THE workplace can be a veritable minefield — with tyrants and advantage-taking bosses out to undermine your success. If you find yourself in that situation, you will need to deflect the potential damage and protect yourself behind a “bully barrier”.
The first weapon you will need is the ability to ignore desperate behaviours. Granted, this may sound like a cop-out, but “if you ignore by choice, it’s not cowardice; it’s being assertive,” says Hilda Meltzer, a New York career coach and assertiveness training specialist.
Besides, when tyrants rant and rave and you respond by cowering or losing your cool, this plays right into their hands, assuring them that they are powerful and in control.
“When these bosses know they can get to you, they will,” says Robert Bramson, author of Coping With Difficult Bosses.
“But the flip side is also true. When they know they can’t get to you, they won’t bother,” he adds.
CALM IN THE STORM
Try defusing the anger by asking questions. Keep in mind that if a tyrant has lost control, it usually means he is feeling insecure.
You can help him chill, focus and get back to the business at hand by asking questions: “What’s the problem here?” “What needs to be done right now?” “How can I help?”
This subtly reassures the tyrant that he is the boss. It also reminds him that you are on his side, and that you are both working toward mutual goals.
Separate the message from the medium. Suppose the tyrant has humiliated you in front of your colleagues or said some nasty things to you in private. His behaviour may be inexcusable, but is his message justified?
In other words, behind the tantrums or sarcasm, does he have good reason to complain about you or your work? Be honest with yourself.
STAND UP TO ABUSE
There will be situations where you can’t bite your tongue — and you should not have to. But how to respond to a tyrant’s vicious personal attacks?
Calmly tell your boss: “I am a professional. I will not tolerate you talking to me like this. I expect you to treat me like a professional — with courtesy and without putting me down or yelling.”
Says Jeffrey Caponigro, author of The Crisis Counselor: “When you do this, bullies often back down because they recognise that you won’t be a victim who will let them get away with their antics.”
Document everything. Save vicious memos, print nasty emails, and write down every insult your bully boss hurls your way — just in case you need to share all these with human resources should a tyrant try to oust you from your job.
If this strategy does not work, realise that you are probably not going to change him. You can, however, change how you react to him by simply detaching yourself — and even feeling a little sorry for him. And that can make an impossible boss more tolerable.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Play your cards right
Most employers expect their employees and potential candidates to negotiate for higher salary and benefits.
Whether you are going for an interview, hoping to move up the career ladder or trying to bring your salary and benefits more in line with industry standards, asking for a compensation package that reflects your worth is a lot like playing poker. It requires research, strategy and tact.
Do your research
Apart from sizing up an opponent, a poker player should know his cards well.
Similarly, as a job hunter or employee, it pays to do research not only on the company but also everything possible about the position in the job market. This includes the salary, compensation packages, contract specifics, long-term advancement and bonuses.
Remember, forewarned is forearmed. For potential candidates, doing research will help you make an informed decision about the company.
Negotiate well
The process of negotiation is a sticky situation that many prefer to avoid. It is a fine art that is difficult to master. Here are some tips:
1 Flexible attitude
You may or may not get what you want but ultimately your aim is to get the best possible deal that benefits you and your employer.
2 Be diplomatic
Asking for more money is a sensitive issue. While you feel like you really deserve a raise, keep emotions out of it.
3 Remain focused
Be succinct with details when highlighting your accomplishments and overall contribution to the company. It would be helpful if you kept a record of your progress and contributions for reference.
4 Be persuasive
When making your case, be persuasive but not confrontational. If your manager presents you with an offer, and you find it low, you should consider the figure you want to counter with. Ask yourself what you are willing to settle for. Your aim is to sway your manager into giving you the raise, or at least get him thinking about doing so.
5 Think ahead
Your manager may have a good reason if he refuses to budge. In this case, try bargaining for other benefits, such as extra leave days and flexible work arrangements.
If a raise is not possible at the moment, speak to your manager about what you can do to qualify for the next pay increment or job promotion. Do you need to acquire new skills or undergo training? Your ultimate aim is to create a win-win situation for you and your superior.
6 Know your worth
Experience and education are the two important factors that can influence your pay. Having more experience means it is easier for you to ask for a raise. On the other hand, having less experience means that you have fewer unique skills and less room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, the quality of your education, especially if it is relevant to your profession, can impact your pay hike. Professional associations and certifications and performance reviews are valuable assets.
Before accepting an offer, make sure that you have a good grasp of the value of the bonus or incentivepay aspects of your employment package.
7 Bargain wisely
It is crucial to know what you are worth before you start pushing for more. But admittedly, it is tricky to name a specific dollar figure, as you do not wish to disqualify yourself or sell yourself short by naming a figure that is too high or too low.
The best option is to state a salary range that reflects your current or targeted salary. This approach would give the hiring manager or your manager something to react to and build room for negotiating.
Article contributed by Alma Othman, regional managing director, GSI Executive Search.
Whether you are going for an interview, hoping to move up the career ladder or trying to bring your salary and benefits more in line with industry standards, asking for a compensation package that reflects your worth is a lot like playing poker. It requires research, strategy and tact.
Do your research
Apart from sizing up an opponent, a poker player should know his cards well.
Similarly, as a job hunter or employee, it pays to do research not only on the company but also everything possible about the position in the job market. This includes the salary, compensation packages, contract specifics, long-term advancement and bonuses.
Remember, forewarned is forearmed. For potential candidates, doing research will help you make an informed decision about the company.
Negotiate well
The process of negotiation is a sticky situation that many prefer to avoid. It is a fine art that is difficult to master. Here are some tips:
1 Flexible attitude
You may or may not get what you want but ultimately your aim is to get the best possible deal that benefits you and your employer.
2 Be diplomatic
Asking for more money is a sensitive issue. While you feel like you really deserve a raise, keep emotions out of it.
3 Remain focused
Be succinct with details when highlighting your accomplishments and overall contribution to the company. It would be helpful if you kept a record of your progress and contributions for reference.
4 Be persuasive
When making your case, be persuasive but not confrontational. If your manager presents you with an offer, and you find it low, you should consider the figure you want to counter with. Ask yourself what you are willing to settle for. Your aim is to sway your manager into giving you the raise, or at least get him thinking about doing so.
5 Think ahead
Your manager may have a good reason if he refuses to budge. In this case, try bargaining for other benefits, such as extra leave days and flexible work arrangements.
If a raise is not possible at the moment, speak to your manager about what you can do to qualify for the next pay increment or job promotion. Do you need to acquire new skills or undergo training? Your ultimate aim is to create a win-win situation for you and your superior.
6 Know your worth
Experience and education are the two important factors that can influence your pay. Having more experience means it is easier for you to ask for a raise. On the other hand, having less experience means that you have fewer unique skills and less room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, the quality of your education, especially if it is relevant to your profession, can impact your pay hike. Professional associations and certifications and performance reviews are valuable assets.
Before accepting an offer, make sure that you have a good grasp of the value of the bonus or incentivepay aspects of your employment package.
7 Bargain wisely
It is crucial to know what you are worth before you start pushing for more. But admittedly, it is tricky to name a specific dollar figure, as you do not wish to disqualify yourself or sell yourself short by naming a figure that is too high or too low.
The best option is to state a salary range that reflects your current or targeted salary. This approach would give the hiring manager or your manager something to react to and build room for negotiating.
Article contributed by Alma Othman, regional managing director, GSI Executive Search.
Go through proper channels
ALTHOUGH the financial crisis has forced many manufacturers to look for alternative means of getting their goods to their customers, tried and tested channels will always exist.
However, when engaging these channels, many organisations, especially from the United States and Europe, embark with great enthusiasm on “channel flooding”.
This starts with the channel selection process, when manufacturers go with recommendations from friends or business associates instead of collecting and analysing relevant data.
The ad-hoc meetings with these channel partners involve discussions about company structure, key executives, financial health and the deals the partner can offer. The partner is then assigned to the bottom of the marketing tier.
Complex incentives built into the contracts often force the partners to send their engineers and salesmen for numerous training and certification courses. The partners also attend countless “management sessions”, which are really endless discussions about quotas and obligations. Such “channel stuffing” goes on because of the partners’ fear of losing distributorships.
When key executives leave or rotate their jobs, it also affects the organisation’s relationships with partners. The executives keep coming and going, while the channel partner remains the same. This vicious circle of selection/make-up/break-up leads to mistrust.
Managing partners
The blame for the atmosphere of mistrust rests with both parties. The partner craves more value-additions to his business from the principal beyond product training, rebates or discounts and superficial “management visits”.
The principals feel they face a wall when it comes to commitments from the partner to hire and train key resources and share market or customer data.
The key essence of inter-dependency between partners and principals always seems fragile. Most of the time, partners get the principal to incur most of the selling expenses, from product demonstrations to prototyping. The principal has no choice but to rely on the partners’ network to obtain leads.
It is time for a change.
Motivate partners
To meet the challenges of the new millennium, principals must start giving value and partners must start expecting value from principals.
For example, one of the key areas often neglected in partner selection is the mapping of values of both parties. Let us consider the recruitment of key employees as an example. In a recruitment exercise, hiring managers start by asking what the ideal profile is of the person the company is trying to hire. Then they list the competencies (both hard and soft) of the potential hire, before the sourcing, selection and interviewing proceed.
Why can’t the same principles apply when selecting business partners? Often, the principal wants to know the partners’ capabilities. However, the principal should already have a list of talent assessment factors and a list of required competencies drawn up. Once the list of competencies is confirmed, the same set can be used to recruit and subsequently develop the talent.
Some soft competencies cannot be developed or trained, for example, passion or resilience in a salesman. If such soft talent is not assessed upfront, the principals’ investment in training these partners will quickly go to waste.
Principals should also determine why they conduct training for their partners. One obvious reason would be to upgrade skill levels, but the key consideration should be what shortcomings the training is supposed to bridge.
Ideally, the competencies should be measured against the same list developed for recruitment and assessment. Without such considerations, the training is often pointless.
Retaining staff
Let us look at this scenario: After an assessment exercise for the 10 sales personnel within a partner organisation, the principal certifies two salesmen and decides that the other eight need different levels of development. After a six-month intensive development programme by the principal, another three are certified.
What will the principal’s competitors be thinking by this time? Well, they will do whatever it takes to hire the five certified salespersons, because they know how much effort and money have been poured into training and developing them.
So the principal must not only help the partners assess the skill levels of their key staff, but also help them retain the certified staff. A world-class principal will help its partners with advice about compensation and benefits, motivating key employees and even career advice where needed.
Adding greater value
I have tried to explain why a complete revamp is needed in the way principals manage and motivate their channel partners. The key principles of complete channel management involve much more than training and occasional visits. The partner’s personnel, financial health and total marketing have to be considered too.
Principals can add value in many areas beyond what have been touched on in this article. Ultimately, strengthening the bonds of inter-dependency between principals and partners will lead to better working conditions, trust and profits.
Article by Kenneth Leow. He specialises in talent acquisition, assessment, development and motivation of channel partners.
However, when engaging these channels, many organisations, especially from the United States and Europe, embark with great enthusiasm on “channel flooding”.
This starts with the channel selection process, when manufacturers go with recommendations from friends or business associates instead of collecting and analysing relevant data.
The ad-hoc meetings with these channel partners involve discussions about company structure, key executives, financial health and the deals the partner can offer. The partner is then assigned to the bottom of the marketing tier.
Complex incentives built into the contracts often force the partners to send their engineers and salesmen for numerous training and certification courses. The partners also attend countless “management sessions”, which are really endless discussions about quotas and obligations. Such “channel stuffing” goes on because of the partners’ fear of losing distributorships.
When key executives leave or rotate their jobs, it also affects the organisation’s relationships with partners. The executives keep coming and going, while the channel partner remains the same. This vicious circle of selection/make-up/break-up leads to mistrust.
Managing partners
The blame for the atmosphere of mistrust rests with both parties. The partner craves more value-additions to his business from the principal beyond product training, rebates or discounts and superficial “management visits”.
The principals feel they face a wall when it comes to commitments from the partner to hire and train key resources and share market or customer data.
