Holiday Concerns in Current Business Climate

The holiday season is hectic and often stressful for employees and employers.  Wholesale supply chain issues make it hard to provide what is needed for manufacturing products or selling consumer goods. Piling on the stress for employees is schools choosing to restart on-line learning or reducing the hours on campus during the holiday season.  This forces parents to either take-off from the workplace that they recently returned to or work remotely to cover childcare and insure lessons get done.  It forces employers and their human resource departments to either do without some of their workforce or scramble to create workarounds to continue productive performance.  

New government mandates also add to this stress by telling individual and companies what they have to do and not how to pay for it without increasing the already rising inflation and the cost of doing business. "It pits government against private employers instead of working with them to create a safe working environment” says Retail Industry Leaders Association.  Employee moral and motivation may be at an all-time low with the continued restrictions, changing narrative, and perceived violation of personal rights.

These challenges make it hard for companies to take advantage of the holiday season opportunities to bolster their profits after a particularly hard past tow years.  The economy is on a downward trend making it hard for both employers and employees to look forward to a bright future.  Even though it seems hard to trust that success is around the corner, with the possibility of new "health" lockdowns as occurred in 2020, goal-setting and flexibility are very important to making the next year better for business.  

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Four Business Management Tips for When You Take Time Off

In this always-connected work-world we have created, it is hard to unplug when going on vacation or leave the office for multi-day events.  However, you need to do so in order to really relax, refresh, and come back rejuvenated.  So below  are four tips to help you prepare to be disconnected from work before you leave for vacation or any other event.

1. Ask someone to be your "go to" substitute.  This could be one person who covers you typical work functions and the same person or another person for special projects you are involved with.  Give these people your emergency contact number and be sure they understand what might constitute an emergency that could require calling you rather than sending an email.  After you get their agreement, send out emails to those who may be looking for you during your vacation.  In the email include the dates you will be gone and the name(s) and contact information for your substitute.
2. Check your work-related emails only once a day.  Plan for this ahead of time and if appropriate, let selected people know the time you may be checking email during your vacation in writing.  Send out an email which says "I will try to check my emails daily at ---."  This give your substitute, key team members, and your boss the option of asking quick questions or giving you a "head up" before you return.  Having a time they need to contact you by will keep you from having to worry about email when you should be having fun or relaxing.
3. Limit business texts and phone calls.  The email tips above also applies to phone calls and those pesky text pinging you when you are in the middle of an excursion or fun photo.  So when you send out your email check time include a note about this too.  The note might be something like "Instead of texting or phoning me, please send an email so I have the details I need in advance to get back with you with the best possible answer."  This lets them know you want to help but puts the responsibility for questions back on them.  Often they may come up with their own answer or decide it is not as important as they first thought while trying o compose an email so they don't send it. 
4. Set-up email out-of-office notifications.  This is an automatic email feature that tells people you are not available on certain dates and lets you compose a message.  Set-up a generic message body with the contact information of your substitute, but you do not need to say where you are going or why.  

If you do this right, there should not be any fires to put out or mounds of work waiting for you when you get back. Instead you should be ale to fall back into your routine immediately.  However, you should  expect to return the favor when another takes their time-off.

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Are the Holidays Causing a Dip in Employee Productivity?

According to infographic in How to Not Lose Track of Productivity During Hectic Holiday Week  post by ZeroCater, 42% of employees are shopping on-line during the workday for Christmas.  Plus  35% are planning  Dec. 25 activities, while 30% are thinking about what  they may be doing during their holiday break.  Wow!  Various excuses are given for why these employees are slacking off, including "it is slow during the holidays."

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Check out their blog post and full infographic for ideas on how to boost workplace productivity during the holiday season with breaks and gamifying work projects.  

RACK for the Workplace

The other day my friend and I were in the drive-thru line at a Starbucks.  When we went to the window to pay we were told that the person in front of us just bought our coffee and gave us a card saying we were “RACKed”  (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness.)  So what did we do?  Paid it forward and bought coffee for the person behind us of course!  What made this fun was it was anonymous; we were surprising someone with something unexpected that put a smile on their face. 

Having that happy experience gave me the idea that we can use some RACK for the workplace.  If you want you can shorten it to RAK for simply Random Acts of Kindness which works regardless of your beliefs or the holiday you celebrate.

