Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that if you work with other people and
Speaker 1: work on projects whose parts depend on everyone else doing
Speaker 1: their part, be explicit and intentional about how you will
Speaker 1: pass work from one person to another. A lot of
Speaker 1: missed deadlines could be hit despite the unexpected happening if
Speaker 1: people could be a little bit more clear about passing
Speaker 1: the baton. So I always like watching track and field
Speaker 1: during the Summer Olympics, and I am particularly fascinated by
Speaker 1: relay races. Passing a baton from one person to another
Speaker 1: seems like it would be straightforward, and yet these race
Speaker 1: pros have it incredibly well choreographed. At a set place,
Speaker 1: the second runner starts running in parallel to match the
Speaker 1: speed of the first, and their hand movements have been
Speaker 1: practiced endlessly, so no one drops anything, which would pretty
Speaker 1: much guarantee losing. So it is with a lot of
Speaker 1: group projects. I suspect that with many teams, the second
Speaker 1: runner is not preparing to match the pace of the first,
Speaker 1: and the first runner just sort of tosses the baton
Speaker 1: into the air, assuming it will be picked up in
Speaker 1: a timely manner. We can do better. Everyone needs to
Speaker 1: think carefully about how to keep the team going when
Speaker 1: the expected and the unexpected happens. So if you are
Speaker 1: on a team, set the norm that everyone confirms timing
Speaker 1: on their next steps. There is no need to overthink this.
Speaker 1: If you are the one passing the baton, you can
Speaker 1: just send an email saying something like, on Monday, I
Speaker 1: will send you the spreadsheet for the spring mailing. Could
Speaker 1: you confirm that you have everything else you need for
Speaker 1: the mailing and that you can get it out by
Speaker 1: the end of next week. You say, when you do
Speaker 1: your part, and the next person confirms that they have
Speaker 1: what they need to do their part and when they
Speaker 1: will do it, you can both see that you are
Speaker 1: still on track. If you are the one receiving the baton,
Speaker 1: you also need to let the previous person know when
Speaker 1: you plan to do the work. This lets them know
Speaker 1: if a delay is a little thing or if it
Speaker 1: is a big problem. So if someone says they will
Speaker 1: send you a draft for your review on Tuesday, you
Speaker 1: can reply great, I have reserved time Wednesday morning for
Speaker 1: reviewing your draft. Please let me know by Monday. If
Speaker 1: there is any change in the plan, so I can
Speaker 1: reschedule a accordingly. You can also tell them if the
Speaker 1: stakes are higher for meeting that stated time, as in,
Speaker 1: just so you know, I am headed out of town
Speaker 1: on Thursday, so if you're not able to get me
Speaker 1: the draft by Wednesday morning at the latest, I'll need
Speaker 1: to review it the next week. If a delay of
Speaker 1: one day getting the work to you can mean a
Speaker 1: delay of much more than one day and you're completing
Speaker 1: the next step, it is a good idea to make
Speaker 1: sure everyone knows this in advance. In teams where people
Speaker 1: are located in very different time zones, you might even
Speaker 1: need to nail down the hour when the baton will
Speaker 1: be passed. If you are in New York, getting your
Speaker 1: London teammates something at nine am on Friday means they
Speaker 1: might be able to look at it before the weekend.
Speaker 1: Getting it in at noon on Friday means it probably
Speaker 1: won't be looked at until Monday. That's good to know.
Speaker 1: Smart teams plan in when team members will be taking
Speaker 1: time off. Hopefully your organization has some system where you
Speaker 1: can see this, but I know not everyone checks, so
Speaker 1: be sure to bring it up a few weeks before
Speaker 1: you're planned time off. You might say I'll be away
Speaker 1: from February twelfth to the sixteenth. So if there is
Speaker 1: anything you'd like me to know about or do before
Speaker 1: I head out, please let me know by February sixth,
Speaker 1: if at all possible. Otherwise, I look forward to being
Speaker 1: in touch after I get back. Now, of course, we
Speaker 1: don't always know when people will be out of the office.
Speaker 1: If winter where you live is like winter where I live,
Speaker 1: the unexpected starts to become the expected. Germs are everywhere
Speaker 1: this time of year. People have to miss work because
Speaker 1: they are sick themselves, or they are taking care of
Speaker 1: a kid who is home from school. Then there's the
Speaker 1: weather snow and ice that prevent us from getting where
Speaker 1: we need to go, that prevent school buses from getting
Speaker 1: where they need to go, which means more days with
Speaker 1: kids home from school. Unexpectedly, people can lose power in hailstorms.
Speaker 1: It happens, but that doesn't mean we need to throw
Speaker 1: up our hands and decide that the future is unknowable.
Speaker 1: All deadlines will inevitably be missed. The truth is that
Speaker 1: even the unexpected can be planned for. Hopefully, everyone who
Speaker 1: can work from home has a setup that allows them
Speaker 1: to work from home. Consider setting the norm that anyone
Speaker 1: who could work from home takes their laptop home every night.
Speaker 1: That way, if someone is out unexpectedly for weather or
Speaker 1: child's illness, they can work remotely. I'll note that if
Speaker 1: you are a manager and also set the norm that
Speaker 1: something is better than nothing, you will happily take the
Speaker 1: three hours someone can work from home while a sick
Speaker 1: child is napping or watching videos, rather than complain about
Speaker 1: your employee not being in the office for eight hours.
Speaker 1: That will inspire people to try to keep things moving forward,
Speaker 1: even under less than ideal conditions for major projects. It
Speaker 1: is also a good idea to plan in redundancy. Just
Speaker 1: like every Broadway show has understudies for the major roles,
Speaker 1: your team needs to have a back up person for
Speaker 1: any work that can't be easily rescheduled or can't be
Speaker 1: done remotely. You might even call it an understudy role
Speaker 1: just to get people to take it more seriously. You
Speaker 1: might need to perform the leading role tomorrow. Are you ready.
Speaker 1: The goal is that when two team members are out
Speaker 1: of the office because flights from the West coast are
Speaker 1: all canceled due to a blizzard, the work can keep
Speaker 1: moving forward. Perhaps sometimes delays are inevitable, but a lot
Speaker 1: of delays are avoidable with a little more intentional scheduling
Speaker 1: and communication. Despite illnesses, whether and scheduled time off, you
Speaker 1: can keep the team going and feel like you are
Speaker 1: getting a lot more done in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura Vandercamp. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.