Maybe you’re thinking “zero” for the optimal amount of time to spend interacting with your boss, but it’s actually a bit more than that, according to a survey of over 30,000 people.
Picture: Editor B/Flickr
Leadership IQ asked the respondents from a wide range of industries 127 questions, covering how they communicate with their leader, how often, and how they feel about work.
The median time employees spent interacting with their bosses is about three hours a week, but the study found that six hours a week may be the ideal amount of time:
People who do spend an optimal number of hours interacting with their direct leader (six hours per week) are 29% more inspired, 30% more engaged, 16% more innovative and 15% more intrinsically motivated than those who spend only one hour per week.
The findings also suggest face-time with your boss matters as well.
There is such a thing as spending too much time with your boss though. Employees’ inspiration and motivation stayed the same or declined after six hours of interaction. (One exception is in employees’ sense of innovation, which spiked at 11-15 hours and at over 20 hours spent with their boss.)
So if you haven’t seen your boss in a while, maybe it’s time to stop by his or her office.
You can read the full study at the PDF link below.
Optimal Hours with the Boss Study [Leadership IQ via The Wall Street Journal]
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