You were managing one team. Now you are managing two. Maybe someone left and you picked up the slack. Maybe a restructure combined two groups under your name. Maybe you were asked to "just cover this team for a while" and that was six months ago. However it happened, you are now splitting your attention between two sets of people, two sets of priorities, and two sets of problems. The hard part is not the extra work. It is the constant context switching and the fear that you are neglecting someone.
Managing two teams is not twice the work. It is a fundamentally different way of working that demands ruthless prioritisation and deliberate delegation.
When you inherit a second team
The first few weeks are the most important. Resist the urge to change anything immediately in the new team. Your job at the start is to listen and learn. Run introductory Catchups with every team member. Understand their current priorities, their frustrations, and what they need from their manager. Ask them what was working well before and what was not. You are building a picture, not making decisions yet.
First 30 days with a second team
At the same time, do not neglect your existing team. They will worry that your attention is being pulled away, and they are right to. Be explicit with them: "I have taken on a second team. Here is how I plan to manage my time. I am committed to keeping our Catchups and team meetings. Tell me if you feel I am dropping the ball." Transparency defuses anxiety far better than pretending nothing has changed.
Context switching without losing the thread
The killer when managing two teams is context switching. You finish a conversation about a performance issue in Team A and walk straight into a planning meeting for Team B. Your brain is still processing the first conversation while the second one demands your full attention. Over time, this constant switching is exhausting. It drains your energy faster than the extra workload itself.
The most effective strategy is to batch your time. Dedicate certain days or half-days to each team where possible, rather than bouncing between them throughout the day. Block your calendar so Team A meetings cluster on Mondays and Wednesdays and Team B meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This reduces the number of context switches and gives you deeper focus when you are with each team. Fridays become your overflow day for anything that does not fit.
Scattered schedule
Six context switches in one day. Exhausting.
Batched schedule
Deeper focus. Less switching. More presence.
A dashboard that shows both teams in one view helps enormously here. Before your first meeting of the day, you can scan overdue Actions, upcoming Catchups, and any flags across both teams in a couple of minutes. That quick scan replaces the ten minutes of frantic tab-switching you would otherwise need to reconstruct your context. When you prioritise ruthlessly, two teams become manageable.
Identifying your lieutenants
You cannot be everywhere. The single most important move when managing two teams is to identify a trusted person in each team who can act as your eyes and ears. This is not about formally promoting anyone. It is about recognising who already has influence and credibility in the team and delegating some of the day-to-day coordination to them.
Your lieutenant might run the daily standup when you are not there. They might flag issues before they escalate. They might own the team's action list and nudge people when things slip. The key is to be explicit about what you are asking them to do and why, and to give them the authority to act. If you delegate responsibility without authority, you are just adding to their workload without giving them the tools to succeed.
- Choose carefullyYour lieutenant needs credibility with the team, not just competence. Pick someone the team already respects and listens to. If you impose the wrong person, you create friction instead of reducing it.
- Be explicitTell the team what you are doing and why. "I have asked Jamie to run standups on the days I am with the other team. If something urgent comes up, go to Jamie first." Clarity prevents confusion.
- Invest in themGive your lieutenant dedicated time in your Catchups. They are carrying extra load, so make sure they feel supported and have a space to raise concerns. This is also a development opportunity for them.
- Stay connectedHaving a lieutenant does not mean stepping back entirely. You still need regular touchpoints with the whole team. The lieutenant helps with day-to-day coordination, but the relationship between you and each team member still matters.
Knowing when to push back
Managing two teams is sometimes temporary and sometimes permanent, but it should never be unexamined. If you have been running two teams for more than three months with no plan to resolve the situation, it is time to have a conversation with your own manager. The question is not "can you keep doing this?" but "should you?"
The signs that the situation is unsustainable include: you are regularly cancelling Catchups, neither team feels they have your full attention, you are working evenings and weekends to keep up, or you have stopped investing in people's development because there is no time. Those are not signs of failure. They are signs that the organisation needs to make a decision about resourcing.
Come to the conversation with data, not just feelings. Show the number of direct reports, the cadence of your one-to-ones, the open Actions across both teams, and any evidence that things are slipping. Make it easy for your manager to understand the trade-offs. You are not complaining. You are giving them the information they need to make a good decision. Sometimes the right answer is to hire another manager. Sometimes it is to combine the teams formally. And sometimes it is to acknowledge that the current arrangement works, with adjustments. But the conversation needs to happen.
Frequently asked questions
Manage both teams from one place
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