Workplace stress has a way of escalating during the holidays.  Stress can be caused by end of the year deadlines, special projects, the push to meet profit goals, and increased customer demands.  In addition to the extra workload you may feel stressed about all the personal holiday tasks you need to do at home such as shopping for gifts, baking, and entertaining.   Your coworkers are probably feeling the same stress and may be a little harder to work with this time of year. 

What can you do to bring a smile to your coworkers and “make their day?”  We all know the song The Twelve Days of Christmas so why not The Twelve Days of RAK? 

1. Bring a tray of treats for the lunchroom
2. Leave Starbucks coffee or hot chocolate anonymously on coworkers’ desks
3. Leave candy canes on desks
4. Tape quarters to the lunchroom vending machines
5. For cold weather locations, clean off the snow/frost on the cars parked near yours
6. Start a book exchange with at least 10 books (can be already read)
7. Bring lunch back for a coworker who is working on a deadline and can’t leave
8. Attend a meeting for a coworker so they can leave early for a child’s event
9. Bring flowers (carnations are inexpensive) with small discount store vases for all the tables in the lunchroom
10. Leave lottery tickets on desks for coworkers
11. Start a coupon basket to leave coupons you do not need
12. Write notes of appreciation to coworkers

An interesting thing happens when you RAK someone, they start thinking of how they can RAK someone else.  If everyone is thinking of how they can make others happy it lightens the atmosphere at work and captures the spirit of the season.  What ideas will you add to my list of twelve?

Prevent Gift-giving OOPS, know what to give your clients for the holidays

For years now, around the holidays but a little early so readers can plan accordingly, I have been making suggestions about gifts that businesses could give to clients as a thank you for their business (or to give as motivational rewards to employees).  I make these suggestions because I know how difficult it can be to decide what to give other than a food basket (although I have occasionally recommended that as an easy-go-to for local customers).  Most of my suggestions were based on what I was given in the past and appreciated or NOT.  A few were based on good and bad gifts business associates have told me about.

So you can imagine I found it quite amusing when I read the business gift faux pas in Rules of the Hunt (on Amazon #ad).  One example was a firm that sent expensive bottles of Scotch to all their clients – one of which was Mormon and who sent the gift back to the sender.  Another example was a company that sent Christmas Hams to all their clients only to find out the owners of one of the client companies were Orthodox Jews.  What can you learn from these mistakes?  Do not send all your customers the same gift unless you know it is something that will benefit any organization.  Food and liqueur are often dubious gifts that should only be sent to  people you know very well and are sure will utilize what you send.  You do not want your gift to be passed on to a subordinate or tossed it in the trash – you want it remembered and your organization brought to mind each time it is picked-up.

So what are some gift suggestions for your customers?  What about ideas for your team?  Check out these older posts to find out:

• Finding Business Gifts Should Be Easy (both customer and team ideas)
• Buying Business Books as Recognition Gifts
• Team Rebuilding and Recognition for the Holidays or New Year
• Administrative Day Recognition Gift Ideas (think about client gatekeepers too)
• Giving Green for Recognition during Administrative Professionals Week
• Is Bosses Day Appreciation or a Reminder

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Administrative Day recognition gift ideas for April.

Administrative Professionals' Day (formerly known as Secretary's Day) is April 25, 2012, are you prepared with the right gift?  When selecting a gift for your adminstrative people, consider what they like, need, and want.  People will always buy what they need if it fits within their budget.  However, some needed items may be seen as only a useful luxury - often professionals will try to get by without them.  What people want are things they desire and find interesting but may or may not be utilitarian in nature.  Which leaves what they like, this requires getting to know someone in order to understand their nature and hobbies in order to select something they might like. Consider the following personal and professional gifting ideas:

A useful gift for an administrative professional will be something that makes their job easier or gives them a better feeling about their job.  This can be personalized stationery or office supplies that they don’t normally purchase.  It can be equipment they would like in order to personally be more effective.  It could be a time management tool to make scheduling, planning, and note-taking easier.  It should be something for their desk or work area that is for their specific use and not for everyone in the department. 

Although training should not be seen as a way to reward people, it is a way to acknowledge that a person wants to grow professionally.  Allow the individual to take a special training course they feel is needed to improve the way they do business.  Encourage individuals to be part of local professional groups and learn from people doing similar work.  Paying for the membership fee is an excellent way to help employees get started with local associations.  IAAP is a great organization for administrative professionals and there are many groups that are specific to different professional areas that may also provide growth opportunities.  Books that help with professional development are also a great business gift, but be sure it is on a topic the individual has expressed an interest in or in an area where a need for improvement gas been noticed.

