imapMyTeam Blog

Take Time for Face Time

All business is people business.

Like it or not, your career depends a great deal on how other people feel about you and whether they want to work with you or for you. The good news is you have an opportunity to influence this aspect of your professional life.

In business, relationships matter yet they are often taken for granted.  Having healthy, working relationships with others around you is nice when times are good, essential when times are tough, and often determine if you are successful.  So, making time for more meaningful, individual ‘face time’ meetings makes good business sense.

If you’re one of the people who are already having regularly scheduled conversations with your manager and colleagues – or if you are the manager, with your direct reports and colleagues – fantastic. Make sure you are using the various imapMyTeam® reports to help you frame those discussions to maximize their benefit.

If you are one of the people who wait until a conversation is a necessity because there is a crisis or fire to put out – or some other impromptu business triggering event, you are missing out on an important opportunity to get to know (strengthen your relationship with) your teammates and colleagues. That investment pays off WHEN there is a crisis or fire to deal with.

In a perfect world you might schedule connection time with key people linked to your success every day. Most of us are not in a perfect world, so what should we do? Let business circumstances dictate.  Here are some suggestions:

·         In the early stages of a new project; meet more often until you’re sure you’re aligned.

·         If a project is a higher stakes or riskier/uncertain project; meet more often.

·         Are you a new manager/leader or a new employee? Meet more often.

You can take advantage of the time to ask great questions and make sure there is agreement on the proper path forward.  Another benefit of more frequent meetings is they can also be shorter.

Use the reports in imapMyTeam® to help you frame your conversations in such a way that they "stick" and have meaningful impact on both your personal success, and the success of your team.