Leading a team through layoffs

Half the team is gone and the other half is watching you. We work on the next four weeks, one meeting at a time, and on the part where you are also a person.

Leading

Status
Open
Length
4 sessions
Format
Video
Usually
Managers and directors

You did not make the decision, you delivered it, and now you run the team that is left. They are watching how you are, and you are not sure how you are. This is the situation where I say yes to a same-week start.

The block is short and close together, four sessions two weeks apart, and each one is about the next fortnight only. The first team meeting after. The one-to-ones where people ask if they are next. The roadmap that no longer fits the headcount and the conversation upward about that. And, every session, ten minutes on you, because the manager who is fine is usually the one who goes quiet in month three.

We end with a written plan for the quarter that the remaining team helped write, which is the only kind that survives.

Situation 9 a
Situation 9 b
The next four weeks, one meeting at a time.
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