Building Capacity in Your Organization - Produce More with Less
Leaders, are you looking for ways to do more with less resources? On this latest episode of Leadership Hustle, Andrea and Michelle will give you the tips and strategies to help make your team more efficient and increase productivity. Discover the keys to building capacity so that you can unleash your team's full potential!
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Building Capacity in Your Organization - Produce More with Less
Building capacity in your organization with the same amount of time and the same number of people can seem like a hard task, but it is not impossible. Building capacity can be done by optimizing daily tasks and clearly understanding what you and your business need to be doing and need to stop doing.
On this episode of The Leadership Hustle Podcast, Andrea Fredrickson and Michelle Hill give all the details on how to elevate the capacity of your organization and solve the need for leaders like you to do more things without having to work more hours or hire new employees.
What Is and How to Create Capacity
Capacity, in an organization, refers to the maximum amount of work that is capable of completing in a given period. When we talk about elevating capacity in an organization, we talk about the necessity of enhancing its ability to perform more efficiently, effectively or reach a certain goal.
Know where you are before you can plot a course to where you want to go. First, you need to understand your current state. This involves identifying areas that need to elevate capacity and the goal you want to accomplish.
Organize Priorities and Free Up More Time to Create Capacity
This is the part where you write down all your and your team’s daily, weekly, and monthly processes and figure out what must be changed. This probably will take some time, but it's essential to have a more efficient working environment.
Write down your processes and prioritize them. What are the necessary, non-negotiable procedures?
Find out the time it takes to finish a task and all the steps involved.
Identify the essential tasks and the ones that aren’t that essential.
Figure out what tasks can be left behind and do not move your organization forward.
After analyzing each process in your organization, you can now eliminate or reduce the tasks that are slowing you down. For instance, are there tasks that are redundant or do not contribute significantly to the end goal? Are there processes that take up too much time but yield minimal results? These are prime candidates for elimination or reduction.
Effort vs. Impact
One of the key considerations in organizational efficiency is the concept of effort versus impact. This principle revolves around evaluating whether the energy and resources expended on a task are yielding significant results for the organization. Is the impact of your efforts visible and substantial enough to justify them?
By plotting tasks based on their potential impact and the effort they require, you can prioritize tasks that offer high value with relatively low effort.
Create Capacity for Team Members
Start by involving your team in the process of task improvement. Encourage them to share ideas, identify bottlenecks, and propose solutions.
With the help of your team, set new and improved processes that free up time to be more productive and reach a higher capacity. When you free up time lost in unproductive processes, team members can optimize their current tasks or take on new responsibilities.
Ensure they are clearly communicated and understood by all team members. Provide training if necessary and ensure everyone is on the same page. This will prevent confusion or misinterpretation, which can lead to inefficiency. Once you've set up these processes, it's important to review them a few times a year to keep improving them.
Leadership Capacity: Delegate
To have more leadership capacity is essential for you to let go of the tasks that you, as the leader, don’t need to be doing. We know this can be difficult, as we tend to be perfectionists in every aspect of their business, but delegating is necessary to scale the company.
The art of delegation is an essential skill for leaders seeking to improve their capacity. It involves identifying tasks that others can perform effectively, allowing you to focus on high-impact activities that require your unique skills and expertise.
Delegation isn't merely about unloading tasks onto others. Instead, it's about empowering team members to make decisions and complete tasks independently.
Develop Your Team
When delegating, ensure the assigned tasks are clear, measurable, and aligned with the person's skills and capabilities. Provide the necessary resources and guidance, and be open to questions and suggestions. When team members understand the significance of their role within the company and see opportunities for growth and development, they are more likely to stay engaged and committed.
However, if they don't understand why they're doing what they're doing, or if they see no room for advancement, they may feel undervalued and consider leaving. Remember, effective delegation requires trust and openness between leaders and team members.
Have Clarity
Lastly, have a clear path that you want to follow. Having a clear path is an essential aspect of any successful endeavor. When you have a defined direction and purpose, it guides your actions and provides a roadmap for your team.
When team members understand their roles, the tasks at hand, and the reasons behind those tasks, they are less likely to make mistakes and experience stress.
It's essential to cultivate an environment that encourages healthy growth and continuous learning. Provide opportunities for team members to develop new skills, expand their knowledge, and grow both personally and professionally.
This could include training programs, mentorship opportunities, or simply encouraging curiosity and exploration. Remember, when people learn and grow, so does your organization.
About the Hosts
Andrea Fredrickson
Andrea Fredrickson is a thought leader and consultant at Revela, an organization based in Omaha, Nebraska specializing in the development of leaders, culture alignment, and business strategy for private and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness. Andrea has built an amazing team by believing that fundamentally people want to be successful and become better versions of themselves.
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Andrea has degrees in education, management, and business. She is the author of Insight Unseen; How to lead with 20/20 business vision. She helps people see things differently, self-reflect, and never stop looking for ways to improve themselves on a personal and professional level. Andrea has spent more than 30 years researching and developing methods to help people communicate and lead more effectively.
When Andrea isn’t working with clients, you’ll find her spending time with her family & friends and making memories by exploring new cities.
Michelle Hill
Michelle Hill is a master facilitator and coach at Revela, an organization specializing in the development of leaders and aligning the culture of privately held and family businesses of all sizes. Revela is one of the region's most experienced thought challengers, helping individuals and companies find their greatness.
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An ambitious leader, Michelle has the natural ability to create forward momentum to build teams and get results. She inspires others to look within themselves and to challenge the status quo. She helps create high-performing environments. Michelle brings a diverse background: operations, employee development, and sales in the steel, hospitality, and consulting industries.
Outside of work, you will see her competitive side engaged in her daughter’s sports and ISU athletics. She loves life, her four-legged companions, and captures all the moments through her camera’s lens.
TRANSCRIPT
Andrea Frederickson: As a leader, are you finding it necessary to get more done with less? In this episode of The Leadership Hustle, we'll talk about finding ways for you to create capacity not only with your team, but with yourself. Welcome to the next episode of The Leadership Hustle, where we work with executives whose companies are growing fast and need leaders who are ready. Today we are going to tackle the topic of creating capacity for teams and companies.