By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

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

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 →