The key essence of inter-dependency between partners and principals always seems fragile. Most of the time, partners get the principal to incur most of the selling expenses, from product demonstrations to prototyping. The principal has no choice but to rely on the partners’ network to obtain leads.
It is time for a change.
Motivate partners
To meet the challenges of the new millennium, principals must start giving value and partners must start expecting value from principals.
For example, one of the key areas often neglected in partner selection is the mapping of values of both parties. Let us consider the recruitment of key employees as an example. In a recruitment exercise, hiring managers start by asking what the ideal profile is of the person the company is trying to hire. Then they list the competencies (both hard and soft) of the potential hire, before the sourcing, selection and interviewing proceed.
Why can’t the same principles apply when selecting business partners? Often, the principal wants to know the partners’ capabilities. However, the principal should already have a list of talent assessment factors and a list of required competencies drawn up. Once the list of competencies is confirmed, the same set can be used to recruit and subsequently develop the talent.
Some soft competencies cannot be developed or trained, for example, passion or resilience in a salesman. If such soft talent is not assessed upfront, the principals’ investment in training these partners will quickly go to waste.
Principals should also determine why they conduct training for their partners. One obvious reason would be to upgrade skill levels, but the key consideration should be what shortcomings the training is supposed to bridge.
Ideally, the competencies should be measured against the same list developed for recruitment and assessment. Without such considerations, the training is often pointless.
Retaining staff
Let us look at this scenario: After an assessment exercise for the 10 sales personnel within a partner organisation, the principal certifies two salesmen and decides that the other eight need different levels of development. After a six-month intensive development programme by the principal, another three are certified.
What will the principal’s competitors be thinking by this time? Well, they will do whatever it takes to hire the five certified salespersons, because they know how much effort and money have been poured into training and developing them.
So the principal must not only help the partners assess the skill levels of their key staff, but also help them retain the certified staff. A world-class principal will help its partners with advice about compensation and benefits, motivating key employees and even career advice where needed.
Adding greater value
I have tried to explain why a complete revamp is needed in the way principals manage and motivate their channel partners. The key principles of complete channel management involve much more than training and occasional visits. The partner’s personnel, financial health and total marketing have to be considered too.
Principals can add value in many areas beyond what have been touched on in this article. Ultimately, strengthening the bonds of inter-dependency between principals and partners will lead to better working conditions, trust and profits.
Article by Kenneth Leow. He specialises in talent acquisition, assessment, development and motivation of channel partners.
Learn from failure
DIFFICULT goals, by their very nature, require one to overcome substantial obstacles.
The path to success, which usually involves achieving difficult goals, has many obstacles.
A major psychological obstacle on the path to success is dealing with temporary failure. What you do when you fail temporarily has a big impact on whether or not you reach your goal.
As you journey on the path to success, remember these points:
The energy to persevere when faced with obstacles comes from having the right attitude.
Know yourself and understand that the way in which you interpret an event influences the way in which you see the event and, consequently, how you react to it.
Learn from your mistakes and experiences.
Attitude
How can you create the energy to persist when things are not going your way?
The energy to keep striving can be generated by having a positive attitude and a determination to reach the goal.
An attitude is simply a state of mind. A positive attitude is one that makes you feel optimistic about overcoming an obstacle.
On the other hand, a negative attitude makes you feel that you cannot or are unlikely to succeed in overcoming an obstacle.
You have a choice. Either you control your mind, or your mind will control you.
Your thoughts and feelings are shaped by many factors, especially your assumptions about the causes of things, as these assumptions influence your attitudes.
The mind is a meaning-making machine. You automatically give meaning to everything, and the meaning you give depends on the assumptions you make about the causes of an event.
Examine the factors — such as implicit theories and frames — which influence the assumptions you make about both yourself and the world.
Find out how these assumptions affect your attitudes and, consequently, the energy you have to persevere when faced with difficult obstacles.
Know yourself
As an old saying goes, you need to know yourself. It is vital to know your personality if you want to be successful in your career and in your life in general.
Everybody has psychological filters through which he sees the world. The way in which you respond to circumstances is determined to a large extent by your personality.
For example, some people see change as a threat while others see change as an opportunity.
The need to achieve and the locus of control are important aspects of personality when it comes to reaching your goals.
Take a look at different aspects of your personality and how they influence the way in which you think, feel and behave.
The key to learning about yourself is to be aware of your thoughts and feelings.
A thought is simply a silent insight. The key to controlling your thoughts is to be aware of them rather than merely to react to them.
Self-talk — what you say to yourself — is an important part of who you think you are.
When you refuse to say negative things to yourself and learn to say positive things instead, you can increase your self-confidence.
Being able to separate the thinker from the thought is the first step to thought control.
Additionally, you need to reflect so that you can gain a better understanding of yourself.
Learn from mistakes
How can you learn from your mistakes or experiences?
You may have experienced failure because of your own shortcomings or because of unfavourable circumstances.
Failures can be seen as negative, for example, “I do not have what it takes”. Or, they can be seen as learning opportunities, such as, “Now I know what to do when faced with a similar situation”.
If you decide that failure to achieve a goal is due to your own shortcomings or to factors that you cannot change, you can suffer from learned helplessness. This can lead to you giving up and not learning from your experiences, as well as depression and a lack of motivation to persevere when faced with obstacles.
Reflecting on your experiences is not about justifying what you say and do but rather, about re-evaluating the way you see and do things so that you can improve.
Contributed by Dr Gian Casimir, honorary academic adviser of Training Edge International.
The path to success, which usually involves achieving difficult goals, has many obstacles.
A major psychological obstacle on the path to success is dealing with temporary failure. What you do when you fail temporarily has a big impact on whether or not you reach your goal.
As you journey on the path to success, remember these points:
The energy to persevere when faced with obstacles comes from having the right attitude.
Know yourself and understand that the way in which you interpret an event influences the way in which you see the event and, consequently, how you react to it.
Learn from your mistakes and experiences.
Attitude
How can you create the energy to persist when things are not going your way?
The energy to keep striving can be generated by having a positive attitude and a determination to reach the goal.
An attitude is simply a state of mind. A positive attitude is one that makes you feel optimistic about overcoming an obstacle.
On the other hand, a negative attitude makes you feel that you cannot or are unlikely to succeed in overcoming an obstacle.
You have a choice. Either you control your mind, or your mind will control you.
Your thoughts and feelings are shaped by many factors, especially your assumptions about the causes of things, as these assumptions influence your attitudes.
The mind is a meaning-making machine. You automatically give meaning to everything, and the meaning you give depends on the assumptions you make about the causes of an event.
Examine the factors — such as implicit theories and frames — which influence the assumptions you make about both yourself and the world.
Find out how these assumptions affect your attitudes and, consequently, the energy you have to persevere when faced with difficult obstacles.
Know yourself
As an old saying goes, you need to know yourself. It is vital to know your personality if you want to be successful in your career and in your life in general.
Everybody has psychological filters through which he sees the world. The way in which you respond to circumstances is determined to a large extent by your personality.
For example, some people see change as a threat while others see change as an opportunity.
The need to achieve and the locus of control are important aspects of personality when it comes to reaching your goals.
Take a look at different aspects of your personality and how they influence the way in which you think, feel and behave.
The key to learning about yourself is to be aware of your thoughts and feelings.
A thought is simply a silent insight. The key to controlling your thoughts is to be aware of them rather than merely to react to them.
Self-talk — what you say to yourself — is an important part of who you think you are.
When you refuse to say negative things to yourself and learn to say positive things instead, you can increase your self-confidence.
Being able to separate the thinker from the thought is the first step to thought control.
Additionally, you need to reflect so that you can gain a better understanding of yourself.
Learn from mistakes
How can you learn from your mistakes or experiences?
You may have experienced failure because of your own shortcomings or because of unfavourable circumstances.
Failures can be seen as negative, for example, “I do not have what it takes”. Or, they can be seen as learning opportunities, such as, “Now I know what to do when faced with a similar situation”.
If you decide that failure to achieve a goal is due to your own shortcomings or to factors that you cannot change, you can suffer from learned helplessness. This can lead to you giving up and not learning from your experiences, as well as depression and a lack of motivation to persevere when faced with obstacles.
Reflecting on your experiences is not about justifying what you say and do but rather, about re-evaluating the way you see and do things so that you can improve.
Contributed by Dr Gian Casimir, honorary academic adviser of Training Edge International.
Power to your people
IF you are a manager, I am sure you think you are pretty good at your job. Some managers seem to think that they should know everything about the jobs that their team members do, and be better than them at doing it.
I can remember, in the past, working for managers like that. They gave the impression that they knew everything and were far better than I would ever be at doing my job. This, of course, did not motivate me at all.
The motivational manager accepts that members of his staff may be better at doing the job than he is. His staff may be better salesmen, better at customer service, better administrators or better engineers.
I have had salesmen working for me who were better at selling than I was. However, that did not make me less of a good manager.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of probably the world’s most successful football club, Manchester United, had a pretty undistinguished career as a footballer. He did at one time play for the Glasgow Rangers but could hardly be described as a star footballer. He is now, of course, a star manager.
If you manage or supervise other people, have confidence in yourself. Accept your limitations and do not feel bad if you do not initially know the answer to every question.
Ironically, your staff will not be more motivated if you come up with the answers to all of their problems or queries. Encourage your staff to come to you with solutions, not problems.
If you spend your time solving their problems, you will spend all your time solving problems!
When someone in your team asks you what he should do, even if you know the answer, reflect back the question. Ask him what he would do. Ask him for his opinions. For example, what does he think is the best course of action, and why he thinks it is the best? What are the consequences of this action, for the customer, the business and the team member himself?
When he gives you his answers, empower, support and congratulate him on them. If he feels that he has made the decision, he will have more confidence in himself and be more motivated to do his job even better.
What you are essentially doing here is utilising the knowledge, skill, experience and motivational power that is already within your team members. Once you leverage on this, you will have a highly motivated team who respect and trust you as their manager.
Article by Alan Fairweather, an associate consultant with d’Oz International.
I can remember, in the past, working for managers like that. They gave the impression that they knew everything and were far better than I would ever be at doing my job. This, of course, did not motivate me at all.
The motivational manager accepts that members of his staff may be better at doing the job than he is. His staff may be better salesmen, better at customer service, better administrators or better engineers.
I have had salesmen working for me who were better at selling than I was. However, that did not make me less of a good manager.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of probably the world’s most successful football club, Manchester United, had a pretty undistinguished career as a footballer. He did at one time play for the Glasgow Rangers but could hardly be described as a star footballer. He is now, of course, a star manager.
If you manage or supervise other people, have confidence in yourself. Accept your limitations and do not feel bad if you do not initially know the answer to every question.
Ironically, your staff will not be more motivated if you come up with the answers to all of their problems or queries. Encourage your staff to come to you with solutions, not problems.
If you spend your time solving their problems, you will spend all your time solving problems!
When someone in your team asks you what he should do, even if you know the answer, reflect back the question. Ask him what he would do. Ask him for his opinions. For example, what does he think is the best course of action, and why he thinks it is the best? What are the consequences of this action, for the customer, the business and the team member himself?
When he gives you his answers, empower, support and congratulate him on them. If he feels that he has made the decision, he will have more confidence in himself and be more motivated to do his job even better.
What you are essentially doing here is utilising the knowledge, skill, experience and motivational power that is already within your team members. Once you leverage on this, you will have a highly motivated team who respect and trust you as their manager.
Article by Alan Fairweather, an associate consultant with d’Oz International.
Look on the funny side
IT HAS often been said that humour is a highly effective communication tool.
Celebrities, including actors, singers and even politicians, take great pains to inject humour in their communication in an effort to create a greater impact with their audiences.
It has become increasingly evident that humour can help organisations and individuals to differentiate themselves from the competition.
It can boost staff morale. It can help you achieve instant rapport with customers and clients.
The former chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines, Howard Putnam, says: “Fun is a pervasive spirit that encompasses an organisation and enables it to think positively and be productive.”
Many organisations have learnt that injecting fun into business can also contribute to the bottom line.
