Patio Pondering: Slowing Down to Speed Ahead

This morning I am trying to enjoy my coffee as scattered thunderstorms march across the region and I am replaying the bevy of activities I had the past two days from funerals to podcast recordings to job interviews. All packed into about 36 hours.

The experiences of laying people to eternal rest, a finality balanced with the hope of a job interview seem to be somewhat of a Yin-Yang. Add to it the excitement of two very different podcast guests and my brain needs a few minutes to rest and reset. Coffee is helping but the thoughts keep rolling like the chyron at the bottom of a cable business network.

How do we as managers recognize when our employees need some "down time" to reset and recharge? What mechanisms do you have in place for your team to give them a few moments to relax their brains?

In a recent job interview the hiring manager talked about "Tech Days" where his team completely blacked out a day a month just for the tech team to do what they needed to do: summarize research trials, research topics, catch up on reading scientific journals, rest their brains. This concept seems like a great idea for teams that have many dotted-line responsibilities. As the personnel landscape continues to evolve we need to be receptive to running our offices differently, have flexibility in how people work, and be cognizant of mental fatigue that can debilitate an employee and a team.

I'm sitting here doing exactly what I'm writing about - taking a moment to let my brain catch up with everything that's happened. Maybe that's the answer right there. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our people is just give them permission to pause.

What do you think? How do you help your team reset?