Why One-Size-Fits-All Team Routines Fail At Senior Levels
I recently spoke on a Chief Product Officer panel with a former mentor and fellow CPO from Thumbtack, Phil Farhi. Phil was a few steps ahead as a product leader and often spoke of how becoming a senior leader means managing across multiple time horizons simultaneously well. It wasn’t until our most recent interaction that this concept finally clicked. And I am eager to share this newfound clarity with you all.
Client: I am stepping into managing a larger team for the first time. There are a mix of seniorities. Some are early career, needing regular hand holding and direction. Some have 10-15 years of experience and are mostly independent. In addition, I get a mix of asks and requests from my manager and across the organization. Some are asking for a specific project. Others are asking for my 5 year visions. How do I create a system that helps my team and I succeed?
One-Size-Fits-Fall Falls Short
When we first step into the role of a manager, our inclination is to set up one set of meetings and routines for the entire team’s work. Commonly, there is a weekly team check-in, perhaps a few quick stand-ups, and weekly one-on-ones. We establish the same cadence for every team member, perhaps out of fairness or simplicity. However, this one-size-fits-all model breaks down quickly.
The weekly meeting is too in the weeds or takes too much time for the senior team members. A regular one-on-ones is too high level for zero-to-one projects or not frequent enough for high-stakes strategy conversations.
It turns out that different people, different projects, even the same project at different phases, necessitate different working models. This is where the concept of time horizons is a helpful framework for setting up different rituals based on project and people needs. Here’s how it works.
The short term: concrete tasks
In the short time horizon, there are the daily and weekly tasks. Every team has a set of tasks that are well-defined, lower risk, and contain an element of repetition. Engineers build and launch new product features. Customer support teams triage tickets. Sales team make outbound calls. For those early in their career, these are the tasks they start with and make up most of their time.
Preferred format: These short-term tactical tasks are best managed together as a team. Regular group check-ins like weekly team meetings are great for efficient context sharing and timely redirects. It also creates a way for team members can learn from each other and provide support when unexpected challenges arise. When it comes to short term tasks, weekly or twice-a-week group check-ins are preferred.
The medium term: strategy creation
Then, there are projects that have a time horizon on the order of weeks to months. These include building team strategies or cross-org projects. For this type of work, weekly team meetings are too frequent yet don’t provide enough time to go in depth. In addition, there are often an evolving set of stakeholders, making it difficult to maintain a constant list of attendees. Finally, this type of work is frequently handled by more senior team members who do not want to lead and be visible for the work.
Preferred formats: To tackle these medium term projects, a combination of leadership reviews and one-on-ones work best. Regular leadership reviews give accountability and goalposts for progress, and can be adapte per session for changing decision-makers The role of a manager here is less to dictate regular task and more to guide, coach, and unblock. Therefore, one-on-ones are more needed to give space and time for deeper conversation and addressing higher complexity challenges.
The long term - Big bets, 5-year vision
One of the first things you get asked as an executive is for a 5-year vision and strategy. People want to know: where are we going? What are our big bets for winning? This work requires some tactical input, but is anchored in high level, long term thinking. It is also often driven primarily by the executive. Weekly team meetings fail for this type of work because it is too in the weeds and do no include the wide range of stakeholders required for vision work to land.
Preferred format: Half to full day workshops, two-week sprints, and offsites tend to lend themselves well to work that requires broader, longer term thinking. It bring people out of their day to day to focus on a more creative exercise. A shift in environment can spur creativity. Sharing meals and working on the same challenges increases belonging and consequently, alignment.
Manage These Horizons Simultaneously
As an executive, you’ll need to work across the short, medium, and long term horizons simultaneously. It’s important to clearly identify which projects and people are working in which time horizon, so that you are supporting them effectively. It may be tempting to combine conversations or projects into similar meetings for “efficiency”, but in reality it’ll slow the work down. The ability to hop between a 5-year-vision workshop, a one-on-one about team strategy, and a weekly task planning session is what makes for effective senior leaders.
Interestingly, this combination of time horizons is also common in big zero-to-one-bets. It is one of the reasons these projects are notoriously difficult to do well. The leader of zero-to-one projects must be able to move between short term tasks and long term strategy, and influence a broad range of stakeholders of varying seniority and function. For anyone interested in becoming an executive, getting experience in one of these projects can be invaluable.
That’s all folks! See you next week at 3:14pm.
Yue
Yue’s Coaching Corner
I completed my year-long Integral Coaching certification with New Ventures West this week. In addition to learning a set of proven methdologies, I also am walking away a more anchored, creative, and confident person. I am so thankful for the experience and look forward to being a part of this community for time to come.
Now enrolling for my April cohort of The Uncommon Executive Leadership Accelerator. This 8-week group coaching program helps mid-career leaders clarify their career path and boost their influence, executive presence, and self-advocacy. Learn more here.
Paid newsletter subscribers get $200 off! Upgrade now.
Interested in 1:1 executive coaching with me? Schedule an intro call here to see if there’s a fit. Minimum 6 months commitment.