Keep On Track with a Daily 5-Minute Check-In with Your Boss
Five minutes a day is enough to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Keeping aligned is an absolute requirement for getting amazing results. I remember my first management job. It was hell. There I was, surrounded by employees looking to me for direction, even though I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Fire and brimstone everywhere, and nothing but a barbed whip and a pool of boiling lava to keep them on the straight and narrow. It was just hell.
Fortunately, after a while, you learn. It turns out that a big piece of a manager’s job isn’t flogging employees with a barbed whip. Indeed, it’s simply giving employees the direction they need without using a barbed whip or lowering them into boiling lava. In companies larger than a few people, there’s enough work to be done, and the work is so specialized that it’s easy for people to get out of sync. If Europa is handling the construction of the holding pens for the carnivorous Audrey II plants, and Melvin is handling the transportation of the plants, they each know only the details of their own project. If Melvin arranges for the Audrey IIs to arrive a week before the restraining barriers are in place, things could get messy. Something needs to keep Melvin and Europa in sync.
That’s where bosses come in. Even though we’re taught to think of a boss as someone who gives orders, most bosses are pretty bad at being good at giving orders. The place a boss can really add value is in coordinating, and making sure everyone is doing what they need to do at the right time, so the company moves forward like a well-oiled machine. So now, instead of everyone coordinating with everyone, they only need to coordinate with the boss. It’s the boss who coordinates between people.
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Use a Daily Check-In
Whether you’re a boss who wants to coordinate with your people, a person who wants to coordinate with your boss, or both, you can use a brief, 5-minute daily check-in. It helps you keep in sync about what you’re doing and how it’s going. I’ll describe the check-in as if you’re communicating with your boss, but it could easily go the other way around.
First, create a deliverables list. I prefer to do it in a notebook or on a whiteboard. You want it somewhere you can see and review it. List everything you’re currently working on and expected
to deliver. Number each item, and never reuse a number. For each item list when it’s due and who’s expecting it. During your five-minute check-in, run down the list quickly with your boss and give the status of each item.
Europa’s list might include:
#89. Construct holding pens. Due for Melvin by May 23. Status: on-track.
The status can be on track, done, or late. Done items are great! They’re an excuse to celebrate, put on paper hats, do cartwheels, and sprinkle glitter all around the office! After all, people love glitter!
If an item is on track, there’s nothing to discuss. But if an item changes from on track to late, you can immediately arrange to work with your boss to figure out how it can be made right again.
Review Your Workload
Once you’ve run through your list of deliverables, review your overall workload. Draw a timeline from now going out a couple of weeks. Beneath the timeline, draw horizontal lines that go from now until the due date of each deliverable. Beneath each date on the timeline you can see how many open projects you have for that date. Scan the timeline to make sure your workload is manageable. If it isn’t, you’re talking to your boss, so you can immediately raise the issue if you need more help.
Here’s how Melvin’s check-in with Bernice might go:
#97. Arrange for armored car to transport Audrey IIs. Due June 9. On-track.
#98. Buy 683 pounds of hamburger meat for the Audrey IIs. Due June 1. Done.
#99. Measure holding pen to insure adequate space. Due June 6. Late, because the architectural plans are taking longer than expected.
Immediately, Melvin and Bernice can put their heads together to decide what to do about the late architectural plans.
If an item is on track, there’s nothing to discuss.
Next, Melvin looks at his timeline and notices that from now until June 1st, all three items are open, on his plate. This seems like a manageable workload, so there’s no need to re-jigger the projects.
I’ve uploaded a quick form you can use to structure your five-minute check-in, which you can download at SteverRobbins getitdoneguy.
A five-minute check-in is a very time-efficient way to keep in sync with what’s happening in your work. You’ll make sure there are no surprises and you’ll be coordinated with everyone around you. Just grab your boss and run down your deliverables list, due dates, and status of each deliverable. Double-check your workload, and then you’re off and running for the day.
Check Out My To-Do Webinar
Check Out My To-Do WebinarOn May 21, 2015, I’ll be putting on a live webinar on Taming Your Tasks and To-Dos. Register for free at To Do Webinar.
This is Stever Robbins. I help CEOs and executives develop high-potential leaders. If you want to know more, visit www.SteverRobbins.com.
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About the Author
Stever Robbins was the host of the podcast Get-it-Done Guy from 2007 to 2019. He is a graduate of W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management training program and a Certified Master Trainer Elite of NLP. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Computer Sciences from MIT.
