Where the load goes
Marcin Simonides @cinusek on Unsplash
Nearly one in three workers in the EU say their job caused or worsened stress, depression or anxiety over the past year. When asked what's wearing them down, 44% name severe time pressure or overload, and 29% point to poor communication or cooperation within their organisation. European Agency for Safety & Health at Work
Read that list again and notice what's on it:
Time pressure,
how people work together,
how much say they have over the pace.
“Capacity doesn’t disappear when someone steps out. It reroutes onto whoever seems able to hold it.”
Interestingly, none of these are personal shortcomings. They are describing how the work is set-up.
Over the last few years I've worked with dozens of leaders and teams under real capacity strain, and I keep seeing the same pattern. When someone steps out, the work is rerouted and lands on whoever’s made eye-contact (if you’ve ever workshopped with me, you know I will call on you if I make eye contact). And usually, this person’s plate is already full.
A team I worked with went through a run of events that took several people out for an extended stretch, including their Team Lead. At one point, nearly half the team was away. Day-to-day leadership was handed to a more senior colleague who was already over capacity, with little support and no extra time on their calendar.
On paper, the decision made a lot of sense. In practice, only the tasks moved, and they all moved onto one person. You can probably guess what happened. The quality of the deliverables dropped. Then projects slowed or stalled. And people were anchorless because nobody had time left for the conversations and development that keep a team oriented. The few that did pick up some of the slack ended up on leave too.
Nobody did anything wrong here. Everyone was doing their best with what was in front of them. What was missing was a design for how the team would carry its load when things got hard, so the default took over, and the default is to pass the weight to whoever seems able to hold it.
That's what I'll be writing about over the next few weeks: how capacity moves through a team, what leaders shape without realising it, and the few places where a little intention changes a lot.
I also want to be realistic. If you're heading into year-end reviews, milestones, and 2027 budget and strategy planning, this is not the moment to re-engineer your team. So don't. Just start noticing. The next time someone is out, watch where their work lands and who absorbs it.
That noticing is where the design work begins, and the turn of the year is a good time to do it properly.
The Pitch!
whole sum. coaching partners with senior leaders and leadership teams navigating complexity, transition, and high-stakes change. The work focuses on alignment, decision-making and culture activation that supports leaders to work well together when clarity is incomplete, pressure is high, and relationships matter as much as outcomes. Let’s talk!