Here’s the thing about flexible roles: everyone wants them until they actually have them.
In this week’s Ask Me Anything-style episode of The New Manager Playbook podcast, I tackled a listener question from Stephanie about keeping roles fresh and flexible without losing momentum. And honestly? This hits on one of the biggest challenges I see with teams right now.
🎧 Listen to the episode on YouTube // Apple // Spotify 🎧
We all know we need our people to be adaptable. The world’s changing fast: AI’s reshaping everything, priorities shift constantly, and we need those T-shaped team members who can go deep but also flex across different areas.
But here’s what I keep seeing happen: Leaders create all this flexibility, and then their team members start saying things like “I don’t even know what my job is” and “What’s my career path here?”
When Flexibility Backfires
I’ve consulted with agencies where everyone’s wearing so many hats that nobody knows who’s actually responsible for what. People start feeling like they’re mediocre at everything but excellent at nothing. And that’s not helping anyone move fast.
From my experience driving team operations within Google and with clients across industries, the problems show up in predictable ways:
People get confused about their actual responsibilities. They don’t know how to measure success. And here’s the kicker, sometimes someone decides they don’t want to do their original job anymore and just… stops doing it. Now you’ve got a gap in something critical.
The Real Framework for Flexible Roles
Here’s what actually works, and I learned this the hard way:
Start with hiring expectations. Don’t just ask “Are you comfortable wearing multiple hats?” because everyone says yes to get the job. Ask specific questions like “Tell me about a time you successfully managed competing priorities across different areas.”
I’ve seen this especially with senior hires who expect to have teams under them. You’ve got to be crystal clear: “This director role won’t have direct reports initially. How have you been successful in similar situations?”
Keep your bases covered. Before you let someone try a new role, make sure someone’s still doing their original job. I know that sounds obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen teams abandon core functions because flexibility became an excuse to avoid the work nobody wanted to do.
Get specific about success. Even flexible roles need clear success metrics. What are the top 3-5 responsibilities? How do we measure good work? What does exceeding expectations look like?
Manage transitions intentionally. When someone shifts roles, are they doing both jobs now? Are they winding down one to start another? This stuff matters because otherwise people are scattered across everything and effective at nothing.
The Communication Reality
And here’s the part that catches everyone off guard – when you want more flexibility, you actually need MORE communication, not less.
Regular check-ins become essential. Monthly reviews of what’s working and what isn’t. Clear tracking of who’s doing what. Because in the absence of that structure, everyone’s just guessing.
I know, I know, nobody wants more meetings. But the alternative is chaos, and chaos is way more expensive than a monthly check-in.
🎧 Listen to the episode on YouTube // Apple // Spotify 🎧
Why This Actually Works
When you get this balance right, flexibility becomes a huge competitive advantage. Your team can respond to market changes quickly. People stay engaged because they’re growing. And you retain high performers who appreciate the variety.
But it requires intentional design and ongoing management. You can’t just say “everyone be flexible” and hope for the best. The most successful flexible teams aren’t the ones with the most fluid roles – they’re the ones with the clearest communication about those roles.
What challenges are you wrestling with right now? Have a question you want to submit for the show? Head to liagarvin.com/podcast, scroll down to where it says “Got a question about managing your team…?” and hit Start Recording. This will go right to me so I can answer it in an future AMA episode.
