Any advice on leading a team after layoffs? If you’ve done this successfully, how did you improve morale and keep productivity intact?
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Field CTO in IT Services3 months ago
It's tough - I think you need to treat the colleagues being laid off with respect and dignity, and reinforce with the remaining team members the background and rationale for the layoffs. And also ask the team for ideas on how work should be redistributed, or their help in reprioritising existing work and commitments within the remaining capacity. At the end of the day it is down to you to lead with effectiveness (and understanding/ compassion) and help your team maintain or recover their productivity and over time improve their productivity and the effectiveness of their contributions. Chief Data Officer in Healthcare and Biotech3 months ago
Move and plan in small increments. Work off "sprint" plans until your operations has settled post layoff. ID key informal leaders and coopt their support to reestablish morale. Focus on career and personal development planning.Practice Head, Cognitive AI in Banking3 months ago
Clear communication is key to everything. Few more pointers to consider are acknowledge emotions, provide stability where possible, refocus on mission and purpose, invest in development, recognize and reward efforts and regularly check in with team membersVP of Operations in Government3 months ago
This is a great question, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Losing people in the organization is hard, but here are a few things I've tried with my team post-transformation that have been effective thus far:1) Acknowledge reality: While we need to move forward, it's important to acknowledge what has happened and that it will be hard. Encourage team members to share their perspectives and concerns (including yourself, you're human too!) and talk about them openly as a group. My only caution is to make sure it doesn't turn into an unproductive venting session, so one tip is to capture thoughts on a whiteboard and tie it back to a "so what are we going to do about it" actions for the team.
2) Focus on the future: Ensure the team vision is clear for the next 3+ months and your team is focusing on moving from where they are to where we need to be versus dwelling on the past and things out of their control.
3) Drive efficiency improvement: Less people doing the same scope of work makes it really challenging for the remaining workforce to keep their chin up. Spend time having the team identify areas they can simplify or cut out waste so their workload is more manageable.
4) Stay in touch: Make sure you are having regular check-ins with your team members individually and encourage them to reach out to others on the team just to see how things are going. Rebuilding those relationships when close colleagues are lost is difficult, but it is critical to move your team forward.