Are you as effective as you say you are?
When most of us talk about our work we are the equivalent of a workplace eHarmony self-description. We are effective, hard working, have a good sense of humor, dislike gossip and have a better understanding of the job than most other people. We certainly know more than the boss.
The reality may be far from all of that, but that is what we tell our friends and family. If they believe us they probably wonder how we are able to tolerate being the only brilliant person in the organization–especially when we are treated so unfairly.
I’m not suggesting that you tell the exact truth to those you want to impress. “Actually, I’m an obnoxious, malingering backstabber who drags everyone down.” I’m suggesting that you become as good as you say you are.
*Do you think you are the kind of person who can solve problems? What’s a problem you’ve effectively solved in the last few weeks? (The key word there is effectively.)
*Do you think you work well with others? When has been a time in the last few weeks when someone else might not have handled a situation well but you were able to work effectively and build a bridge instead of a barrier?
*Do people think of you as a leader? What is a positive thing you have led others to do or be?
*Do you say you believe in personal and professional development? What is a negative trait you have overcome? What is a trait you are seriously working on right now? What have you done to learn more about your work and be more effective in it, other than learning from the mistakes you’ve made?
*Do you think you are an effective supervisor? What are some specific things that you have done in the last week that could provide proof of that?
The bottom line is simply this: Anyone can say how good they are at work. They may even intend to be as good as they say they are. But if there aren’t any ready examples, it probably isn’t reality.
There is as time and place for confident statements about what we do and what we can do. Just be sure you can prove it with examples of what you have done.
February 12th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
6 comments
Every business, office and function has requirements for internal and external customers, clients and vendors to follow. Many of those requirements are a perpetual source of bad feelings between those who are irritated at having to do them and those who are irritated at having to repeatedly ask to have them done. The complaints about some requirements will sound familiar to you, no matter which side of them you are on.
*Some seem to be illogical, impractical, unreasonable, excessively time consuming or costly to those who must comply.
*One organization or office will have a very easy 1-2-3 step process while another has a long, drawn-out, complicated process for exactly the same task.
*Most procedures and requirements are not reviewed or changed, even when the situations change.
*Rarely is an explanation given for a requirement. In fact, “That’s just the way we have to do it” is the usual apologetic comment.
*Requirements that seem to be only a preference without a purpose often become lines in the dirt between people and groups.
*Many procedures and processes were established to fix a problem that happened once or twice but could have been corrected another way.
*The person who complies is often penalized with the extra work while someone who simply doesn’t do what is required is helped anyway–indicating to everyone that the requirements weren’t necessary.
Take the Challenge To Simplify Procedures and Processes
You may not have the authority to make changes on your own. However, perhaps you can consider ways to improve some aspect of a problematic process or talk with a manager or your team about it. We want that for the requirements we are required to follow and others feel the same way.
1. Start by focusing on the procedures with which you have the most problems gaining cooperation from users. If you can change the format, timeline, wording, number of copies required or just the length of a form, it shows a good faith effort to make life and work easier.
2. Consider the origin and purpose of the procedure and see if the situation is still the same. If a procedure was developed to stop a problem, consider if the elements of the problem still exist or if there are others ways to deal with it.
3. Ask for input from those who must comply with the requirements. Some may want no formal processes at all and that probably isn’t going to happen. Nevertheless, perhaps you can find out what is bothering them the most. You may be able to make huge gains in confidence and support by working with others instead of fighting with them over a form or requirement they hate.
4. Don’t have Spite and Malice requirements. Ask yourself if part of the reason you’re insisting you can’t change the procedure is because you’re irritated at even being questioned about it. Could you make some changes without harming effectiveness?
A woman told me she is in a fight all the time with other sections in her organization over a process she established for a relatively minor task. They call her the Queen Bee. Talking about it to me she said, ”I know they hate doing what a lowly clerk asks but if they don’t, they don’t get the items and I’ve said that’s the way I want it done, so there.” That was when I decided the bee part might actually be an initial and not the entire word!
