When Employee Differences are Night and Day
July 14, 2010I recently read an article in the London Evening Standard titled “Why Morning People Rule the World” and it got me thinking about how to best utilize your employees strengths throughout the work day. As a manager, it’s easy to know who your morning and night people are. Your morning people probably got up a couple of hours before work, perhaps to workout or make breakfast for the family. They come to work refreshed and ready. If you have an early meeting, the morning people are often animated and active in the discussion. Your evening people most likely got up with little time to spare and might be grumpy before they have a chance to drink their morning coffee. Evening people in morning meetings may be more reserved.
Even though early-risers tend to have a more take-charge attitude, night people have qualities that are also needed in business. Night people tend to be more creative and will bring energy to those late-day meetings that morning people dread. They are also likely to be more social and rally other staff members for after-hours meetings outside the office. This can foster camaraderie and teamwork. If your company tends to hold a lot of meetings and brainstorming sessions, it’s best to vary the meeting times to get the best ideas out of your morning people and your night people. Some companies are also offering flex scheduling, so people have more options as to when they arrive and leave the workplace. Morning people can arrive at 8 and stay until 5, while night people can come in at 9 or 10 and stay until 6 or 7. This ensures that you will get your employees when they are at their best performance level.
You can read the entire article here.