The People Pro

Ethics and Boundaries-ONLINE workshop

2010-02-23T18:01:00.004-06:00

Need ethics and boundaries CEU's? Get them on demand from your computer. This online Ethics and Boundaries class is divided into four, one hour units, that can be taken at your convenience. Interact with the instructor and other students right from your computer. This four hour program meets state requirements and CEU's are from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Continuing Education.

You will learn:

The NASW Code of Ethics for social workers
Common ethical violations in social work practice
Boundary issues in clinical practice
Ethical decision making models
How actual cases were decided

This course must be completed within the month that you register. .4 CEU's or 4CEH's will be mailed after the instructor has verified your participation and successful completion of the ourse.

Your Instructor: Barbara Bartlein, RN, LCSW, a clinical psychotherapist for over 25 years and adjunct instructor for UWM continuing education.

To register: Ethics and Boundaries

Negative Culture Saps Productivity

2009-07-14T10:51:00.003-05:00

Too many employees dislike their jobs and view them as “have to” instead of “get to,” according to Roxanne Emmerich in her new book, Thank God It’s Monday: How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love. This creates a negative culture of excuses, whining, gossiping and complaining with little focus on making the customer successful. And now, with all the layoffs, it seems those “left behind” are stressed and so fearful with twice the work and half the friends they have lost their ability to get results.

According to Emmerich:

Over 91% of people spend a large portion of their day frustrated by their coworker’s dysfunctional behaviors and regularly think about quitting their jobs.
Managers waste 37% or more of their day dealing with dysfunctional and unproductive behavior.
More than two thirds of the workplace is considered to be “disengaged” according to polls by Gallup.
One dollar out of every three payroll dollars is lost due to disengaged employees.

Many organizations attempt to address negativity in the workplace, but end up putting Band-Aids on the problem—quality initiatives, process improvements, teambuilding—all which can be good. But if they are put on top of a culture of excuses and passive aggressive behavior, they will not be successful.

Organizations can improve their cultures by openly addressing negativity and making it clear what types of behaviors are expected. Rather than pushing dissent underground, it is much more positive to flush it out and deal with issues directly. The institutional pathology of avoiding hard discussions and decisions must be overcome to make progress towards a positive culture.

Thank God It’s Monday also suggests that employees:

Need to realize that they are in charge of the solutions. Employees must step up and confront gossips by saying, “sounds like you need to go to that employee directly. I don’t want to be a part of any gossip.” Each individual needs to take the initiate instead of passively waiting for things to change.
Can’t listen to excuses. This only reinforces a “can’t” attitude instead of a “can do” approach. Excuses lead to mediocrity and this becomes contagious. Don’t lower your standards to the lowest common denominator. If someone is giving out excuses, simply say, “Thanks for sharing why you can’t…but how CAN you? I expect you to make it happen.”
Confront the whiners and complainers. If someone is whining, ask them to please list three solutions and make a top recommendation and then put them in charge of implementation. When I was VP of a large hospital system, my motto always was, “If someone complains about the Holiday Party, they are automatically in charge of it for next year.”
Don’t play the victim. The helpless approach only promotes a powerless culture. Victimhood keeps us stuck, according to Emmerich, and isn’t good for the individual or the organization. We all have to take responsibility for our decisions and actions. And don’t reinforce the victims around you with comments like, “How DO you take it?”
Don’t wait on the sidelines. Too many people are so anxious about the recession and the economy that they are frozen waiting for the worst. Emmerich suggest that it is more productive to work at shifting the workplace culture. List the results you want each week as a team and celebrate when they are achieved. Customers like results and teams that can deliver them.

Now is the time to get focused on making your customers successful. Customer satisfaction is worthless and doesn’t cut it during times like this. Instead, start adding massive value and make sure you don’t sign up for the recession. This economy can be an opportunity for your organization to pull ahead while others are standing still.

