What your late-night messages teach your team
Being always available can look like dedication. To your team, it can quietly set the expectation that they should be available too.
THE QUICK ANSWER
Being reachable around the clock does more than show commitment. Replying at 11pm and at weekends models the idea that rest is optional and always being on is normal. Your best people may either burn out trying to match you or look for a manager who protects their time. The fix is to state clearly: “I might send messages off-hours — I never expect you to answer until working hours.” Say it at your next team meeting.
GO DEEPER
Setting the boundary out loud
Many managers work outside normal hours because it suits them. Evenings may be the only quiet time to catch up, and replying quickly can feel helpful and responsive. From their own perspective, it is simply a personal working style that affects nobody else.
Your team, however, reads your behaviour as a signal about what is expected. When messages arrive late at night or at weekends, people wonder whether they should reply, and the most conscientious often do. Without anyone intending it, an always-on culture forms, and the people most likely to burn out are those trying hardest.
The video’s fix is to make the expectation explicit. Tell the team: “I might send messages off-hours — I never expect you to answer until working hours.” Your own responsiveness stays the same, but their expectation changes completely. The suggestion is to say it at your next team meeting rather than assuming people already know.
Words need to match actions for this to work. If you praise people who reply at midnight, the statement will not be believed. Tools such as scheduled sending can also help, so that messages written late arrive during working hours and the boundary is reinforced rather than undermined.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Your availability sets your team’s norms. Tell them clearly that off-hours messages never need an off-hours reply.
TEST YOURSELF
A manager often catches up on email late at night and notices team members replying straight away. What does the video recommend?
PRACTISE IT
Try this lesson in the arcade
Quick retro games that start with this lesson’s situations. One thumb, one to three minutes, free.
