“Doing More with Less” Means Settling for Less
Overworked and overstressed employees rarely perform their best.

For as long as the expression “doing more with less” has been popular, I’ve had an aversion to it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but now, as Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, might say, “I think I’ve got it!”

There’s a certain irony to the expression. The whole idea of “doing more with less” really results in doing less and impacting more—detrimentally.

Just Doing It Wrong
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal stated that the average American worker is overworked, overstressed, depressed and won’t take time off work due to the consequences. These consequences may include no coverage while gone, feeling they’ll be overlooked if away from work, and inability to keep up with deadlines, among others. Some of these ideas are self-imposed, and yet there are businesses that actively discourage employees from taking time off; as if they’re being disloyal and uncommitted.

But here’s the real deal. As companies compress duties in order to do more with fewer people, it seems as if no one is paying attention to what’s really being done or not done. It’s the Nike approach to management: “Just Do It!”

So people “just do it,” not thinking if “it” makes sense or if “it” is aligned with goals, or is even meaningful for the customer. Companies are clamoring for people who “can think” and people are clamoring to work “where they can make a difference.” Yet, the “doing more with less” mentality obfuscates all of that (a great word that means “confuses”).

So we’re all confused.

And, when we’re confused, we spend a lot of time doing “nothing.” Workers go home exhausted and don’t feel like they’re using their skills and abilities. And companies ask why they can’t get to the next level? Nothing is aligned.

Impacting Communities and the Future
Here’s what else happens when we try to do more with less:

At a recent Junior Achievement luncheon, the talk turned to how corporate contributions and volunteering are down substantially. As a former board member for JA, I believe in the value of teaching the concepts of free enterprise and basics of economics to young people. After all, they are our future work force. But when we’re “doing more with less” and people can’t, or aren’t encouraged to, contribute to our community (such as being a volunteer teacher for JA), it affects our whole community and our future work force.

So, in my simple view of the world, it looks like “doing more with less” is resulting in a big mess: dissatisfied workers, disgruntled employers and, in the case of Junior Achievement, a detrimental impact on our community’s youth programs, which will affect our future work force.

Do What’s Important
So it’s not “ironic” at all that we’re getting the opposite of what we actually want.

How about this? How about trying to do more with less energy, or less stress, or less drama, or less angst or less fear?

Here’s the coaching for the month (and I wish I had more pages to devote to this because it deserves more than cursory attention):

Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. What do you want for your company or work team, your employees and your community? What do you want each job to produce or contribute to the overall function? Is it real and meaningful work?

Some jobs may not be “meaningful” by nature, but are necessary to produce the end result. And there can be opportunities for the incumbents to develop and contribute in other ways. I had an employee who loved to volunteer on behalf of the company, on company time. When her performance slipped, that privilege was taken away until her performance improved. It was a powerful motivator.

Are you creating an environment that encourages and recognizes people who contribute to the company, each other and the community?

Now is the time to take ownership of the results we’re producing, not only internally but also externally.

Remember this: If not now, when? If not me, who?

Marty Stanley is a certified business and life coach. She works with business leaders and their teams to put the structures in place to increase personal, professional, and organizational effectiveness and get results. She can be reached at (816) 531-2766 or .