A gift of recognition or appreciation is enjoyed by most professionals.  This can be as simple as a worded mug, flowers or plant for the desk, a specific award, getting tickets to a special event, or being taken to lunch.  It can also be a reward of a half day or whole day of paid-time off. 

A gift that keeps giving is something decorative for the work area.  This could be a plant in a basket or unique pot, a frame to put a family photo in, coordinated desk accessories, a cute or funny poster, and more.  Be both creative and practical when selecting something for the work area.  But be considerate of what the receiving individual might enjoy and won’t be embarrassed by. 

A personalized gift that meets individual preferences and desires is also a wonderful way of recognizing and rewarding someone.  This requires knowing their interest and hobbies outside of work.  If they are athletic, they might like a nice refillable drink bottle, small bag for toting equipment or clothing, or some small item that fits with their specific sport.  If they enjoy gardening, they may enjoy some new hand tools, multiple packets of seeds, or a flowing plant or shrub they can add to their garden.  Find out what they like by listening to them when they talk about outside activities and later make notes that can be used for future gift purchase ideas.

Gift baskets are often appreciated for recognition and holiday events.  These can be bought already assembled or exercise some creativity and create a unique one.  All the above suggestions can be used to provide ideas for small items to place inside a gift basket.  When picking a basket to place everything in, consider something that can be use in the office for toting office items or at home for personal hobbies.  Or get a canvas tote reusable ecology-related bag from a local office supply or grocery store and fill it up.  The reusable tote can then be used for anything.

See also gift ideas post Giving Green for Recognition during Administrative Professionals Week fore more ideas. 
 

Surviving the Holiday Office Party!

It is party time! Whether your company’s holiday party is at an offsite location or catered in the lunchroom, it is important to have a good time while demonstrating professional behavior.

Because it is a social setting, behavior sometimes changes from how people normally conduct themselves at work. It is important not to cross boundaries and think that this is a party with friends where “anything goes.” And if there is alcohol involved, boundaries become even more loose. There have been extensive jokes and stories over the years of people who have “let loose” at parties with lampshades on their head and making spectacles of themselves on the dance floor. This joke may bring to mind some of your coworkers:

"What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a new job the next day." ~ Phyllis Diller

It is time to check your behavior and think about whether it would fall on the “naughty” or “nice” holiday behavior list:

Nice: Accepting the party invitation; after all, this is what your company is doing to thank employees. It is discouraging when employees do not attend an event that was planned and offered with a “thank you” in mind.

Naughty: Complaining about the food, the amount of alcohol or other gifts your company provides. Be gracious about accepting what is offered.

Nice: Dressing festively leaving your provocative clothing in your closet. You want to be admired for your tasteful outfit not for the most cleavage at the party.

Naughty: Over drinking so you say and do inappropriate things at the party. A related behavior is bringing a bottle of alcohol to the party. You know the limit of alcohol that is right for you, so stay below the limit.

Nice: Talking to everyone you meet. Look for new employees who appear lonely and uncomfortable. Speak to them and introduce them to others so they feel welcome.

Naughty: Bringing a guest who is disrespectful to the company, drinks too much and overall acts unprofessional. Have a talk with your spouse, date, etc. before the party on what you consider professional behavior.

Nice: Thank your managers for hosting the party. There is a lot of work that goes into the planning of these events so a thank you is always appreciated.

Naughty or Nice? What will your behavior be at the holiday party this year? Best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday season.

Relax, not Stress on no Labor Day

Labor Day is a holiday with lots of history and is often celebrated with community fairs or parades in the U.S.A. Over time, Labor Day became a vacation holiday from work for relaxing and spending time with family and friends. Adults are meant to take time off form work to spend with children before the school year gets into full swing. Make it a fun holiday by using standard time management concepts to de-stress the day. Below are 3 ideas to consider.