Barbara Bartlein is The People Pro and President of Great Lakes Consulting Group. She offers keynotes, seminars and consulting to help you build your business and balance your life. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by e-mail at: barb@barbbartlein.com or visit her website at www.ThePeoplePro.com

Nurses Week is May 6-12

2009-03-06T12:06:00.010-06:00

Energize the caregivers in your organization with:

"The Magic of Making a Difference"

Honor the nurses in your organization who devote their lives to caring for others by booking a special event. Barbara Bartlein, RN, has presented her magical keynote, "The Magic of Making a Difference," across the country to thousands of nurses. This high energy presentation is funny, motivational and inspirational. It features Barb's stories from Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul and celebrates the special gifts of caregivers everywhere.

Barb will present three sessions for your organization so everyone can attend. She is also available for a FREE book signing for employees and staff.

Limited Budget?

Get "The Magic of Making a Difference" in a webinar format for your staff. Recorded with a powerpoint, it is accessible at any time for staff to enjoy over and over again. All they need is a computer and a telephone.

Bring some "magic" to your organization this Nurses Week.

Call today to reserve your spot!

888-747-9953

For more information, please visit:

The People Pro

Emerging Workforce Has Different Priorities

2008-08-05T13:08:00.001-05:00

The new workforce of Gen X’s, Gen Y’s and Millenniums have different priorities than the Baby Boomers or the Aging population that came before them. But before you complain that they don’t have a good “work ethic” or a “loyalty to the company,” it is helpful to look at some of the characteristics of Boomers and this group.

The significant events that impacted the Boomers were the Kennedy Assassination and the Viet Nam War. The Boomers are a hard working generation that often focus on career and advancement. Sometimes bordering on workaholism, they work to live, are loyal to their managers and want credit for time spent at the job. The Boomers are technological immigrants as they did not grow up with computers. Many can even remember a time before television. They are sometimes resistant to new technology or techniques like texting, webinars, and BlackBerries.

The Net Gen generations were influenced by the events of 9/11 and school shootings such as Columbine. They have been told that Social Security may not exist for them and have watched pensions and work security evaporate for their parents. Consequently, they are more loyal to colleagues and co-workers than to a company or manager. Work/life balance is extremely important for this group and they don’t want to sacrifice family time for career. This group LOVES technology and are considered technological natives. They grew up with it and are extremely talented at adopting new technology into their lives.

The Net Gen generations presently make up about 51% of the workforce. This will increase to over 70% in the next ten years as Boomers begin retiring. But many people in management are Boomers with years of experience who may struggle with the Net Gen generations and their priorities.

Some things your company can do to manage Net Gen employees more effectively:

Offer flexibility and work at home options. The old model that a person has to be in a seat at the office just isn’t valid anymore. That model was based on time rather than production. The emerging workforce is focused on results, not appearing busy to impress the boss. Smart companies are growing through a virtual workforce; no office space, equipment expense, or commuting. Staffs are paid on a project or production scale.
Build on and off ramps for women and caregivers. The Boomers were often forced to pick between career and family. The Net Gen’s are not willing to do this. Update policies on family leave, re-entry and part-time employment to attract and retain good employees. Many companies are now guaranteeing a comparable position when employees return from leave.
Avoid micromanaging. These employees are use to working and learning independently. They work to contribute and are adverse to a chain of command. Set the parameters and then get out of their way. Net Gen’s are fast, efficient, and not likely to waste time.
Embrace technology. To have any other framework will make you and/or your business look foolish. Republican candidate, John McCain, discovered this recently when he described himself as a “computer illiterate” who had never gone online. He not only looks old, he appears out of it. Unfortunately, many executives and business leaders are also in the OOI league and don’t understand consumer desires because they are not plugged in. The creation, marketing, and demise of the Hummer is a stark example.
Encourage creativity. The traditional workplace often treated people like machines. But if you look at many of today’s most successful companies, they are the result of creativity by a couple of people. Whether GoDaddy.com or FaceBook, there are business opportunities for new products and services. How is your company encouraging new ideas?
Build relationships. Since this generation connects with colleagues and friends, evaluate how your business encourages critical connections. Are there any opportunities for socializing at work or after work? Smart companies establish softball teams, bowling teams, company picnics, and support groups for new mothers, etc. to encourage interaction and teamwork.
Ask key employees to recruit their friends for work. Chances are that good employees know other people who would also be effective. Some companies are paying bonuses to their employees for recruiting. Others simply follow up on leads. Whatever your approach is, friends that join the company already have connections. These can jumpstart teamwork and collaboration.

