Late-night emails

If it’s 11 pm and you’ve just remembered something your team needs to do tomorrow, it might seem like a good idea to send them an email while you’re thinking about it. Well, it’s not. If you’re emailing late at night or on weekends, most employees think a late-night response is required — or that they’ll impress you if they respond immediately. Making them be ‘always on’ hurts results. A frantic environment that includes answering emails at all hours doesn’t make your staff more productive. It just makes them busy and distracted. When they’re constantly monitoring their email after work, they are missing out on the essential downtime their brains need. Creativity, inspiration and motivation are depletable resources that need to be recharged. So refrain from after-hours communication and be clear about expectations. Set up policies to support a healthy culture that values downtime.

(Adapted from Your Late-Night Emails Are Hurting Your Team, by Maura Thomas)

Stop putting off your toughest tasks

We often procrastinate when there’s too much to do, we dislike a task or we don’t know where to start. If you figure out which of these is blocking you, you can determine next steps and get it over with. Some tips can help you get focused on the task at hand, even when you don’t want to:

• Set deadlines for yourself in advance. Slot tasks into your calendar so you don’t end up saving everything until the last minute.

• Reward yourself. Take a coffee break or go talk to a colleague once you’ve finished a particularly dreaded task. Or save a task that you do like for after you’ve finished the one you don’t.

• Get help. If the problem at the outset is that you don’t know how to start the project, work with a colleague who can help you. This gets you unstuck and holds you accountable.

(Adapted from Getting Work Done, from the 20-Minute Manager series)

Debate at work

One of the myths about ‘great workplaces’ is that conflict is rare. We believe that workplace disagreements are undesirable, that they’re distracting and hurt productivity. But research reveals that in many cases, disagreements fuel better performance. While personality clashes, or differences in values, can indeed be detrimental, conflicts that center on how work is performed can produce better decisions and stronger financial outcomes. Healthy debate encourages group members to think more deeply, scrutinise alternatives and avoid premature consensus. The experience of open deliberation can actually energise employees by providing them with better strategies for doing their job. Instead of avoiding disagreements to maintain group harmony, create an environment in which thoughtful debate is encouraged. When no one is challenging you to think differently, you get stuck doing things the way you’ve always done them.

(Adapted from 5 Myths of Great Workplaces, by Ron Friedman)

Keep your team calm after someone quits

When an employee quits unexpectedly, managers face a big operational challenge: How are you going to cover his responsibilities without overburdening the rest of the team? First, share the news. Explain the situation and assure your team that you’re working hard to find a suitable replacement. Acknowledge that they will have a ‘workload problem’ for a while, but use the departure as an opportunity to talk about their careers and opportunities for growth. Coordinate with human resources to list a job opening as soon as possible. This helps your team understand that this is temporary. Ask them for input on what skills, experience and qualities they want in the new hire. Perhaps they know someone who would be a good fit, or an internal promotion might be in order.

(Adapted from When an Employee Quits and You Didn’t See It Coming, by Rebecca Knight)

Remember names

It’s a problem many of us have experienced: You meet someone new and two seconds later you can’t remember his name. This is hugely important in building business connections, so here are a few tips:

• Get it right the first time. If you’re introduced to someone and don’t catch her name right away, ask her to say it again. If it’s a name you don’t recognise, ask about its origin or how it’s spelled.

• Use it right away. “It’s nice to meet you, John.” Don’t overdo it, but try to work the name into the conversation a few times as you start talking.

• Ask for a business card. Don’t just stick it in your pocket. Take a look at it and comment on the logo or something else while you focus on the name.

(Adapted from How to Remember a Name, by Diane Darling)

• Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, June 22nd, 2015*

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