Hi Reader,
This week I've been busy answering a ton of great questions inside The Joyfully Managed Life Society - so many are about team leadership! Thank you to those of you who are members bringing your great Qs about starting the day with email, how to return from vacation and get back into work well, supporting your team with change management as you retire, handling constant interruptions during the workday, and what to do about all those tasks that never seem to get done on your list. If you want a place to get your questions answered and see the advice being given to other leaders, join us!
Let’s get to your Monthly Management Memo - as always with something bold, something new, something borrowed, and something to pursue.
🔥Something Bold - Stop The Notifications - If you're getting pinged and dinged all day long, you might be better off just smoking weed on the job.
I'm kind of kidding, but a Microsoft Research study found that "attempting to focus on more than one priority at a time reduces productivity by as much as 40 percent, which is the cognitive equivalent of pulling an all-nighter." And research done by Hewlett-Packard found that "the IQs of employees who were interrupted by email, calls, or messaging were reduced by more than 10 points - which is twice the impact of smoking marijuana.”
Take 5 minutes to reduce the notifications you're allowing in at least one place - your phone, your Slack, your internet browser, or your email.
🆕 Something New - Avoid the Next Hire Going Bad - I loved this new article from a former client of mine, Miriam Greenberg at Harvard. If you've ever made a hire that didn't work out very well, you'll want to read this. It's practical and so helpful.
🤝🏼 Something Borrowed - Use the Hard Moments - Susan Asiyanbi is a former colleague of mine who is one of the smartest thinkers on team culture and strategy I know. This article is about how strong teams don't skip past or ignore hard moments. Here's my summary of the high points - but go read her full article! It's worth it.
- It's natural to avoid tension — our brains process social conflict like physical pain, so the instinct is to deflect ("let's take this offline"). But unresolved friction doesn't disappear; it goes underground and erodes trust, alignment, and execution over time.
- Strong teams move through hard moments using three steps: name the tension in the moment, get curious together with reflection questions instead of blame, and close the loop publicly so the whole team learns from it.
- Breakdowns aren't distractions — they're accelerants. When handled well, conflict speeds up alignment and results. The difference between high-performing and struggling teams isn't avoiding conflict; it's having a shared commitment to working through it in the open.
🏃🏾♀️Something to Pursue - Ask Your Team for their Biggest Headaches - I was chatting during a Q&A part of Joyfully Managed Worklife with Ashley and Tamara and the idea came up of asking your direct reports (and peers, especially if you're in a Chief-of-Staff type role) what their biggest headache at work is. You will often find real issues that can be addressed, and it's a great way to get input that you might never hear had you not asked.
Consider sending this in an email, Slack, or chat to folks today: "Hey, in our next check-in, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what your biggest headache at work is these days. I can't promise I can fix it, but I do want to make sure I'm hearing how things are going for you!"
Last Month's Most-Clicked Management Memo Link: The Appreciation at Work Toolkit - glad it's helpful!
Bring your team; I’ll bring my A-game. I love helping teams with workshops on productivity, team culture, and effectiveness at work. Find out more and book a free chat to see if I can be helpful to your organization.