Hybrid work models are in effect, with office-leasing numbers continuing to show the impact of the pandemic. Office needs could change as companies look for smaller, more flexible solutions.

Inflation, the retreat of COVID-19's Omicron variant and employer flexibility soon will ease the hiring squeeze for small businesses, consultant Gene Marks writes. Marks also cites automation, a slowing stock market and an end to government relief as factors.

Survey data indicates that 38% of employees globally have felt burned out or experienced a decline in mental health over the past year. Company leaders seem to want to help, the survey found, but 53% of leaders said they were unsure how to tell if staff members were dealing with mental health issues, and 67% of nonmanagerial employees said they did not feel their leaders were paying attention to the issue.

Valentine's Day is an opportune time to remind employees about the potential impact of romantic relationships in the office. "If workers are finding romance in the workplace, it's key that employers have a workplace romance policy in place to prevent harmful situations should relationships go awry," says Johnny Taylor Jr. of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Productivity is often measured in subjective, incomplete ways such as self-reporting or managerial observation, whereas team-based productivity tracking is more complicated to implement but offers greater potential for objective, holistic data, writes Holly Lyke-Ho-Gland about APQC research. "In other words, use data to capture the breadth of performance, but combine that with the nuance and contextual information provided by observation," Lyke-Ho-Gland writes.

“They’re just not playing hard enough,” Coach Ray said.

It had been a frustrating game. The boys had fallen behind in the first quarter but closed the gap in the second and it looked like they would have a chance in the second half. But, a series of mistakes, turnovers and missed shots put them behind again and they never caught up.

Nonetheless, I didn’t understand what he meant by “they weren’t playing hard enough.” I didn’t see anyone jogging. They were shooting (though missing the net). I asked him to clarify.

The boys don’t put in the extra work that it takes to win games, he explained. “The only time they practice is at practice – in the gym. They don’t go down to the park and just shoot, or work on footwork. Or get into pick-up games. At practice, Frankie only wants to shoot threes or dunk. He doesn’t spend time on the basics or study the plays. He makes too many mistakes and is lost when we run plays.”

I asked if he told them that or if he just said, “You’re not playing hard enough.” He was quiet for a second -- which is his way of saying he didn’t like my question -- but then said he had explained some of this to them. I could tell his mind was churning. I nodded and changed the subject.

Today’s Leadership & Development story about improving internal communication reminded me of that conversation with Coach Ray. Dustin York is right. “More communication” is ambiguous. It’s not enough to say “more” -- we need communication that is efficient and productive. York does a good job of outlining tips on how we can achieve that.

But I’d like to know what you do to ensure communication serves its purposes efficiently in your organization. Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.