Managing people can be a challenge at the best of times. But it can be even harder when the organisation around you is struggling with performance or you’re not getting much direction from the people above you.
For example, the organisation may be struggling to meet revenue and profit targets, making it harder for you to hire people or to give salary increases.
Or you simply don’t have a clear strategy being communicated from leadership that you can use to guide your own decisions.
It’s also not uncommon for managers to disagree with the strategy and direction that has been set by leadership. So you need to lead a team despite this and do your best to get high performance and results from them.
Ideally, you need a clear and purposeful direction in order to drive high performance and results from your team.
So, what do you do if you don’t have this?
Signs that strategy is disappearing or in trouble
First, let’s briefly look at a few telltale signs that you need to adapt your leadership style and approach because of a lack of strong strategy from above you.
Changes in leadership
Whilst changes in leadership can sometimes lead to a refreshed strategy or direction, it can also mean having to go through periods of uncertainty whilst you wait for it to be communicated.
Not just that, but changes in leadership can also lead to nervousness from your team because they’re not sure what it means for them and if changes are coming. So you also need to manage this during the changeover and keep them focused.
Market downturns and instability
This is fairly common, particularly in recent years where there has been a lot of economic, political and societal change. If broad market changes happen and your organisation starts to struggle, it can lead to a period where leadership is trying to figure things out or even where they appear to be paralysed by the amount of change and don’t do anything, despite the obvious need for it.
Rapid growth
Despite often feeling like a good thing, rapid growth can also lead to periods of uncertainty because the growth can outpace strategy and planning. This is particularly dangerous in larger companies where individual departments or teams grow much faster than others, so the broader team and strategy can’t keep up.
If you are the manager of one of these rapidly growing teams or departments, it can lead to a feeling where you’re trying to keep up and ride the wave, but don’t have the direction from above to keep things moving in the right way.
You get a strategy but no execution
Finally, you may find yourself in a situation where leadership has communicated some kind of strategy, direction or vision, but it’s lacking in execution or an actual plan to achieve it.
This isn’t unusual for the announcement itself, because leaders often communicate the “big” picture to an organisation and don’t want to get caught up in lots of details of execution.
But if in the days or weeks following the announcement, you don;t receive any further guidance on the actual plan to get to where leadership wants to be, it can create uncertainty for you and you may find yourself having to figure it out on your own.
How to manage without clarity and direction from above
Right, let’s look at some very actionable ways that you can overcome the challenges presented by the scenarios above and still manage your team effectively.
Create micro-strategies that your team can control
If you are lacking a bigger picture strategy, you can focus instead on the smaller picture by looking at things like:
- Current KPIs or objectives that you know are correct.
- Short-term projects and deliverables that need to be completed.
- Projects that have already been agreed and signed off to be worked on.
Essentially, you can focus on things that you know are still true or very unlikely to be wrong.
You then break down the delivery timelines into short sprints which may be just a month or a quarter long – then focus your team on these.
Yes, it can be a little uncomfortable to take such a short term view, but without a clear long-term view, it’s the best way to keep your team on track whilst still doing work that matters.
Manage upwards with clarity
It can be very frustrating when you feel that you’re not getting the clarity and support that you need from those above you.
Don’t fall into the trap of matching this and mirroring this in your own actions.
You’ll make the situation far worse if you manage upwards with frustration and a lack of clarity.
Instead, focus on:
- Providing updates on what your team is working on, focusing on business impact and not your own frustration.
- Prepare a small number of clarifying questions that can help you get a little more clarity on what they need from you or what they see as the key priorities for the business.
- Offer options instead of problems – try to propose a few solutions to the problems that you see that you can then take back to your team and work on.
After speaking with leadership and focusing on these areas, be sure to communicate the outcomes back to your team so that they can see that communication is happening. This helps keep their own frustrations under control and give them a little more clarity, even if it’s not as much as you’d ideally like.
Create clarity and purpose at team level
Purpose doesn’t just have to come from the c-suite. You can fill this gap and keep the team focused on what matters – high performance within the remit that you can all control.
Reiterate to your team who they serve and why that work matters. For example, if you work at a digital agency, you serve clients and your work is to have a positive impact on their businesses. This is your purpose day-to-day and can still be focused on without a bigger picture strategy from the c-suite at your own agency.
You should also set a clear narrative for your team that is clear for them to follow. For example, you could say “our job right now is to deliver these projects to the best of our ability and contribute revenue to the company whilst our strategy is refined.”
Build team resilience and trust in your leadership
Your team watches how you react to every situation anyway. They watch even more closely when they know that there is wider uncertainty within the organisation.
Don’t insult their intelligence by pretending that everything is fine – they will lose trust in you very quickly if you do this.
At the same time, don’t throw your hands up and pin blame on leadership above you because this can lead to a loss of respect for them in your team.
Instead, acknowledge the lack of clarity or uncertainty and your desire to do your best during these times. Tell them what your own plan is (based on the suggestions above) and ask them to focus on what they can control.
Invite them to ask questions and be honest if you can’t answer them directly, but promise to do your best to pass those questions onto leadership and report back to them.
Finally, remember that leading a team without a map is uncomfortable for you. But it’s also a real opportunity to demonstrate your leadership skills. Yes, it’s hard but leading during uncertain times can enable you to learn very quickly and become a more effective leader yourself.
Focus on what you can actually change, keep your team focused and do your best to get clarity from those above you whenever you can.