1. MAKE A LIST. In the past when you had cook-outs, did you find you forgot the chips but had the dip or worse have the drinks but no ice. Then you either missed part of the festivities because you had to go to the store or sent someone else. Sending another can seem even more stressful than going yourself because it always seems like they are gone much more time than is necessary. So prevent this stressor - if you are planning a picnic or BBQ, make a list of everything needed before going to the store so no additional trips are necessary.
2. PLAN THE TRIP. Ever decide to spend a holiday shopping all the great sales and arrived home exhausted because you zigzagged around the stores for particular items you thought you remembered from advertisements. This year as you read the ads, write down the item and location. Make a mental or physical map of the stores and plan the go in a circle around the map from home to store and back so the trip is quicker and smoother. This simple plan can save time and perhaps you will arrive home exhilarated instead of tired. Then you can feel ready to join family and friends at the BBQ in the evening!
3. PRIORITIZE ACTIVITIES. If you are planning other activities, prioritize what are the most important things for the day and consider who you want to spend quality time with. Relax, laugh, and enjoy the day after all it is a holiday.

What are you planning to do on Labor Day? How are you going to make it fun rather than potential frustration? What time management concepts from this blog, from a well-known time management expert, or from your own experience will you use to make your day better?

Time for New Year’s goals, objectives, or resolutions

It is interesting that people use the first of the year to set personal resolutions or goals they wish to attain. Organizations also start off their fiscal year by selecting new goals or objectives for their company success and as standard of achievement for employees or departments. To decide what type of goals to set, you must first look at your past to determine what would be a good future for you. You should also look at the definition for resolution, goal, and objective to determine which best suits your needs especially if you find that a previous method did not work as well as desired in the past. To view the Wikipedia explanations for each, click on the links in this paragraph.

If you want to find out ways to achieve some personal resolutions, check out the dozen or so most commonly set resolutions the US government has recorded with helpful links. It is interesting to note that two of the top resolutions have to do with job satisfaction and work stress.

Wikipedia considers goal and objective the same thing. Most organizational effectiveness professionals would consider them similar but not done in exactly the same way. Therefore, below I provide examples from my corporate and non-profit training materials for “Dynamic Group Development” (copyright 2006) of teams that may be more helpful as a descriptor to decide what to classify your organizational goal planning as. When building company goals, use a defined annual process and be sure to consider making the organizational goals SMART or for team goals consider using the 4 C’s.

• Group goals will be a few sentences relevant to their reason for existence and specifically detail the items the group will accomplish and within what designated timeframe. These goals will also include how the group will measure success. Additionally, to be sure the group can attain their goals, they will not write any that are outside the scope of the group’s current power. Goals may be developed by the sponsor or leader, and then revised by the group or goals may be developed by the group with the leader and approved by the sponsor.
• The sponsor and/or leader typically develop a list of objectives for the group. These objectives may include more than a few sentences and reflect the ideas the group needs to develop or results they are to accomplish during the year or whatever timeline is assigned when their reason for existence was determined. In any case, the objective should be a set of clear and concise statements indicating what product/service is expected or what problem resolution will look like. It will also include how to determine objectives were successfully accomplished and include an approximate time for each objective to be completed.

If you are in charge of facilitating a goal setting session, you may want to review the Blog Label of goals to see archived posts for additional ideas. If you facilitate teams in the coming year, you may want to review the teams label as well. Let us know if you find a goal setting method that works for you and share it with our readers by creating a comment with tips on how you did it.

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White Christmas or Snow Hazard?

It is rare to experience a white Christmas in most of North Texas. We had one this year and my son thought this was not the first. I told him that as DFW area children we often dream of the magical white Christmas, but I can not remember ever having actually experienced one before. . I was correct as the newsman reported later that day –– 1926 was the last one and that was decades before my time. My son was just remembering a few of the after-Christmas storms where he did not have to go to school and was able to create a snowman (each of them under 2 feet tall).

The snow started on Christmas Eve about the time we had to pick up a relative at the airport. We were lucky, her plane came in and the highways were not bad until nearing our hometown. Others were not as lucky with their travel as some had to spend the night at the airport and some people we know did not reach their destinations until after Christmas. People here do not know how to drive on the snow and as the temperature drops, it turns to ice. As you can guess there were many road accidents, but fortunately not many people hurt.

So is snow on Christmas a magical blessing or a major hindrance to reaching our desired destinations? How do you view the snow days you encounter in life and at work? I thought this snow lovely since most of my family coming for the holidays was nestled together in a warm home with plenty to eat. I know others were not so blessed. I wish the New Year to bring hope and health to everyone who reads this. If you have a business, a budding career, or just a job - I hope you will prosper and do very well in 2010 for yourself, your family, and those around you. Please have a safe holiday season and a hopeful and fruitful New Year.

