Welcome to post number three of our Together Try-its – with content which I go much deeper on in my newest book! (Have you pre-ordered yet? And for those of you tired of our continued book promotional content, sorry, but a lady has to hustle!). Our other Together Texts discuss what we commonly call a Meeting with Yourself. We have come to believe that not only is it incredibly important to plan ahead on a weekly basis, but that there are other moments when Pausing to Plan is incredibly important. This is the case for all roles, but especially Together Teammate roles where you may need to communicate with multiple people about various projects as you do your best to juggle ALL the balls.
A member of The Together Team, Heidi (whose name is also on the cover of this coming book!), demonstrates that beautifully when she is headed out of town for a long weekend. Let’s peek at her email to me to see how she demonstrates the Pause to Plan Try-It.
Of course, it makes sense to communicate if you are planning to be out of office, but Heidi made a few key moves.
- Sent the email a day prior to being out of office. This helped give me time to weigh in on her priorities.
- Shared her availability. In this case, Heidi said she will “lightly check email and respond.” Because the Together Team works flexibly and remotely, we like to share our overall whereabouts (in fact, we even have a Slack channel called Whereabouts!).
- Slipped in some Loop Closing. Heidi never misses a chance to Close Loops with me, and she listed a few bullets where she gently reminded me that she was waiting on me to move forward.
- Identified what needed to be delayed. Heidi has a keen sense of her priorities, and she was able to propose items to be bumped.
Yes, this Pause to Plan takes a little bit of time, but it allows us to communicate well to colleagues, name trade-offs or delays, and let others know the choices we are making with our time. This, in turn, lets Heidi enjoy her long weekend with her sister in New York City! This Together Try-It is especially useful before planned out-of-office times, during incredibly busy seasons, or when you may be unexpectedly out of work.
Do you foresee any upcoming times it will be especially helpful to Pause to Plan?
