Bringing a myriad of resources to your table, we're unique in our approach to guiding you through issues. Myriad accesses not only the knowledge but also the skills and experience you need to acheive success. This page is dedicated to sharing with you some of our day to day learnings and tips for survival in today's office.
If you have anything you would like to share, please feel free to forward it to us at info@myriadconsulting.ca
One of the most frustrating things that one can experience in a given day is not getting a task finished in a timely manner. We are creatures of procrastination and this often leads us to the situation of the “perfect storm” where a great many deadlines are looming and time is now our enemy.
Have you experienced this from time to time or do you have this situation before you on a regular basis? How’s the stress levels at this time both on and off the job. Does the unfinished business start to nag at you
So how do we deal with this? Here are some hints:
• Have a “to do” list every day. This will help you keep your priorities right for each day. Many things on your list may be able to be carried over until another day but make sure that those items are not high on the list.
• Give yourself lots of time to get to deadlines. One thing I like to do is to keep my “to do” or “task” list in front of me every day. It is in site and on mind. If you see a deadline coming up, plan to get it done before the actual deadline. By doing this, you give yourself some breathing room in case of emergencies that may crop up.
• Complete the task and then move on to the next one. It is amazing how quickly you can get your task list completed by doing this.
• At the end of day, check that task list over to see what has still to be done. You will be surprised to see what has actually been accomplished.
I can hear it right away- “in a perfect world, this will work but what about unexpected priorities that crop up?” So your task list has to change a bit. If you are under a deadline and this happens, go back to the originator of the task and ask for more time. They often will have left themselves more time for their own deadline. I have often found that they are quite forgiving and will give you extra time. That leaves room for the things that have serious deadlines like contracts, applications, etc.
By completing those tasks, you can give yourself some breathing room and move on to the next task with a clear mind. Try it – you will be surprised. And don’t forget about that “one second” rule.
This past month, I have had numerous requests for courses on the critical soft skills that we often overlook- communications, leadership, team building, how to deal with the press, etc. Unfortunately many organizations do not think that these are important until a crisis occurs or until it is a “do or die” situation with an employee.
These types of skills should be constantly developed as an employee grows in your organization. Many employers are tempted to say that they only train future leaders or executives and let the rest of their employees sit underdeveloped or “unwatered”. What do I mean by “unwatered”? Think of your employee pool as a desert and until it gets water, one never sees the true beauty of the landscape. Those seeds that lie dormant for years suddenly blossom and the entire landscape is breathtaking. Is your organization like this?
Some important questions for each organization or work unit:
1. What is the difference in years from your most experienced employee to the next level down? This can be as much as 10 to 15 years and that is a large leadership gap.
2. What happens when you have to go away? Who takes charge and why?
3. How deep is your leadership pool?
4. When was the last time you actually developed a leadership-training program for all of your employees?
5. Has your organization invested in an assessment of your “leadership pool” using tools like the Myers Briggs Assessment workshop?
6. How is the communication within your organization or unit? If is not so good, why? Don’t forget that 90% of all problems start with poor communication.
7. Have you checked out local sources of training for your employees? You might be surprised to find out how many local resources you do have.
8. Is there a good succession plan for your organization or unit? Too many organizations do not “walk the talk” until it is too late.
Investing in your organization’s future through developing leaders pays off for both the employee and the organization. Are you ready to take the challenge of watering the desert?
As we move into the month of March, it is a good time to think of all of those summer days ahead when we will have more time to spend outdoors. The most common question these days is “so how are you going to spend your summer holidays?” Have you any planned yet?
Last month I talked on the need for a strategic plan. This month I want to carry it one step forward and talk about who needs to know about the plan. Should the plan be shared with staff and customers or is it just a creature of your board or management?
The answer is yes to everyone who either works for you or your customers. Every employee needs to know what the plan is so that they do not start new programs or projects that may be in conflict with your plan. Your front-end staff should know the contents of your strategic plan so that they can properly represent your plan and company/organization when answering enquiries o to the general public. Your customers should know what your plan is so that they have a good sense what you stand for and what your mission and vision statement are. Now I know that many companies or organizations put their mission and vision in a nice framed format in the reception area or near the entrance to their business. But how many of the employees actually see or read it? Everything anyone in the company or organization should reflect the direction of your strategic plan. Otherwise, what is the point of doing a plan in the first place? It would be like the captain of a ship telling the crew that they are heading somewhere but not telling them the actual destination or the direction that is needed to get there.
Does this applies to families as well? Yes it does. Parents often don’t tell their children what the plans for the day, week, month or year and low and behold, there are fights when schedules or plans conflict. Many families actually have family meetings to discuss things like this, and yes, even 5 year olds understand this stuff.
