By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you better prepare for your weekly staff update meeting.

A 5/15 takes 5 minutes to read and 15 minutes to write

         It’s 5:15 on a Friday afternoon. Do you know where your staff is? Of course not. Not in a digital, work any-where, any-time, any-how world.

     Yet the most effective leaders I know always knew where their staff was COMING FROM on or about 5:15 pm on a Friday.

      A 5:15 is an e-mail that each staff member sends to the team leader by the end of business on Friday.  This e-mail update should take no more than:

      5 minutes to READ and
15 minutes to WRITE.

       Pithy. Pointed. Precise. And often strategically insightful to the team leader who can then use the information –from customer concerns to competitive gossip heard on the street–to better prepare for his or her staff meeting the following week.

       In addition to the usual content in a status report– key wins and losses, operational glitches and expected challenges the following week–the 5:15 also asks each staff member to grade their own morale and Continue reading →