“High-performance teams work on the people, not the project.”
After bringing together some of the brightest and forward-thinking leaders in Berlin and Copenhagen, Annapurna was delighted to bring the ‘Driving Productivity with Leaner Teams’ conversation to Düsseldorf.
The VIP event was chaired by Florian Felsenreich (Associate Director at Annapurna) and brought a blend of leaders from across the Technology landscape. The conversation was attendee-led, which brought about the following takeaways:
What does ‘Lean’ really mean?
The natural start for the groups’ conversation was to look at what ‘lean’ meant to everyone individually and also within the organisations they operate. Lean can be interpreted in various ways—efficient, agile, or understaffed. The philosophy of lean isn’t necessarily about doing more with less but optimising existing resources.
The group agreed that whilst lean teams avoid unnecessary ‘fat’ which can slow down productivity, there’s a risk of under-resourcing, leading to burnout and dissatisfaction amongst the remaining team. Maintaining just the right balance is crucial for long-term sustainability.
Fast-growing companies can become ‘fat’ quickly and inefficient simply through poor management and reactive hiring. It has been widely publicised about the array of companies that were overstaffed and had to take action on this through layoffs. The conversation touched on how to manage the peak periods of activity by not just hiring employees to fill seats but instead looking at freelancers as a means to complete projects and also then not having to have large layoff events.
Lean teams can work and do work but efficient management is key, as is proactive planning, rather than reactive behaviours.
Hiring for Lean Teams
Creating a perfectly balanced team was described by one of the guests like a recipe. It may take a few iterations to get it right but you should know what you are planning on adding to the mix before starting the process. The cooking metaphor was carried forward with a direct reference to lean teams, whereby if you start the ‘cook’ with less fat, you are likely to lose an element of the taste. Comparing this to teams, whereby if teams become too lean, you lose an element of input and great ideas. There should always be an element of fat to your organisation to continue driving engagement and ideas.
When working with limited budgets, hiring strategies naturally shift. Companies may need to hire more junior (cheaper) candidates, potentially leading to overstaffed teams or creating inefficiencies. Whilst skills can be trained, finding individuals with the right personality, adaptability, and willingness to collaborate is key. The challenge lies in balancing expertise and fit within lean teams, avoiding disruptive individuals who can harm team morale whilst recognising that no one is irreplaceable. Diversity of thought and experience is always vital for problem-solving and innovation in lean environments.
The Challenge of Measuring Productivity in Lean Teams
The topic of productivity has been top of the agenda since many organisations shifted to a remote/hybrid environment.
There is an obvious challenge with the measurement of what ‘productivity’ means and understanding how to understand peaks/troughs. Productivity in lean teams may be measured easily in product-oriented environments but the difficulty occurs in more complex or regulated settings like IT or within a large corporation. Governance and regulation can slow processes, whereas in startup environments, less oversight allows for quick, lean operations. However, this can be a double-edged sword, as rapid, lean approaches sometimes sacrifice long-term planning.
Processes should be allowed to naturally develop and create opportunities for improvement, yet the focus should not be entirely on ensuring something needs to be ready for X by Y.
In the world of work, nobody is irreplaceable and culture is king. Maintaining lean teams that can thrive will undoubtably be factored by many things such as communications, leadership, skillsets and diversity. Understanding the key elements of your teams is a huge contributor to this success.