The Pike Fish Place, in Seattle, Washington, is an example of a company that has become world-famous for introducing the concept of “play” into its workplace. Its fishmongers entertain customers by throwing and catching fish as they go about their daily work. Its CEO remarks that they are “not really working but playing …”
Even in Singapore, it is interesting to note that many senior managers and executives, including those from the public sector, have been attending seminars on how to have fun at work and how to inject humour into their management style.
In public relations, there are many situations where the use of humour can help people to achieve greater impact with the media.
I remember one occasion when I was trying to interest the press to provide coverage for the signing of a joint-venture agreement between my client and his German counterpart.
My client was in the portable toilet business, and his company was signing an agreement with the largest portable toilet company in the world.
It was the kind of event that would hardly interest the media. So we decided to use some humour to spice up the signing ceremony. We convinced the two CEOs to seal their deal by shaking hands while seated on the portable toilets.
They were game for it and we managed to get a full-page story in The New Paper with the headline “Flushed with success”. Our clients were overjoyed with the coverage.
Ikea is an example of an organisation that uses humour not only in its commercials but also in promotions. Some years ago, it conducted an instore promotion that required customers to spend the night on their favourite piece of furniture, after which they were allowed to take it home — free of charge.
The promotion not only resulted in overwhelming response from customers but also generated extensive publicity in the media.
From furniture manufacturers to portable toilet distributors, from politicians to fishmongers, irrespective of the nature of their business or profession, they have all benefited from the use of humour.
Matt Weinstein, the author of a best-selling book, Having Fun At Work, has listed some factors to be considered when using humour. They are:
● Humour must be relevant to the audience. Introduce humour that is appropriate to the audience in terms of age, education, social background and so on.
● Humour must be simple in form and delivery. It is most effective when it is simple in substance and easily understood. It should also be easily conveyed or presented.
● Humour must not be offensive. Be aware of taboo subjects like race, religion and gender.
To end on a humorous note, I would like to share a quote by Matt Weinstein: “If you take yourself too seriously, there is an excellent chance you’ll wind up seriously ill.”
Celebrities, including actors, singers and even politicians, take great pains to inject humour in their communication in an effort to create a greater impact with their audiences.
It has become increasingly evident that humour can help organisations and individuals to differentiate themselves from the competition.
It can boost staff morale. It can help you achieve instant rapport with customers and clients.
The former chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines, Howard Putnam, says: “Fun is a pervasive spirit that encompasses an organisation and enables it to think positively and be productive.”
Many organisations have learnt that injecting fun into business can also contribute to the bottom line.
The Pike Fish Place, in Seattle, Washington, is an example of a company that has become world-famous for introducing the concept of “play” into its workplace. Its fishmongers entertain customers by throwing and catching fish as they go about their daily work. Its CEO remarks that they are “not really working but playing …”
Even in Singapore, it is interesting to note that many senior managers and executives, including those from the public sector, have been attending seminars on how to have fun at work and how to inject humour into their management style.
In public relations, there are many situations where the use of humour can help people to achieve greater impact with the media.
I remember one occasion when I was trying to interest the press to provide coverage for the signing of a joint-venture agreement between my client and his German counterpart.
My client was in the portable toilet business, and his company was signing an agreement with the largest portable toilet company in the world.
It was the kind of event that would hardly interest the media. So we decided to use some humour to spice up the signing ceremony. We convinced the two CEOs to seal their deal by shaking hands while seated on the portable toilets.
They were game for it and we managed to get a full-page story in The New Paper with the headline “Flushed with success”. Our clients were overjoyed with the coverage.
Ikea is an example of an organisation that uses humour not only in its commercials but also in promotions. Some years ago, it conducted an instore promotion that required customers to spend the night on their favourite piece of furniture, after which they were allowed to take it home — free of charge.
The promotion not only resulted in overwhelming response from customers but also generated extensive publicity in the media.
From furniture manufacturers to portable toilet distributors, from politicians to fishmongers, irrespective of the nature of their business or profession, they have all benefited from the use of humour.
Matt Weinstein, the author of a best-selling book, Having Fun At Work, has listed some factors to be considered when using humour. They are:
● Humour must be relevant to the audience. Introduce humour that is appropriate to the audience in terms of age, education, social background and so on.
● Humour must be simple in form and delivery. It is most effective when it is simple in substance and easily understood. It should also be easily conveyed or presented.
● Humour must not be offensive. Be aware of taboo subjects like race, religion and gender.
To end on a humorous note, I would like to share a quote by Matt Weinstein: “If you take yourself too seriously, there is an excellent chance you’ll wind up seriously ill.”
Make sure your work gets noticed
RARELY do we sit in the warm afterglow of our achievements at work. But as businesses start focusing on retaining talent, now is a good time to put your hand up and show those around you what you’ve done.
In most offices, recognition of results is not acknowledged enough. There is an over-riding sense that achieving results is the job you are paid for and so why should anyone congratulate you on doing your job? Everyone is quick to highlight when things go wrong — so it’s equally important to recognise things when they go well too.
However, there can be a fine line between gaining credit for work results achieved and selfcongratulation. We all know when we have done a good job and there is nothing wrong in admitting you are proud of your efforts. But it all comes down to how you communicate your success — and there are some simple things you can do to ensure you are the office king rather than the office crawler.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE
The key is to ensure the right people in your company understand your value while you are still at the job rather than after you are gone.
Within every office there are a select number of people who make the decisions. Identify who they are and develop a target list. Look at their areas of responsibility and reasons how and why you would come in contact with them. If you are involved in a piece of work that relates to their area, introduce yourself and pick their brain on how they think the project should be developed.
The best way to do this is to call a brainstorming session. As part of the session, provide brief background on what has been achieved so far before going on to the latest project.
The brainstorm exposes the key personnel to your work probably for the first time.
Initiating contact could be made as part of a post-campaign debrief to look at the results in a fact-finding way. Solicit feedback from those involved on how it can be improved.
When communicating a win, make sure you publicly thank the members individually for their efforts. Your team will be appreciative of your acknowledgement and will make them more readily receptive to working with you in the future.
When communicating successful results, offer it in a way that can help colleagues in their campaigns. You might develop the project into a case study. While the results and products employed in future projects may differ, the principles and project methodology used to achieve the results are timeless and can be reused.
It is also a good move to ensure the discussion positions your boss in a good way in front of his superiors. However, if they are taking all the kudos when delivering the news up the chain, take control of the communication process.
GATEKEEPERS
Most middle managers and senior managers have gatekeepers who shield them from the barrage of people wanting a piece of their time and concentration. When sending reports, include these people in the distribution list and send it after office hours, usually after 6pm and before 8am.
The senior manager you are intending to target is more likely to open his own email at this time.
In today’s work environment, where performance is more closely scrutinised, time in the office and length of service counts for little. Career progression is still made through relationships. If you click with a senior manager and you gain their confidence, you have a greater chance of moving up. But do your research. Observe and understand their work style. Are they hierarchical, have big ideas but are lax on detail, micromanagers or collaborative? Once you have pinned down the style, run your meeting in a similar fashion.
When developing reports, you should also tap into your manager’s hot spots of interest. If it is financials he finds interesting, include the return on investment. If it’s sales, mention the number of additional clients on the books. In addition, provide comparisons to past projects. A project presented on its own is useless unless you have something to compare it with.
You should also ensure the report is easy to read. Information presented graphically works well. Put the most important and best results at the top. They are useless buried in the text.
The reality of the workplace is everyone is so busy with his own job — no one has time to worry about what anyone else is doing. As a result, you have to be proactive and strategic in your plan to get noticed. Communication of achievement is a good thing and not done enough.
Article contributed by Mastura Diana Jaffar, managing director of DBM Malaysia, which offers human resources solutions.
In most offices, recognition of results is not acknowledged enough. There is an over-riding sense that achieving results is the job you are paid for and so why should anyone congratulate you on doing your job? Everyone is quick to highlight when things go wrong — so it’s equally important to recognise things when they go well too.
However, there can be a fine line between gaining credit for work results achieved and selfcongratulation. We all know when we have done a good job and there is nothing wrong in admitting you are proud of your efforts. But it all comes down to how you communicate your success — and there are some simple things you can do to ensure you are the office king rather than the office crawler.
THE RIGHT PEOPLE
The key is to ensure the right people in your company understand your value while you are still at the job rather than after you are gone.
Within every office there are a select number of people who make the decisions. Identify who they are and develop a target list. Look at their areas of responsibility and reasons how and why you would come in contact with them. If you are involved in a piece of work that relates to their area, introduce yourself and pick their brain on how they think the project should be developed.
The best way to do this is to call a brainstorming session. As part of the session, provide brief background on what has been achieved so far before going on to the latest project.
The brainstorm exposes the key personnel to your work probably for the first time.
Initiating contact could be made as part of a post-campaign debrief to look at the results in a fact-finding way. Solicit feedback from those involved on how it can be improved.
When communicating a win, make sure you publicly thank the members individually for their efforts. Your team will be appreciative of your acknowledgement and will make them more readily receptive to working with you in the future.
When communicating successful results, offer it in a way that can help colleagues in their campaigns. You might develop the project into a case study. While the results and products employed in future projects may differ, the principles and project methodology used to achieve the results are timeless and can be reused.
It is also a good move to ensure the discussion positions your boss in a good way in front of his superiors. However, if they are taking all the kudos when delivering the news up the chain, take control of the communication process.
GATEKEEPERS
Most middle managers and senior managers have gatekeepers who shield them from the barrage of people wanting a piece of their time and concentration. When sending reports, include these people in the distribution list and send it after office hours, usually after 6pm and before 8am.
The senior manager you are intending to target is more likely to open his own email at this time.
In today’s work environment, where performance is more closely scrutinised, time in the office and length of service counts for little. Career progression is still made through relationships. If you click with a senior manager and you gain their confidence, you have a greater chance of moving up. But do your research. Observe and understand their work style. Are they hierarchical, have big ideas but are lax on detail, micromanagers or collaborative? Once you have pinned down the style, run your meeting in a similar fashion.
When developing reports, you should also tap into your manager’s hot spots of interest. If it is financials he finds interesting, include the return on investment. If it’s sales, mention the number of additional clients on the books. In addition, provide comparisons to past projects. A project presented on its own is useless unless you have something to compare it with.
You should also ensure the report is easy to read. Information presented graphically works well. Put the most important and best results at the top. They are useless buried in the text.
The reality of the workplace is everyone is so busy with his own job — no one has time to worry about what anyone else is doing. As a result, you have to be proactive and strategic in your plan to get noticed. Communication of achievement is a good thing and not done enough.
Article contributed by Mastura Diana Jaffar, managing director of DBM Malaysia, which offers human resources solutions.
Share the workload
THE inability to delegate is one of the most common problems of managers. Management and leadership are all about getting results by organising and supervising a workforce.
Poor delegation or no delegation is inefficient and expensive. And the worst thing about not delegating is that managers are losing wonderful training opportunities for their workers.
Managers have many reasons for not delegating:
They feel at ease doing routine tasks rather than supervising the work of others;
They are not familiar with the skills of their workers and are therefore unsure of other people’s ability to take more responsibility;
They hate correcting other people’s work; and
They know they can do some things better than others.
Delegating is hard work, but it is work that is needed to help an organisation grow and improve. You can tell people what to do, you can show people what to do, but by far the best way to teach people is to simply let them do the work themselves. Delegation provides that training avenue.
There are basically two good reasons to delegate:
It gets the job done more efficiently, and
It provides training and new experiences for members of work teams.
Writer Andrew E. Schwarts says: “Too many managers waste both time and energy performing tasks an employee could perform just as well, thereby lowering productivity while raising operating costs.
“The answer to the problem is easy — delegation. However, many managers still limit their own effectiveness, create imbalances in the organisation, waste their department’s time and energies, and fail to develop their subordinates by either ignoring or mismanaging the techniques of delegation.”
The ability to delegate tasks and control productivity simultaneously is an essential skill for managers. It is like juggling three or four balls in the air, while ordering fast food out your car window and talking on a cell phone at the same time.
There are many pitfalls that can undermine your efforts to delegate, but there are also some basic steps to help managers ease their workload through delegation while maintaining control.
There are six functions of an effective delegation and control system:
1 Planning and goal-setting
If everyone is involved in the planning and goal-setting of a project, it is more likely that everyone will buy into the work involved to bring the project to fruition — which makes delegation easier.
