The Managers Buffet - What will you pick?

We have been writing about productivity for some time now. But how productive are you really? A friend who is also a comedian noted recently that when she has to work 60-hour weeks, she spends 59 hours bitching about working a 60-hour week. I find for me, when I have been hitting it too hard, I am very prone to zone out over my desktop due to fatigue, retracing steps to determine where I left that folder, phone number, even my list of "to do's" or car keys. I have been wondering what helps our productivity (besides sleep).

Two psych types, Mark Scullard and Jeffrey Sugerman, executives at Inscape Publishing asked 5,945 recent training participants about the types of courses that would greatly increase their effectiveness at work. They gathered some of the most frequently sought courses as shown in their data bank. Then they asked everyone to rank their choices. Below is the test they used. Pick some out for yourself that you could use. Then compare it to their results submitted by a broad range of business executives.

Here is a list of training course offerings. Rank the courses by those that would greatly increase your effectiveness at work. (Courses are listed alphabetically)
1. Building emotional intelligence _______
2. Communication skills _____
3. Computer skills _____
4. Critical thinking skills _____
5. Dealing with conflict or difficult people _____
6. Financial skills ______
7. Innovative thinking skills ______
8. Leadership skills _____
9. Management skills _____
10. Negotiation skills ______
11. Project management _____
12. Sales skills ______
13. Stress management ______
14. Technical knowledge related to my job ______
15. Time management ______
16. Working more effectively on a team _____
Circle your top five numbers. Consider why you chose those particular skill sets. What would more skill in those areas do for you and your career?

I was surprised that respondents chose what they did. Number 1 was not surprising however. It was leadership skills (#8) and I hear both employees soliciting that type of training for their company as well as managers saying they need more skills for handling situations that baffle them. However, coming in at # 3 was technical knowledge (# 14). What has been a commonly held belief in the Training industry has been agreement that it was not technical skill sets that were needed but how to manage and lead people. Apparently, the feeling that we need to lock down some technical skills was powerful and needs to be honored. What is not known is what kind of technical skills are needed. Perhaps to counter that surprising hard choice was what came in as response # 2. Respondents noted that dealing with conflict (# 5) and difficult people is an area where more skill building could be useful. I just lunched with a coaching client today and in the conversation, he revealed that conflict was very difficult for him. I believe that few seek conflict but how we deal with it can be very revealing to our management work.

As a coach and a speaker, I would be eager to hear from you as to your choices and why you chose them. I would also like to know where you go to get those needs filled. Since I teach at SMU, our professional Ed courses offer many of these skills, or could if the need becomes identified. In coaching, I find that successful people arm themselves with the skills they need to continue their journey up the ladder. You can do and increase your value and productivity as you do it.

Rabbit Trails Aren't Funny

In my post Who and what has your team meetings hung up, I shared the different behaviors that may derail even the best planned meetings from my book R.A!R.A! A Meeting Wizard's Approach. I included links to a few articles to help with different ones since not everyone will know the signs, what the reasons behind the behaviors may be, and what could be done them. I’ve also posted some slightly amusing videos as the Meeting Wizard. Since the complaint I hear the most when speaking and training is “How to Stop Rabbit Trails in Meetings”, you can view that video in just over a minute by clicking play below.




If you can not get video to play, go to this URL to review -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qTZWPBvlxU.

The Workplace Has Talent

The world is "a buzz" at Britain's Got Talent and now America's Got Talent TV shows. What I find interesting is that there is such a diversity of talent and every talent is valued. It is not just a dance contest or a signing contest, every talent is welcome. No one is told, you are a great singer but we would like you to juggle instead. Or are asked, "Do you mind being a comedian today even though you are an excellent hip hop dancer?"

The workplace is full of diverse talent as well. But quite often people are not valued for their talents and are expected to take on tasks that do not fit their talents. What do you think happens to these employees when:

· Carl who loves working with people and having influence is expected to work alone all day crunching numbers?

· Danielle who likes to be in charge and create solutions to workplace challenges is told to follow someone else and complete only routine work without voicing an opinion?

