Stop Hinting, Start Asking: December Rules for Leaders
Stop Hinting, Start Asking: December Rules for Leaders
The Unfiltered Leader
No spin. No fluff. Just what actually works.
How is your December progressing? Like most, it’s probably compressing work. Year-end targets, budget sign-offs, performance reviews, holidays, and reduced staffing collide. That forces more decisions into email and chat, where clarity matters the most. If you hint, your team guesses. Guesswork creates rework.
Workday lengths peak in December at 9 hours [6], yet decision quality drops as brain bandwidth depletes throughout the day [7]. UK office occupancy averages just 35.9% [1][2], dropping even further ahead of Christmas [3]. Fewer people. More pressure. Less time to fix vague asks. In December, drag multiplies. Ask early, ask clearly, and move. Here's the download...
Three dynamics
These dynamics make December different for knowledge-heavy teams:
Fewer people, slower loops. UK office occupancy falls ahead of Christmas. Civil Service departments hit 74% attendance mid-December [3], while the national average sits around 35% [1][2]. With more out-of-office days, "I'll get back to you" often becomes January by default. Decisions slip unless the next owner and deadline are explicit.
More meetings, less progress. Workers spend 103 hours per year in unnecessary meetings and 209 hours on duplicated work [8]. One-third of meetings serve no useful purpose [4]. Microsoft research highlights too little focus time as the number one productivity blocker [5]. Vague requests and task-by-task updates add even more meetings. And 71% of those are considered unproductive [9].
Tired brains make slower calls. Decision fatigue (yes that again) drains glucose in the prefrontal cortex; the part responsible for clear, rational decisions [10]. As mental load rises, leaders default to hinting, over-helping, or delaying. Even seasoned pros lose focus and motivation after too many choices [11]. Your decision quality also drops later in the day [7]. In December, mental resources are already depleted from 11 months of grind.
The cost? Unclear asks multiply cycles and eat focus. As I mentioned earlier...
Guesswork creates rework.
Busy looks like high-effort, but delivers low throughput. Decision fatigue costs the global economy $400 billion annually [12]. Companies that manage it well outperform peers by 22% over five years [13].
Hinting feels considerate
It really does, and in December, it’s also extremely expensive.
You think you’re being supportive. However, your team hears ambiguity. They stall, or worse, they start something that’s close, but not correct. Every soft ask becomes another meeting. Leaders who grow fast do the opposite. They make ownership, timing, and upside unmistakable.
That’s not harsh or blunt. That’s operational kindness.
Research on decision fatigue shows that direct, specific asks improve speed and quality [14]. When leaders route problems back to owners with time windows [15], the work gets done. When they don’t, decisions stall. Ambiguous asks compound mental strain and morale [16].
In December, clarity is your oxygen.
Two December shifts that raise throughput
Shift 1: Outcome-first updates
Stop listing tasks. Please. Report movement. Use five lines:
What moved or got delivered, with a metric and delta
One driver
One risk or blocker
What happens next inside 14 days
One ask, with owner and date
Why? People see impact, sequence, and the one thing you need. This cuts follow-ups, reduces meetings, and protects focus time; Microsoft’s top-ranked productivity constraint [5]. Clear decision rights shorten loops and lower error rates [17].
Shift 2: Ask early, ask clean
A direct request beats a hint... Every time.
Specific, time-bound asks increase the odds of getting what you need [14]. Put decisions with the right owner. Name it when you’re coaching. Push reversible calls to the edge. And above all, schedule key decisions early in the day when people have the most brain bandwidth [18]. Late afternoon? Is the graveyard for clarity [7][18].
Mini checklist for December asks
Use this before you hit send or step into the room:
Right person
Is this the actual owner of the decision or work?
If not, who is?
Right timing
Are they in this week, or already on leave?
Can this get to them during their focus window, not after 4pm?
Clear upside
What’s the customer, cost, or risk win?
Tie it to year-end targets or Q1 prep.
Impossible to miss
One deliverable
One date
One off-ramp if they can't deliver this week
Here's the brief
December needs fewer, cleaner asks and visible outcomes. Reduce meetings by reporting movement, not activity. Move decisions to owners who are present. Ask early so "later" doesn’t turn into January.
The teams that finish strong aren’t the ones with the most meetings. They’re the ones whose leaders make asks impossible to miss and progress impossible to ignore.
20-second December check
Answer yes or no:
My updates end with one owner, one date, one upside line
Reversible decisions have a 48-hour window at the edge
My next two meetings have a decision or dependency, not status
I can show two metric movements without another meeting
I schedule high-stakes calls for mornings, not late-day
Three or more yes's? You’re protecting throughput. Less than three? Start with outcome-first updates.
The Numbers
35.9% – Average UK office occupancy [1][2]
74% – Civil Service attendance mid-December [3]
103 hours – Time per year spent in unnecessary meetings [8]
209 hours – Time per year spent on duplicated work [8]
33% – Meetings that serve no useful purpose [4]
71% – Meetings considered unproductive [9]
62% – Focus efficiency (down from 65%) [6]
9 hours – Peak workday length in December [6]
$400 billion – Global cost of decision fatigue [12]
22% – Profitability advantage for companies managing decision fatigue well [13]
References
Workplace Insight. "UK Office Occupancy Levels Reach Post-Pandemic Peak." March 2024.
CoStar. "UK Office Occupancy Continued Slow Return to Traditional Levels in 2023." January 2024.
GOV.UK. "Civil Service Headquarters Occupancy Data." December 2023.
Harvard Business Review. "One Third of Meetings Are Unnecessary." 2024.
Microsoft. "Work Trend Index 2024: Focus Time as Primary Productivity Barrier." 2024.
ActivTrak. "2025 State of the Workplace Report." December 2024.
Decision Mastery. "Is Decision Fatigue Making You Underperform at Work?" 2024.
Time Doctor. "Workplace Productivity Statistics (2024 Update)." March 2025.
TeamStage. "Productivity Statistics: Key Elements in 2024." 2024.
Global Council for Behavioral Science. "The Neuroscience of Decision Fatigue." 2024.
ResearchGate. "Cognitive Load and Decision Fatigue: How Mental Strain Shapes Executive Judgment." 2024.
Keevee. "Decision Fatigue Costs and Management." Cited in research, 2024.
Gartner. "AI and Decision Fatigue Reduction Predictions." 2024.
Harvard Business Review. "How to Get the Help You Need." Heidi Grant, 2024.
Harvard Business Review. "Stop Solving Your Team's Problems for Them." Sabina Nawaz, 2025.
Monitask. "What Is Decision Fatigue?" 2024.
McKinsey & Company. "Faster, Better Decisions in Organizations." 2020–2024 collection.
Emoneeds. "The Psychology of Decision Fatigue: Evidence-Based Strategies." 2024.
