What is more important: financial results or team happiness?

March 2026

I’ve been working as a department leader for over 4 years now, and as a project manager for much longer (omg, time flies). Working in professional consulting is tricky: you can’t be sure which customer will decide to move forward with their project immediately and which will put things on hold for an unknown period. Building a business in Ukraine adds another layer of unpredictability for both parties: the customer and the project team.

In such conditions, leadership often becomes a question of balance – how many people are enough for today, how to avoid burnout tomorrow, and how to stay resilient when circumstances change faster than plans. The scales never stop swinging.

On top of that, hiring is hard. There are still very few specialists in Business Central that you can hire on short notice. At Innoware, we continuously invest in internships because ERP consulting requires not just technical skills, but deep domain understanding and real project experience – something that naturally takes time to build.

So yes, planning is tough (and honestly – sometimes feels impossible in this fast-changing world).

But there is one thing I can control. Team happiness.

Creating an environment where people feel that their manager genuinely cares.

Because what I truly believe is simple: a happy employee performs better than one working under constant pressure.

Of course, ERP projects come with intense phases – Go-Live, hypercare – when overtime is unavoidable. However, I believe it is possible to maintain healthy working conditions during all other project stages.

And sometimes, maintaining that standard means saying “no.”

“No, we can’t start your project in the next 4 months.”

Not because we don’t want to – but because we respect our team’s limits.

I’ve seen other approaches: taking every opportunity, promising unrealistic timelines, expecting teams to work double and “just handle it.” This often leads to burnout, declining productivity, missed expectations, and endlessly shifting deadlines.

At the end of the day, your employee is not just a resource. They are a person.

A person who needs rest, safety (including emotional safety), respect, appreciation, recognition, and gratitude.

So I’m curious – how do you approach this balance in your teams? Do you prioritize short-term results or long-term sustainability?

Olena Chernets,
Head of NAV/BC Direction at Innoware

Original article