For most great teams, people are at the heart of everything they do. And, while people are often the most important ingredient in any successful endeavor, they are also the single most significant expense. Too often, we see leaders and teams taking a reactionary approach to people planning. Rather than spending the time upfront to assess and design a role, we frequently see leads throw together a bunch of random, ad-hoc projects and call it a "job."

Taking an intentional and proactive approach to planning for your upcoming people needs will not only help you make more informed and disciplined decisions, but it will also help you move faster when you decide to add more resources.

Try a Proactive Approach

Each quarter, coordinate a 1:1 meeting with each team leader to review their upcoming people needs and the overall people-health of their team. In general, these conversations should be authentic and organic, but try to focus the discussions around three areas:

• Upcoming Needs: What additional/new people resources or support will you need in the upcoming quarter?
• Think about the priorities for the upcoming quarter. Are there any that may need additional resources or skills? Are any at risk due to individual performance or lack of resources?
• Upcoming Changes: What people needs or changes to existing roles do you foresee needing in the next quarter?
• Are there promotions, restructures, or org alignments that make sense to consider in the future?
• Are there currently under-utilized resources that we could leverage in different areas of your team?
• Upcoming Concerns: Are there things that aren't working within your team that need to be addressed?
• Are there people currently struggling in their roles who could benefit from some coaching or mentoring?
• Are there burnout issues on your team that could benefit from a proactive solution?
• Are there any retention risks on your team that we should proactively address?

By setting time aside to proactively have those conversations each quarter, you can begin to set the habit and the discipline of taking a proactive look at your teams and how to best align resources to support them.

Need help in doing this with your team or building the habit? Reach out; we’d love to partner for your success!

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