Saturday Night Live will air its 50th anniversary special this weekend on NBC. How has the show lasted so long? Aside from generations of talented comedic performers, the answer is creator Lorne Michaels, who has produced SNL for most of the past half-century.

Here are a few of his managerial tips from the upcoming new book Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live:

• Quality control flows from the top: Michaels still “picks the show” from all submitted sketches for tone, flow, variety and other factors.
• Delight in the deadline: On Fridays, Michaels often frets, “We have nothing.” He describes his Saturday focus as “being on knifepoint.” But after 50 years and 101 Emmys, this high-wire act clearly works.
• Wear down the inner censor: Proudly nocturnal, Michaels believes that pushing yourself to the limit makes it easier to embrace off-the-wall ideas because “fatigue is your friend.”
• Stay humble: “If I’m the smartest person in the room,” Michaels says, “I’m in the wrong room.”
• Your staff should be good hangs: Michaels advises hiring people you could “drive cross-country with and not kill.” Who can’t name a bunch of SNL alums they’d go road-tripping with?

Workplace romance: It’s inevitable, so flirt with these policies

Ping: Andrew Brodsky’s modern manners for virtual communication

(Source: Shutterstock)

Dr. Ben Baran is an associate professor at Cleveland State University and co-founder of Elevating What Works.

Approximately 27 percent of workers have been in a romantic relationship at work, according to a 2023 survey by the Society of Human Resource Management. Other estimates are much higher. It’s often not just trivial, with another recent poll finding that 4 in 10 workplace romances resulted in marriage.

Let’s unpack some of the potential issues posed, and then we’ll look at some best practices.

First, workplace romance isn’t entirely preventable. People spend many of their waking hours at work, so it’s to be expected that they build connections with their co-workers — and some take a turn toward romance.

Potential issues surrounding workplace romance, however, include:

• Gossip
• Reputational outcomes
• Being treated differently by other co-workers
• The potential for ugly breakups

All those elements can become a major distraction for employees and interfere with productivity, perceptions of fairness, and teamwork. From an HR perspective, romantic relationships at work can also be tied to matters of sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims. 

Although managers can’t prevent workplace romances, they can take proactive steps to foster a productive work environment and lessen the risk of romance gone bad: 

Ensure your company has a policy in place

And then ensure employees understand it. A company-wide prohibition is tough to enforce, but it is feasible to prohibit certain types of relationships, such as those between supervisors and their direct reports.

Be clear on what is considered harassment

Include specifics and clear examples of what types of prohibited conduct would result in termination. Closely involve your HR department and legal counsel as necessary.

If issues arise, act

Investigate matters swiftly yet carefully. Above all, do what is necessary to build and reinforce a culture of dignity, respect and fairness for everyone. 

(Source: Simon & Schuster)

Does replying with “OK” make you sound hostile? Does the thumbs-up emoji make you look old-fashioned? Does replying to emails immediately make you seem highly available or high-strung?

It feels like the rules are always changing, so University of Texas at Austin management professor Andrew Brodsky, Ph.D. — who holds degrees from Wharton and Harvard Business School — is clearing the digital air with Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication. He spoke with b. about response time, AI-written emails and more.

b.: What did you set out to accomplish by writing Ping? 

Brodsky: Whether you are a fast-food cashier whose manager sends you shift requests via text messaging or a corporate executive whose day is filled with emails and video meetings, we all need to understand how to use this technology to be effective and thrive at work. My goal is to help everyone be able to achieve that. 

b.: How do we avoid getting bogged down by constant interruptions?

Brodsky: Some people respond to emails and instant messages as soon as they come in. Others suggest that you should check messages only once a day to avoid interruptions. Research indicates that the best approach is somewhere in between.

Specifically, it is best to “chunk” your virtual communication into about two to four confined periods throughout your workday [like] at the beginning of the workday, after lunch, and half an hour before signing off.

b.: If someone takes issue with your response time, how would you react?

Brodsky: Our communication partners don’t expect a response as quickly as we assume they do, which is referred to as the “urgency bias.” However, if someone does take issue with your response time, you can have a conversation with them in which you set expectations and give them a way to contact you in case of an urgent situation.

When it comes to someone who isn’t being communicative enough, the approach is actually the same: Have a conversation … in real time, as opposed to sending yet another message that may or may not receive a response.

b.: How do you feel about people using AI to make their emails sound friendlier or more professional?

Brodsky: AI can be useful for improving speed [but] can also backfire in many cases [as] the other person will recognize you didn’t craft the message yourself — because the AI-generated language sounds nothing like your normal writing style or leaves out knowledge you have from prior interactions, which … will significantly reduce how much the recipient trusts you.

To this point, there is a reason why handmade items [like] hand-blown glass are considered to be so much better than machine-made ones, and the same logic applies to our communication. Simply, they seem better and more effortful.

Ping is available now.

This interview has been edited for length. Read the full Q&A at business.com.

• 1876: Alexander Graham Bell applied for a telephone patent.
• 1876: Henry John Heinz founded the Heinz Company.
• 1886: The first trainload of California oranges left Los Angeles. Today, the state supplies more than 85 percent of America’s fresh orange crop. 
• 1924: Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company CEO Thomas J. Watson renamed it to the more memorable International Business Machines, aka IBM.
• 2020: Valentine’s Day shopping revenue hit a record total of $27.4 billion. We were all in lockdown a few weeks later, so ideally you spent it with The One.

Written by Steven Blum, Taylor Friedman and Ali Saleh. Comic by John McNamee.