Be careful about putting yourself in the middle of everything and becoming the linchpin. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes it’s necessary. But sometimes it’s ego or fear that puts you there. Sometimes the process would actually run better if you were taken out of the loop. There are times when you need to step in and…
Category: Miscellaneous
You Need to Learn AI for Your Job
Why We Have to Learn to Use AI at Work AI is already transforming how work gets done. Learning to use it effectively will make us more efficient, eliminate much of the tedious administrative work we all dread, and ultimately keep us relevant as roles continue to evolve. Imagine having an infinite number of administrative…
Before You Go Fully Remote, Consider This
The Hidden Cost of Fully Remote Work I work in an environment with three groups: people in the office full-time, people on a hybrid schedule, and a few who are fully remote. Here’s what I’ve observed. Employees who are fully remote start to become disconnected unless they work very hard to stay plugged in. They…
The Growth of Complexity in Your Organization
I bet that if you work at a company that has been in business for a while, some processes seem more complicated than they should be. Many of these processes were put in place to reduce risk and variability—but how do we know when things have become too complicated? In The Collapse of Complex Societies…
When Productivity Can’t Be Measured
Measuring productivity in knowledge work is difficult. Consider these points when trying to understand productivity of knowledge work: There will never be a perfect way to measure productivity. The path I’ve chosen is to ensure everyone understands the company’s goals and is empowered to make the best decision in each situation. From there, productivity becomes…
Where Effort Should Actually Go at Work
Effort at work should be spent on the difficulty of the task—not on figuring out what to do, wading through a confusing process, or churning through dozens of marginal tasks.
When They Want Help But Don’t Need It
Sometimes people want help when they don’t need it. Sometimes they’re unsure of themselves or afraid to make a decision. Instead of deciding, they use you to make the choice for them—disguised as a request for help. They may not even realize they’re doing it. If you don’t recognize this pattern, they begin to rely…
What Actually Gets More Done
We spend a lot of time trying to be more efficient at work. But it isn’t efficiency that gets more done—it’s unbroken time on task. No special trick or organizational system matters unless it gives you more time focused on the work.
Process Fails Without the Right Environment
In one of my previous roles, operators were expected to use gloves to do their jobs. Management supplied employees with just enough gloves to get through each shift. Some operators took a few more than they immediately needed. This led to gloves running out before everyone received a pair. As a result, employees began taking…
Stop Treating Conversations Like Checklists
“You think effectiveness with people and efficiency with things.” —Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Be careful not to think of interactions with others as items to be checked off a list so you can move on to the next task. This mindset is one of the primary reasons we default…
Complaining About Work Ethic Won’t Fix Today’s Workforce
My generation is often described as an in-between generation, and this shapes how I view work. I was influenced by my parents to take pride in hard work, but I have also seen how employees have been treated over the last 40 years. On average, we are being asked to give more through higher productivity,…
Start With a Conversation, Not a Defense
Often, a team member receives an impractical request from another employee and immediately starts gathering information, building a case, preparing defenses and rebuttals, and scheduling meetings to argue against it. When my team member brings it to me, I ask, “Have you talked with them about this?” The answer is usually, “No.” Your first step…
Finding Alignment When You Disagree
One of the hardest things to do as a leader is to persuade your team to support something you don’t fully believe in—or even think is a bad idea. Here are several perspectives to consider when you find yourself in this situation:
Do You Have Too Many “In-Progress” Tasks?
My team uses the typical Kanban categories: To-Do, In-Work, Waiting, and Done. A good rule of thumb is that a person should keep no more than three items in the To-Do column. In an ideal workflow, the only reason something should be in the In-Work column is that the person ran out of time or…
Making It Easy for the Hiring Team to Choose You
Promotions are competitive. When applying for a promotion, there are three major categories you must meet to be successful. First, you must meet the basic criteria, such as required credentials and years of experience. These are typically non-negotiable. Second, you need to stand out as the top candidate. This may include additional education, relevant experience,…
Avoiding Mental Strain May Be Adding To Your Stress
I regularly coach my team to take a task as far as they can before moving on to something else and to minimize the number of tasks in progress. Still, I often find they are juggling too many active tasks. This usually happens because they switch to another task when they encounter mental strain—something they…
Rethinking Meetings and the Nature of Managerial Work
Since becoming a manager, I have struggled to redefine what “work” means. I was taught that work is taking something and turning it into something else—and that I should not be sitting or watching others work. Recently, I’ve been reading High Output Management by Andy Grove and have realized that, as a leader, my work…
How I Discovered Team Development Models
I’ve recently realized that my department can now accomplish things it couldn’t in the past. The team has grown and matured over time. This wasn’t something I was formally taught as a manager, so I did some research and found that others have described similar stages of team development. Here are a few examples of…
Trust Your Team—And Stop Double-Checking
Some people struggle to handle the anxiety of holding a task. From time to time, another manager will reach out to me, saying they need someone on my team to take urgent action. I’ll ask whether my team member isn’t already addressing the issue as expected. The manager usually replies that they are—but they just…
Balancing Primary Responsibilities with ‘Extra’ Work
Many of us work in a culture that encourages us to “be a team player” and “go above and beyond.” Sometimes, that means taking on tasks that aren’t exactly part of our role—and these tasks can end up consuming a meaningful portion of the day. I’m willing to bet you’ve wondered whether those tasks are…