Making vendors jump through hoops seems to be an entertainment for some organizations! It’s true that if they want to do business they will have to comply. However, it seems there would be a benefit to having vendors feeling positively rather than negatively about an organization when they do their work or provide their product.
5. Don’t require even one more step than is absolutely necessary. Question every blank to be filled, every requirement, every deadline date, every approval step, every everything. For example, if there is some part of the form that will contain exactly the same material from the same people every time, could you eliminate those sections?
6. Target anything you know or think might be a unique requirement of yours or of your office. Is it really necessary to require a hard copy be submitted, when almost every other office will accept an e-file or fax? Why does your office require a notarized form and no one else does? Are some of the requirements mostly because your own office doesn’t work effectively? Consider improving that problem without punishing other people or groups.
7. Question (gasp!) the suggestions of attorneys, HR or others who are not considering internal or external customer service. Perhaps the attorneys or other experts could have suggested another more time-effective way if they had been told it was needed. Ask for options and see if the legal or HR resource can help you find some less convoluted methods.
8. If the procedure or some aspect of it is unassailable, explain your reasons to everyone now and then. Explain to help others understand not just to justify your decisions. Regularly thank those who comply. Never let someone get into the habit of cutting corners if the corners are really needed. A good test: If a task was able to be accomplished without your usual procedures and requirements being followed, you probably can do it that way all the time with only a few adjustments.
9. Communicate. If you are going to change a procedure, explain why to avoid seeming to be capricious. If you are adding a requirement, explain that as well. Be open to talking about it and doing some negotiating rather than making every requirement and procedure an open and shut case of “Just do it.”
10. Keep challenging yourself and those with whom you work. The odds are there are some or many things you require of internal and external clients and customers that could be reduced or eliminated without reducing quality, quantity or effectiveness. Try it this week. Then, mark your calendar for about once a quarter and take the Simplify Challenge.
February 5th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Service to Customers, Clients and Coworkers |
9 comments
“Can you make this ruined platter look like new?”
That question is one that I’m sure Lenore, the very helpful representative for Nambé Mills, is asked quite often.The Nambé company is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but their award-winning, beautiful aluminum alloy products and other artisanware is sold all over the world and even displayed in museums.
As with any shiny metal, things can happen to harm the finish and that is when people call Lenore. She provides the information for how you can use Nambé’s repolishing service and have your platter or other item looking like new in a few weeks.
When you wish you could make things new again
Many of us wish we could send our lives, our work, our relationships, our choices, a specific event or just the last week, day or hour back to the repolishing factory. We sometimes desperately wish we could have things back the way they used to be or better.
Instead of that analogy, some people may prefer to be more self-accepting and talk about enjoying the luster that comes with age and the one about being useful in spite of not looking very good or the advice to look at the marks and remember the happy times that caused them.
Whatever our perspective, a metal platter isn’t a good analogy for human lives. Life, death and the sometimes joyous-sometimes tragic events that come between those two points can’t be reduced to such glib comparisons. Nevertheless, perhaps there are a few thoughts we can apply.
1. It’s easier to avoid damage than to repair it.
2. At least you can stop adding new gouges.
3. You can make the decision to damage yourself but you don’t have the right to damage others.
4. Even if improvements don’t show right away the process can be working.
5. No matter how bad things are now, it can be made better if you search for the right way to do it–and do what it takes to make it happen.
Some of you could add to or improve that list with humorous, profound or faith-based thoughts. The point is this: We can’t, in the human world, go back, do over or make anything new. What we can do is stop doing the things that have left the marks we wish we could polish away. We can be more and do more to have value to ourselves and others. We can also whole-heartedly accept and appreciate the opportunities we are given to renew, renovate and recommit. We get that opportunity every day. Like, right now.
Thank you, Lenore and Nambe!
January 29th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Keeping On!, Life and Work |
14 comments
Just in case you were thinking things
are worse than ever.
