Hi there,
One of my biggest fears as a project leader…
Happens on Friday afternoons…
Usually before a long weekend…
Often between 4 to 5 pm…
Any guesses?!
➡ P.S. We’ll be off next week + back in your inbox on 11/14.
⚡ Supercharge of the Week
I live in fear of… the unexpected Friday late afternoon Big Ask. 😱
Why? By the end of the day on Fridays, my brain is operating at low battery. I’m usually working on lightweight tasks and prepping my priorities for Monday.
I’m sure you’ve felt the same way before – or even received one of these Big Asks yourself! That Big Ask might be for a deck or a review request or any number of unexpected project deliverables.
Remote Octopus recommends proactively planning every Friday morning to avoid the Friday late afternoon Big Ask with your cross-functional colleagues.
Every Friday morning, spend 5 minutes to consider:
- What dependencies or asks do I have for cross-functional colleagues today?
- What time zones are my cross-functional colleagues in?
- How might I reach out proactively, earlier in the day, to move our work forward together?
- If it’s already later on a Friday for my colleague, can this ask wait until Monday morning?
With this quick reflection, you’ll buy immense goodwill with your cross-functional colleagues and demonstrate respect for their time. A little proactivity goes a long way.
🔥 One important note: Are Friday afternoon Big Asks entirely preventable? Nope. Fires happen on projects! And sometimes they happen on Friday afternoons. Ensuring we maintain a proactive mindset can ensure we mitigate the need for Friday Big Asks as much as possible – for which your colleagues will be eternally grateful.
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