2 Responsibility and authority
Before delegating, everyone needs to know which way the responsibility flows. Who reports to whom? That question must be answered for effective delegation.
James G. Patterson, a business writer and faculty member of the University of Phoenix, advises: “Be prepared to supervise. All projects require regular monitoring — especially in the beginning stages. So do all employees.
“But some projects require more scrutiny than others, and some employees demand more direction. Here, too, it’s a matter of matching the task with the person.”
3 Negotiation
“Can you do this?” Give and take is part of the delegation process.
4 Management by exception
Only the unusual problem or case is brought to the top.
5 Consultation and coaching
Think of consultation as the bedside manner of a physician taking the pulse of a family member. The manager needs to know how the patient is doing, and must make suggestions to improve the overall health of the individual.
6 Review and control
This is like consultation and coaching, but from a step back. Reviewing project aspects and controlling the work and schedule insures continued progress toward worthwhile goals.
In reviewing the project, the results should be addressed, and the methods that were involved should be not criticised very much, if at all.
Delegation can result in some mistakes being made, but mistakes can also be learning opportunities. Praise should be given for jobs well done. Each time delegation happens, there is a chance that everyone will improve his standing in the organisation.
Article by Justin Tyme, an Internet reporter and published author.
Poor delegation or no delegation is inefficient and expensive. And the worst thing about not delegating is that managers are losing wonderful training opportunities for their workers.
Managers have many reasons for not delegating:
They feel at ease doing routine tasks rather than supervising the work of others;
They are not familiar with the skills of their workers and are therefore unsure of other people’s ability to take more responsibility;
They hate correcting other people’s work; and
They know they can do some things better than others.
Delegating is hard work, but it is work that is needed to help an organisation grow and improve. You can tell people what to do, you can show people what to do, but by far the best way to teach people is to simply let them do the work themselves. Delegation provides that training avenue.
There are basically two good reasons to delegate:
It gets the job done more efficiently, and
It provides training and new experiences for members of work teams.
Writer Andrew E. Schwarts says: “Too many managers waste both time and energy performing tasks an employee could perform just as well, thereby lowering productivity while raising operating costs.
“The answer to the problem is easy — delegation. However, many managers still limit their own effectiveness, create imbalances in the organisation, waste their department’s time and energies, and fail to develop their subordinates by either ignoring or mismanaging the techniques of delegation.”
The ability to delegate tasks and control productivity simultaneously is an essential skill for managers. It is like juggling three or four balls in the air, while ordering fast food out your car window and talking on a cell phone at the same time.
There are many pitfalls that can undermine your efforts to delegate, but there are also some basic steps to help managers ease their workload through delegation while maintaining control.
There are six functions of an effective delegation and control system:
1 Planning and goal-setting
If everyone is involved in the planning and goal-setting of a project, it is more likely that everyone will buy into the work involved to bring the project to fruition — which makes delegation easier.
2 Responsibility and authority
Before delegating, everyone needs to know which way the responsibility flows. Who reports to whom? That question must be answered for effective delegation.
James G. Patterson, a business writer and faculty member of the University of Phoenix, advises: “Be prepared to supervise. All projects require regular monitoring — especially in the beginning stages. So do all employees.
“But some projects require more scrutiny than others, and some employees demand more direction. Here, too, it’s a matter of matching the task with the person.”
3 Negotiation
“Can you do this?” Give and take is part of the delegation process.
4 Management by exception
Only the unusual problem or case is brought to the top.
5 Consultation and coaching
Think of consultation as the bedside manner of a physician taking the pulse of a family member. The manager needs to know how the patient is doing, and must make suggestions to improve the overall health of the individual.
6 Review and control
This is like consultation and coaching, but from a step back. Reviewing project aspects and controlling the work and schedule insures continued progress toward worthwhile goals.
In reviewing the project, the results should be addressed, and the methods that were involved should be not criticised very much, if at all.
Delegation can result in some mistakes being made, but mistakes can also be learning opportunities. Praise should be given for jobs well done. Each time delegation happens, there is a chance that everyone will improve his standing in the organisation.
Article by Justin Tyme, an Internet reporter and published author.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Five Secrets of Great Innovation
So what does it take to succeed with a great new product? Business expert Steven D. Strauss offers this advice:
1. Think of things that never were and ask, “Why not?” Bobby Kennedy’s famous motto is an apt description of the first ingredient necessary to create a successful new product. Terrific products come from terrific ideas.
2. Tap the power of one: Whatever successful product you look at, you will invariably find there was some man or woman steadfastly committed to its success. Ed Lowe was nothing but a young, ambitious veteran with tons of unsold clay when he decided that he had a better cat litter. He single-handedly invented a new industry.
3. Keep it simple: If you are going to offer something new and improved, make sure it’s simple and does one or two things very well. People famously cannot program their VCRs, but they don’t have to program their DVRs.
4. First is best. Getting your product to market first can mean the difference between having a winner and being a loser. Post-its were first. Pampers were first.
5. Try, try again. When Dr. Percy Spencer noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket melted after standing near a magnetron tube, he realized something unique had occurred. Yet it would take almost 20 years of trial and error before Raytheon could turn that into the first microwave oven.
1. Think of things that never were and ask, “Why not?” Bobby Kennedy’s famous motto is an apt description of the first ingredient necessary to create a successful new product. Terrific products come from terrific ideas.
2. Tap the power of one: Whatever successful product you look at, you will invariably find there was some man or woman steadfastly committed to its success. Ed Lowe was nothing but a young, ambitious veteran with tons of unsold clay when he decided that he had a better cat litter. He single-handedly invented a new industry.
3. Keep it simple: If you are going to offer something new and improved, make sure it’s simple and does one or two things very well. People famously cannot program their VCRs, but they don’t have to program their DVRs.
4. First is best. Getting your product to market first can mean the difference between having a winner and being a loser. Post-its were first. Pampers were first.
5. Try, try again. When Dr. Percy Spencer noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket melted after standing near a magnetron tube, he realized something unique had occurred. Yet it would take almost 20 years of trial and error before Raytheon could turn that into the first microwave oven.
Is your heart in the right place?
EMOTIONAL intelligence or EQ is the ability to use emotions effectively. Author Daniel Goleman, in his best-selling book Emotional Intelligence, laid out a powerful argument that factors such as self-awareness, self-discipline and empathy determine personal and professional success.
Some people just know how to get along with others; some people are more self-confident, and some are great at inspiring people. All these come from a set of skills called EQ.
Additional EQ skills are identifying and changing emotions, motivating yourself and empathising with another person. Everyone has emotional intelligence — but for most people, it is an underdeveloped area and an untapped resource.
“Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth,” wrote psychologist John D. Mayer and Dr Peter Salovey, dean and professor of psychology at Yale University, who co-developed a popular model of emotional intelligence.
Everyone can learn the EQ skills to build more successful relationships. The challenge is to see the value of emotional intelligence, then to begin using these EQ skills on a daily basis. Says Dr Salovey: “Yes, we can control emotions. The trick is doing it in the right way at the right time.”
This is not a new idea. Around 350 BC, the great Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote: “Anyone can become angry — that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not easy.”
Goleman estimated that 90 per cent of the difference between a “good leader” and an “excellent leader” can be attributed to EQ. The primary reason people leave a job is relationshipbased. One of the key factors is the quality of the relationship between the employee and his manager.
As leadership guru Richard Leider says: “People don’t leave companies, they leave leaders.” At the core of relationships is EQ.
A sales maxim is that “relationships are everything”. Some of the EQ applications in business that have increased revenues are:
■ Improved customer service through recruiting higher EQ customer service providers;
■ Increased sales performance through recruiting and training more emotionally intelligent salespeople; and
■ Superior leadership from developing and recruiting emotionally intelligent executives.
Organisations that have a service and EQ-positive climate, where employees feel a strong sense of relationship and are emotionally engaged, have significantly higher profitability. EQ appears to be the key reason for this competitive advantage.
The Harvard Business Review 2003 examined the data on emotional intelligence with the following conclusion:
“If emotional obliviousness jeopardises your ability to perform, fend off aggressors, or be compassionate in a crisis, no amount of attention to the bottom line will protect your career.
“Emotional intelligence isn’t a luxury organisations can dispense with in tough times. It is a basic tool that, deployed with finesse, is the key to professional success.”
Emotional intelligence is emerging as a critical factor for sustaining high performance and motivation.
Increasingly, businesses are turning to EQ, seeking a win-win solution to challenges in customer service, loyalty, employee retention, productivity and leadership.
Article by Seow Bee Leng, principal trainer and director of Continuum Learning.
Some people just know how to get along with others; some people are more self-confident, and some are great at inspiring people. All these come from a set of skills called EQ.
Additional EQ skills are identifying and changing emotions, motivating yourself and empathising with another person. Everyone has emotional intelligence — but for most people, it is an underdeveloped area and an untapped resource.
“Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth,” wrote psychologist John D. Mayer and Dr Peter Salovey, dean and professor of psychology at Yale University, who co-developed a popular model of emotional intelligence.
Everyone can learn the EQ skills to build more successful relationships. The challenge is to see the value of emotional intelligence, then to begin using these EQ skills on a daily basis. Says Dr Salovey: “Yes, we can control emotions. The trick is doing it in the right way at the right time.”
This is not a new idea. Around 350 BC, the great Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote: “Anyone can become angry — that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not easy.”
Goleman estimated that 90 per cent of the difference between a “good leader” and an “excellent leader” can be attributed to EQ. The primary reason people leave a job is relationshipbased. One of the key factors is the quality of the relationship between the employee and his manager.
As leadership guru Richard Leider says: “People don’t leave companies, they leave leaders.” At the core of relationships is EQ.
A sales maxim is that “relationships are everything”. Some of the EQ applications in business that have increased revenues are:
■ Improved customer service through recruiting higher EQ customer service providers;
■ Increased sales performance through recruiting and training more emotionally intelligent salespeople; and
■ Superior leadership from developing and recruiting emotionally intelligent executives.
Organisations that have a service and EQ-positive climate, where employees feel a strong sense of relationship and are emotionally engaged, have significantly higher profitability. EQ appears to be the key reason for this competitive advantage.
The Harvard Business Review 2003 examined the data on emotional intelligence with the following conclusion:
“If emotional obliviousness jeopardises your ability to perform, fend off aggressors, or be compassionate in a crisis, no amount of attention to the bottom line will protect your career.
“Emotional intelligence isn’t a luxury organisations can dispense with in tough times. It is a basic tool that, deployed with finesse, is the key to professional success.”
Emotional intelligence is emerging as a critical factor for sustaining high performance and motivation.
Increasingly, businesses are turning to EQ, seeking a win-win solution to challenges in customer service, loyalty, employee retention, productivity and leadership.
Article by Seow Bee Leng, principal trainer and director of Continuum Learning.
Presence — not presents
Let me ask you a quick question: do you have any children? I don’t have any children, but I appreciate the challenges that parents face and I am most reluctant to tell anyone how to bring up their children.
Whether you do or do not have children, I am certain you appreciate the importance of raising them to be happy and successful.
To do that, you would have to take a great deal of interest in them and what they are doing. You have to show you care about them and give them lots of your time and attention.
Children show us from an early age that they want lots of attention. We become aware of this by the way they physically and emotionally reach out to us.
If we fail to provide the level of attention or acknowledgement they need, then they will almost certainly let us know — usually by behaving badly.
Attention, please
Some parents have difficulty in giving time and attention and often bribe or pay their children to be successful with offers of gifts or money. For example, “Pass your exams and I’ll buy you a new bicycle!”
However, children want your presence — not just presents — more than anything.
Not a lot changes when we become adults. We still crave attention and acknowledgement from other people. We look for it from our partners, friends, children, parents and, very importantly — our boss at work!
Successful motivational managers realise this and provide their staff with a lot of attention and acknowledgement.
* They spend quality time with every member of their staff, giving feedback on job performance; whether it is good or bad.
* They listen to problems, both business and personal, show interest and help their staff members find solutions.
* They show that they trust and believe in their staff by empowering them to make decisions and be responsible for their actions.
