Running a One-Woman Show
How to Succeed in a One-Person Team
Sounds as a feminist entrepreneurial statement but ain’t necessarily so.
For three years now I have been working at early stage startups, the kind of that you join to form a one-person team and structure everything from the ground up.
However, I never thought of myself as a lone worker until my husband joked about it, saying that I was running a one-woman show and then — in a more serious tone — warned me how unwise it was not understanding my own limits. If you can’t respect your own boundaries, how can you expect others to do so? You were the first one to fail there — he added. And he was right.
I was not prepared to work in a one-person team at first.
My first and biggest mistake: being a yes-woman. I kept piling things up in my backlog because I’d give my managers the impression I could do it all as if I had a team of four people working with me. [I guess I was quite convincing!]
But this mislead didn’t come from a place of pride or deceive, nor was it conscious. It came from a naive place of commitment and engagement. And, because I wanted to do it all and never fail my company for lack of capacity, I inherited a never-ending to-do list that haunted me to the point of burning out (twice).
I was also not good at asking for more context on the work I was to do, which made me fall short sometimes. Not having enough context made me bad at prioritizing, and, by that, I was sabotaging both my scarcest resource and my greatest added-value: my own time and strategical contribution for the company’s success.
Although I didn’t understand it as clearly as I do now, I knew I was at risk of being perceived as non-credible, non-reliable or (given my lack of experience) professionally immature. That made my anxiety rise, considerably.
Plus, I was not good at forcing feedback towards my work either. On one hand, I thought it was an exercise in hubris; on the other hand, I feared more work coming after a complement. And that thought was terrifying.
On top of that, there were times I felt quite alone.
But as much as it sounds as a Shakespearean tragedy, truth is: it’s okay to make all these mistakes as long as you learn from them (fast).
It took me a lot of introspection, learning and exposure to role models to overcome these challenges but in the end I was over-organized, over-achieving and scoring the maximum at my performance appraisals.
Now, after all the lessons learned, I would like to share with you 7 ways that made a difference for me and increased my impact in the workplace.
7 Ways to Succeed in a One-Person Team
- Discipline Yourself
Discipline is the survival skill. If you’re working solo, you own your time, your backlog, your decisions, and — in the end of the day — you’re the only one accountable for your productivity, failure and success.
You need to set goals, define work deliverables and provide realistic deadlines. This self-management exercise will train both your own discipline and your leadership potential, for later roles.
One thing that has always worked for me was ending the work day with a sum up of what I accomplished and a (mental) plan for tomorrow. Then I’d leave that assessment to mature overnight and I’d start my next day by defining the top 3 things I needed to close. This enabled me to keep focus and end the day with the sensation that I was productive. I would also do it on a weekly basis (but then I would really write down reports on my own performance).
2. Automate for Extra Value
Finding ways to automate the dull and repeatable work will create extra time to think and act on strategy and continuous improvement, which is where the true value of your hiring resides.
My appreciation for work automation grew substantially when I met someone who was an “automation freak”, as I’d call her. She didn’t simply look for obvious ways to make her work easier, she pushed for automation. She’d spend half an hour looking for an excel formula or digging in user manuals, but she’d find a way to do what she wanted and it would save her hours of manual work later on.
I remember thinking: Oh, I didn’t had the time to look it up but see how much faster I’d have worked if I’d found that earlier!
3. Raise Awareness for your work
Bear in mind that you are the expert and that almost everyone else around you will not be able to understand the depth and complexity of the work you are developing. And that’s okay.
However, from this lack of understanding may give rise to challenging attitudes like lack of empathy or disregard for your achievements. Sometimes people will ask you to deliver this odyssean project by Friday and you respectfully have to decline. And always put it into perspective, because leadership/management does not always rock at prioritizing too.
The most effective ways to generate awareness on my work were proactively sending updates to my manager on meaningful achievements and volunteering to showcase my work in company meetings or town halls.
4. Ask for Help
If you’re at the top of your capacity and things just don’t get done as they must, don’t overwork and drive yourself crazy: ask for help!
Keep an open mind about the many forms ‘help’ can assume. Help can mean the offload of a task to another person in the org, the renegotiation of a deadline or an honest talk with your manager. You can also push for a teammate, if your company can afford it.
At critical times, I always turned to my ‘extended’ team (a team with similar functions). I’d join daily huddles, weekly meetings or ask for someone’s time just to brainstorm ideas or solutions. It wouldn’t solve my capacity issue, but it would alleviate the pressure.
5. Invest in Self-Development
When I started to work in a one-person team, I doubled my efforts to access scientific research that would guide my work and boost my creativity by generating new awesome ideas.
I remember reading Culture Amp’s full blog and participating in several webinars or reading HBR articles everyday. I wanted to learn fast and to have an accurate notion of what the best HR trends around the world looked like.
I found training on HR, psychology, marketing and business development — and it gave me more perspective over my work experience. I also had occasional 1:1 coaching sessions.
6. Nurture your Network
Networking does not come naturally to me but for the sake of my professional development I started to care and work in it.
I started to connect with different people inside and outside work, mapping the ones that could enhance me the most and I wouldn’t shy away from asking advice or validation.
After a while, interesting people were introducing me to other interesting people and so my network started to spread. My LinkedIn profile started to be always updated and there I’d share my job experiences and thoughts for I realized it was a great way for meeting new people, starting conversations and learning some more.
7. Mind your health
Last but not least, don’t overlook your health in the process. Mind to sleep and eat according to the healthy standards and keep a close watch on your anxiety and stress. Be also aware of the presence of frequent disturbing thoughts, rumination and obsessions (e.g., in my pre-burnout phase, I wouldn’t fall asleep at night for I’d always feel anxious about some email from 2 months ago I didn’t respond to). And avoid to work at weekends.
And as a final advice, try to balance your work life with other meaningful projects (friends, families, social causes or hobbies). Build a life project that goes beyond career ambition and let it fill you with the energy you need to have a peaceful and balanced life.
How to Improve One-Person Teams’ Experience
If your company has lone workers:
- Connect with them at a deeper level and foster integration through strong onboarding programs, team building initiatives and ocasional HR checks;
- Empower them by creating bridges like invites to cross-functional taskforces or groups that work on cultural events (e.g. organizing a company summer fest), according to their interests, personality and contribution potential.
- Ask about their work and contribute with brainstorming and useful input.
- If you’re their manager, it means you don’t get to supervise their work very often and closely, otherwise they wouldn’t be considered a lone worker. Probably your agenda won’t permit it, but try to schedule short 1:1 meetings for motivation check-ups but also 1:1s to guide their performance and prioritization. When the time comes to reassess the need for team expansion, think about it properly.
