When Enough is Enough

I was having lunch with a director I’ve worked with for years, and she looked almost serene.  Not exactly the look I see on the face of most managers in Silicon Valley.  Intrigued, I asked her what was up.  She smiled and said, “I finally have my organization fully staffed.”  She described what’s happening in her organization and what it’s like to work there now.  She summed it up as “Relatively unstressed folks who get along with each other are doing good work.”

After lunch, I had a meeting with another manager.  As we were finishing, he asked “So, how do I know when I’ve got enough people on my team?” I thought about what produced the happy glow on the director’s face and suggested he’ll know when he sees these signs:

•    His group’s success metrics are being met consistently
•    His employees are not working excessive hours.
•    Things that used to be broken are fixed.  This includes products, processes, and relationships.  
•    His employees’ attitude about work is generally positive, and when people do complain it’s focused on solving real problems not vague grumbling.

While there are other indications, I’ve found that these are a good place to start when evaluating the question of full staffing.  And, of course, once you’ve reached your magic number you can count on things changing!  But that’s ok, because if you did it once, you can do it again – watching all the while for these signs you’re there.