Everyone is busy these days. People lean toward speed, brevity, and fast decisions. In the past, once an employee went home, they cut off from work completely. It was as if they moved to a different place entirely.
Today, an employee cannot escape their work, nor even their social obligations, but let us focus on the work side. They have a phone, WhatsApp, email, Slack, Teams, and every other channel. They can run a meeting while sitting on a plane mid-flight.
In my view this created several problems, and a leader knows how to handle them without letting them take over. A leader is not the one who is always available and answers everything in a second. A leader is the one who manages this always-on world without letting it control them. Here are seven things I have learned over more than 20 years.
1. Know when to reply and when to defer
Many people run on FOMO. If they do not answer right now, they fear they will miss out, or they assume their manager will not value them. It is true that some things cannot be postponed, a system failure that halts operations, or a breach, God forbid. But for everything else, whether you step in to solve it at midnight or at nine in the morning, nothing changes.
And if your manager is the type who wonders "why didn't they reply to me?", it is enough to respond: "Received, I will get back to you at 10am." That way your manager is reassured the message arrived, and you finish your evening in peace.
2. Respect that people are busy, and write the point in the first message
If you need to reach someone, during work hours or outside them, you have to respect that they are busy. It is not enough to write "hello" and wait for them to reply before you give them the matter. Greet them and write the whole thing in one message. The odds that they reply will multiply.
Personally, I will not reply to someone who only says "hi" or writes "hello, how are you?" I do not want to waste my time on it.
3. Organize the messages that reach you
During work hours, any number not saved in my phone, I do not look at its calls or messages until after I leave the office. This approach will not work for the people in a sales team, of course, because they are expected to receive calls from unknown numbers all the time.
The same goes for email. Learn how to organize your inbox and set the right rules so that every email goes to the right folder, so you know which folders to check based on how important each one is.
4. On your holiday, learn how to leave the office without a disaster
If the office depends on you entirely, that is not a sign of skill. It is a sign of poor management on your part. Your holiday is yours, to spend in the way that rests you and gets you out of work mode, not to take it only to end up working from a different place.
Hand your authority to one of the employees below you. Let them prove themselves in the company. Their confidence will grow. And instead of answering every work call, you answer only the employee you delegated to, because they will not reach out unless they truly need you. Your email should also have an auto-reply pointing people to the person you delegated to, and telling them you are on holiday, which leads directly into the next point.
5. Have the courage not to read the emails sent during your holiday
Reading them will waste your time. Anyone willing to wait until you return will reach out when you return. Reading every email that arrived while you were away, especially if you are like me and receive more than 100 emails a day, means the time it takes to go through all of them will be exhausting and wasted.
6. Know when, and with whom, to be brief, and when to go into detail
Know when and with whom to keep it short, and the more important part, how to keep it short, and when and with whom to expand into detail. Being brief is not always fewer words. A leader cares about the essence. It is easy to cut, but it is hard to decide what to say and what to leave out.
7. Organize your calendar and your priorities
It is perfectly normal to block time in your calendar for yourself, time for your children, and time for your work. And let the office know exactly what each block of time is for. Train people to check your calendar and to learn how and when to book your time. Anyone who comes to me wanting time gets a clear, direct answer: my calendar is up to date, check it and book the slot that suits you.
As for the person who shows up without checking and books a time however they please, the decision is mine. If it is something important, like a board matter or a real emergency, I will rearrange my calendar. And if it is not urgent, the easiest thing is to decline the meeting altogether. Sometimes that person comes to me upset, "why did you refuse to sit with me?", and I tell him: you did not respect my time, nor consider that I am busy, so why would I give you mine? Next time, check the calendar and book a time that works for us both, and I will be there.
Always ask yourself: if you were in the place of the person you are trying to reach, how would you want people to communicate with you? And how do you avoid being one of those who waste other people's time?
How many messages have you sent that got no reply, or got a curt one back? If there are any, that is an opportunity for you to learn.
I have spent more than 20 years leading technical teams and managing the noise that comes with them. If you are trying to build healthier communication habits in your team, or to delegate so the place does not stop when you do, you can submit a request and tell me what you are dealing with. No commitment, just an honest conversation.