In service companies, roles can often be divided into two groups: managers and creators. A lack of synchronization between managerial and creative tasks can lead to issues in project execution. Improving time organization and holding regular meetings to enhance team work principles can help streamline collaboration.
Managers and Creators
Managers are the ones who plan the work performed by creators. Creators execute tasks for clients according to the plan created by managers.
One might think that these roles complement each other, but if you look closer, their ways of working conflict with each other, which sometimes leads to conflicts and stress.
It's important for these two roles to understand each other, comprehend each other's goals, and develop a common way of working.
Where is the conflict?
In a service company, a manager often handles many projects and multiple clients. On these projects "something often happens," and quick information from those executing the tasks (creators) is needed.
The conflict arises in such situations. The manager would like to have an answer from the creator as soon as possible. The creator would like to have quiet, uninterrupted time to focus on executing their task as best as possible without thinking about other tasks during that time.
Additionally, the sales department might need the creator's time to estimate work for a new client.
On top of that, there is remote work and the related communication tools, where sending a question to someone on Slack or Teams, "do you have 5 minutes?" is very easy. It's much easier than walking from one room to another in the office to ask someone a question. The lower effort for asking such questions results in more of them being asked.
However, these actions cause the creator to be distracted from their work, change their thought context, and often what takes 5 minutes turns into several dozen minutes. The entire day's work plan is ruined, the weekly schedule is altered, and project deadlines get pushed back. Later, the manager wonders why the project is delayed, not realizing they had an influence on this.
On the other hand, if the creator works in a team, the tasks of individuals are interconnected, and the creator spends too much time on their tasks without considering other team tasks, it can cause delays in the whole project. Lack of information sharing, delayed response to others' questions, lack of help for other team members (especially when they know how to solve a problem someone else has) can also cause project delays.
How to deal with this?
Teamwork planning should consider the two roles: manager and creator. There is no specific rule on how to organize the work of such a team since every team has different people, different clients, and different projects.
There is, however, a general starting pattern from which you can begin and adjust it to the given team and its projects. I recommend doing this adjustment once a week.
Generally, I recommend teams work in 1-week cycles (e.g., sprints). Then every week there is time to summarize the previous period and discuss any issues (something like a Retro in Scrum, but one question is enough: “what should we improve to make our work results even better?”).
A team working in a 1-week cycle can decide to improve their work 50 times a year. A team working in 1-month cycles can decide to improve their work 12 times a year. It's not hard to guess which team will work more productively.
Starting Pattern for Teamwork (manager and several creators):
Division of the Day:
Every day, plan time slots for more managerial (more communication) and creative work (more focused work). Initially, divide the day into:
- 1h communication,
- 3h focused work,
- 30min communication (and e.g., lunch break),
- 2.5h focused work,
- 1h communication
Division into Phases/Sprints:
Plan work over a 1-week period.
Every week, hold a meeting with the following elements:
- 1) Summary:
- Summary of the previous week (planned vs. completed).
- 2) Improvements:
- Let everyone answer the question: “What should we improve to make our work results even better?” (prepare the answer before the meeting).
- This is the time to talk about the division of the day and adjust it better to the team's specifics. This division may also change over time, e.g., as clients or projects change.
- 3) Task Planning:
- Plan work for the following week.
- 4) Organizing more time for creative work:
- Check the calendar and see if all team meetings are necessary.
- Maybe instead of daily meetings, you can meet 3 times a week?
- Maybe some one-off, previously planned meetings are not needed?
- Maybe you can reduce the list of invitees to selected meetings?
- Maybe additional meetings need to be added to speed up team communication (because, for example, not everything is well described on Slack or Jira)?
Based on this pattern, after a few weeks, you will better refine the work of the team and make everyone more satisfied with the way the teamwork is conducted.
Manager Communication Techniques Reducing Work Distractions:
I've been following a few rules for some time:
- If it's not urgent and within 1-3 days there will be a team meeting, I put it on the agenda of the meeting.
- If I need an answer today, but not immediately, I write on Slack or send an email set to the second half of the workday (usually at 2:00 PM).
- If I need something urgent right away, I write on Slack and send it immediately.
With these methods, I reduce the number of messages that could distract someone from their current tasks. Sometimes it turns out that I delete planned messages to send because I've already solved the problem in another way.
What if I have both managerial and creative tasks?
There are positions in the company that partly fulfill managerial tasks and partly creative ones. In this case, one should additionally divide the day or week based on the type of activity. I usually start the day by checking emails and Slack for any urgent matters. If there is no emergency, I only flag the messages I need to respond to and move on to my creative tasks. I typically devote 2-4 hours daily to this, in the first part of the day. After this period, I handle communications. I also try to schedule meetings after 10 AM (I usually start work at 7:00 AM).
Some people divide their week, e.g., gathering all meetings in 1-2 days a week, to have the remaining 3-4 days fully available for creative work.
Here, too, you should test different options and see which one will be best for you.
Summary
It's important to be aware of the work mode of other people in the team and company. It's also important to spend a few minutes each week thinking about whether the current work method is optimal. This way, you can significantly improve the work results of the entire team and your own work results.