This issue of Life magazine in 1969 lamented high taxes, high prices and the national debt.
Time magazine in 1992 had articles about the same things.
This 1972 Time magazine talked about the national debt and the cost of our international efforts.
This 1977 magazine featured stories on the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181, the murder of its pilot and the terrorizing of its 86 passengers by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This terrorist group has been responsible for hijackings and suicide bombings since 1967.
This 1971 Time Magazine featured the Irish Republican Army, later called the Irish National Liberation Army. They used bombs, murders and kidnappings to advance their cause of a socialist, independent country, both within Ireland in sectarian violence (Catholics against Protestants and vice versa) and in England. On October 11, 2009 the IRA/INLA formally ended its use of campaigns of violence and terrorism to advance their cause, saying they would rely on political efforts.
Life magazine in 1931. Some things are always good ideas.
January 25th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Keeping On!, Life and Work |
2 comments
Who is most like you and least like you at work?
Think about the people who work with you directly or indirectly and do a bit of an analysis. Don’t take the time to worry about the why of your responses, just put faces and names to these questions.
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Who do you most look forward to seeing when you come back from time away?
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Who do you most dread seeing?
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Who works about the same way you do? (Time management, communication style, attitude, skill level, etc.) Is that helpful to you or not?
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Who works in an almost completely different way than you do? Is that a problem or not?
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If you were given an office to share with someone, who would you choose?
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Who has helped you the most in the last six months?
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Who has purposely or inadvertently hindered you from getting your work done effectively?
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Who have you complained, griped or grumbled the most about while at work?
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Who do you think of as a strong ally?
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Who is the person with whom you can share thoughts when you want to discuss improving work or being more effective?
- Who is an unknown quantity to you?
- Who do you think understands you and your motivations and concerns the best?
Answering those questions may only reinforce what you already know about who you like and who you don’t. Or, the answers may encourage you to reach out more, build a bridge or repair one and say thank you to the person or people who have supported you over time.
Look around at work and you’ll realize that most are co-workers, although not particularly close ones. A few seem like inmates in a particularly bizarre asylum. A very few are colleagues who will watch your back and make your time at work better. Have you said thanks to those (or that one) lately?
January 13th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Keeping On!, Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
7 comments
Yes, everyone knows about your knowledge or skill area. They know your likes and dislikes. They know what you are passionate about. They know what you are most interested in at work. They know. But they may be tired of having you interject the topic into every conversation or attempting to make yourself and your work relevant to every project or program.
There are several reasons most of us tend to bring things back to our areas of interest–sometimes to the point of being irritating.
- It is on our minds a lot, so it’s just natural that it comes out in our conversations.
- Because of our knowledge we may realize how the subject fits and can see the value of others being aware of it.
- We may want to sell ourselves or our department or section so we never miss a chance to mention the importance of our work.
- When it comes to philosophies and ideas, we may be so committed to a cause that we think others agree and want to discuss it as well.
- We may think that just one more logical argument from us will persuade someone we know doesn’t agree with us.
- We may be a one-tune person or employee without much else to talk about or without other areas of expertise.
- We may incorrectly think everything revolves around us or our work.
Whatever is the reason for you, it may be irritating to others. Listen for hints–maybe said with a joking tone–that people were just waiting for you to bring the subject around to your pet topic. Watch for smiles, rolled eyes, heavy sighs or other indicators. If it seems your comments are often met with, “Yeah, yeah, we know. Let’s move on”, consider if you are becoming very predictable in your remarks. Even if your comments are valid, once you’ve lost your listeners, communication isn’t taking place.
Alternatives To The Same Old Song
- If you believe your comment or expertise is really needed but others are not listening, acknowledge that you may sound repetitious but you believe it’s important. If you continue to be shut down, talk to your manager or supervisor in private about it and ask for advice.
- Talk to someone you respect about their suggestions for how to express your thoughts in ways that don’t get remarks like, “I wondered how long it would take for you to bring it around to that.”