· Sara who finds satisfaction in a cordial and harmonious environment is given a job that is competitive, non-team focused, and constantly changing?

· Larry who values precision, fact checking and working alone is expected to give regular extemporaneous speeches in front of large crowds as part of his job?

What probably happens is that each of these four employees feels disengaged and unproductive. We feel the most productive when we can use our natural talents and we feel valued when we are appreciated for those talents. I am not saying that every employee just gets to pick which tasks that they enjoy and leave the rest. Usually people have the ability to perform all of the tasks assigned to the job at least for a short duration. But if the main part of the job or the approach to that job is so restricting that our natural talents can not be utilized for the majority of the time, we become dissatisfied.

What happens when we are not valued for our talents? In a normal economy, we switch jobs or companies and find a place were our talents can be put to good use. But in a down economy there may not be another job out there or we fear if we leave a secure position, we could be downsized. So you may have quite a few employees in your workplace who not only feel as if their talents are not appreciated, they also are prisoners. They stay because they have to, but they don't like it.

So how do you ensure your workplace is full of engaged talented employees? Here are a few ideas:

· Conduct a Talent Search – You may have hidden talents in your employees that are not being utilized. Meet with each of your employees and ask them what they enjoy doing at work and when they feel the most satisfied. Take notes on each of your employees' talents and how they can utilize them.

· Analyze Jobs – Conduct a task analysis for each job. Should tasks be organized differently to take advantage of your employees' strengths? After your analysis, meet with your team to discuss proposed changes to get everyone's opinion.

· Evaluate your Work Climate – Is your work climate a place where everyone's talents are valued? Complete a review of your policies, procedures and work rules to determine if they are conducive to all employees regardless of their talents.

The workplace has talent…your workplace can be the best!

Can You Program Your Success?

Working with a variety of clients in my coaching and mentoring work we often follow this timeless formula for success. It is a proven, well defined path that anyone can travel one step at a time. We’ll begin with the first three steps in the process that energizes this important mindset. You’ll see it is very action oriented and practical in nature.

Step one is becoming an avid, committed learner. That means you must have the desire and willingness to see, accept and begin the learning process of confidence development. Some never get past this step because their confidence in learning is so low that they are defeated before they take the first step. Learning how to develop confidence does take a certain amount of effort, some time and a little desire but your momentum builds quickly once this first step is made. Without taking the first step you’ll never know how far you can go nor what the journey and destination can provide for you. Begin learning today.

Step two is positive, focused self talk. The average person’s self talk is usually as much as 90-95% negative. The quality of your emotional life and the confidence you feel is largely determined by the way you talk to yourself. Using the law of substitution where you change the negative to the positive you can create a new powerful inner dialogue that is like adding the inner support steel to a concrete column. Affirmations that are first person present tense like, “I like myself” or “I am competent and capable” or “I am able and I can do what I choose to do” give you the mental and emotional boost that supercharges your confidence in a positive and productive way. When you use these positive self talk statements frequently and with conviction it puts your subconscious mind to work to give you thoughts, ideas and directions to make your words your reality. Much more on this step to come.

Step three is positive visualization or mental imaging. Everyone is good at imagining the worse outcome or result. You’ve done that since you were a kid and you broke the lamp, stained the carpet or came home tipsy from your first over indulgence with alcohol. Sound familiar? That’s how worry and anxiety grows and takes root and it’s a confidence killer. We talk about ‘positive visualization’ which is likened to building movies in your mind that take you where you want to go. All improvement in your life and specifically in developing your confidence starts with improving the mental pictures that you paint and frequently review with zeal and emotion. Another form of this principle is in repeatedly doing mental rehearsals of the exact way you want an event or interaction to occur. This stamps a very positive and clear expectation for the results you want deeply into your subconscious and thereby puts the accomplishment of that event on automatic.

Does this process work? Try it for just one month, 30 days and see for yourself. You may become an expert ‘programmer’ and surprise yourself.