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Get Productive During the Holidays

A Model of Productivity -- a story about a corporate guy we'll call "Mr. S" When you think of business productivity, you cannot help, at least seasonally, from remembering this giant of productivity, Mr. S. We were thinking of his singular focus during "A Christmas Carol" recently at The Dallas Theatre Center. The perennially maladjusted Mr. S is often portrayed as miserly, cold, unfeeling, old and curmudgeonly. But possibly, here was a man who may have been before his time. Perhaps we should consider his views on personal productivity again. Let's see how Mr. S operated. If we look at our measurements today, Mr. S set a firm tone for his business. Managing by walking around was his style and on-time employee performance was key. Employee feedback was always available. Mr. S was no absentee boss, unaware of what was going on in his work force. His workflow automation was well in place with a steady flow of work flowing to Bob Cratchit's cubicle. He kept corporate overhead expense low by reducing the amount of coal to be burned in the office stove and limiting candle usage to one per desk. A cooler office temperature is known to boost employee productivity, and in a nod to ergonomics, he knew that standing, or perching on a tall stool, maintains employee alertness. Doze off and the fall will wake you. As to cubicle lighting, fewer candles limit visual distractions and keep employees focused on their own work with no place for Facebook etc. As to the United Way of London, Mr. S was an active proponent of the tax supported Victorian era workhouses. His social welfare thoughts on "decreasing the surplus population," focused on getting rid of the poor. From the aspect of diversity and employee benefits, Mr. S has a particular distaste for the merriment of Christmas; his single act of kindness is to give his clerk, Mr. B. Cratchit, the day off with pay. However, this is done more as a result of social mores than kindness, as Scrooge sees the practice akin to having his pocket picked on an annual basis. He also was a pioneer in putting employees in cubes to foster a team atmosphere and permit closer supervision. Mr. S had visits by four ghosts on Christmas Eve. The first confronted him with the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who cries out in agony and regret over the way he had lived his life. The past shows his schoolboy life many years earlier. Here it is suggested that his father abandoned young Mr. S at his boarding school, even during Christmas. It also suggests that he could be a candidate for mental health services through the company employee assistance program. Getting help was dicey, as there appeared to be no Dr. Phil type programs in the media at the time. This is relevant to Mr. S, because it shows the beginnings of his lack of socialization and empathy. He does not socialize because he never experienced steady growth in a strong family unit. He does not empathize thanks to the way he was treated: as a child, he was the least of his father's concerns, and this in turn taught him not to feel for fellow humans. No one asked him "How's this working for you?" Thus, life generated what a good MBA program of today struggles to achieve. A close focus on the job and the business, with the judicious use of business assets for achieving corporate goals and objectives that have made Mr. S a model of self actuation in productivity. Let us welcome Ebenezer Scrooge, our Productivity Person of the Year. Sleep well Mr. Scrooge. It's gonna be a long night. If you want a video take on the meanness of Mr. Scrooge, check out this YouTube with the Muppets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXhWXiQXAXY

Keeping Productivity High at the Holidays

Sugar plums are dancing in your employee's heads along with thoughts of shopping, decorating, family, and parties. Then there is cyber shopping…very tempting with that company computer sitting on their desk and they have already looked all over for their child's wish list toy. How do you compete with all of this and keep up productivity? And, how do you do it without sounding like Ebenezer Scrooge? "Get back to work…bah humbug!"

Here are a few ideas to keep productivity high while also being sensitive to the season:

1) Set Priorities – Goal setting is important throughout the whole year, but especially during the holidays, it is important to prioritize. With all the other tasks your employees have to do right now, it may lead to an inability to decide what is the most important. Monday morning prioritization meetings where you emphasize the tasks that must be completed before Friday, help to keep the focus on what matters most. Ask employee's to develop a daily to-do list and teach them the satisfaction of checking off each task as it is completed.

2) Flex Time – If your type of business can be reorganized around a core set of hours with start and end time flexibility, holiday flex time might be for you. Bandwidth time is the hours during which work can be scheduled; let's say 7:00AM to 6:30PM. Core time, when everyone must be working, could be scheduled from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. Everyone would choose their hours for the week and a schedule posted. Flex time takes a little coordination but wouldn't it be worth it to have your employees completely focused for eight hours because they know they can take care of holiday and personal business before or after work?

