Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to do something social with your colleagues,
Speaker 1: not every day, but at least every few weeks. Many
Speaker 1: years ago, I got a question from a woman who
Speaker 1: was a new mom and was also newly in management.
Speaker 1: She knew that it would be a smart career strategy
Speaker 1: to take her team members out for dinner or drinks.
Speaker 1: Doing so would help them see her in a more
Speaker 1: relaxed setting. They'd start to trust her more. That way,
Speaker 1: if she needed to give tough feedback, it would feel different.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't feel so harsh. It would feel like she
Speaker 1: was on their team. The problem, though, was that she
Speaker 1: commuted on top of her full time job, so she
Speaker 1: only got to spend about ninety minutes with her baby
Speaker 1: before the child's bedtime. She understandably hated the idea of
Speaker 1: giving that time up. So this seemed like quite a dilemma,
Speaker 1: one of those no one can have at all moments.
Speaker 1: But I had a question. Did her team want her
Speaker 1: to take them out every night? Well? No, I don't
Speaker 1: care how cool you are. No one wants to go
Speaker 1: out with her boss every night. So I suggested broadening
Speaker 1: her time frame. If she took her team out every
Speaker 1: two weeks or so, that would go a long way
Speaker 1: towards building a better relationship. Her team members would definitely
Speaker 1: feel a lot closer to her if they went out
Speaker 1: every other week. It also meant she'd be spending twenty
Speaker 1: eight out of thirty evenings per month with her baby,
Speaker 1: which seems pretty good to me. Rather than pitt work
Speaker 1: against family, she could take the long view of time.
Speaker 1: Taking the long view of times, she could be the
Speaker 1: kind of manager teams liked and the kind of mom
Speaker 1: who was there pretty much every night. More broadly, as
Speaker 1: we look at this topic, I am always fascinated to
Speaker 1: see how many people think that socializing with colleagues is
Speaker 1: a nice but not critical part of the job. Indeed,
Speaker 1: I've had people tell me that they consider themselves good
Speaker 1: at time management because they don't waste time chatting with
Speaker 1: their colleagues. They shut themselves in their offices, work through lunch,
Speaker 1: and get stuff done. I understand why people might do this.
Speaker 1: Many times, it's because of family responsibilities. People have to
Speaker 1: make a five thirty p m. Daycare pickup, or they
Speaker 1: hate the idea of bringing work home, but there are downsides.
Speaker 1: Being promoted and then managing effectively isn't just about getting
Speaker 1: work done. It's about inspiring other people to want to
Speaker 1: do their best work for you. People want to do
Speaker 1: their best work for people they like and trust. The
Speaker 1: best way to get people to like and trust you
Speaker 1: is to spend relax time with them when you're not
Speaker 1: just giving orders. Even if you have no intention of
Speaker 1: ever moving into management, professional relationships still matter. Other people
Speaker 1: might have insights into office politics, or might have made
Speaker 1: stupid mistakes that they can warn you from making. Learning
Speaker 1: this over a beer can save you all sorts of time.
Speaker 1: Of course, it doesn't have to be happy hour. You
Speaker 1: could take your team out for lunch or breakfast. A
Speaker 1: few managers have told me they intentionally start the happy
Speaker 1: hour at four o'clock so people can still leave by five.
Speaker 1: That's a great way to include people who might have
Speaker 1: to get home by a certain time. As for informal
Speaker 1: get to gather as colleagues just do occasionally. If people
Speaker 1: ask you, I'd encourage you to say yes. Sometimes you
Speaker 1: don't have to say yes every time, but if the
Speaker 1: answer is always know, people stop asking Saying yes occasionally
Speaker 1: means you stay in the loop. So figure out what
Speaker 1: socially you can do with your colleagues in the next
Speaker 1: week or two. If your office has a creative way
Speaker 1: for busy people to get to know each other, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear about it. You can email me at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart Media dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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