Successful motivational managers do not bribe or pay their staff to be successful. Incentives, bonuses and prizes are all acceptable; however, they will never replace attention and acknowledgement.
Here is some food for thought. Take a minute and think about someone in your life whom you did your best for. Perhaps it was a parent, a teacher or a manager. What was it about them that made you want to do your best? Was it their presence or presents?
Article by Alan Fairweather, an associate consultant with d’Oz International.
Whether you do or do not have children, I am certain you appreciate the importance of raising them to be happy and successful.
To do that, you would have to take a great deal of interest in them and what they are doing. You have to show you care about them and give them lots of your time and attention.
Children show us from an early age that they want lots of attention. We become aware of this by the way they physically and emotionally reach out to us.
If we fail to provide the level of attention or acknowledgement they need, then they will almost certainly let us know — usually by behaving badly.
Attention, please
Some parents have difficulty in giving time and attention and often bribe or pay their children to be successful with offers of gifts or money. For example, “Pass your exams and I’ll buy you a new bicycle!”
However, children want your presence — not just presents — more than anything.
Not a lot changes when we become adults. We still crave attention and acknowledgement from other people. We look for it from our partners, friends, children, parents and, very importantly — our boss at work!
Successful motivational managers realise this and provide their staff with a lot of attention and acknowledgement.
* They spend quality time with every member of their staff, giving feedback on job performance; whether it is good or bad.
* They listen to problems, both business and personal, show interest and help their staff members find solutions.
* They show that they trust and believe in their staff by empowering them to make decisions and be responsible for their actions.
Successful motivational managers do not bribe or pay their staff to be successful. Incentives, bonuses and prizes are all acceptable; however, they will never replace attention and acknowledgement.
Here is some food for thought. Take a minute and think about someone in your life whom you did your best for. Perhaps it was a parent, a teacher or a manager. What was it about them that made you want to do your best? Was it their presence or presents?
Article by Alan Fairweather, an associate consultant with d’Oz International.
Employee engagement vital
KEY Performance Indicator (KPI) has become something of a mantra for increasing productivity and business performance. Numerous organisations have been using it to achieve desired performance levels.
Areas with tangible performance such as sales have been using it for a long time but under a different name, i.e. sales targets. Now it has been extended to other business units by a different name.
But to achieve continuous KPI successes year after year, an organisation must ensure that its employees are fully engaged on a similar basis.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT – WHAT IS IT, ANYWAY?
Engagement is a combination of attitudes and priorities with a consistent and predictable impact on behaviour. In the work environment those attitudes include satisfaction, commitment, pride, loyalty, a strong sense of personal responsibility, and a willingness to be the advocate of the organisation.
Engaged employees work with passion and feel a strong connection with their company. They are the change agents who help the organisation move forward with their innovative drive. They embrace the organisation’s mission and are proud to be its advocate.
WHY MEASURE ENGAGEMENT?
Firstly, without measurement, it is rather impossible to determine whether or not any dimension of a business is performing as desired.
Organisations use various tools to measure business activities. New performance tools have emerged just as needs are being impacted by changing marketplace scenarios.
We now have KPIs, Business Activity Monitoring, Balance Score Card, etcetera, variously used by manufacturing, trading and service providers.
Amidst this changing environment, one important factor that is hardly measured is the engagement level of employees tasked with achieving KPI objectives.
Focusing on engagement helps to understand the critical levels of employees’ commitment to their various roles. This helps to redesign appropriate programmes, be it on systems, processes and management styles, and put right any misalignments so that the employees’ work mindset relates closer to KPI deliverables.
When individual employees are truly engaged they stay highly committed to the organisation and are motivated to achieve or surpass expectations more regularly.
THE RE-ALIGNING CONCEPT
The performance behaviour of any group of employees is usually impacted by continuum of changes in the organisation. Various changes implemented by organisations from time to time to meet shareholders’ expectations are often viewed with skepticism and resistance by employees.
Then there are the perceived fears, frustrations and failures that affect the ability of employees to be engaged.
The continued success of any organisation in achieving KPI objectives year after year rests with the engagement level of the employees. Ad hoc surveys every now and then are hardly the answer. We recommend regular measuring of the employees’ engagement level and re-aligning it to the KPI objective to achieve best results on a continuous basis.
THE RE-ALIGNING PROCESS
To move this forward, a company has to know where the employees’ mindset dwells now, as well as what tangible and intangible symbols, culture or management styles, etcetera, brought about the current state.
Without finding answers to these questions, any programmes to re-align employee mindsets will be a futile exercise.
The analysis of an employee engagement survey will reveal areas of strengths and weaknesses – strengths on which to build and weaknesses to be corrected.
This is usually followed by indepth discussions to identify the sources of problems which are then addressed before any work is initiated for a development programme. Upon implementation of the appropriate programmes, the company should conduct another study later to assess the level of success achieved against the set target. Thus the process continues.
RIGHT APPRAOCH
The right approach to re-aligning employee mindsets with KPI expectations consists of the following stages:
Stage 1 Employee Engagement Survey (Online)
This is an Employee Opinion Survey. It involves a number of questions where some items are specifically designed to measure the current level of employee engagement. The questions are simple to answer. Participants only need to click on the button relating to their level of agreement.
Stage 2 Perception Survey of Direct Reports (Online)
It is another opinion survey. Here, line managers provide crucial insights of their view of the work quality, work attitudes, work habits as well as perceived level of satisfaction of the direct reports.
Stage 3 In-depth Group Discussions
Areas of concern identified from the Stage 1 and 2 studies are taken to the next stage. Here, the what, when, where, how and why of those concerns are traced. The objective is to arrive at solutions for minimising, if not eliminating, these concerns.
Stage 4 Action Plan
Set new target level and timeline to achieve re-alignment. Develop and implement appropriate systems/processes/actions complete with timetables.
Stage 5 Trend Analysis
Monitor improvements and or/lack of within the targeted time. Implement changes, set new targets and deadlines and continue monitoring.
Article by Venu Menon, senior consultant, Right Focus Consultants.
Areas with tangible performance such as sales have been using it for a long time but under a different name, i.e. sales targets. Now it has been extended to other business units by a different name.
But to achieve continuous KPI successes year after year, an organisation must ensure that its employees are fully engaged on a similar basis.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT – WHAT IS IT, ANYWAY?
Engagement is a combination of attitudes and priorities with a consistent and predictable impact on behaviour. In the work environment those attitudes include satisfaction, commitment, pride, loyalty, a strong sense of personal responsibility, and a willingness to be the advocate of the organisation.
Engaged employees work with passion and feel a strong connection with their company. They are the change agents who help the organisation move forward with their innovative drive. They embrace the organisation’s mission and are proud to be its advocate.
WHY MEASURE ENGAGEMENT?
Firstly, without measurement, it is rather impossible to determine whether or not any dimension of a business is performing as desired.
Organisations use various tools to measure business activities. New performance tools have emerged just as needs are being impacted by changing marketplace scenarios.
We now have KPIs, Business Activity Monitoring, Balance Score Card, etcetera, variously used by manufacturing, trading and service providers.
Amidst this changing environment, one important factor that is hardly measured is the engagement level of employees tasked with achieving KPI objectives.
Focusing on engagement helps to understand the critical levels of employees’ commitment to their various roles. This helps to redesign appropriate programmes, be it on systems, processes and management styles, and put right any misalignments so that the employees’ work mindset relates closer to KPI deliverables.
When individual employees are truly engaged they stay highly committed to the organisation and are motivated to achieve or surpass expectations more regularly.
THE RE-ALIGNING CONCEPT
The performance behaviour of any group of employees is usually impacted by continuum of changes in the organisation. Various changes implemented by organisations from time to time to meet shareholders’ expectations are often viewed with skepticism and resistance by employees.
Then there are the perceived fears, frustrations and failures that affect the ability of employees to be engaged.
The continued success of any organisation in achieving KPI objectives year after year rests with the engagement level of the employees. Ad hoc surveys every now and then are hardly the answer. We recommend regular measuring of the employees’ engagement level and re-aligning it to the KPI objective to achieve best results on a continuous basis.
THE RE-ALIGNING PROCESS
To move this forward, a company has to know where the employees’ mindset dwells now, as well as what tangible and intangible symbols, culture or management styles, etcetera, brought about the current state.
Without finding answers to these questions, any programmes to re-align employee mindsets will be a futile exercise.
The analysis of an employee engagement survey will reveal areas of strengths and weaknesses – strengths on which to build and weaknesses to be corrected.
This is usually followed by indepth discussions to identify the sources of problems which are then addressed before any work is initiated for a development programme. Upon implementation of the appropriate programmes, the company should conduct another study later to assess the level of success achieved against the set target. Thus the process continues.
RIGHT APPRAOCH
The right approach to re-aligning employee mindsets with KPI expectations consists of the following stages:
Stage 1 Employee Engagement Survey (Online)
This is an Employee Opinion Survey. It involves a number of questions where some items are specifically designed to measure the current level of employee engagement. The questions are simple to answer. Participants only need to click on the button relating to their level of agreement.
Stage 2 Perception Survey of Direct Reports (Online)
It is another opinion survey. Here, line managers provide crucial insights of their view of the work quality, work attitudes, work habits as well as perceived level of satisfaction of the direct reports.
Stage 3 In-depth Group Discussions
Areas of concern identified from the Stage 1 and 2 studies are taken to the next stage. Here, the what, when, where, how and why of those concerns are traced. The objective is to arrive at solutions for minimising, if not eliminating, these concerns.
Stage 4 Action Plan
Set new target level and timeline to achieve re-alignment. Develop and implement appropriate systems/processes/actions complete with timetables.
Stage 5 Trend Analysis
Monitor improvements and or/lack of within the targeted time. Implement changes, set new targets and deadlines and continue monitoring.
Article by Venu Menon, senior consultant, Right Focus Consultants.
Change your focus
ACCORDING to research conducted by scholar Luda Kopeikina, author of The Right Decision Every Time: How To Reach Perfect Clarity On Tough Decisions, decision-making is hindered by a lack of clear objectives, constraints and perspectives, and diffi culties in selecting the right option and dealing with emotions.
Decision-makers can deal with their predicaments with novel and effective means by using the Clarity State Decision Making (CSDM) methodology.
Identify your objective
Your decision objective starts with the decision question (“Should I purchase this property or not”?) and asking yourself why it is important. This will lead to the decision objective.
If the main objective for the decision question was “to create a conducive workplay environment” then, the decision objective might be expressed as “what is the best way to create a conducive work-play environment given the availability of this property?”
Initially the question was only whether to buy or not. But now, more options such as rental, co-ownership or relocation have opened up, which leads to the prospect of making a better decision.
Guide your decision
It is important to work with constraints positively and use them as guidelines for a positive decision. Start with the phrase “provided that I/we can…” Phrasing it in this manner forces you to act on the constraint.
For example, your boss gave you a budget constraint of RM100,000. The constraint could be phrased as “Provided that I/we can work within RM100,000”. This will spur you to fi nd innovative ways to work within the budget.
Apply this method to all the situations that require you to work with constraints.
Make emotions work
Having strong emotions — positive or negative — will affect the decision. First, name the emotion and identify its cause.
Then, ask yourself: “Why is this making me feel this way?” Probe until you get to the root of the matter.
For example, you may identify fear as your main emotion when considering a property purchase. Applying the technique of asking questions to identify its cause, you face up to the fact that your budget will be over-extended and you could be exposed to fl uctuating interest rates.
Turn this into a decision constraint — “provided that I can limit my interest exposure to no more than RM1.5 million”. This will give you a better perspective of your emotions and how they can be used positively for a better decision.
Change your viewpoint
A good decision-maker will deliberately shift his focus. In CSDM, there are several ways to frame-shift, such as converting emotion into constraints or looking at the decision in a broader perspective.
Taking the RM100,000 budget constraint example, you can change your viewpoint by asking: “What would you do if this were your only constraint?” You could come up with options like “get sponsors” or “sell advertising space”. This opens up new perspectives and options, and does not seem so limiting.
Or you can take a longer time to assess the impact of this decision. You may come up with new options and perspectives.
When it is time to make the decision, choose the option that will satisfy all of your remaining conditions and constraints.
