Managing Successfully in High-Pressure Environments

Few support executives would assert that they manage a low-pressure team. All support teams experience at least occasional volume spikes, clustered staff illnesses, high-impact bugs, and hot situations. But high-pressure environments provide a daily, continuous stew of high-volume, high-intensity issues that put the team, and its leaders, under ongoing stress.

What does the savvy support leader do to manage in a high-pressure environment? Start with diagnosing the root cause. Is it staffing levels? Customer demands? Requirements for high-touch deliverables? Or product issues? Or perhaps a mix, as is often the case in startups? One you have a diagnosis, follow the chart below to the solution(s).

What are your high-pressure strategies? Please share in the comments. (And let me know what you think of flowchart tools. I can create more!)