A common comment we hear from many managers, this is a great reminder from Tareef Jafferi that when things get busy, that's often when your team needs you the most. Consistent small acts of support outweighs the all too rare grandiose moments!
When you're too busy to manage, that's when your team needs you to manage the most. In the busiest moments, we sacrifice the very elements that could save us: feedback loops, team alignment, and strategic clarity. This happens because we view people management as a reactive activity. Our capacity to react reduces when we're consumed by other things that also need us to react. **The good news** is that great people management is more about consistent attention than extraordinary effort. The most successful managers protect small, consistent touchpoints with their teams, especially when everything feels like it's on fire. ✅ Great people management is: ◆ Providing timely guidance when you discover your team is working on something no longer needed ◆ Asking the right questions that help people see blind spots in their own thinking ◆ Creating clarity about priorities when everything seems urgent ◆ Making space for the conversations no one thinks they have time for ❌ Great people management is not: ◆ Doing 1:1s just to check a box on your calendar ◆ Waiting for problems to escalate before addressing them ◆ Assuming people know what matters most when priorities shift ◆ Only being available when things aren't busy P.S. As a manager who struggled with this, that's why I built Happily.ai -- 💡 Exploring the intersection of #peopleanalytics, #organizationalculture, and #behavioralscience to build thriving workplaces. Follow for insights, research, and ideas.