The One Question Managers Need To Ask Employees

I learned a lot of valuable lessons when I first became a manager. Books kept me motivated and informed and articles allowed me to adjust and learn. During my early years, I led team meetings on Mondays and prepared slides and agendas during weekends. I pushed to build a positive culture with my team and during our meeting I implement different strategies to accomplish meeting objectives. Then, one Monday, I had a great idea. It was one simple question I wanted to ask every person on my team.

After asking this one question, I was shocked to find that not a single person was able to respond. The next Monday, I thought I would ask the same question and I received the same result. I then realized that this was something most people have difficulty answering.

What was the simple question I asked? It was this question: What three things did you accomplish last week? That was it. I wanted to know three accomplishments from each individual. I wanted to create a culture where we discussed things that made us proud. However, most of my team did not possess the habit of reflection and that feeling of accomplishment. Many of them couldn’t even remember what they did the week before!

Through our busy schedules, time just passes on. We might work ten hour shifts and then the weekend arrives. Yet, we never stop to ask ourselves if the things we did the for the past 7 days added any value to our lives. Is our work just meant to keep us busy, or were there some true goals that we accomplished that granted us pride? If our goals were not met, did we get closer to them?

Can you answer my question: What three things did you accomplish last week? Can you come up with three things or can you only think of one?

Eventually, I made it a habit to ask this question every Monday for several years. I learned that in order to create a culture of self-reflection, positivity and accomplishments, I had to incorporate a technique that will allow that to exist within our team. At times, someone on the team would respond that they didn’t accomplish anything but with a little push and some patience for them to think, something always came to their mind. It’s crucial to develop a healthy habit of self-realization, especially when it comes to your success. Yes, there are many things you could have done better last week, but there are certain things you did well. Be proud of your accomplishments.