3) Limit Cyber Shopping – HT Tools reports that "Employees plan to spend nearly two full working days (14.4 hours) on average shopping online from a work computer this holiday season." Time to review your personal usage of company computer policies! It is very important that employees understand the security risks of introducing viruses to your system, in addition to losing productivity, when they shop online during work. Several of my clients have installed a computer in their break room so employees can still can access the computer but only on their break and lunch times. Sounds like a fair compromise.

4) Brainstorm Ideas for 2010 – Sometimes, after the holidays, people get in the doldrums…all the festivities are at an end. This is a good time to have a team building event centered on planning for the next year. Creative activities designed to open employee's minds to all the possibilities that 2010 can bring, will bring excitement to the workplace.

The holidays can be stressful for many people. Implementing ideas that balance the needs of your employees and your company will make the holiday season pleasant and productive.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and productive holiday season and New Year.

Give Thanks to Employees on Thanksgiving

During Thanksgiving it is traditional to give thanks and gratitude for family, friends and the many other things in our lives. How about starting a new tradition and give thanks to your employees for all they do for you and your organization?

Some organizations recognize employees during Thanksgiving by having office parties or giving turkeys. Of course, it is usually not a good idea to give a frozen turkey the day before Thanksgiving…it will not defrost in time! What if your budget does not allow a tangible form of thank you…what do you do?

Many employees are starving, not for turkey, but for a sincere thank you. Employees are working harder than ever in an economy that has led to reduction in staff but may not have led to an equal amount of reduction in work. They are taking on more responsibility and working longer hours. Your employees may be thinking, "Does anyone notice what I am doing?" or "Are my extra efforts appreciated?"

Remember to BET on your employees and they will know the answers to these questions. BET is an acronym for:

· B - Behavior: The behaviors you want to recognize. Be as specific as possible so the employee knows you have actually witnessed the behavior.

· E - Effect: The effect the behavior had on you, the department, or the organization.

· T - Thank You: Saying a clear thank you, letting the employee know you appreciate the effort.

Here a few examples of BET:

· "George, I want you to know how much I appreciate your working the extra hours this week to complete the customer report. I am sure that this will lead to a better relationship with the customer, thank you again."

· "Shirley, thank you for your suggestion on how we can improve our return process. Your new process will save several hours a week and make us all more efficient. I welcome any further ideas you may have."

· "Carl, thank you for training the new employee this week. I know you made him feel comfortable and part of our team as well as decreased the time it usually takes to train someone new."

Notice that the examples are very specific. If you just say a general "thank you" to employees they may be thinking "what for?" By being specific and sincere you are not only letting your employees know that you value them, but that you have noticed their extra effort. By BETing on your employees you also reinforce the type of positive behavior you want in the workplace because they will be much more willing to continue the behavior if someone notices and says thank you.

Your employees will remember how they have been treated in good times and bad times. If you BET on your employees they will remember it when making a decision on whether to leave your organization when the economy improves.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Giving Green for Recognition during Administrative Professionals Week

Green can mean different things in business today, as can reward and recognition. Rewards are a form of recognition and they can be monetary or take the form of gifts. Green can mean money or it can be an ecological or economical contribution. Since April 19-25, 2009 will be Administrative Professionals Week, with the main day for recognition on Wednesday, April 22 (formerly know as Secretary’s Day) consider that April 22 is also Earth Day this year and Arbor Day just happens to fall on the 24th. So why not recognize the special contribution your administrative staff gives you by offering green options or other alternative gift ideas?

For years flowers have been given to secretaries and clerks, which are always appreciated. However flowers may only last the week in which they are given. So the only remembrance maybe the empty vase or container they were in. Consider giving a nice houseplant or plant arrangement instead. This lasts for months as a cheery reminder of the recognition and appreciation on the desk or in the office area of the recipient. Also, plants also help reduce carbon monoxide and other pollutants in the area and refresh oxygen.

