Category: intentionality

One of the speakers in my global communications class advised that the first thing to do when working with an international client or colleague is to add their country’s holidays to your calendar. In addition to showing respect for their culture, it helps you be mindful of times when they will likely be off and predict delivery delays due to the holiday season.

The same principle applies for internal and domestic clients. Know when board meetings and other key events occur in the organization. Understand cyclical deadlines—don’t propose something new to tax accountants in April or school teachers in August. Pay attention to filing and reporting deadlines for grants or other projects. Consider religious and cultural holidays of diverse members of your team.

The more inclusive you can make your calendar, the more likely you are to avoid missteps and surprises caused by others’ unavailability. Let your calendar reflect the world in which you operate, not just your own events.

Summer is often the time for planning and retreats, and these gatherings frequently result in brainstorming and a host of new ideas to implement in the future. While innovation is an important and necessary function, it can lead to a diffusion of energy as teams want to “focus” on a host of new programs that come from the sessions.

It can be hard to focus on a single key priority, but going deep offers many benefits. It’s likely that concentrating on a single area will yield more quantifiable outcomes, which in turn allow for richer storytelling and greater impact. A narrow focus allows for greater accountability as well, with no hiding behind doing a little on several priorities. It’s stronger if one thing is accomplished rather than bits of many.

Picking one thing to be the focus for the short term is hard. Many things are important, and the temptation is great to address several goals at once. Resist and go deep instead.

A colleague is known as the go-to person at her job, and someone else expressed envy at how she knew people from so many different departments. My colleague explained that this just didn’t happen; she intentionally worked to build relationships.

It’s a valuable skill for both your professional and personal lives.

Get up from that desk. Have lunch with other people. Talk in person when possible. Take that extra few minutes to learn about others’ lives, whether you are in person or virtual. Interact outside your narrow department or bubble. Remember details about those you meet. Offer help.

There are many ways to cultivate relationships, but all take intentional effort. We often gloss over the connection in favor of efficiency, but those relationships can become invaluable when you need something above and beyond. They also make the workplace much more pleasant!

Relationships take intentionality to create, but the personal and professional rewards far outweigh the effort. Start today to weave your web of connections.