Be prepared
Making the right decision is never easy. Outcomes will never be as they are predicted. People usually back themselves heavily as favourites to win in the decision- making toss-up.
But events in history and sports prove otherwise. Even when people appeared to have made the right decision, the outcome was unsatisfactory.
Does that necessarily make the fi nal decision wrong? No, because it was believed to be the best decision at the time it was made.
Remember that when conditions change, so must decision-makers. Decision- making is a continuous process. You have to apply and reapply what you know, not because of your success in decision- making but in spite of it.
Article by Ian Dyason, the fi rst certifi ed trainer outside the US in the Clarity State Decision Making methodology.
Decision-makers can deal with their predicaments with novel and effective means by using the Clarity State Decision Making (CSDM) methodology.
Identify your objective
Your decision objective starts with the decision question (“Should I purchase this property or not”?) and asking yourself why it is important. This will lead to the decision objective.
If the main objective for the decision question was “to create a conducive workplay environment” then, the decision objective might be expressed as “what is the best way to create a conducive work-play environment given the availability of this property?”
Initially the question was only whether to buy or not. But now, more options such as rental, co-ownership or relocation have opened up, which leads to the prospect of making a better decision.
Guide your decision
It is important to work with constraints positively and use them as guidelines for a positive decision. Start with the phrase “provided that I/we can…” Phrasing it in this manner forces you to act on the constraint.
For example, your boss gave you a budget constraint of RM100,000. The constraint could be phrased as “Provided that I/we can work within RM100,000”. This will spur you to fi nd innovative ways to work within the budget.
Apply this method to all the situations that require you to work with constraints.
Make emotions work
Having strong emotions — positive or negative — will affect the decision. First, name the emotion and identify its cause.
Then, ask yourself: “Why is this making me feel this way?” Probe until you get to the root of the matter.
For example, you may identify fear as your main emotion when considering a property purchase. Applying the technique of asking questions to identify its cause, you face up to the fact that your budget will be over-extended and you could be exposed to fl uctuating interest rates.
Turn this into a decision constraint — “provided that I can limit my interest exposure to no more than RM1.5 million”. This will give you a better perspective of your emotions and how they can be used positively for a better decision.
Change your viewpoint
A good decision-maker will deliberately shift his focus. In CSDM, there are several ways to frame-shift, such as converting emotion into constraints or looking at the decision in a broader perspective.
Taking the RM100,000 budget constraint example, you can change your viewpoint by asking: “What would you do if this were your only constraint?” You could come up with options like “get sponsors” or “sell advertising space”. This opens up new perspectives and options, and does not seem so limiting.
Or you can take a longer time to assess the impact of this decision. You may come up with new options and perspectives.
When it is time to make the decision, choose the option that will satisfy all of your remaining conditions and constraints.
Be prepared
Making the right decision is never easy. Outcomes will never be as they are predicted. People usually back themselves heavily as favourites to win in the decision- making toss-up.
But events in history and sports prove otherwise. Even when people appeared to have made the right decision, the outcome was unsatisfactory.
Does that necessarily make the fi nal decision wrong? No, because it was believed to be the best decision at the time it was made.
Remember that when conditions change, so must decision-makers. Decision- making is a continuous process. You have to apply and reapply what you know, not because of your success in decision- making but in spite of it.
Article by Ian Dyason, the fi rst certifi ed trainer outside the US in the Clarity State Decision Making methodology.
Get to the root of the problem
WERE there times when you desperately needed to make a decision but found yourself running around in circles instead?
It is likely that you failed to come to a conclusion because you were cornered by your own perspective.
Einstein once remarked: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.”
According to Luda Kopeikina, author of The Right Decision Every Time: How To Reach Perfect Clarity On Tough Decisions, a decision-maker encounters five types of difficulties: the lack of clear objectives, constraints and perspectives, difficulty in selecting from among options and dealing with emotions.
1 LACK OF CLEAR OBJECTIVES
Making a decision requires a clear objective. For example, you need to sell your property quickly to raise the money for a business venture and you have a buyer who is willing to offer you a good price. The problem is he wants to redevelop the place from the ground up, but you prefer to sell it to someone who will preserve it. Until you figure out if your true objective is to raise capital or conserve the structure of your home, the sale is in jeopardy. Revisit your decision question (“Should I sell my property?”) and your main objective (“I need to funds for a business venture”). Your objective is to identify the fastest way to raise the capital needed. This may lead you to take up the offer or look for other alternatives to raise the money.
2 LACK OF CLEAR CONSTRAINTS
When you hear words like “budget constraints”, you normally think that nothing much can be done about it. The focus is usually on the boundary of the constraint and not what can be done within it.
A good decision-maker embraces constraints and works within them to create the right outcome. Of course, too many obstacles make it difficult to arrive at a solution. So it is important to identify only the key constraints in the decision process.
3 LACK OF CLEAR PERSPECTIVES
The lack of fresh perspectives is one of the key hurdles that hamper decision-making. It is more difficult for a person to look at the situation from another angle if he has a vested interest in a decision.
He may prefer one or two options over the others, regardless of merit. His rationale is formed by his experiences, expertise or assumptions, which may not be appropriate for the situation at hand. The inability to reframe his thoughts will lead him back to his problem.
A good decision-maker must be able to shift his focus, look at his constraints and assumptions objectively and understand the limits of his thinking.
4 DIFFICULTY WITH EMOTIONS
Almost all decision-making models view emotions as a hindrance to good decisions. Yet many successful businessmen, fund managers and traders make decisions based on their gut instinct. This is not without merit. Your intuition has been honed by years of decision-making success. The higher your rate of success, the easier the decision will be. And the outcome is not half as bad. Instead of ignoring the key element of our humanity, we should learn to use it to greater effect.
5 DIFFICULTY IN SELECTING THE RIGHT OPTION
Experienced decision-makers face difficulties in selecting the right option because of the possibility of a bad outcome. This fear paralyses the decision-maker as the outcome is being delayed waiting for the “right time” or “more information”.
How much more certain will you be if you wait for the appropriate timing and right amount of information? Sometimes, the longer you wait, the greater the chance that circumstances have shifted out of your favour and the higher the chance of a bad outcome.
If a decision has to be made, make it fast. Choose the option that meets all your constraints, complements your decision objective and the amount of resources you have and holds the least or most manageable business risks.
- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network
Article by Ian Dyason, the CEO of Claritage Consulting.
It is likely that you failed to come to a conclusion because you were cornered by your own perspective.
Einstein once remarked: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.”
According to Luda Kopeikina, author of The Right Decision Every Time: How To Reach Perfect Clarity On Tough Decisions, a decision-maker encounters five types of difficulties: the lack of clear objectives, constraints and perspectives, difficulty in selecting from among options and dealing with emotions.
1 LACK OF CLEAR OBJECTIVES
Making a decision requires a clear objective. For example, you need to sell your property quickly to raise the money for a business venture and you have a buyer who is willing to offer you a good price. The problem is he wants to redevelop the place from the ground up, but you prefer to sell it to someone who will preserve it. Until you figure out if your true objective is to raise capital or conserve the structure of your home, the sale is in jeopardy. Revisit your decision question (“Should I sell my property?”) and your main objective (“I need to funds for a business venture”). Your objective is to identify the fastest way to raise the capital needed. This may lead you to take up the offer or look for other alternatives to raise the money.
2 LACK OF CLEAR CONSTRAINTS
When you hear words like “budget constraints”, you normally think that nothing much can be done about it. The focus is usually on the boundary of the constraint and not what can be done within it.
A good decision-maker embraces constraints and works within them to create the right outcome. Of course, too many obstacles make it difficult to arrive at a solution. So it is important to identify only the key constraints in the decision process.
3 LACK OF CLEAR PERSPECTIVES
The lack of fresh perspectives is one of the key hurdles that hamper decision-making. It is more difficult for a person to look at the situation from another angle if he has a vested interest in a decision.
He may prefer one or two options over the others, regardless of merit. His rationale is formed by his experiences, expertise or assumptions, which may not be appropriate for the situation at hand. The inability to reframe his thoughts will lead him back to his problem.
A good decision-maker must be able to shift his focus, look at his constraints and assumptions objectively and understand the limits of his thinking.
4 DIFFICULTY WITH EMOTIONS
Almost all decision-making models view emotions as a hindrance to good decisions. Yet many successful businessmen, fund managers and traders make decisions based on their gut instinct. This is not without merit. Your intuition has been honed by years of decision-making success. The higher your rate of success, the easier the decision will be. And the outcome is not half as bad. Instead of ignoring the key element of our humanity, we should learn to use it to greater effect.
5 DIFFICULTY IN SELECTING THE RIGHT OPTION
Experienced decision-makers face difficulties in selecting the right option because of the possibility of a bad outcome. This fear paralyses the decision-maker as the outcome is being delayed waiting for the “right time” or “more information”.
How much more certain will you be if you wait for the appropriate timing and right amount of information? Sometimes, the longer you wait, the greater the chance that circumstances have shifted out of your favour and the higher the chance of a bad outcome.
If a decision has to be made, make it fast. Choose the option that meets all your constraints, complements your decision objective and the amount of resources you have and holds the least or most manageable business risks.
- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network
Article by Ian Dyason, the CEO of Claritage Consulting.
Uncovering hidden talents
MANY managers are not aware of the talent that their team members possess. If you want to have a strong and self-confident team with members who listen to one another, all you have to do is ask the right questions and listen.
One of the best ways to feel connected with others in a company is to have good meetings where information is shared and people leave the room energised and ready for challenges.
ASK QUESTIONS
When I owned my hairstyling salon, I opened our regular staff meetings by asking everyone to share what they were most proud of in their personal and professional lives since the previous meeting.
Too often, such events go unacknowledged by us. The discipline of needing to report made everyone more aware of their accomplishments.
This technique works very well. At a seminar I presented for the San Jose AT&T Multilingual Call Centre, I was warned that English was the second or even third or fourth language of many in the audience.
“We hire people for their ability to call and talk in their native languages with others who speak that language,” the training manager told me. I was somewhat nervous because I was about to spend four hours with them.
For every new audience, you need to ask yourself: “What is my number one connection with this group?” I realised that we were all immigrants! We had all chosen to leave our native countries to seek opportunities in America.
One of the exercises I led was designed to build selfconfidence and position them positively with upper management. “Imagine you are at an AT&T company picnic or social or business event,” I told them. “One of the executives comes up to you and asks, ‘What do you do for us?’”
A young woman said: “I would tell him that I’m just an associate.”
I brought her up to the front of room.
“Tell me specifically what it is that you do here,” I said.
“I’m from India,” she replied, “and I call people who speak Hindi.
“Naturally, most people who speak Hindi have relations in India, and they spend more money on phone calls than most other ethnic groups,” she said.
“In fact, we are the smallest team in this call centre — there are only seven of us — but we bring in the most revenue.”
Everyone burst out laughing. She thought she was “just an associate”, but actually she was a top revenue producer. I suggested that when an executive asked her what she did, she should say, “I have the privilege of being part of the smallest team that brings in the most revenue in this call centre.”
I had her repeat this, and you could see her standing taller, holding her head higher as her self-confidence expanded.
Then I asked everyone to write a list of all the accomplishments they were proud of, even the most insignificant items, and I gave a prize for the longest list.
Many participants proudly shared their lists. I wish you could have heard these incredible stories.
One man was the editor of the newspaper for his ethnic community. Someone else was the treasurer of a large church.
Their accomplishments went on and on, all from people who might also have answered the question, “And what do you do?” with, “Oh, I’m just an associate.”
“All your future success will come from building on your past success,” I told them. “That means acknowledging it!”
At the end of the four hours, every single person in the room shook my hand and thanked me. They also thanked the training manager for inviting them and organising the session.
When they had all gone, I looked at her and said, “Did you know about all these accomplishments, especially those outside of work?” She shook her head. “No, I had no idea at all.”
At a time when many call centres are trying to do more with trimmed-down budgets, a well-run company meeting can still provide increased selfesteem and insights into the many talents and achievements of team members.
LEARNING MORE
By discovering the full range of each associate’s talents, you have valuable resources for filling slots and promoting from within. Boosting the self-esteem of team members by recognising their range of talents, even those shared in the community, increases their productivity and enthusiasm for delivering excellent service.
- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network
Article by Patricia Fripp, an executive speech coach, sales trainer and keynote speaker.
One of the best ways to feel connected with others in a company is to have good meetings where information is shared and people leave the room energised and ready for challenges.
ASK QUESTIONS
When I owned my hairstyling salon, I opened our regular staff meetings by asking everyone to share what they were most proud of in their personal and professional lives since the previous meeting.
Too often, such events go unacknowledged by us. The discipline of needing to report made everyone more aware of their accomplishments.
This technique works very well. At a seminar I presented for the San Jose AT&T Multilingual Call Centre, I was warned that English was the second or even third or fourth language of many in the audience.
“We hire people for their ability to call and talk in their native languages with others who speak that language,” the training manager told me. I was somewhat nervous because I was about to spend four hours with them.
For every new audience, you need to ask yourself: “What is my number one connection with this group?” I realised that we were all immigrants! We had all chosen to leave our native countries to seek opportunities in America.
One of the exercises I led was designed to build selfconfidence and position them positively with upper management. “Imagine you are at an AT&T company picnic or social or business event,” I told them. “One of the executives comes up to you and asks, ‘What do you do for us?’”
A young woman said: “I would tell him that I’m just an associate.”
I brought her up to the front of room.
“Tell me specifically what it is that you do here,” I said.
“I’m from India,” she replied, “and I call people who speak Hindi.
“Naturally, most people who speak Hindi have relations in India, and they spend more money on phone calls than most other ethnic groups,” she said.
“In fact, we are the smallest team in this call centre — there are only seven of us — but we bring in the most revenue.”
Everyone burst out laughing. She thought she was “just an associate”, but actually she was a top revenue producer. I suggested that when an executive asked her what she did, she should say, “I have the privilege of being part of the smallest team that brings in the most revenue in this call centre.”
I had her repeat this, and you could see her standing taller, holding her head higher as her self-confidence expanded.
Then I asked everyone to write a list of all the accomplishments they were proud of, even the most insignificant items, and I gave a prize for the longest list.
Many participants proudly shared their lists. I wish you could have heard these incredible stories.
One man was the editor of the newspaper for his ethnic community. Someone else was the treasurer of a large church.
Their accomplishments went on and on, all from people who might also have answered the question, “And what do you do?” with, “Oh, I’m just an associate.”
“All your future success will come from building on your past success,” I told them. “That means acknowledging it!”
At the end of the four hours, every single person in the room shook my hand and thanked me. They also thanked the training manager for inviting them and organising the session.
When they had all gone, I looked at her and said, “Did you know about all these accomplishments, especially those outside of work?” She shook her head. “No, I had no idea at all.”
At a time when many call centres are trying to do more with trimmed-down budgets, a well-run company meeting can still provide increased selfesteem and insights into the many talents and achievements of team members.
LEARNING MORE
By discovering the full range of each associate’s talents, you have valuable resources for filling slots and promoting from within. Boosting the self-esteem of team members by recognising their range of talents, even those shared in the community, increases their productivity and enthusiasm for delivering excellent service.
- Source: Straits Times/Asia News Network
Article by Patricia Fripp, an executive speech coach, sales trainer and keynote speaker.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Six Steps to Effective Delegation
By Brian Tracy
To delegate effectively in your work with others, there are six steps that you can take. If you neglect any one of these steps, you run the risk of miscommunication, misunderstanding, demoralization, and poor performance.
Step 1: Match the Person to the Job
One of the great time wasters in the world of work is delegating the task to the wrong person. Often the task is delegated to a person who is not capable of doing it properly or getting it done on schedule.
Step 2: Agree on what is to be done
Once you have selected the right person for the job, take the time to discuss the job with the person and agree upon what must be done. The more time you talk to discuss and agree upon the end result or objective-the more effort you make to achieve absolute clarity-the faster the job will be done once the person starts on it.
Step 3: Explain how the Job Should Be Done
Explain to the person your preferred approach or method of working. Explain how you would like to see the job done, and how you or someone else has done it successfully in the past.
Step 4: Have Your Employee Repeat Back Instructions
Ask the person to feed your instructions back to you in her own words. Have him or her explain to you what you have just explained and agreed upon. This is the only way that you can be sure that the other person actually understands the job or assignment he or she has been delegated to accomplish.
Step 5: Set a Deadline
Set a deadline and schedule for completion of the task. At the same time, arrange for regular reporting and periodic inspection. Invite feedback and questions if there are any delays or problems.
Step 6: Manage by Exception
Managing by exception is a powerful time management tool that you use to work more efficiently with other people. If the job is on track and on schedule, managing by exception means that the person does not have to report back to you. If you don't hear from him, you can assume that everything is going well. The individual only has to report back to you when an exception occurs and there is a problem with getting the job done on time, to the agreed upon level of quality.
Action Exercise
Sit down with your staff members and explain to them exactly why they are on the payroll and what their highest value tasks are
To delegate effectively in your work with others, there are six steps that you can take. If you neglect any one of these steps, you run the risk of miscommunication, misunderstanding, demoralization, and poor performance.
Step 1: Match the Person to the Job
One of the great time wasters in the world of work is delegating the task to the wrong person. Often the task is delegated to a person who is not capable of doing it properly or getting it done on schedule.
Step 2: Agree on what is to be done
Once you have selected the right person for the job, take the time to discuss the job with the person and agree upon what must be done. The more time you talk to discuss and agree upon the end result or objective-the more effort you make to achieve absolute clarity-the faster the job will be done once the person starts on it.
Step 3: Explain how the Job Should Be Done
Explain to the person your preferred approach or method of working. Explain how you would like to see the job done, and how you or someone else has done it successfully in the past.
Step 4: Have Your Employee Repeat Back Instructions
Ask the person to feed your instructions back to you in her own words. Have him or her explain to you what you have just explained and agreed upon. This is the only way that you can be sure that the other person actually understands the job or assignment he or she has been delegated to accomplish.
Step 5: Set a Deadline
Set a deadline and schedule for completion of the task. At the same time, arrange for regular reporting and periodic inspection. Invite feedback and questions if there are any delays or problems.
Step 6: Manage by Exception
Managing by exception is a powerful time management tool that you use to work more efficiently with other people. If the job is on track and on schedule, managing by exception means that the person does not have to report back to you. If you don't hear from him, you can assume that everything is going well. The individual only has to report back to you when an exception occurs and there is a problem with getting the job done on time, to the agreed upon level of quality.
Action Exercise
Sit down with your staff members and explain to them exactly why they are on the payroll and what their highest value tasks are
Saturday, August 01, 2009
The Key to Motivation_Brian Tracy
Your Real Goal
Your goal is to become a transformational leader, the kind of person that motivates and inspires people to perform at levels far beyond anything that they had previously thought possible.
Keep People In the Know
Transformational leaders empower others by keeping them "in the know," by keeping them fully informed on everything that effects their jobs. People want and need to feel that they are "insiders," that they are aware of everything that is going on. There is nothing so demoralizing to a staff member than to be kept in the dark about their work and what is going on in the company.
Give Regular Feedback
One empowering behavior practiced by transformational leaders is regular feedback on performance and results. People need to know how they're doing so they can improve if performance is below standards and so that they can be proud of their successes. The more feedback you give to people, the better it is, as long as the feedback is objective and not critical. My friend, Ken Blanchard, says that, "Positive feedback is the breakfast of champions."
Be Generous With Praise
Be generous with your praise and encouragement. Remember, people are the only asset that can be made to appreciate in value by giving them warmth, respect, approval and by creating a climate of positive expectations.
Create An Exciting Future
What companies and countries and institutions need today are courageous visionary leaders who are committed to creating an exciting future for themselves and others. You have within yourself the ability to evolve and grow as a leader and to make a real difference in the world around you. And the one thing you can know for sure about yourself is that, no matter what you've accomplished up to now, there is far more that you can do.
As you practice the behaviors of effective leaders, you will grow more and more toward the realization of your full potential. It's completely up to you.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action in your work.
First, hold regular meetings with your staff and tell them everything that is going on. Invite their comments, questions and concerns. Make everybody feel as if he or she was an insider in the organization.
Second, continually look for opportunities to give positive feedback, praise and encouragement. People need praise and encouragement like roses need rain and sunshine. Take every opportunity to make people feel better about themselves and their work.
Your goal is to become a transformational leader, the kind of person that motivates and inspires people to perform at levels far beyond anything that they had previously thought possible.
Keep People In the Know
Transformational leaders empower others by keeping them "in the know," by keeping them fully informed on everything that effects their jobs. People want and need to feel that they are "insiders," that they are aware of everything that is going on. There is nothing so demoralizing to a staff member than to be kept in the dark about their work and what is going on in the company.
Give Regular Feedback
One empowering behavior practiced by transformational leaders is regular feedback on performance and results. People need to know how they're doing so they can improve if performance is below standards and so that they can be proud of their successes. The more feedback you give to people, the better it is, as long as the feedback is objective and not critical. My friend, Ken Blanchard, says that, "Positive feedback is the breakfast of champions."
Be Generous With Praise
Be generous with your praise and encouragement. Remember, people are the only asset that can be made to appreciate in value by giving them warmth, respect, approval and by creating a climate of positive expectations.
Create An Exciting Future
What companies and countries and institutions need today are courageous visionary leaders who are committed to creating an exciting future for themselves and others. You have within yourself the ability to evolve and grow as a leader and to make a real difference in the world around you. And the one thing you can know for sure about yourself is that, no matter what you've accomplished up to now, there is far more that you can do.
As you practice the behaviors of effective leaders, you will grow more and more toward the realization of your full potential. It's completely up to you.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action in your work.
First, hold regular meetings with your staff and tell them everything that is going on. Invite their comments, questions and concerns. Make everybody feel as if he or she was an insider in the organization.
Second, continually look for opportunities to give positive feedback, praise and encouragement. People need praise and encouragement like roses need rain and sunshine. Take every opportunity to make people feel better about themselves and their work.
Find your meeting manners
AS you begin to build your career and reach your goals, your professional conduct will play a crucial role in the success you achieve. You should always be mindful of your professional image, particularly at times when you are most in view.
You may not be aware that meetings are a time when your professional conduct is most open to scrutiny from others around the boardroom table. Here are some do’s and don’ts in the boardroom to help you manage your own professional image.
Do’s
■ Go prepared. Read the agenda prior to the meeting and bring along a notepad. If you are the meeting organiser, make sure you issue an agenda beforehand.
■ Focus on the meeting’s objectives. We all know what it is like to sit in meetings that go on and on, yet never achieve anything. Try to stick to the meeting agenda and keep others on track if you are chairing.
■ Be punctual. Arriving late is rude and inconvenient for others. Don’t assume the meeting will wait for you or that you will be given an update on what you have missed. Everyone’s time is important and keeping people waiting is highly disrespectful.
■ Pay attention and listen to what others have to say. It is often apparent to others when people begin to let their minds wander. By not paying attention, you may also miss some important information or an action point and may have to admit to not having listened later on.
■ Be aware of your body language. Sit up straight and keep your arms on the table. This will also help you to remain alert. Never slouch or spin in your chair as this does not project a professional image.
■ Stand up to shake hands when you are introduced to someone you have not met before. Remaining seated when introduced sends the message that you don’t consider the other person important enough.
■ Switch your mobile phone to “silent” mode — always! And refrain from sending text messages. Such behaviour says your mind is elsewhere.
Don’ts
■ Don’t interrupt others, either to cut them off or to ask questions. Interrupting is always rude and displays self-importance. If you are unsure of whether or not questions should be held until the end, it is acceptable to politely ask whether or not this is the case.
■ Don’t criticise ideas from others. This is especially true for creative meetings or brainstorm sessions. If you need to disagree with a point someone has made, do so diplomatically and without criticism.
■ Don’t whisper or speak to the person beside you while someone else is speaking. This is very distracting, not to mention rude. If you have something to say that you can’t discuss with everyone present, leave it till later.
■ Don’t let the meeting run over time. Everyone has work they need to get back to and it is disconcerting for people to have to excuse themselves to get to another commitment.