If you want to make the recognition more personal (as in the 3 P’s of Rewards and Recognition), you will need to find out what the recipient wants or enjoys doing. For instance, is there something the person needs to make their job easier or more pleasant? This type of reward is for personal productivity and can be a book, specialized office supplies or equipment, or simply a nice desk accessory. To personalize it more, does the person have a hobby? If they like gardening then a plant still works but maybe give a shrub that is flowering for their office now that they could put in their garden after the blooms are gone to enjoy in future years. Do they like to cook or consider their self to be a foodie? If yes, then maybe they would appreciate some gourmet food item or cooking utensil – visit a gourmet shop and ask for green ideas or items that make kitchen chores faster and easier. If the individual’s family or friends outside of work is often spoken of, then consider giving tickets to a group or outdoor activity or maybe a very nice frame they can put a photo in. Another option is to offer them a special daycation they can take off work to enjoy alone or with others. Be sure to keep green in mind when selecting the gifts, green being both cost and good for the environment.

For ideas on what your office staff can do together for Earth Day, see last year’s post Greening the office with the 3 R’s.

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Setting Smart Goals for New Year

It is that time of year when many companies and their leader begin to develop goals for the year. Often these goals are meant to stretch the organization and its people towards growth in profits and production. Occasionally the goals may be designed around cost reduction and effective use of resources. Whichever is the desire, when you are developing goals, design them effectively by making sure the goals are SMART. SMART goals mean different things to different people and the words for the acronym change based on who you may be listening to. The important thing is for the SMART goals to mean something to the organization, department, or team and be written where progress can be easily tracked so everyone knows when the goals have been met.

The words I like to use for SMART goals are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time based. I think most experts use specific as the first portion of the acronym as this requires the goal-setter to think about clear, detailed targets verses just putting dreams into words. Dreams are nice, but goals need to suggest actions to be taken. The word measurable means that some sort of quantity or percentage needs to be established as the target to hit in order to know the goal will be accomplished. Without a measurement, the goal can not be tracked so that action can be taken if the goal is in trouble of not being met. The A is typically either attainable or achievable. I prefer attainable as it sounds more like it requires an effort, which every goal should involve stretching the current limits or challenging people to perform higher. The R should be for relevant as every goal needs to mean something to those who are to work towards it and be written in a way that they can engage in the process of reaching it. Making it relevant helps the goal seeker with motivation towards attainment, whereas setting a goal that is realistic could be just maintaining the status quo or aiming at too low of a improvement target. And finally time-based means a date for accomplishment or a timeframe (such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly) for meeting measurements is set for every goal. Without the time-based portion it is hard to develop a plan for reaching the specific goal.

Since the important thing is for the SMART goals to mean something to your organization, department, or team, first check out what SMART means for your business. Second, ask yourself questions about your needs for the upcoming business year. Then begin to write and refine your goals where the organization, department, or team progress may be tracked so those working to reach the goals will know when the target is hit. If you are setting yearly goals and the goals are accomplished early, then you may not have stretched yourself and your teams enough. Re-evaluate any goals that are met early and determine if the goals needs to be updated in order to make it more challenging. Before changing and communicating a revised goal, be sure to celebrate reaching the original goal to keep the momentum going. Then explain why the goal is being updated and get agreement to making the new goal the next target.

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NOTE: Other optionally used words for the SMART goal acronym are in an article at http://www.timethoughts.com/goalsetting/smart-goals.htm

Tis the Season to Donate and Recycle Kindness

During the Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanza, New Years and other holidays, we tend to think more of others than ourselves. This is when our true humanity and caring is best displayed. This is a season when people give most to charitable organizations. Below are some ideas to consider for your personal giving or thoughts your company may want to consider if doing a charitable drive.

Donate technology like computers and phones. Read Techsoup’s Tips for donating or recycling computers then see Computers with Causes donation program. You may also want to find out how to give your old cell phones to nonprofits for emergency use or to donate them to soldiers. Besides phones, you can donate other items to soldiers as well.

We think often of children and feeding the needy during this time too. You may desire to make a difference in a young person’s life by giving toys, promoting literacy, or sponsoring a child. You could provide better education or perhaps food for a child or a family. Check out The Hunger Site to offer food support on a worldwide basis. Or plan to help out at home by finding out what your local community or church Food Bank needs are. Consider donating time as well as goods or money. Many shelters need people to serve food on the holidays or pass out items to the needy, and other organization need people to make deliveries.

Many of us buy new clothes or get haircuts to look our best at holiday parties and company gatherings. When adding to your closet, consider cleaning it out too. You can donate fashions and long hair after a haircut to worthy causes too. See these Charity Guides for ideas on donating clothes or eyeglasses.

If you have other links for charitable organizations that you feel are relevant to the giving season or any time of the year, please add them to the comments so others can learn about them too.

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