of the capacity trap. Don’t declare war on the word like I did. Just be up front about the things that are causing you to twitch. My bet is that people will appreciate not having to read your mind (thus avoiding my mistake).
Discuss Priorities Free of Polarization.
In most organizations, the decisions about priorities come from leadership meetings, board sessions, and other gatherings that do not include the vast majority of team members. While you may not be able to disclose the inner-workings of those sessions, there is a way to informally involve colleagues who report to you.
If possible, share with them the timeline of meetings taking place to discuss priorities Depending on your team’s size, engage with small groups or in one-on-one conversations asking folks what they really hope stays on the list. On the flip side, ask them what they would be okay with not doing. Do not make promises you cannot keep but collecting these data points gives you something to share with peers in the decision-making management meetings. You are also managing up to your bosses by giving them information or insight that may not have reached their orbit.
Granted, none of this is foolproof, and you might not have time to engage everyone, especially a large team, in this kind of consultation.
Nonetheless, just avoid assuming everyone is on the same page as you and then create a Just Say No sign with a word in it. If you get through this process without doing that, mark it as a moment of professional growth.