Your team is downsized. Now what?
First let me say, I’m so sorry. I know how difficult this is to cope with as a leader. In fact, there was one dark point of my career that I received that dreaded call every quarter for two years. By the end of that run, I had half the team and more customers. But we made it through and believe it or not results actually improved.
5 Things to Do When Your Team is Downsized
As painful as downsizing is, I’ve learned the hard way that it’s possible to keep results going up, while your team size is going down. It requires a positive outlook, innovative thinking, and most importantly trust and support.
1.Keep Your Cool
Don’t let your team see you cry. Don’t vent to your team or blame “them (those above you, or HR)” for being clueless about how hard you’re already working. Get it out of your system offline and show up strong. Your team needs to feel confident that you’ve got a path forward, not get more unrattled as you lose your footing.
2. Help Your People Find Jobs
If the headcount being cut are not vacancies but real human beings, put them first. Do whatever you can to help them land well. Besides being the right thing to do for the impacted employees, it will go a long way in building trust and loyalty with those who remain.
3. Eliminate Less Necessary Work
Before you throw up your hands and say “Nothing we’re doing is unnecessary,” get your team together and ask (and then don’t let them tell you that either). Look under every rock for time spent on seldom reviewed reports or redundant processes. You can’t do the same work with fewer people for long without causing your team to tip over or sacrifice quality. Get serious about what can go. Try our Own the U.G.L.Y. technique.
4. Strategize Failure
If you can’t find enough work to eliminate, know that some balls are likely to drop (or at least be picked up on the second bounce). Don’t pretend that every goal is equally important, help your team to prioritize. Be sure they know that if they have to screw-up something, which of their goals is less critical.
5. Go Outside Your Team for Support
You’re probably thinking, “Karin, now you’re really talking crazy, if we’re pressed, so is everyone else.” I bet they are. But I also know that in every organization, there is always redundant work going on. Instead of viewing other teams as the competition, or keeping staff at an arms distance to get them out of your hair, look for opportunities to partner. Could you pool functions and create a shared services group? Could you lend resources back and forth during peak times? Have the confidence to know it can be done, and the humility to ask for help.
Downsizing is never easy. I also know that of all the times I thought we’d been cut too far to survive, we someone how did, and in many cases thrived. Leadership is often about doing what feels impossible.
See Also: What To Do and Say During a Tough Reorganization (interview with Harvard Business Review)
How to Navigate Yet Another Office Shake Up (Wall Street Journal)
For more practical tools see our book, Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results– Without Losing Your Soul.
I’ve been part of a few right sizing moments.
I’d say the best thing a leader can do is be real with the team. Don’t paint a rosy picture.
Just tell it like it is.
Tell it early
Tell it all
Tell it yourself
This is the formula created by Lanny Davis, former counsel to President Bill Clinton.
Steve, Thanks. I all for real AND early, all, and yourself. Great advice.
Thanks for the great advice! I am currently in an organization that has a reduction in force every quarter. My team has continued to perform at a high level. We have come to expect the notifications and my advice to my team is to have a Plan A, B and C. I am honest, open and realistic with my team therefore as soon as I know they are informed.
Stacey, My thoughts are with you. That’s so hard. Sounds like you’re approaching it elegantly.
Great post and very emotionally aware of you to realize this needs to be talked about. Not only that, but you provide some great tactics that seems to be the best of what I’ve seen some few leaders do in this situation.
James, Thanks so very much.
I was leading a division where we had to lose 1/2 of our headcount (but none of the work was about to disappear.) Unfortunately, the rumor mill kicked in before real information got out and then we had an even bigger challenge on our hands. I was also not remotely grateful to colleagues who thought that they were helping me when people on my team would ask “are there going to be cuts?” and they responded “no way,” The truth is oftentimes painful, but it’s important to be in front of rumors and avoid out-right lies at al costs.
Great piece for people to think about now – before it’s time to make cuts.
Alli, Thanks so much for sharing your experience. When the rumors come out before reality it’s always a mess. I’ve seen that lying pattern too. NEVER a good idea.
Downsizing can be so difficult and cause great fear. I saw this when working with a hospital system and it seemed as if each person was constantly picking up new responsibilities daily.
What seemed to help was being open about each person’s concerns and figuring out what to do with the survivors without overburdening them. Additionally, keeping the information flowing is critical so that “connecting the dots” wasn’t necessary. When a lack of information is present, people make things up and rumors fly.
Thanks Karin for another great post!
Terri, Thank you. You raise really good tips here. I so agree with you.
Karin,
Because of your amazing leadership I was able to recover from being downsized. You were open minded and allowed me to try new things and because of that I learned many new skills, and achieved a lot of successes that ultimately allowed me to make a rewarding career change. I am forever grateful for being able to work with such an amazing person and leader.
Cindy, Thanks so much for your very kind words. That means a lot. You are a rock star, that makes it easy to support you!
It’s important to be as honest and transparent as soon as possible. The first person they need to hear this message from is YOU, and not at the water cooler….
LaRae, So agree. Nothing makes people feel more betrayed than that.
Responding to negative situations is challenging. That’s why I like your positive approach here, especially “2. Help Your People Find Jobs” and “3. Eliminate Less Necessary Work”). I’m reminded of that infamous comment to make the most of a crisis.
Thanks, Bruce. I’m so with you. I also think it’s important to remember that when someone is going through downsizing it really does feel like a crises to them, and it’s often not the only difficult thing going on in their lives.