u/TeachMeTheWayz

The company I work for has been in a constant state of change for the last six months with no end in sight. There are ongoing layoffs. We’ve lost a few very valued team members, and as usual, the people who are left, have been asked to absorb the work. The highest level messaging is all corporate jargon around finding efficiencies and transformation. I am as transparent as I can be about organizational changes but I usually don’t know any more than my team does. I try to avoid the corporate jargon in my own team meetings and acknowledge that this is hard and uncomfortable and it sucks, while also assuring people that the work we do is important and valued. I have taken on a lot of work myself to balance workloads, and I am always open to team members logging off an hour early if their work is complete to help maintain work/life balance. I’m controlling what I can control, but the changes are much bigger than me. Does anyone have unique ways to help teams through this type of change that go beyond the corporate swag offerings and pizza parties that everyone actually hates?

I’ve been in a manager role for 3 years after serving almost 8 years as an individual contributor at various levels. I expressed interest in people leadership, but I believe I was promoted mostly based on my ability to do the work well. I receive positive feedback around my people skills. I enjoy pairing the right people with the right work and coaching/developing. I go to bat for my team when it comes to helping them manage work/life balance, identifying growth opportunities, and setting boundaries. Their feedback indicates that they are happy with me as their manager. That said, I really struggle with strategy conversations. It all feels so… abstract(?) to me and like we talk in circles, but I am more than happy to put together a plan to execute once the strategy is in place. I’m struggling to understand what this means for my future career. Has anyone discovered that this wasn’t for them and asked to return to a previous role?