Ineffective leaders waste a lot of time and energy responding to one-off issues throughout the day.
Small, frequent interactions distract us from doing deep, meaningful work. They interrupt our focus and turn 20-minute tasks into hour-long ordeals.
On one hand, it’s good to make yourself accessible. Collaboration is important and an open-door policy builds trust and camaraderie with your team. But dealing immediately with every question or problem that comes your way often results in unproductive task-switching.
One solution to this team communications challenge is to batch issues as they come in. Instead of responding in real-time, batch questions to discuss all at once at a predetermined time, such as a morning huddle or weekly one-on-one.
Start by creating a list for each recurring meeting. When you think of something that you want to discuss with someone with whom you meet regularly, write it down on your list. Then, when you meet with that person, check your list and review everything accumulated there. Batching issues like this cuts down on a lot of excessive internal email and other non-essential communication throughout the day.
Leave a Comment