- Review your conversations and ask yourself if you simply have run that topic into the ground with everyone. If there is even a chance that you have, give it a rest.
- Wait and see if others bring it up and ask you about it–always the best indicator of influence and acceptance.
- Purposely measure out the number of times you mention your recurring issue or topic.
- Purposely look for other examples, situations or illustrations. Gain expanded perspectives so you have more than one viewpoint or one experience.
Of course, when lives, ethics, big money or other serious consequence are at stake we may need to push every time to make sure the right things are done. However, those situations nearly always involve more than a routine meeting or conversation. In most work situations we don’t need to sound like a broken record to get ourselves noticed, our work valued or our opinions expressed. If you think you do, deal with that first.
January 8th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
12 comments
Think of how many voice messages you have received in the last year. Consider that every time you get a voice message, someone has listened to your recorded greeting. Start your new year with a fresh greeting message and keep it fresh.
Correct mumbles and misspeaks. When some of the same people call you repeatedly, they hear you repeatedly fumble your name, clear your throat or speak to someone in the background as you hang up. Record a new greeting that lets them hear you at your best.
Update your greeting and keep it current. Some people record a new greeting every day. I did that for a time (and received compliments on it) but found it to be more trouble than I wanted to deal with. However, it’s oten necessary to change your messages for specific situations.
“Hello, this is Mark Sanderson. It’s Tuesday, January 4th, and I’m traveling today. I’ll be returning calls tomorrow, Wednesday, so please leave your message. Thanks!”
“Hi, this is Jan Rossoni. I’ll be out of the office and won’t be getting messages until February 10th. Paul Nabors will be happy to help you before then and he can be reached at 316-222-0570. Otherwise, leave a message and I’ll call you back when I return in February. Thank you!”
If you do that kind of updating, call yourself and leave a reminder to change the message before business starts the day you return.
Give callers a fresh mental image of you. When your greeting sounds the same for months or years, frequent callers just wait to get to the spot where they can leave a message. When you occasionally have a fresh sound, even frequent callers tend to listen to it as though they are listening to you speak. Let them hear you as a dynamic person who is engaged in work, not a dull, recorded echo of you from two years ago.
General suggestions:
- It sounds pretentious for anyone but the President or Donald Trump to have a secretary record the greeting.
- Don’t pause after, “Hello.” People feel silly when they start talking, then realize it’s a recording. Well, I sure feel silly when I do that, anyway!
- Say your greeting as though you’re really talking to someone, not as though you’re reading a script.
- Catch phrases are usually unnecessary and a bit much. (“Have a GREAT day!” “Go Broncos!” ) Get some input from a colleague about them.
- Put a slight smile in your voice instead of sounding excessively stern.
- Call yourself to hear what others hear. For example, there is no point in saying something that an automated message repeats after your personal message.
The bottom line: Your voice message is you to those who call. Let them hear the best, current you.
January 4th, 2011
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Service to Customers, Clients and Coworkers, Training, Technology, Blogs, A/V etc. |
7 comments
Who do you think of on special days?
A seasonal verse I have found to be poignant over the years–and more so in the last few years–is this one, which you have probably seen on many Christmas cards. Think of it more deeply and purposefully this year and spend some time in special remembrance.
Never a Christmas morning,
Never the old year ends,
But someone thinks of someone,
Old days, old times, old friends.
Who does your mind turn to on Christmas morning and on New Year’s Eve? What memories do you especially cherish? Who is thinking about you? Find ways in the coming year to make more memories, touch the lives of more people and appreciate and enjoy your life more than ever.
Spend a few moments remembering all the significant people who have contributed to making you who you are. Then, make 2011 a Renew Year in ways that are noticeable and that you can feel in every aspect of your life. If you find it difficult to do it for yourself, do it in honor of those you are remembering more than ever right now.
New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. – Hamilton Wright Mabie
December 30th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work, Personal and Professional Development |
5 comments
What are you doing at work that could get you in trouble?
