Is it necessary?
Ever had one of those days or weeks where meetings and appointments just seem to be one after the other? Regardless of whether someone is taking minutes or notes, there is often no time to reflect on what happened and your actions items. It can seem like you have no time to get any actual work done! The default timing for meetings, particularly face to face, has traditionally been an hour. Rather than schedule or participate in a regular meeting, if it is in your control it is worthwhile considering: Is the meeting necessary? If it is, could a mode …
What’s your release valve?
Sometimes it feels like we could work 24/7 and still not catch up! Whilst working long hours may be necessary in the short term to meet deadlines, in the long term losing the balance of having life outside of work can be damaging to product as well as our physical and mental health. Having a release valve, an activity that releases stress and frustration is vital to enable you to recharge and bring you back to a productive state. It could be as simple as time with family, walking your dog, or a boxing class. Whatever allows you to get …
Leap of Faith
Ever been on the edge of making a decision but a bit fearful just in case it doesn’t work out to plan? A timeless technique my mother used to always do was balancing the pros and cons. What are the positive things if all goes to plan, and contrasting it with the negatives? Sometimes the simple act of getting things out of your head and onto paper (or your preferred device) allows you to logically consider which way to go. How does this make you productive you might be wondering? When you have ideas, thoughts, fears or worries running around …
Ask for Help
I started a conversation with Sarah, a woman I was sitting next to at an event last week. She told me a little about her job and the fact that she loved to help others but didn’t like to receive or ask for help back. When I asked her why, she said it was because it didn’t feel right to take from others. I asked her how it felt when she gave someone help. She said, it feels wonderful. It makes me feel like I am contributing and am needed. It’s like giving a gift. It was something I could relate …
Letting Go of Control
I like to control my workflow, my environment and my day. However, for many people, it can be a challenge each day, week or month to sit down and consider what you need to do. Rather than think about what tasks, projects and goals will you be undertaking in the upcoming period, what resources you need and then allocating realistic timeframes to complete them, it can be easy to simply go with the flow. Then before you realise it, here comes performance review time and you haven’t met your business milestones! It can be particularly challenging if you are relying …
Correct, Perfect, Enhance
Ever read an email and wondered why or what? Why was it sent and what, if anything, are you supposed to do? Before email existed, we used to write letters and memorandums (memos). Aside from the facsimile machine (fax), letters and memos were the main way we communicated or confirmed things in writing. Letters were laboured over. Spelling mistakes corrected, grammar was perfected, and the clarity of the message was enhanced before it was sent out. Today email is the primary method of written communication in business. It’s ease of use has both it’s good and bad points but applying …
Reflection
The end of the year is a brilliant time to step back from the day to day and reflect on the year, both from a personal and a team perspective. For me, it’s a time to do 3 things: Recognise What are my top 2-3 things I’ve achieved, what are my top 2-3 things that I didn’t achieve and what are my 2-3 learnings for 2019? RemindRemind myself of the effort and work I’ve put in and the forward movement I’ve made in the past twelve months. RewardReward myself for my efforts. Whether it’s buying coffee or lunch, or a …
Time to update?
Awhile ago, I was in a meeting with an executive of a company whose product requires an investment of around $100,000 per sale. I’d conducted interviews with various managers in the organisation about the productivity challenges the organisation faced and the common theme that was coming up was a compatibility issue as a result of their software being so old, they couldn’t open documentation they received from customers in a newer format. It was frustrating for them to have to ask customers to resend the documents in an older format to make it easier. The executive’s thoughts were, it wasn’t …
Holding ourselves accountable
I’m am regularly surprised by comments from staff in organisations I work with when it comes to learning and development. For some, the opportunity to learn new skills that may benefit them and make life easier is something they grab with both hands. For others it is an opportunity to complain. Complain about how the organisation never provides opportunities to learn the things they want to learn, or changes processes or technology without consulting them. Those who recognise the opportunity for what it is, AN OPPORTUNITY are prepared to hold themselves accountable. They are generally excited about the learning and …
There’s No Such Thing as a Dumb Question!
When I present at conferences or in-house professional development events, I regularly get a sheepish hand raised and the phrase “this is probably a dumb question…” spoken as the precursor to a question. When I hear this, two things immediately come to mind. The first is recognition of the huge leap of courage the individual has taken to ask the question, and the second is, the trust they feel in the moment that I may be able to answer it. When I respond, I always reassure the person that it is not a dumb question, and that it is likely …
