Don’t automate yourself

In a typical tech company, you have tons of notification-generators. Servers get overloaded. Tickets are generated. Code is reviewed. Meetings are in a few minutes.

With tools like Slack, it is all too easy to add another reminder, another workflow, or another source of noise. When it’s just for you, it’s manageable. But when you add it to a channel, it multiplies.

Ping, ping, ping. There’s too much. People tune you out.

How do you break through the noise? How do you get people to pay attention??

Stop adding everything. Start practicing de-automation.

Here is one of the ways I do it. Every morning, I post a manually written status update for my team. I do not write it the night before. While it follows a predictable structure, I do not use a template.?

I usually write a short message outlining 3-4 points to focus on for the day. Sometimes, I change the structure when we have a unique circumstance. Other times, I use the space to recognize something that is going well.?

And if it’s a day when I am not around, the message does not get written. That’s perfectly fine: I’m not there and I don’t want people to think otherwise.

The message is short on some days. On others, I ask everyone to do a specific task or answer a question.?

And on yet other days, I pause. Sometimes we need silence more than??announcements and reminders. I promise: people will still get their work done.

Scaling without automation is not possible. Many routine tasks benefit from standardization. But presence is not one of them. Show up as a human being.