Balancing Act: The Tightrope of Managing Tasks and People.

By Kym Krey

It’s a juggling act at times, a delicate dance that demands single-minded prioritisation with a good dose of calm organisation and the ability to be flexible, otherwise you’re headed for burnout-town!

Let’s take a dive into the importance of each and how to successfully balance the two.

Task Management

As a business owner or manager, you’ll be responsible for overseeing things like cleanliness and salon presentation, managing profitable stock levels and merchandising, managing client communications, confirmations and responding to messages, managing the flow of appointments and the efficient use of time and of course, ensuring the quality of work and client experience delivers on your marketing promise.

What each of these tasks have in common is that you’ll ideally eventually develop others on your team to manage the day-to-day delivery of them, rather than doing these yourself.

At your level, there’ll be other tasks that likely cannot be delegated to others as they demand someone of your level of expertise, such as reviewing financial reporting, expense benchmarks, marketing planning and team management and development.

Fulfilling your responsibility of effective people management will bring another list of tasks that likely cannot be delegated such as weekly one-on-ones, monthly Powerchats and regular full reviews. Whilst these may feel like ‘just another task’ on your To Do list sometimes, in my view these are your BIG ROCKS- the most important use of your time if your goal is growing your business.

If you’re worried about time management in getting it all done, the key here can be not in getting it ALL done, but in getting the RIGHT things done (the things that really move the needle- not the bright, shiny distractions!).

So, at a senior/management level, where should you spend your time, tasks, or people? Well, both play an important role. Setting clear goals and strategies to grow/improve the business is essential to envisage the future or your next stage of growth, but you’ll only get that growth through others.

The task is WHAT you’re going to do; your people are HOW it’s going to be achieved.

When roles, expectations, and processes (How we do it here) are crystal clear, the right team members can operate like well-oiled machines and the whole business moves forward with purpose. A task-oriented leader is like a captain steering a ship through stormy waters, navigating challenges with a steady hand and a clear destination in mind.

However, the danger lies in becoming too task focused. Tunnel vision solely on numbers, goals and outcomes can lead to burnout, demotivation, and a lack of creativity. It’s like driving a car flat-out at top speed without ever checking the fuel gauge or checking on your passengers. Task (or performance) obsession, when taken to extremes, can sacrifice the human element of your business.

In contrast, a people-oriented leadership style prioritizes the well-being, growth, and development of team members, while aligning employees to business goals and values. They look for opportunities to grow the people which allows them to grow the business.

Natural people managers are usually caring, empathetic listeners, skilled communicators, and relationship builders who are clever at fostering a positive team culture and morale. But if allowed to become unbalanced or unhealthy, this extreme people-focus shows up as desperately needing to be liked & wanting to be friends with their staff which usually means avoiding issues that need to be corrected, tolerating underperformance and unacceptable behaviour, or being unable to make the difficult or unpopular decisions the business sometimes requires for fear of upsetting their staff.

Like almost everything in life, our goal here is a healthy balance:

• An understanding that the business is a community or team effort; even a ‘family’ of sorts

• That all business goals can only be achieved through our people

• That those people need to be engaged, inspired & nurtured for the benefit of both them and the business

• That our main responsibility as leaders is to achieve business goals through the positive actions of our people

• That we must maintain a healthy balance between people and performance, tasks, and humans.

There is ample data to demonstrate that the benefits of great people management are profound. A motivated and engaged team are more productive and stay with the business longer. When employees feel valued, supported, and understood, they’re more likely to go the extra mile.

People-oriented leaders create a workplace where collaboration flourishes, progress is championed, and individuals are empowered to bring the best of themselves to work.

But a leader who is too focused on people management at the expense of performance or task management will find the team’s morale soaring while productivity and profitability takes a nosedive! It’s all about striking the right balance to bring a human touch to operational goals and systems.

Quality conversations are the successful Leader’s most effective tool. Leaders must communicate clearly and regularly, ensuring that each person on the team clearly understands both the team’s goals, and their individual goals plus the importance of the contribution they make to the business. Regular check-ins, team meetings, and oneon-one sessions are vital for maintaining team and business health and performance momentum.

To-Do or Not To-Do?

To-Do lists can be a great way to dump all the ‘clutter’ out of our minds at the end of a busy day and to get it into a format we can manage, so go ahead and make that To Do List, but also:

• Put tasks in order of importance (Allocate them as A, B or C, then A1, A2 etc)

• How long will each task take? (Allocate an amount of time for each)

• Start with the As and proceed in order of importance. (Don’t be tempted by the bright, shiny timewasters of Cs & Ds!)

• Delegate! What are the Cs & Ds even doing on your To Do List anyway? (These are often the things you can look to outsource or mentor a team member to do)

• Time block: Make an appointment in your diary (like a client appointment) for each of your tasks (and people tasks) so you can see exactly how & when you’re going to get everything done. No more overwhelm!

• Sleep much easier!

This crazy world of business management can be made much easier with a healthy balance of people and performance, tasks, and human connection.

The most effective leaders are those who understand that:

1. Tasks are completed by people, (You’re not managing tasks; you’re managing people to do them) and

2. People thrive in environments where tasks have meaning, because they’re linked to business goals and team values. (Otherwise they just feel like boring rules!)

So, by all means, have the goals and strategy, but you’ll also need solid leadership skills to bring them to life through your people.

Kym Krey is a highly experienced and trusted salon industry business coach and leadership mentor. She’s been where you are and has the runs on the board to help you get real results. If you’re ready to turn your business around, become a better leader or take that next big leap, get in touch: kym@kymkrey.com.au; @kymkrey or www.kymkrey.com.au