If you’re looking for a way to let your team know you care more about them than just their production, ask them about something other than their production.

And in order to do that, you’ll have to pay attention to what’s going on in their lives outside of work and remember it.

Ask a person how their dad is doing after his surgery. Ask them if their daughter did well in the cross country match they left early for the other day. Ask if their Frenchie is still keeping them up at night like they were last week. 

It tells your team that you are a real person. It tells them you REMEMBERED something that was really important to them. It says to them that we’ve got some time in this meeting to catch up before we dive into the deep end of the numbers pool. 

Sometimes this is quick, maybe funny to talk about in a group. Other times you may know it’s more appropriate one on one and that it may not be a happy answer.

Your prompt may result in tears.

It’s okay. These are people.

They were carrying a heavy burden and you just let them set it down for a few minutes. Once they’ve collected themselves, it’s okay to transition into some version of whatever it is you were meeting about in the first place.

It just says you care.

And they will never forget it.