Someone else at work probably knows.
Most people who get caught at work in an unethical action or a violation of a policy, rule or procedure, never thought they would be reported, complained about or found out. They gamble with their reputations, jobs, professional status, income and families because, even though they know the risks, they think they will be the one person who doesn’t get caught. When the inevitable happens they apologize, offer to make amends and often cry over the bad results of their decisions and actions. You’ve seen it or heard about it far too many times.
I think most people who accept responsibility for their actions sincerely do regret the poor decisions that led to the bad results. They probably all wish they could turn back time and get a do-over. One person told me on the day of his demotion, which was also the day his wife filed for divorce about a work situation, “I worried about it the first few times I did it, then I guess I just thought I had it figured out so no one would ever know. I’d give everything I possess to get the chance to do it over.”
There are no do overs, there is only don’t do.
One reason I feel so strongly about supervisory intervention is because I think we could save our organizations from a lot of problems and embarrassment and save employees from themselves if we intervene before the harm or at the very first indicator of a problem.
All it requires is that supervisors and managers monitor work behavior and performance appropriately for the job and talk to employees about potential problems as well as observable problems. Supervisors and managers often need to be the stop sign.
What is going to happen when you are found out?
Ultimately the best intervention is that which is done by our personal ethical and moral characters and our fears of what will happen if we are caught. That latter is just as valid as the former and it sometimes has a much stronger effect on our decisions!
Any time you consider doing something you know isn’t quite right or is blatantly wrong, picture being confronted about it down the line when your involvement is known. Think about the worse case scenario of what could happen to your job, your family, your income, your future and your reputation. Don’t think if you are found out, think, when you are found out. Then, ask yourself if what you’re considering doing is worth that result. Think about how you will feel when you wish you could have a do-over. Then, make the right decision right then.
If you’re doing something now that could spell disaster if it were known, stop it. If you need help to conquer an addiction, a psychological problem or a destructive habit, get that help right away. Get legal advice if you need it. Stay away from temptation from now on and resist it when you feel it. You know that is what you would say to others, so take the advice yourself.
The bottom line: You’re living in a fool’s paradise if you think no one knows or will never find out about the secret thing you’ve been doing or that they don’t care about the problem behavior or performance you’ve been showing.
*If you’ve been doing something wrong that involves someone else, they probably have talked about it already or they will when you’re not friends anymore or if they start feeling guilty.
*If it involves company resources, someone is probably tracking it or will be.
*If it involves technology, someone probably has the evidence.
*If your actions have made work life unpleasant for others, they’re already documenting it and will complain at some point if you continue.
*If you’re cutting corners on your time, attendance or work, someone is probably keeping a record.
*If you have active enemies, they are watching for something to report.
*Even if what you are doing is not a crime or a huge ethical violation or severe problem, remember that the truth probably will come out at some point–maybe at the worst possible time when you will wish you didn’t have to deal with it.
Read the news of the latest scandal, crime, shameful misdeeds or organizational shake-ups and realize none of those people thought they would be caught or that anyone would complain. Think about the people who have been fired from your work or who were demoted or lost their influence and reputations. They didn’t think they’d be found out or reported either. Let those events remind you of what can happen, often to otherwise decent people–like you.
You should feel afraid of what might happen and I hope you are–afraid enough to stop it.
December 26th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Challenging and Problematic People, Life and Work, Supervision and Management |
5 comments
Merry Christmas to you.
At Christmas in 1967 I was on my own for the first time and was excited to send cards with only my name on them! (It’s amazing how little it took to feel excited about Christmas then!) I wanted to say something positive, in spite of all the terrible things that were happening all over the world and how much political division there was in this country. I wrote:
May you have the audacity to be happy in these troubled times!
That message still applies. Merry Christmas to all of you. Thank you for the gift of your friendship, support or just the idle curiosity that brings you to this site!
December 24th, 2010
Posted by
TLR |
Life and Work |
4 comments
