{"id":9951,"date":"2023-08-21T08:49:11","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T12:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/?p=9951"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T16:29:09","slug":"how-two-simple-words-can-keep-your-best-people-engaged-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/how-two-simple-words-can-keep-your-best-people-engaged-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How two simple words can keep your best people engaged at work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeople & Leadership<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow two simple words can keep your best people engaged at work\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"sarah-stockdale\"\t\t\t\tSarah Stockdale<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Early in my career I found myself in charge of an intern team of 5 college students. If you\u2019ve never managed more than 1 intern in the past, just picture Slack notifications filled with ideas and questions. 1 intern would send me late night ideas for the business all the time. They were full of energy and inspiration\u2014and often risky and expensive marketing ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because I was a new manager, and because I was someone who thought I knew a lot about the business, I found myself saying no all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, we can\u2019t run that program.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, we don\u2019t have budget for that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, we don\u2019t have the bandwidth for that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t want to innovate, and it wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t want to change the way things were done\u2014it was simply that I was overwhelmed with their ideas. I was a young manager who really didn\u2019t know how to channel the energy and passion of the folks on my team. Over the course of a few months, these 5 motivated, excited, talented, (but unfocused) young professionals had stopped pitching ideas at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was my life managing them a bit easier? Maybe a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But were they as engaged at work as they were from the start? Of course not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were we bringing new and exciting projects forward? Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was I a good manager? No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was a gatekeeper. Even though I didn\u2019t mean to, I repeatedly refused ideas, passion, and energy at the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, 10 years and multiple companies later, I\u2019ve adopted a very different approach to managing smart young people\u2014and it stemmed from bringing 2 small but really powerful words into my management philosophy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, and.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, and<\/em> is the bedrock of improvisational comedy. It emerged from the improv exercises and techniques developed by Viola Spolin in the mid-20th century. In improv, your goal is collaboration. You\u2019re building a world with other people on stage, and each idea is a gift that your scene partner is offering you, a material that can help you build a world for your audience to engage with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As managers, we can either default to no, and choose to manage as a gatekeeper or default to yes, and<\/em>, and choose to listen and collaborate and build with our teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking\u2014I can\u2019t just say yes to all of my employee\u2019s ideas, that would be chaos<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

It would, but yes, and<\/em> isn\u2019t about greenlighting everything. It\u2019s about creating a framework of collaboration where more ideas can be built on by your team. Here\u2019s how you can implement it to build an engaged, focused, and energetic team:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Give them the blueprint<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s hard for you to help your team members build on their ideas if you don\u2019t have enough information. Having half-baked ideas lobbed at you is frustrating and wastes time. As the manager, you have to set the team\u2019s goals and direction\u2014so they know what you are focused on accomplishing together so your team knows how to focus on the right things. Then, you need to set clear expectations about the level of thought you expect to go into something before it arrives on your desk.  Help your team learn how to do the pre-work before<\/em> they bring ideas to you. I used a simple Google form to outline all of the key pieces of information I\u2019d need before I\u2019d be able to consider an experiment or campaign\u2014so when a team member had an idea, they\u2019d know what pre-work was necessary to pitch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Build it together<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      You probably won\u2019t be able to say yes fullstop to even a well thought out idea, which is where the and <\/em>comes in. Real collaboration starts with curiosity, so before you jump in and offer changes\u2014make sure you ask a lot of clarifying questions to fully understand your team member\u2019s thought process. This will give you insight into how they think and make decisions, which will make you a more thoughtful and effective leader. Once you have all of the information, then you can jump in and work together to mold the original idea into something that could really move the business forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      1. Be open to pivots and failure<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        One of the main reasons I said no so much as a young leader was because I didn\u2019t want to try things I wasn\u2019t sure<\/em> would drive results. This closed me off to opportunities that could have made a big impact on the business, if I had just been able to accept that little bit of risk. In improv, all of the scene partners know that the whole thing could be a bust\u2014and they accept that failure is baked into creating something new. The point is to try, and as a team, pivot, learn, adjust, and recalibrate so you can move the idea forward, together<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Yes, and<\/em> is about fostering a culture that encourages ideas to be shared, moulded, and improved collaboratively. It\u2019s about setting clear expectations so your team can develop well-thought-out ideas that align with the goals of the business. It\u2019s about being open to a little bit of the right kind of risk, so your team can be part of positive change in the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

        Adding yes, and<\/em> into my management philosophy transformed the way I lead. Not only has it helped me maintain energy and engagement with my teams, but it\u2019s made me a more curious, thoughtful, and effective manager. So, if you\u2019re feeling like a referee or a gatekeeper in your management style, like I was, I hope this gives you an alternative way forward. You might just build something great.<\/p>\n\n\n

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