Winning Teams Communicate

In football, even the best play falls apart without clear signals. The same goes for teams AND families —communication turns strategy into execution.

Halfway through a beautiful Fall in Northeast PA and yet another bleak season for my New York Giants (with some signs of hope!), it’s time to talk about how we communicate to keep it all together. 🏈 🍁 💡

Every National Football League (NFL) team is filled with incredible talent; any team can win on any given Sunday. Few players can just outrun everyone else. The teams that consistently win have the best systems. Routes have to be crisp. Gaps have to be closed.

If the receiver turns the wrong way on an out route? Interception!

This is an apt analogy for working parents and leaders. Like a quarterback throwing over the middle of the field, we have little margin for error.

Our time is spoken for from 5:00AM when the baby wakes up (if we’re lucky) to 8:30PM when Brooks goes to bed. Our work is engaging and exciting and our days are packed.

How do Jana and I plan our life so we can preserve precious time with our kids, which we’ll never get back, while thriving professionally and maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle?

Communication! Here’s our method:

We only text during the day if an issue needs immediate attention. These are quick, concise, to the point:
📱 5:30 meeting added to my calendar
📱 There’s a case of (fill in the blank) in Hudson’s class – ugh!
📱Dinner will be ready to pick up at 6:00
📱“I love you”

Non-critical communication happens over email or on a shared Reminders list.
📋 To-do list for after the kids go to bed (yes, we are huge fans of lists)
📋  Something for future that we don’t want to forget – “we need to pick flowers up before we go to Mom’s house”.

We align on priorities on the to-do list, knowing we’ll never get to everything
✅  Trash has to go out on Tuesday night
✅  The credit card bill has to be paid on time
✅  Other things can, and do, wait!

Two calls in a row from the same person – immediately stop what you’re doing and answer.

Yet, there’s a balance (Juggle! 😇) between too much communication and not enough.

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 We make a conscious effort to limit phone notifications. If you haven’t used Focus mode (on Apple), you’re missing out!
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 We get notifications to our watches so we can put down our phones and be present with our kids. The email can wait. A page we need to deal with immediately comes through to our watches.

And we keep each other to this!

We hope this was helpful! If you have topics you’d like for us to cover, please share in the comments or message us.

Brooks learned how to communicate like a champion from a young age (Thanksgiving, 2022 - age 14 months)