Managing different work paces in a team can be one of the most challenging aspects of leadership. When a team member delivers strong work but thinks, processes or contributes at a rhythm that doesn’t match the rest of the team, managers are often left juggling fairness, performance and team harmony.
This post explores how managers can address differing work tempos in a way that protects standards yet genuinely supports both the individual and the team.
When Pace Becomes the Unspoken Problem
One of the hardest leadership challenges arises when a team member delivers strong work and brings insight, depth, or creativity, but operates at a different pace than the rest of the team.
Over a period of time, that difference can cause tension. Not because anyone is doing anything “wrong”, but because the team’s rhythm no longer feels aligned.
How Pace Differs From Performance
In many teams, pace is unconsciously confused with performance.
If someone:
- takes longer to process,
- works in intense bursts,
- questions assumptions, or
- delivers ahead of time because it helps them to clear their mind.
they can stand out in ways that make others uncomfortable. Yet pace tells you very little about quality, value, contribution or capability.
When you are managing different work paces in a team, the real risk is misreading a difference in pace as difficulty, which can blur unique strengths with problems that may not exist.
“Why Can’t You Just Be Like the Others?”
That question has followed me across teams and throughout my life.
It’s a familiar refrain for many people with ADHD – and for others who don’t fit the dominant way of thinking or working. You can over-deliver on the hardest work when left to your own devices, yet be labelled awkward, challenging or obstructive in collaborative settings.
The issue here was rhythm, not speed. It was about a different cognitive tempo, e.g., how ideas form, how work is sequenced, or how thinking continues – even when the task is technically “done”.
When that difference isn’t understood, it can quietly turn a valued team member into “an inconvenience”.
When Difference Makes the Team Uncomfortable
Sometimes the discomfort doesn’t come from under-delivery, but from over-delivery or over-thinking.
For example:
- Someone regularly finishes ahead of deadlines or works late, because completing tasks helps quiet their mind.
- They continue thinking, refining, and looking for improvements.
- Other team members might feel unspoken pressure to work late or risk falling behind.
Over time, unspoken thoughts might become harmful words: “Can you just stop?”
This is an example of a mismatch between how one person self-regulates and how the team is structured to work.
The Manager’s Role: Containment, Not Suppression
Effectively managing different work paces in a team focuses on containing diverse paces for team benefit – not suppressing them. The main goal is to channel differences productively.
That could mean:
- agreeing when it is the right time to share early or completed work
- separating idea generation from execution
- setting boundaries around questioning
- protecting the team without diminishing the individual
For example:
- “It’s helpful to capture ideas – let’s find a way to park them until the review point.”
- “For this particular task, we’re aiming for consistency rather than optimisation.”
- “Let’s agree which decisions are open to challenge and which aren’t.”
This approach provides structure without expecting someone to change how their brain works. Speaking from my own experience, the percentage chance of me switching off my brain is somewhere between nought and zero! And, if I say I have, I’ll probably be wearing my people-pleasing mask and pay the price in exhaustion later.
Fairness Without Sameness
“Is it fair to everyone else if I manage one person differently?” I’ve heard that question a lot, and I can understand why it’s a common concern. However, fairness isn’t about treating everyone identically. It’s about giving everyone a clear, reasonable path to success, and that might be different for each individual on your team.
If you want to ensure you’re demonstrating fairness, try asking yourself the following:
- Are outcomes consistent?
- Are expectations transparent?
- Is flexibility about how, not what?
When you have clarity, resentment tends to drop – because ambiguity is often the very thing that’s fuelling it.
Accepting the Human in Front of You
One of the often unspoken truths of leadership is this: You can genuinely like someone and still find them challenging at work.
Accepting that doesn’t make you a bad manager, but avoiding it does. Good leadership practice involves:
- recognising difference without pathologising it
- naming impact without shaming
- setting boundaries without erasing strengths
When managers do this well, people who work at a different pace often stop feeling like a problem – and start feeling like part of the system.
A Final Reflection for Managers
The question isn’t: “How do I make them fit the team?”
It’s: “How do I shape the team so different minds can contribute without friction?”
That’s not indulgent leadership. It’s skilled leadership.
How I Can Help
If you’re managing a team where one person works at a different pace, I can help you step back from assumptions about what “good performance” should look like and focus instead on what’s actually happening.
I support managers to distinguish between output, effort and wellbeing. Also, we look at how to approach conversations with confidence, drawing on recognised good practice rather than guesswork or assumptions, and with an awareness of boundaries, responsibilities, and when specialist advice may be needed.
Together, we explore practical ways to adjust expectations, workflows, or roles so individuals can work sustainably, without tension building within the team. The aim isn’t to slow people down or push them harder, but to create clarity, psychological safety, and working environments where everyone can do their best work.
If you want to manage difference with fairness, clarity, and kindness, reducing the risk of harm, you can book a free 30-minute discovery call with me to discuss further.