Planning takes all shapes and forms and here is a good one to watch – the ultimate in planning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyC3yBIooy0&feature=email
The past month has moved very quickly for a lot of people as things seem to be moving faster and faster every year. Do you ever get the impression that things are moving too fast for comfort in your professional and business lives? How are you dealing with that? Do you have a plan?
Strategic planning is something that every business, organization and even individuals should do every three years to make sure that your professional and life goals are in order. A plan is very much like a compass that provides you with a direction to follow. If you do not have a plan, then how are you going to get where you are going. The Chief Commissioner for Scouts Canada said at a session last year that stuck in my mind, namely “ if we don’t change direction, we’ll end up where we are going?” Think about that for a bit. How often have you seen businesses, organizations or individuals following a path that you know will take them to a place that is not the best for them or everyone else?
When you set goals, use the SMART method, i.e. Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timely. Try to focus on a maximum of three goals, three objectives for each goal and three action items for each objective. That will give you 27 action items to address during the planning period. Three goals will keep you focused so that you can do a few things rather well rather than doing a mediocre job of trying to do too much. I once heard that anyone who has more than 3 goals has no goals at all.
Can you do this with your personal life? Yes you can. Sit down one day and set three goals for the next three years. Your goals could be something like:
1. Financial sustainability
2. Work/ life balance
3. Personal health and happiness
Then you have to develop objectives for each of these. An example of an objective for each might be:
1. To pay off my debts within 3 years.
2. To spend more time with my family
3. To become more fit
The action items for each objective would then describe what you are going to do to reach each objective. This could include things for the objectives above like spending less, eating out less, planning weekends and holidays by setting the dates now, walking a kilometer or more everyday.
For businesses and organizations, I would strongly suggest using a facilitator with strategic planning skills to assist you with developing your plan. If you think you can do it on your own, you will rob someone of the chance to participate 100% in the process. This is a small investment in the future of your business or organization.
And of course, the biggest commitment of all- actually doing it. We all love to procrastinate and think that we will get around to this sooner than later. Sit down with your leadership team and make a commitment to move forward to a brighter future that has direction and targets.
I was thinking of the inevitable question that everyone asks at this time of year- what is your New Year’s Resolution. I heard a great description of a New Year’s resolution the other day- “ a promise that I intend to keep for the next 30 days!” How true is that.
So here are some for you to consider keeping in mind my 2011 newsletters:
• I promise to use the “one second rule” this year. Remember that one? Take one second extra to do everything and it will force you to slow down just enough to do things like not hit your shoulder on the door frame as you leave the room or actually turn off the lights before you leave the room.
• I promise to get control over my email including managing my email loads.
• I promise to get a better handle on my work/life balance this year. More time for such things as reading, enjoying family and friends and taking some time for me.
• I promise to smile more and to share that smile with others every day.
• I promise to help others as much as I can and be thankful for what I have.
• And for supervisors and owners of companies, I promise to spend some time each day checking up on my staff to see how they are doing and to lead by example.
I am sure that you have a couple to add as well so I will keep the list to “doable”
A couple of good reads for you- “ Take Charge and Change your Life Today” by Trevor Bolin (yes the very same from Fort St John} and “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson.
And don’t forget to start each day with “Yes I Can!”
One of the great groups that I am involved with is the North Peace Literacy Alliance. At this month’s meeting, I was please to review a presentation prepared by Clarice Eckford, the Fort St John Literacy Outreach Coordinator on workplace health and literacy. Here are some interesting points from this presentation:
• In a recent study by the Conference Board of Canada, 82 percent of employers surveyed said that increased health and safety was linked to an essential skills program in their workplace.
• Measurable outcomes include health (e.g. injury or illness prevention) while outcomes that are difficult to measure includes wellness (e.g. increased confidence, overall sense of satisfaction)
• Essential skills include reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, continuous learning, thinking skills and computer use.
• Literacy also comes in other forms such as well financial, health, workplace, cultural, family, media, and document.
What is really interesting is that studies over the past few years have determined that 45+% of people in Canada (it is a bit higher in the NE British Columbia) are below functional literacy levels. This includes things like completing an application form, reading the newspaper, balancing a chequebook or even figuring out change.
Workplace literacy is a major challenge for many employers and it is exasperated by the lack of time and resources for employers to deal with it. This results in additional costs to the employer and we end up in the proverbial Catch 22 situation- “ I don’t have time to deal with it but my problem continues to cost me time and money”.
If you an employer or know of someone who needs help, there are resources out there to provide help. There is a Guide for Employers and Practitioners- http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/LES/tools_resources/tools.sht....
As well, you can call Clarice Eckfort in Fort St John at 250-262-2088 or email her at locfsj@gmail.com
A couple of subjects this month- more on emails and some on handling stress. Both are related to each other and I am convinced more times than enough that email can add significant stress to one’s day – through the content, numbers and frequency.
