WHEN THE SAME PEOPLE KEEP CARRYING THE TEAM
Lu Pillar: Strengthen Teams
Read time: 3 to 4 minutes
IF YOU ONLY DO ONE THING
Before giving extra work to the person who will get it done fastest, ask whether someone else could do it with the right support.
Giving work to your most reliable person can save time today. Doing it every time can create more work for you later.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Every team has people who become known as dependable. They know the history. They solve problems. They pick things up quickly. When something important or urgent lands, giving it to them can feel like the safest and fastest option. Sometimes it is.
The problem starts when it becomes the default. The same people carry the difficult work, hold the knowledge and help everyone else. Other team members get fewer chances to learn. You then become increasingly dependent on a small number of people.
What looks efficient in the short term can make the team less capable over time.
WHAT IT CAN LOOK LIKE
The same person gets every urgent or complicated job.
One person in your team becomes the unofficial source of truth for how everything works.
One person is expected to help others while still carrying their own workload.
Other people in your team rarely receive development work or opportunities to build capability.
Important work slows down whenever that one person is away.
You keep saying, “it's just quicker if I give it to them.”
WHAT IT COSTS
Reliable employees end up carrying more of the load. Knowledge stays with a small number of people, while others get fewer chances to build capability. That leaves the team exposed when an experienced person is away or leaves.
This creates a cycle where you keep giving the work to the same people because they’re ready, and nobody else becomes ready because they never get the chance.
The quickest allocation today can become tomorrow’s capability problem.
WHAT THIS ENABLES
Building capability takes a little more effort upfront. Someone may need more context, coaching or checking the first few times. But that effort gives you more options later.
Allocate work to build capability across the team, not just to the person who can do it fastest.
Sometimes the experienced person is still the right choice. Sometimes someone else can take it on with support. Sometimes the best option is to pair people, so the knowledge is shared.
When you do that deliberately:
More people can handle important work and you have more options when workloads change.
The team is less exposed when someone is away or leaves.
Dependable employees are less likely to burnout.
People build capability through real work.
A strong team is not one that relies on a few people to save the day. It is one with enough capability across the team that they don’t have to.
USE THESE WORDS
When giving someone work that will build their capability, try saying:
“I’d like you to take this on. You may not have done all of it before, so let’s be clear about what you can own, where you might need support and when we should check in.”
Then agree on the support upfront rather than waiting for them to struggle.
TRY IT THIS WEEK
Take the next piece of unplanned, interesting or developmental work. Before giving it to your usual reliable person, check whether someone else could reasonably own it with support.
You don’t need to force the wrong allocation, but you do need to make the decision deliberately.
CHECK IN TWO WEEKS
Look at the extra, difficult or developmental work allocated during the fortnight.
Whose names keep appearing?
If the same one or two people are carrying most of it, you have found a pattern worth examining.
WHEN THIS GUIDE ISN'T ENOUGH
If workload, opportunity or knowledge is heavily concentrated across the team, individual task allocation may not be enough to fix it. Roles, staffing, succession planning, capability development, workload and access to opportunities may need to be reviewed together.
NEED MORE SUPPORT?
Lu offers two next-step options.
Run It gives teams practical tools to work through the issue themselves.
Embed It provides independent support to understand what is driving the problem, tailor the response and help new practices stick.
