Just cool down?

First of all, I am going to take you back to this last weekend before we embarked on this week oriented by our todo lists and priorities.

I love saturdays as they symbolize that little truce cutting us from the weekly trenches.

The sun was high in the sky and I gladly received its first rays. There I was, by 9 a.m working on the remnants of tasks that survived the weekdays. After hours of intense focus, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it was outside.

That observation made me want to go out, on my regular week-end strolls that i call ‘artistic dates’ with myself. Indeed, i particularly enjoy some solo time outside, for the sake of nourrishing my eyes with the beauty of my surroundings and the energy of the city.

But I chose to do my laundry first. So I went to the terrace, placed my phone on a little chair, played music as I hung my clean clothes. It was so beautiful outside, the sun was soaring over my head distributing its rays on the buildings spreading accross the horizon. The heat was giving them a sort of glow that I appreciated seeing. It was hot outside but I still found it bearable.

5 mins later my phone stopped playing the music, i went to check if it was a call. But to my surprise, it was a warning that the phone needed to ‘cool down’ because it had reached a high temperature that prevented its proper functioning. Thus the necessity to cool down before it could be used again.
I was immediately shocked for three reasons :

1. The realization that the shift in temperature that i can endure isn’t the same that the phone can. And it made me think about an obvious fact : managers should be aware that their workload isn’t as much as what the team members can sustain.

2. This was an analogy of a conversation i had earlier during the week with my boss on the fact that the team members should voice their concerns to the managers. Especially in case the latters are not aware of the setbacks, they might be facing in the realization of their tasks. Exactly as the iphone was engineered to do.

3. Iphones are the best.

At times, we can be so immersed in our daily doings within the confines of the workplace, that our focus can be on the macro task picture to the detriment of the micro. Thus we can be neglectful toward our collaborators.

In reality, managers have the daunting task of overseeing the wellbeing of their collaborators and ensure that they are productive, motivated and fulfilled.

That being said, the proper transmission of information through effective communication systems can have a direct impact in the overall work dynamic within the company. Identify pain points swiftly to act upon them. Anticipate setbacks through active listening and ‘care’ from managers.

A useful practice was the daily standups with Jonathan Gall while i was under his supervision at Yoonema. It consisted of short daily summaries about the ongoing tasks, potential setbacks, status updates and to dos. I remembered that it helped a lot. It created a closed feedback loop to check the progress on tasks and the scope of the work to be covered by collaborators without the constraints of micromanagement.

Sometimes we need to come ku lo sa (closer) to our team members to make them calm down and find fulfilment in the daily missions that they carry towards their professional evolution.

#productivity #management #worklifebalance #weelbeing #leadership