3 Lessons Every Manager Can Learn From Ted Lasso

As a manager, have you ever asked yourself “What would Ted Lasso do?”

December 14, 2021
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How would you describe your job to a five year old?
What season would you be?
What is a weird food you have tried? Would you eat it again?
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Would you go in the mother-ship with aliens if they landed on Earth tomorrow?
What is your favorite season?
Do prefer working from home or the office?
What is your earliest memory of this job?
What is the best thing you have bought so far this year?
What is the earliest book you remember?
If you had to move to another country, which one would you choose?
You are the best criminal mastermind in the world. What crime would you commit if you knew you would get away with it?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
What was the last thing you ate?
What person from history would you add to Mount Rushmore?
What is a weird fact you know?
What is your favorite part of working from home?
Were the Spice Girls a good team?
Imagine you can instantly learn any language. Which would you choose?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Which fictional team is the best team of all time?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
What do you usually eat for a quick lunch?
What simple food will you never eat?
Show us the weirdest thing you have in the room with you right now.
Would you rather stay at a hotel or an AirBNB?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
Are you more productive in the morning or at night?
Who is someone in your community that makes a difference?
Who was your most unique pet?
Choose one famous person from history you want on your team during a zombie apocalypse.
What is a good way to give back to the community?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
Is Hugh Grant funny?
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Would you want to have an imaginary friend today? Did you have one as a child?
What actor or actress would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
What is the best super power?
What is your New Years resolution?
You can only eat one food again for the rest of your life. What is it?
What is the best work holiday?
What is the first gift you remember receiving?
Would you rather join Metallica or Backstreet Boys?
What is the best example of a community you have seen?
What is an easy way to do something nice for someone?
Show us your phone background and tell the story behind why you picked this image.
What was your first job?
Pick any band to play at your funeral.
If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would you pick?
Which superpower would you give to your arch enemy?
What is the most obscure superpower you would want?
What emoji best describes how you are feeling right now?
If you could live in any country, which country would you pick?
Would you rather live in a city or a town?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is something you accomplished as part of a team?
What is your standard office lunch?
What is your most used phone app?
What is your favorite season?
Have you ever won something as a team?
Imagine you are a professional baseball player. What is your introduction song?
Beach holiday or ski trip?
Have you ever been to a funny comedy show?
Would you rather live at the North Pole or the South Pole?
What is your favorite song to sing?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Imagine you could teleport anywhere. Where would you go right now?
What is the most unusual job you have heard of?
What was the last thing you ate?
You can visit any fictional time or place. Which would you pick?
What do your family and friends think you do all day?
What movie do you wish you could watch again for the first time?
Show us your most-used emoji.
What was the most unique style or fashion trend you ever embraced?
What movie defined your generation?
You are stranded on a remote desert island. Are you alone or with your worst enemy?
What is your favorite knock-knock joke?
Have you ever told someone Santa is not real?
Do you know how to speak more than one language?
On a scale of 1 – 10, how much of a team player are you?
What is your #1 recommendation in this city?
What is your favorite holiday?
What bucket list item do you most want to check off in the next six months?
What is your favorite mythical creature?
What was the first way you made money?
If you could be great at any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
When did you start liking/hating mushrooms?
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Do you take your PTO all at one time, or another way?
Which show do you remember most from your childhood?
Which beverage goes best with pizza?
Would you want to have a personal assistant follow you around everywhere and do what you asked of them?
Have you ever met your idol?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Would you rather live 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?
What is your hobby?
When you are alone in the car, what volume is the music at?
Imagine you no longer have to work. How would you spend a Tuesday?
What is your favorite type of sandwich?

We admit it — the Assembly team is obsessed with the show Ted Lasso. Maybe it’s the mix of incredible characters, hilarious jokes and disarming earnestness. Or maybe it’s Ted’s epic mustache. Whatever it is, we can’t get enough. 

And of course, when you think about it, Ted Lasso is set in a workplace, and Ted is a manager. So, blending our passions here, we decided to think about what managers might learn from Ted’s incredible (albeit fictional) example.  

Here are three lessons that struck us as especially relevant — trust us, we thought of many more. Feel free to share yours with us on Twitter @join_assembly!

Ted sees the people he works with as almost pure potential — from Nate to Jamie to Roy and beyond — and helps cultivate it.

When we understand and support our employees’ ambitions, they’re more likely to be way more satisfied with their job, more connected to the company, and more likely to stick around and make a big impact on the organization.

How Assembly Can Help: Stay up to date on your people’s career development ambitions and retain your best talent with the Career Development Survey Template. This free, interactive tool helps you discover and document what’s important to your employee including their goals, their level of satisfaction, and what they’d like their next move to be. Get started with our free Career Development Survey template here!

Make It A Habit To Celebrate Team Wins

You don’t have to dance like Ted to celebrate a team win. (Although we’re guessing your team just might love it if you did.) 

But it is critical to regularly show your employees that their contributions are valued. In fact, Ted Lasso demonstrates the value of having a culture of recognition — regularly giving credit where it’s due and celebrating strengths.

How Assembly Can Help: Add structure, visibility, and consistency to employee recognition with our Employee Recognition Workflow. Not only will your employees feel seen and celebrated, you’ll be helping build a culture where employee recognition is seamlessly integrated into your daily workflow. Get started with our free Employee Recognition Template here!

Ask the Questions That Matter

As Ted demonstrates — from biscuits with the boss to dinner with Trent Crimm — building meaningful relationships is essential. It’s how you learn what’s important to the people who are important to you, and understand what they need to succeed. 

Effective one-on-one meetings help establish the trust and consistency needed to stay in synch with your people. For more on this, see our related blog post “Why one-on-one meetings should be a manager’s secret weapon (and why they’re usually not)” 

How Assembly Can Help: Our One-On-One With Direct Reports Flow gives you a centralized place to document meetings so you can identify blocks to progress, capture feedback and suggestions for improvement and more. Get started with our free meeting template here!

Next Steps!

Pretty sure everyone wants to know how they can get started with these amazing tools from Assembly. It’s easy: sign up for free today!


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Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.

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