As the demands placed on college financial aid professionals continue to grow—yet staffing levels, budget constraints, and compliance pressures complicate traditional pathways for support—many financial aid managers are feeling overwhelmed. This feeling is exacerbated by the fact that delegating tasks simply isn’t possible when an entire team is already stretched thin. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, leadership experts Jordan Stark and Frans van Loef name this reality and address this question by providing a series of helpful suggestions on what leaders should do when they are in this exact predicament. Drawing on the insights from that article and adapting them for the higher education financial aid context, this post offers three key strategies that financial aid leaders can use to protect their time, reduce burnout, and lead their teams with greater clarity and purpose.
Tip #1. Redefine What “Good Enough” Means for the Task at Hand
In their article, Stark and van Loef challenge leaders to reassess the default assumption that all work must be done to an unattainably perfect standard. In the financial aid world, this challenge can feel counterintuitive—after all, accuracy and perfect compliance is paramount. But striving for perfection in everything—from internal reports to routine communications—can grind the office to a halt.
Instead, leaders should adopt a “fit-for-purpose” approach by determining what level of effort is appropriate given the task’s audience, risk level, and intended use.
What this might look like in a financial aid office:
- Replacing detailed narrative email updates to senior leadership with brief bullet-point summaries, especially when the information is not urgent or critical.
- Encouraging staff to submit first-draft ideas for decisions or communication plans, reserving perfection only for final draft documents.
- Accepting that a rough meeting agenda is sufficient for internal check-ins if it keeps things moving ahead.
Additionally, with AI tools becoming more reliable—such as writing assistants, meeting summarizers, and document generators—it’s worth exploring how automation can help deliver work that is “good enough” faster, without sacrificing quality where it really matters.
Reflection questions with your team:
- Where can we streamline without compromising integrity?
- Can some tasks be documented or presented more simply?
- What does “A+” effort look like, and when is “B+” actually the smarter choice?
Tip #2. Surface and Eliminate Hidden Low-Value Work
Throughout their article, Stark and van Loef also make an important distinction: efficiency is not just about removing busywork you already know is low-value. It’s about uncovering the less obvious tasks—those that have become so routine—that are no longer questioned.
In financial aid offices, this might include:
- Maintaining legacy reports or spreadsheets that no one reads or uses.
- Attending recurring meetings that lack a clear agenda or outcome.
- Repeating complex approval processes for aid adjustments that could be more streamlined or standardized.
Thus, the article recommends a two-step reflection process: first, ask your team what they’d cut if they had one less day per week to work. Then go deeper and ask—what tasks have we never questioned but could probably stop doing altogether or simplify?
Examples from higher ed offices might include:
- Reducing the number of follow-up emails sent to students who’ve already completed necessary forms.
- Combining multiple intake forms into one or using skip logic to make processes shorter and smarter.
- Replacing formal meeting notes with a shared Google Doc that gets updated in real time.
In many cases, however, this is an area where significant pushback might occur. To address this, it is worthwhile to exercise a “two-way door” principle—reminding teams that any eliminated task can be reintroduced if necessary, in order to create the necessary psychological safety to experiment and cut unnecessary processes without fear.
Tip #3. Be Intentionally Less Available
One of the most surprising insights from the HBR article is that always being available as a leader may actually make things worse for your team. Constant availability creates dependency and prevents team members from developing their own autonomy and problem-solving muscles.
In the financial aid context, many managers pride themselves on being the consummate expert on a specific area, while touting their open-door policies and instant responsiveness. But when leaders are involved in every meeting, every decision, and every issue, it can also lead to decision fatigue, all while disempowered team members to grow and develop their own skills.
Instead, leaders should consider creating intentional boundaries around their time and engagement. Some options might involve:
- Joining only the most critical parts of meetings or attending decision points rather than engaging in full discussions.
- Replacing long check-ins with quick 15-minute syncs or written updates that follow-up on the work and thoughts that a team-member has already provided regarding a specific problem.
- Designating certain hours for availability and holding firm to them.
- Rotating project leads within your team to avoid centralizing knowledge and authority on a single team member.
This lesson, in particular, not only preserves your capacity as a leader, but it sends a message of trust to your staff.
Reflection questions for yourself as a leader:
- Where am I overly involved?
- What training does my staff need to be proficient with a task?
- Are there parts of my week I can protect for strategic thinking or process improvement?
Final Thoughts
Throughout the Harvard Business Review piece, there are a number of timely and actionable strategies for anyone in a leadership role facing unrelenting pressure and limited bandwidth. For financial aid managers, the stakes are even higher as the work we do directly affects students’ futures and their ability to continue through college, not to mention the organizational compliance piece. By taking a cue from this research and applying its insights in a way that respects the nuances of higher education, you can start to reclaim some time and energy—not just for yourself, but for your entire team—even through these trying times.
If you would like targeted assistance managing your plans or assistance with delegating tasks, feel free to reach out to our team at info@heag.us to connect. We can assist you in determining which strategies might work best for your office, in order to do what matters most, better.
