According to a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children 8-18 spend 7.5 hours per day using entertainment media, 4 minutes playing outside, and 3.5 minutes per day in meaningful conversation with their parents. Hmmm . . . .
I toured a company called Menlo Innovations in Ann Arbor last month and was shocked to find a technology company that did not use email to communicate. All project management was done with post-its on the wall and communication happened face to face. When someone needed to address the group they called out the name of the team, everyone stopped their work, and communication happened. The business has experienced solid growth and the they have enabled several product launches that prove their methods are effective. By the way, this is also a place where all coding is done in pairs – two people sitting next to each other and working together. You cannot work alone on anything.
In a world where everything seems to be going faster, maintaining the right pace in how we interact is still important.
Great leadership starts with purposeful facetime with people.
Step 1 – Be physically present with the people you lead.
Yes, that is impossible for people leading virtual teams. So to you I ask – What would that presence look like for you? How close can you come to ‘physical’ presence?
After 20 years working on corporate teams, being married, and being a parent I am passionate about enabling one single thing – great conversations. When I created this template, I thought of a meaningful 30 minutes together between a leader and follower. If we spend 30 minutes, one on one, every two weeks with each of our people, that works out to a guaranteed 15 minutes of purposeful conversation per week with each person, or 3 minutes a day.
Hmmm . . . still only 3 minutes a day. Too much . . . Really?
Watch yourself this week – How is the quality conversation time looking for you?