Barbara Bartlein is The People Pro and President of Great Lakes Consulting Group. She offers keynotes, seminars and consulting to help you build your business and balance your life. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by e-mail at: barb@barbbartlein.com or visit her website at www.ThePeoplePro.com

Multi-Tasking Madness Decreases Productivity

2008-05-11T12:54:00.004-05:00

Caution all you multitaskers, you may not be as productive as you think. Researchers continue to find that multitasking decreases productivity, increases stress, and may cause physical discomforts such as stomach aches or headaches. In a recent study by Eric Horvitz and the University of Illinois, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They often strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment web sites.

These findings are similar to those of David E. Meyer, a cognitive scientist and director of the Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan. “Multitasking is going to slow you down, increasing the chances of mistakes,” said Meyer. “Disruptions and interruptions are a bad deal from the standpoint of our ability to process information.”

Meyer identifies three types of multitaskers. Some people do it out of desperation, for example talking on the phone while reviewing papers. They view it as the only way to be competitive. Others multitask impulsively without even realizing they do it. They will stop mid-sentence to do a quick check of their e-mail or listen to voice mail. Hop scotching from one task to another; they don’t realize how their behavior leads to their lack of accomplishment.

The third group multitasks with pride. “Many people delusionally believe they’re good at this,” he says. “The problem is that we only have one brain and it doesn’t work that way. In reality, nobody can effectively do more than one remotely complicated thing at a time.”

Yet, multitasking in the workplace has reached epidemic proportions. A study by the Institute for the Future reported that employees of Fortune 1,000 companies send and receive 178 messages a day and are interrupted an average of at least three times an hour. The productivity lost by overtaxed multitaskers cannot be measured precisely, but it is probably a lot. Jonathan B. Spira, chief analyst at Basex, a business research firm, estimates the cost of interruptions to the American economy at nearly $650 billion a year.

Some employees take multitasking to the extreme by hypertasking. Hypertasking refers to the transfer of multitasking at work to other responsibilities. While we may be forced to multitask just to keep up at the job, for some, it becomes a habit in all areas of life. They are seen talking on the phone while weaving in and out of traffic, balancing their check book at their child’s soccer game, and cooking dinner while they assist with homework and make phone calls. This hypertasking becomes the drug of choice for those who thrive on doing more than one thing at a time.

Technology has added to the multitasking madness with people answering cell phones on the golf course and even in church. Rather than using technology to make our lives simpler, for many people it has become a “technology tether” that keeps us plugged in and turned on. Technological optimism has led to an eroding ability to accurately estimate the time needed for tasks and projects.

There are simple steps you can take to decrease your multitasking and increase productivity:

Accurately estimate the time to complete tasks. For one day, write down all the tasks you have to accomplish and estimate the time needed. Then truthfully time yourself. You will be able to find the percentage that you routinely underestimate and can adjust your work schedule.
Use external memory as much as possible. Albert Einstein once said that he keeps nothing in his mind that can be easily retrieved from paper. A cluttered brain makes it much more difficult to be creative and productive. External memory can be as simple as a pad of paper or using technology more effectively. Use the calendar on your computer to remind you of important dates or appointments and quick lists to organize your tasks.
Batch your work. Rather than checking e-mail multiple times per day, set times for reading and responding. Let your phone go to voice mail, if possible, and return phone calls during a specific time. Put similar tasks together, like paying bills and balancing your checking account, to increase efficiency.
Remove distractions. Control interruptions and noise. If the workplace is loud, discuss with co-workers ways to control the volume. Set times for consultation or questions rather than allowing unlimited access to your time. And make sure you don’t “interrupt yourself” by running to get more coffee or making a quick phone call. Use “butt glue” until the task is completed.