Travel Tricks 3: Hunger Pangs

I’ve shared a few hotel experiences in my last post, but I did not mention that I have a few times arrived at hotel after midnight to find no restaurant open and no vending machines on my floor. Many times, I have been lucky enough to stay in hotels with good restaurants or with chains I like within walking distance. I’ve also been at ones where I had to go several miles to “downtown” to get something to eat or settle for stale looking options in vending machines. I really like ones where they provide some sort of breakfast as this saves me having to spend time before an engagement looking for a place to eat. I have also been in a few hotels where the summer heat resulted in ice machines that contained water or were empty.

Have you ever gotten any of those airport food vouchers when having unexpected layovers? I have a few times and it’s better than no food at all! I’ve been in a few airports so small they had no café or public vending machines. Those are the times I was grateful I went ahead and took the offered snack of airline pretzels or nuts.

What did I learn? Always carry at least 2 energy bars (1 for trip to and another for return). And always buy a bottle of water or drink at airport once past security. Yes, it cost more than at the local station or 7/11, but you can’t bring those through security anymore plus it will be a lot less than what the bottles in most hotel rooms will cost when you arrive at your destination.

I have never had anyone other than airline personnel offer me food when I was hungry. However I have had other passengers show me kindness in other ways. I’ll let you know more about that in my next post.

Travel Tricks 2: Hotel, Motel, No Tell

In my last post, I talked about getting lost driving to my hotels. This time I’d like to share some of the things I found once I arrived at some of them. Sometimes I book my hotels based on costs and ratings on websites, sometimes I get ones recommended by locals, and other times it is booked for me by clients or organizations for which I will be speaking or training. Sometimes they get a discount if they book a room at the same place they have their meeting or training booked for. This is nice for them because it is cheaper and nice for me because I don’t have extra drive time. When I book, I try for chains I am familiar with so I come closer to getting what I expect.

Regardless of who booked the room, I found that there are differences in what is listed at the hotel than what I read on a website. Even so, I recommend checking star ratings and reading a few comments before booking to get a better feel for the place. I’ve stayed at some where they say there are hair dryers and irons with ironing boards, but what they have is a sad looking option that you pick up in the lobby to use for an hour and must return. Other times, the web promised a shuttle but the hotel no longer had a driver.

I went to a hotel that was in the next town from the airport (1.5 hour drive) and was given my key. I drove around to the room and let myself in and checked to make sure I had everything I needed. Everything was there, plus a broken mirror and 2 holes in the wall of the shower. Judging from the looks of the place, I decided to ask for another room as I was afraid of what might crawl out of that wall at night. I was told that they would change rooms but that my current room was the only one available on the ground floor. Having not asked for the ground floor, I was willing to carry my luggage upstairs. After I got to my 2nd floor room, I found it smelled smoky. So I guessed my request for non-smoking is what put me on the 1st floor. Oh well, at least there were no holes. The only other odors I remember in hotels is the smell of sweat coming from the work-out room, chlorine smell if near the pool, or musty smelling if hotel is on the beach. But those were strongest in the hallway or lobby, not my room.

I’ve also stayed places where in addition to all the locks, I placed chairs against doors where it was in shady-looking areas or where arguments can be heard through the thin walls. If you travel much, you probably have experience continued fights and parties outside your room as well. These aren’t the only noises you hear, often there is traffic noise. I once stayed in a really fancy 17 floor high-rise hotel in a large city. (Have been in higher as well) It was just off the freeway and the traffic was so loud I didn’t sleep - even on their “executive” floor, which I was lucky enough to be booked into although I got there too late to enjoy any of the benefits.

Of course I’ve stayed in some really wonderful places too. However, they don’t seem to stick in my memory as well. I do have a favorite hotel in a Texas city I visit often. It sits on the edge of a mall parking lot. Of course, even favorite hotels have problems, once my reservation was lost due to computer problems and they charged my credit card twice for the stay. I like that hotel because it is very nice, has a good in-house restaurant, and after I finish my work day I can walk to the mall for exercise and do a little shopping too. Of course one time when I chose to do this, it started pouring rain while I was in the mall. So I waited as long as I could for the rain to stop. Then I had to walk in a slower rain to get back to the hotel before dark.

Next post I will reflect on food hassles when traveling. It will not include restaurant reviews as you can find them lots of places on the web.