I recently heard of an interesting innovation dealing with emails- no internal emails on Friday. This company only allows emails to clients on Fridays and insists that any communication on Fridays will be by personal conversation or by phone. They have found that production is actually increasing and that people are getting along much better with each other. They have found that their employees are also contacting their clients in person more often and this has been seeing positive results. This would fit in with what many companies call “casual Fridays”. Is it worth a try?
During this past month, I consulted with an individual who specializes in leadership and dealing with stress. Here are some of her hints for you to consider:
• Most stress usually lands from the neck up so when you are really feeling stressed out, take a deep breath and let that tension out.
• Ground yourself by mentally working your way up from the feet upwards.
• Focus on the task at hand. If you are driving, focus on driving and nothing else.
• If people are throwing bad stuff at you, do not keep it but focus on moving forward.
• Try not listening to the news when you are driving. Most news is negative and distracts you.
Try this little exercise: Stop what you are doing; drop your hands to your side. Close your eyes. Deep breath in through your nose. Breathe out slowly through your nose. Then breathe normally and relax. Feel your feet and wiggle your toes. Open your eyes. Smile and say to yourself “I am okay”. You will feel better and more relaxed so that you can move forward with your day.
So try that new software out – personal communication and the phone and try to relax more. It will be good for both you and your employees.
I had a discussion recently on dress and appearance in the workplace, I thought that I would devote this month’s newsletter to how we look when are in public and in particular at work. This is a continuing discussion amongst professionals and has evolved over the past few years. So I beg your forgiveness if you disagree with me, as dress is a very personal thing. But is it in the workplace?
I recently consulted with a communications expert on this topic and this is a person who has dealt with a lot of people in all kinds of walks of life for many years. We were discussing how your appearance makes a difference to how others perceive you and he stressed that if you dress change small things in your appearance it will not make a difference. However, if one were to radically change their wardrobe or appearance, people would wonder why and treat that person differently.
Many companies have various dress codes depending on whom the employees interact with at any given time. The favourite comparisons are with those software companies who always dress casually. I once listened to a talk show about this and a person phoned in to say that he was sitting at his desk with a t-shirt and shorts and wearing sandals. When the host of the show expressed surprise, the individual told the show that he owned the company and that he did not care what his employees wore at work as long as they were decent. But he also said that everyone of his employees had a three-piece suit hanging in their workplace and if a major client decided that they needed to talk to one of them, the suit came on.
Some companies or organizations want their employees in such dress as golf shirts, nice pants appropriate shoes. Other firms want suits and dresses to present a professional appearance. The trick is not to over or under dress for your work place and to keep in mind always that others will appraise your company and individuals by the way they dress. And if you are to wear jeans, please have them clean and relatively new. Casual dress is not an excuse to dress slovenly. One more tip- if you are the boss, you set the example. Again, don’t overdress and expect your employees to follow (pardon the pun) suit. But if you under dress, you can’t criticize if your employees look like they came just in from working in the yard.
Before you leave for work, look in the mirror and ask yourself “am I dressed for the job I have or the one I want?” The bottom line is that if you dress for success, then you will always be sure that others will notice.
As I have been watching the debate in the U.S. between the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties and how this debate is getting precariously close to a major collision that will affect the world economy, I remembered a radio show a couple of months ago that focused on leadership. What the producers did was concentrate on what defines good leadership in the military given Canada’s roles in world conflicts in the past 100 years. They interviewed Canadian military leaders at all levels as well as some of those soldiers who had to follow those leaders.
Here are some of the points that they had to offer:
• A good leader is one who mentors on a constant basis. Think of how you achieved a leadership role and who had a large influence on how you developed.
• A good leader is one who shows compassion for their employees at the right times. Do not forget that we are all human and employees bring a lot of their issues to work on a daily basis. The key is to know what is going on with them and lend them your support when needed.
• Success as a leader is not trying to be like others but to be yourself and use your own skills and abilities. Trying to be someone else leads to frustration and most often a lack of success. How many times have you said, “I wish I was like so and so”? It would amaze you to find out how many other people are saying the same about you.
• Consistency is very important in being a leader. One cannot be changing ones mind or approach on a constant basis. A good leader has to be flexible depending on the issue but consistency of approach leads employees to turn to a good leader for direction and leadership.
• There are leaders at all levels of an organization and that includes the “non-leadership” levels. The key of a good leader is to recognize this and use the leadership skills of everyone in the organization. Sometimes the true leader in a group comes from surprising sources.
• Key attributes of good leaders are:
o Honesty
o Integrity
o Loyalty (to the organization and to the staff)
o Obedience to the organizations rules and objectives.
I was once asked how good leaders are found and developed. My answer was “leadership is 50% natural talent and 50% development of your skills”.
So the key questions that everyone in a leadership positions have to ask themselves is “am I able to live up to the points above?”
