Take a moment to consider this question: On a scale of 0 to 10, how much chaos do you have in your life? 0 is “No Chaos At All” and 10 is “So Much Chaos I Feel Like My Hair Is On Fire!”.
If you find yourself answering higher on the scale, you’re not alone. Recent studies have shown that over 60% of employees report experiencing “high levels of stress”. 41% of individuals attributed their stress to their workload while 32% cited “people issues”. This kind of stress can impact productivity and even increase how much time someone takes off of work to reduce their stress.
The keynote to take away from these results is that when you feel this way, you’re not alone. We all have so much chaos in our lives. Chaos is defined as “a state of utter confusion or disorder”, and, personally, I can identify with that definition. When I go home at night, I wouldn’t be surprised to arrive and find my kids with spaghetti in their hair.
Two years ago, my wife and I had our fourth kid under the age of six. When people find out how many kids we have, we get the same three questions. We answer the same way every time:
- Yes, we know exactly how this works and how we ended up with four kids.
- Yes, they were all planned.
- No, I have not thought of anything better to do with my wife.
As we’ve grown into a family of six, our household eventually hit a critical mass of chaos. This pushed us to be different parents, the same way the organizational growth we all face at work pushes us to be different leaders.
However, we didn’t find the answers to our parenting challenges in a book. Instead, we’ve learned five important lessons through trial and error. These same five lessons can be applied to the organizational growth we face at work.
1. Delegate Tasks
The first thing you’ll need to get used to is delegating assignments. Now that our children are older, we’ve started to give certain tasks to our oldest kids that we used to do for them on their behalf:
- Put their laundry away
- Pack their school lunches
- Shower by themselves
Try taking on this management exercise tonight. What are three things you can delegate to someone else at work tomorrow? When putting together a list, consider tasks that would improve your organization and productivity if assigned to someone else.
There are many reasons leaders may avoid delegating parts of their workload. However, remember that 42% of employees surveyed reported that their workload was the cause of their workplace stress. When you learn to effectively divide tasks among your teammates, you not only increase your potential productivity but can also improve the efficiency of your team’s workflow.
2. Standardize Procedures
Another problem we commonly run into at work is trying to meet the interests of every individual instead of focusing on the needs of the team. Breakfast time at our house is a central source of chaos. Everyone’s got their own agenda, everyone’s trying to get out of the house, and, of course, no one wants the same food as anybody else.
We’ve now gotten used to making four identical breakfasts every single morning. That means we’ve had to take the position of “eat it or don’t eat it, we don’t care”; that’s because the only way we’re all getting out of the house in the morning is if Mom and Dad make one meal for everyone.
Adopting this viewpoint doesn’t mean you’re not being considerate to the individuals on your team. Instead, it can improve communication and cost efficiency while saving time and identifying problem areas. When you start to streamline your processes, everyone starts to learn how to work together to make things more efficient.
3. Partner Up
It’s incredibly important to learn how to reach out to others when you’re in need. My wife and I are not originally from Sioux Falls, which means we don’t have family and friends close by to help with the kids. We’ve developed a relationship with a retired woman named Arlene who helps out with the children so we can do things like go out for a date night. She’s become everyone’s grandma in the house and the kids even call her “Granny Nanny.”
Sometimes our tasks can become overwhelming; but, because we’ve already established that they’re “our” tasks, we’re reluctant to ask for assistance. These are moments in which we may not realize we’re contributing to our stress and chaos. How do you know when you need to reach out and find the right people to help with the job?
Taking your current stress load into account is an important part of making sure the right work is done by the right people at the right time. Even if you’ve identified a job that needs to regularly be a part of your system, if you’re too overwhelmed at one point, you can ask your team for assistance to reduce your workload. Learning how to notice these moments can help you take a step back and acknowledge that you’re doing too much at once, which can bottleneck the whole process at times.
4. Stop Micromanaging
Regardless of whether you’re a project lead, department manager, or the owner of a business, we’ve all had moments where we’ve tried to take control of every last detail. When my wife and I only had one kid, we were crushing the “helicopter parent” thing. Now that we have four children, we just can’t do it.
Instead, we’ve learned how to give them the authority to make certain divisions on their own. Whether they’re your kids or your teammates, once you give individuals the opportunity to be independent, they will surprise you with what they decide to do.
But, just like at work, at home nothing breeds success better than failure. You just have to trust that they’re going to figure things out and learn from their mistakes. Instead of double-checking every step of their process, try getting used to reviewing the result and providing both positive feedback and constructive criticism so they can continue growing and developing.
5. Pivot Quickly
Consider this quote from Rachel Wolchin: “My entire life can be described in one sentence: It didn’t go as planned; and that’s ok.” It doesn’t matter how much we have planned out an event or our day. At a moment’s notice, it could change on us. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” the change happens.
When we run into these unexpected moments, how we react will be the determining factor of whether the day is a success or failure. When you’re facing new growth and there’s an environmental change, how you react to this change is going to be the differentiator of whether you’re successful or not.
Reducing your stress and minimizing the chaos in your life isn’t about fancy planners and Pinterest-perfect organization. Sometimes, it’s about improving your adaptability in different situations. The way you respond to organizational growth has a lasting impact on your project, your day, and even your work-life balance.
Responding to Organizational Growth
Our ability to adapt quickly is something that comes with experience. Sometimes, you know what to expect going into a situation but it could take multiple failures for you to finally see the obvious answer under your nose. Even with four kids, we’re still learning new ways to improve our processes and manage the chaos in our household.
In my family, we’ve taken this big-picture approach to leading and managing our family. When you take this same approach at work, you’ll help to lower stress levels and reduce the chaos that we all feel together. But, it’s important to always keep in mind this final reminder: at any given point, someone’s going to have some spaghetti in their hair.