Why Insisting that Employees “Do More with Less” is a Mistake, and How You Can Stop Making It

Note: This post originally appeared on my Optimize Business Results blog on July 4, 2011.

One of the biggest and most preventable mistakes I see employers making in response to layoffs, furloughs, and budget cuts is what I call the fallacy of “doing more with less.” The admonition to “do more with less” has become commonplace in organizations over the last two years. Do you find yourself using it yourself? If so, stop it!

Here are three reasons why adopting the “doing more with less” approach is a mistake:

1. It’s counterproductive: surviving employees, already demoralized by layoffs
and furloughs, perceive that they are being asked to pick up the slack without
being compensated for doing so – and they’re right!

2. Doing more with less is not sustainable long-term. There’s only so much you
can add to existing workloads before people and systems begin to break down.

3. Employees become disengaged, burned out, resentful, and cynical – and they
will leave the organization the first chance they get.

In addition, I’ve found that when they try to “do more with less,” people start seeing everything as a priority. And of course, when everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.

Here are two ways you can avoid falling into the fallacy of “doing more with less:”

1. Embrace the concept of doing LESS with less

This actually increases productivity: employees know you are being realistic and they appreciate your honesty so they reciprocate with good performance. Employee commitment is likely to increase when you’re truthful about what you’re asking your workers to do.

If you would like to learn more about this issue, here are two articles that go into more detail:
The Fallacy of “Doing More with Less”
How to Prioritize: Doing LESS with Less Effectively

2. Set priorities effectively, and allocate available resources accordingly

Let’s be clear about two facts about priorities that people often ignore. First, priorities are what you DO, not what you say you will do. Realistically, you can only have a handful of priorities at any given time. (That’s ONE handful!) Second, priorities involve choices about time. By saying you don’t have time to do something, such as going to your kids’ soccer game, you effectively are saying that other things are more important to you at the moment.

A few years ago, I developed a straightforward process for setting priorities. Here it is in a nutshell:

First, identify clearly your organization’s vision or mission. Beginning
with the end in mind is the first step in organizational success.

Second, use that vision to categorize everything you do (e.g., evaluate
performance, develop products and services) as critical, very important,
or important.

Third, devise a realistic formula for allocating resources based on the
above three categories. For example, while you might decide to allocate
100% of your resources to items in the “critical” category, it’s probably
more realistic to devote 70-80% of them to the critical priorities, 15% to
very important items, and 5% to important items.

If you would like more detailed, step-by-step information about this process, you may obtain the template, Pat Lynch’s Process for Prioritizing Organizational Services and Programs, by clicking here and checking the appropriate box on the list from my web site. You will receive the link to the template immediately via e-mail.

What are your thoughts or experiences about doing LESS with less? Let us know!

© 2012 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.