That’s how much time I had for “people management” in my last role. I don’t like this term, frankly, as it sounds very technical.

I was working in a high pressure environment, where many change projects were going on simultaneously. Several smaller companies merged under one name. Many departments were centralised. Headcounts were cut. So much pressure on the workforce.

Personally I worried that we may see staff leave our organisation. I wasn’t sure we could take this, as resources were already scarce. While there was a lot of work, a lot of milestones to be reached and too many projects to be worked on at once.

Know your priorities

I literally told my boss that I needed to spend 60% of my time with our team. Knowing that this also meant I had to cancel some of my projects. I was clear about having to cancel projects as I also prioritised my own health. And I also believe that work never ends.

Spending that much time with my team was an important goal for me. From the get go I made it clear that without healthy people, there would be no results. And risking anyone’s health would mean loosing them from the team. My concern was also the toll it would take on their personal lives.

Let alone trying to motivate anyone.

My request was approved – and I was very happy about it. Still to this day I understand that this was an exceptional case. But I also believe that employee retention must play an important role.

Unfortunately way too often you don’t feel you can spend enough time to be there for your people. Even though you should consider workplace culture a priority.

Have an uncomfortable conversations on the meaning of leadership

Isn’t this what leadership should be all about? Inspiring others, caring for others, motivating others? We don’t even need to call it human leadership. We should call it the basic of leadership, or effective leadership in high-pressure environments.

I believe organisations need to have honest and maybe uncomfortable conversation on what leadership means to them. What the people in leadership roles are supposed to be doing.

Often, it’s a thin line between status (because: title), daily business and duties, and people management. And I believe too few people truly appreciate the struggle of having to deal with all of this.

How do I know that what I did was the right move? Because I saw an increase in happiness in my team, I did not have a single resignation and I could reinstate a sense of belonging (this from direct feedback from my team members).

How much time do you spend with your team every day?

Ready to do more? I’m happy to support you with this.

Connect with me on LinkedIn.