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…
Category: Miscellaneous
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…
Evolving Accountability: From Execution to Leadership
As an employee gains experience, they also develop their sense of accountability. The first two levels of accountability involve completing their work and following through on commitments. The next level is influencing others to create change. Without formal authority, this often means nudging and persuading people to take action. The third level is about making…
Who Prioritizes Your Work?
If your leadership won’t prioritize your work, you need to prioritize your work.
When Companies Lose Their Soul
Some companies have more of a soul than others, and it often comes down to their humanness. I understand that companies need to make money, but sometimes the things that get cut to boost the bottom line are exactly what make a company special to work for. I once worked for a company that started…
Cutting Through False Urgency
Too often, I see people use false urgency and artificial deadlines to pressure others into helping with their projects. This creates unnecessary stress across the organization. We need to teach healthier ways to collaborate and develop processes that reduce the need for excessive ad hoc teaming. When I need help, I prefer to appeal to…
The Hidden Cost of Mistakes
Recently, my department has been blamed for mistakes that actually originate outside of our team—mistakes we cannot control, at least on the surface. It is embarrassing to be associated with these errors, and frustrating to be blamed for them. However, the real issue is that this situation makes my department’s work more difficult. With repeated…
Who Owns Your Time
Sometimes we schedule weekly one-hour meetings. After several weeks, we realize we don’t need the full hour, and someone suggests reducing it to thirty minutes. Then someone else says, “I like having the full hour blocked so no one can schedule another meeting.” Think about what that means. If the time is freed up and…