How Much Time Does it Actually Take to Manage Someone? (2024)

There's a magical secret weapon that can unlock infinite potential in your managers.

What is the single most powerful tool you can give your managers to empower impactful, meaningful, transformational people leadership?

Time.

Time is the biggest game changer for people managers

Even though this simple resource marches eternally on, I think we’re all familiar with how often it feels in short supply. Here, we explore exactly how much time you should be allocating toward people management, and why it matters oh-so-much.

Reflect on how you support managers

❓ How much time do you suspect managers are spending on people management duties vs. their own independent contributor work?

❓ Is “time to manage” built into the scope of your manager's roles?

❓ How much of a manager’s time do you think should be spent solely focusing on people management duties each week?

How the “10% Rule” can save your managers

Today’s managers tackle more on behalf of their direct reports than ever. They’re being asked to define team vision, navigate new hybrid and remote working norms, and motivate through increasing economic uncertainty and rampant layoffs.

Managers are not only doing more with less, but they’re also rebuilding trust, engagement, and psychological safety on shaken teams.But you, clever reader, are one step ahead of the game. You’ve done the hard, necessary work of determining core competencies and defining clear expectations, so you can now clearly articulate exactly what goes into being a great manager at your organization. Confession time? I always lead with those two specific activities for a reason.Why?Because once you’ve identified competencies and expectations, it’s downright impossible to deny one very important truth:

Managing people takes 10% of their time per direct report

Yet, so rarely do we account for it.In my work researching, developing, and scaling excellent people management for growing teams, I’ve developed a guideline I call The 10% Rule.

Yes, that's 10% per direct report.

This equates to:

A former Head of People who also managed a team, he shared:

“I just had a realization about why I struggled so much as a people manager. I wasn’t putting that time aside at all. It was something I was doing on top of everything else. I really kick myself now for the amount of 1:1s and check-ins I canceled because I needed that time back for something else. And the knock-on effect that would then have on the people who were reporting to me.A 10% rule per person would have really saved me. And would have given me the ability to push back up on the expectations that were being pushed down on me, which is most of the reason why I wasn’t finding that time.”

Feeling seen in Luke’s reflection? I know I did. He perfectly articulates why the 10% is so darn important not just for managers, but also for the individuals who report to them. Allocated time for people management drastically impacts both parties for the better.

All this said, some of you have already arrived at a troubling math conundrum: what about those managing 10 or more people?This brings me to the second part of The 10% Rule:

Managers should have no more than 7 direct reports at any given time

(maaaaaaybe 8).

Any more, and they won’t have time to infuse their team experience with the functional or industry-specific expertise that they need to shape teamwide success.

So, to recap, The 10% Rule states:

In my experience, these two guidelines can have an outsized positive impact in any organization within six-months of implementation.I'd be remiss not to address the elephant in the room.

The 10% Rule is simple, but not easy

Putting it into place means assessing headcount, reallocating workloads and possibly reworking the org chart. Not to mention, gaining buy-in from the leadership team, including your CFO. That is no small task. Of course, we’d never leave you hanging - because theory is great, but action’s what matters! We’ve laid out a quick activity that will help you assess what lift exists in order to implement The 10% Rule at your organization.

Assess your company's current time allocation for managers

Today’s exercise is a quick n’ effective way to see whether your managers have the time they need to support happy, productive teams.

All you need is 20 minutes and an org chart.