21 Mar Balancing Productivity and Fun
I often ask my team if they are having fun. It may be an odd question from the CEO of the company, but I believe people enjoy their work and look forward to coming to the office when they are having fun.
There is a balance between being productive and having fun. Too often as leaders we focus on the first and don’t leave room for the second. When you are the CEO, you have a lot on your mind. You are responsible for everything. This includes sales, cash flow, growth, investor ROI, and the list goes on.
It is so easy for me to push the team to get the work done, without taking the time to build in some fun.
Leading a company is hard in the best of times, but let’s be real, the past couple of years have been hard on everyone. When I walk in the door on a Monday, I am hit with everything that needs to be done. It is so easy for me to push the team to get the work done, without taking the time to build in some fun. A mentor of mine once commented that I was starting to sound like a CEO. When I inquired what he meant, he said CEOs tend to be brief and quick to respond because they have a million other decisions that need to be made.
He is not wrong; I lose count of the number of questions I get in any given day. I notice it more when I try to leave the office for vacation. I never fully unplug since accepting the job as CEO. Even when I am out of town, I will build in an hour a day to check in and keep the team going.
I challenge myself to build room for fun. This could be a conversation with a team member that is not work related; share a funny story or listen to them tell me about their kids. For the team that comes into the office, I might pick up a treat for an afternoon snack or take them to lunch. For my remote staff they need time to just talk. They miss the watercooler moments when working from home. I am okay if every now and again I devote an hour to a remote worker who just wants to catch up.
The best asset I have as a CEO is my team. I want them to enjoy working for our company. I know it’s work and there is no replacement for family, but I want the staff who work for me to want to work for me and the company. To look forward to the hours they spend at the office or at home working.
Take a moment to look at your schedule and ask if you have built in some time for fun. You will get far more productivity from your team if they enjoy working for you.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.