Does your team say yes to almost everything?
I see this regularly with managers who care deeply about their clients, stakeholders and the quality of service their team provides. They want to help, they want to be responsive and they want to be known as people who get things done.
Every yes adds something to the workload, so at some point the question becomes: what happens to everything else?
A leader I worked with described her team as “yes by default, frustrated by consequence.” They had become very good at absorbing more work and finding a way to deliver it. The frustration came from feeling as though the list kept growing without anyone making a deliberate decision about what mattered most.
This is where managers have an important role to play.
Your team needs to understand what matters most, where they have flexibility, what commitments need to be protected and when they should come back to you before agreeing to something new.
A simple question can help: What’s the trade off?
Before you or your team agree to another request, ask what will happen as a result. Will another piece of work move? Will a deadline change? Will someone need additional support? Will something receive less attention?
You may decide that the new request absolutely deserves a yes. Asking the question means you are making that decision with a clearer view of the workload and priorities your team is already carrying.
It also gives your team permission to have better conversations with you. They can bring competing priorities to your attention, ask for clarification and talk about capacity before everything becomes urgent.
Try it this week. When another request comes in, resist the automatic response and ask your team, “What’s the trade off if we say yes to this?”
That small question can create a much bigger conversation about priorities, capacity and how you want your team to work.
Care means saying yes to the right things, for the right reasons, at the right time.
If you’d like to explore how your team is managing competing priorities and where you may need clearer boundaries, let’s have a conversation.