Meetings are a perfect time to show your managers that you have what it takes to make a good impression and conduct yourself professionally.
By showing you are able to behave with respect and courtesy while remaining focused on meeting objectives, you give your managers the confidence to put you in higher profile situations.
Article contributed by Mastura Diana Jaffar, managing director of DBM Malaysia,
You may not be aware that meetings are a time when your professional conduct is most open to scrutiny from others around the boardroom table. Here are some do’s and don’ts in the boardroom to help you manage your own professional image.
Do’s
■ Go prepared. Read the agenda prior to the meeting and bring along a notepad. If you are the meeting organiser, make sure you issue an agenda beforehand.
■ Focus on the meeting’s objectives. We all know what it is like to sit in meetings that go on and on, yet never achieve anything. Try to stick to the meeting agenda and keep others on track if you are chairing.
■ Be punctual. Arriving late is rude and inconvenient for others. Don’t assume the meeting will wait for you or that you will be given an update on what you have missed. Everyone’s time is important and keeping people waiting is highly disrespectful.
■ Pay attention and listen to what others have to say. It is often apparent to others when people begin to let their minds wander. By not paying attention, you may also miss some important information or an action point and may have to admit to not having listened later on.
■ Be aware of your body language. Sit up straight and keep your arms on the table. This will also help you to remain alert. Never slouch or spin in your chair as this does not project a professional image.
■ Stand up to shake hands when you are introduced to someone you have not met before. Remaining seated when introduced sends the message that you don’t consider the other person important enough.
■ Switch your mobile phone to “silent” mode — always! And refrain from sending text messages. Such behaviour says your mind is elsewhere.
Don’ts
■ Don’t interrupt others, either to cut them off or to ask questions. Interrupting is always rude and displays self-importance. If you are unsure of whether or not questions should be held until the end, it is acceptable to politely ask whether or not this is the case.
■ Don’t criticise ideas from others. This is especially true for creative meetings or brainstorm sessions. If you need to disagree with a point someone has made, do so diplomatically and without criticism.
■ Don’t whisper or speak to the person beside you while someone else is speaking. This is very distracting, not to mention rude. If you have something to say that you can’t discuss with everyone present, leave it till later.
■ Don’t let the meeting run over time. Everyone has work they need to get back to and it is disconcerting for people to have to excuse themselves to get to another commitment.
Meetings are a perfect time to show your managers that you have what it takes to make a good impression and conduct yourself professionally.
By showing you are able to behave with respect and courtesy while remaining focused on meeting objectives, you give your managers the confidence to put you in higher profile situations.
Article contributed by Mastura Diana Jaffar, managing director of DBM Malaysia,
Think before you send
BEFORE you send that “cute” remark, that scathing criticism or that “private” thought via e-mail, stop and consider what you are really saying.
Even Tina, the tech writer in the Dilbert comic strip by Scott Adams, says: “One should never compose e-mail while one is snarling.”
How you feel affects what you say, of course, but with e-mail, there is an even greater danger than offending someone.
As an e-mail writer, you should think about what would happen if other people had your e-mail records — because they may be able to retrieve them.
While e-mail is a simple and fantastic way to keep in touch with friends and business associates, it also has some security and legal problems attached to it.
In an effort to remove potential security problems with e-mail, Amazon.com initiated a Sweep And Keep programme. Staff were encouraged to purge e-mail messages that need not be kept for legal records. As a reward for deleting e-mail messages quickly, the employees were treated to free lattes.
Writing for the Cox News Service, Mary Beth Regan says that many people compose e-mail messages personally and candidly because they assume no one but their friends will read them.
She adds: “But unlike telephone conversations, which must be recorded to be preserved, e-mail messages automatically live on in computer hard drives — even if people who send them don’t realise it.
“For that reason, investigators are turning more frequently to retrieved e-mail as evidence in court proceedings.”
Under the United States federal law, first-class letters, telephone conversations and e-mail messages cannot be intercepted — without a court order — during transmission.
A phone call — unless it is recorded — ceases to exist the instant a conversation is over. That is not true with e-mail messages. E-mail messages are stored, and not just in one place.
If you send an e-mail message, it will be stored on your computer’s hard drive, the recipient’s hard drive, possibly on an in-house server’s hard drive and possibly on the hard drive of an Internet service provider (ISP).
At the least, there are four different places from which an e-mail message could come back to haunt you. If under a court order, commercial ISPs are required to turn over messages for investigation.
Recently, I had to re-install the Windows operating system on my computer. It was done at a computer shop.
When I set up the computer again at home, I was astounded to find that my saved e-mail messages had been replaced by e-mail messages that I had deleted over a year before.
I was dismayed that I had to delete them again, but I was happy that there was nothing embarrassing for the computer repair people to read and nothing that could be used against me in a court of law.
E-mail just lives on and on and on.
James Dempsey, senior staff counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC, says: “People are using e-mail as a substitute for telephone calls ... But they are also creating records that are being used in civil and criminal proceedings.”
Adds Paul Heylman, an employment law attorney based in Washington, DC: “E-mail is informal, so managers often say things that would never go in a memo.
“E-mail (often recoverable after deletion) is often as potent as a formal memo.”
Tom Blanton, director of the non-profit National Security Archive at George Washington University, says: “The scary thing about e-mail is that it’s got the immediacy of a conversation but the permanence of a letter ... Generally, you don’t want to write anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front page.”
So, before you send that off-hand remark over the Internet or your company’s Intranet, stop and think it over. Maybe a phone call would be better — and safer.
E-mail can prove embarrassing, can involve lawsuits and can harm other people. That is the hard truth about an easy-to-use communication tool.
Article by Justin Tyme, an author and expert on issues concerning small businesses.
Even Tina, the tech writer in the Dilbert comic strip by Scott Adams, says: “One should never compose e-mail while one is snarling.”
How you feel affects what you say, of course, but with e-mail, there is an even greater danger than offending someone.
As an e-mail writer, you should think about what would happen if other people had your e-mail records — because they may be able to retrieve them.
While e-mail is a simple and fantastic way to keep in touch with friends and business associates, it also has some security and legal problems attached to it.
In an effort to remove potential security problems with e-mail, Amazon.com initiated a Sweep And Keep programme. Staff were encouraged to purge e-mail messages that need not be kept for legal records. As a reward for deleting e-mail messages quickly, the employees were treated to free lattes.
Writing for the Cox News Service, Mary Beth Regan says that many people compose e-mail messages personally and candidly because they assume no one but their friends will read them.
She adds: “But unlike telephone conversations, which must be recorded to be preserved, e-mail messages automatically live on in computer hard drives — even if people who send them don’t realise it.
“For that reason, investigators are turning more frequently to retrieved e-mail as evidence in court proceedings.”
Under the United States federal law, first-class letters, telephone conversations and e-mail messages cannot be intercepted — without a court order — during transmission.
A phone call — unless it is recorded — ceases to exist the instant a conversation is over. That is not true with e-mail messages. E-mail messages are stored, and not just in one place.
If you send an e-mail message, it will be stored on your computer’s hard drive, the recipient’s hard drive, possibly on an in-house server’s hard drive and possibly on the hard drive of an Internet service provider (ISP).
At the least, there are four different places from which an e-mail message could come back to haunt you. If under a court order, commercial ISPs are required to turn over messages for investigation.
Recently, I had to re-install the Windows operating system on my computer. It was done at a computer shop.
When I set up the computer again at home, I was astounded to find that my saved e-mail messages had been replaced by e-mail messages that I had deleted over a year before.
I was dismayed that I had to delete them again, but I was happy that there was nothing embarrassing for the computer repair people to read and nothing that could be used against me in a court of law.
E-mail just lives on and on and on.
James Dempsey, senior staff counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC, says: “People are using e-mail as a substitute for telephone calls ... But they are also creating records that are being used in civil and criminal proceedings.”
Adds Paul Heylman, an employment law attorney based in Washington, DC: “E-mail is informal, so managers often say things that would never go in a memo.
“E-mail (often recoverable after deletion) is often as potent as a formal memo.”
Tom Blanton, director of the non-profit National Security Archive at George Washington University, says: “The scary thing about e-mail is that it’s got the immediacy of a conversation but the permanence of a letter ... Generally, you don’t want to write anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front page.”
So, before you send that off-hand remark over the Internet or your company’s Intranet, stop and think it over. Maybe a phone call would be better — and safer.
E-mail can prove embarrassing, can involve lawsuits and can harm other people. That is the hard truth about an easy-to-use communication tool.
Article by Justin Tyme, an author and expert on issues concerning small businesses.
In high spirits
OCCASIONALLY, I feel a bit lacking in motivation, just like everybody else.
When such feelings hit me, I turn to a tried-and-trusted way to build selfmotivation. I spend time with positive people.
Recently, I had lunch with five of my really good friends. They are always interested in what I am doing, they are really supportive and they make me laugh. When I leave them, I feel much better and more motivated than I did before we met.
I like to think that I do the same for them. That is the secret to receiving support and motivation from others — you need to hand out some “warm glows”.
So let me ask you, do you remember how you felt after your last interaction with another person either on the phone or face to face? That person could have been one of your customers, a colleague, a salesman, a friend or even a member of your family.
Did he make you feel good, uplifted and more positive? Did he leave you feeling neutral or, even worse, feeling down and more negative?
Unfortunately, most of us have grown up in a negative culture where it is much easier to tell people what they did wrong rather than praise them when they succeed.
Research in the United States found that 65 per cent of employees received no recognition for good work in the past year. Similar research in other countries of the world shows comparable results.
Other research has shown that the number one reason people leave their jobs, and customers take their business elsewhere, is that they do not feel appreciated.
If customers leave an interaction with you or one of your team feeling better than they did before, then they are much more likely to come back, recommend you to other people and spend more money with you.
If one of your team feels better after an interaction with you, then he is more likely to pass that feeling onto a customer.
Dr Karl Albrecht, a respected management consultant, strategic thinker, author and speaker, once said: “The way you treat your staff is the way they’ll treat your customers.”
Think of the impact your behaviour as a leader has on the bottom line.
So give some positive and motivational comments to the other people in your life and you will have a workplace that is more productive and more fun. A positive workplace and happy workers attract more happy customers.
Positive, motivated people tend to be happier in their personal lives too, with more friends, better relationships and better health. If you want to make a difference to your team members, remember to hand out warm glows, not dampeners.
Article by Alan Fairweather, author of How To Be A Motivational Manager.
When such feelings hit me, I turn to a tried-and-trusted way to build selfmotivation. I spend time with positive people.
Recently, I had lunch with five of my really good friends. They are always interested in what I am doing, they are really supportive and they make me laugh. When I leave them, I feel much better and more motivated than I did before we met.
I like to think that I do the same for them. That is the secret to receiving support and motivation from others — you need to hand out some “warm glows”.
So let me ask you, do you remember how you felt after your last interaction with another person either on the phone or face to face? That person could have been one of your customers, a colleague, a salesman, a friend or even a member of your family.
Did he make you feel good, uplifted and more positive? Did he leave you feeling neutral or, even worse, feeling down and more negative?
Unfortunately, most of us have grown up in a negative culture where it is much easier to tell people what they did wrong rather than praise them when they succeed.
Research in the United States found that 65 per cent of employees received no recognition for good work in the past year. Similar research in other countries of the world shows comparable results.
Other research has shown that the number one reason people leave their jobs, and customers take their business elsewhere, is that they do not feel appreciated.
If customers leave an interaction with you or one of your team feeling better than they did before, then they are much more likely to come back, recommend you to other people and spend more money with you.
If one of your team feels better after an interaction with you, then he is more likely to pass that feeling onto a customer.
Dr Karl Albrecht, a respected management consultant, strategic thinker, author and speaker, once said: “The way you treat your staff is the way they’ll treat your customers.”
Think of the impact your behaviour as a leader has on the bottom line.
So give some positive and motivational comments to the other people in your life and you will have a workplace that is more productive and more fun. A positive workplace and happy workers attract more happy customers.
Positive, motivated people tend to be happier in their personal lives too, with more friends, better relationships and better health. If you want to make a difference to your team members, remember to hand out warm glows, not dampeners.
Article by Alan Fairweather, author of How To Be A Motivational Manager.
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