For more tips to build your business and balance your life, please visit: The People Pro

Hire For Attitude, Train For Skill

2008-03-02T22:35:00.002-06:00

“I just don’t understand why everyone at work is complaining about me,” a woman in my office said, “The same thing happened at my last job too.” Though she could not see the cause/effect of her actions, it was clear she was alienating people in the workplace. The most likely reason? Her attitude.

Attitude is everything to personal and professional success. It colors our vision of how we see the world and other people. Attitude affects our beliefs and our behavior. It impacts teamwork, customer relations, motivation and the ability to deal with change. Attitude makes the difference between a pleasant working environment and a place we dread to go.

We all know a “bad” attitude when we experience it, and perhaps, on occasion, we have one ourselves. But, successful people make a conscious effort for attitude adjustment when theirs is sub par. They also avoid “energy suckers,” people with pessimistic attitudes that suck the life out of a sunny day.

Unfortunately, I have never had any success “adjusting” someone else’s attitude. I learned early in my management experience that it was easier to teach new skills than it was to change attitudes. To find employees with great attitudes, the following guidelines for hiring and staff development are helpful:

The best you will ever see is the first 90 days. If you have problem with an employee while they are still on probation, you might as well cut bait. After all, this is the time that they presumably have their best foot forward. At best, they are poor performers; at worst, they have poor judgment (even harder to correct than attitude).
If they complain about the last boss, they will complain about you too. Exercise great caution in hiring someone who has nothing good to say about his or her last boss or last position. It may be more about them than their employment. In fact, it might always be someone else’s fault. People who blame are very hard to coach.
Are they an optimist or pessimist? Ascertain how they appear to see the world. Pessimistic people tend to be energy suckers in the workplace and can breed an institutional pathology that pulls others into their negative energy. Are they able to find the bright side of difficult situations?
Do they demonstrate personal insight and a commitment to their development? Those committed to an ongoing program of self-improvement are much more coachable and willing to learn new skills and behaviors. Ask in the interview what areas may need improvement. Inquire about the details of the candidate’s personal plan for development.
Are they coachable? How receptive to feedback do they seem to be? It’s easy to assess in an interview; offer them some suggestions regarding their resume. If they are quick to disagree, defend, or actually become huffy, they are not likely to welcome your input on more significant matters.
Do they listen? You can forget all of the above if the potential employee is not a good listener. They will have performance problems, people conflict and difficulty receiving feedback. Evaluate their ability to understand more than what they simply hear. Listening is an active process that blends patience with understanding.

Attitude is a critical factor for success and the one we have the most control over. As Earl Nightingale once said, “Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.”

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How to Be a Great Boss

2008-02-29T13:45:00.003-06:00

Employees want to work for someone that they perceive as fair, open, and honest. Those are the qualities most often mentioned in surveys of employees about their managers and supervisors. Workers want to feel good about the person they report to and the company they work for.

This relationship between employee and supervisor is also the key to retention and engagement according to the Gallup Organization. They have done extensive surveys and research on employee engagement by the development of twelve questions (Q12). When employees were asked to consider their workplace relationships with their managers, the survey results revealed sharp differences between how engaged and actively disengaged employees feel. In answering the statement regarding managers, “This person and I have one of the strongest personal relationships in my life,” 16% of engaged employees strongly agreed. In contrast, 80% of actively disengaged employees strongly disagreed that their relationship with their manager was important.

Great bosses aren’t born that way. There are not genetic traits for leadership; people learn the skills by seeing examples of positive managers. Here are some tips for you to become a great boss:

Be a great communicator. Employees rely on their boss for information and want to feel a part of the day to day decisions. Information regarding performance, company plans, marketing, hiring, help employees do a better job. Communication is also the key to developing a positive relationship. Effective bosses listen and ask for employee opinions.
Set clear expectations. People perform best when they know exactly what is expected. Be clear with the details of what is being requested including timeframes for completion. Let employees know that they can come to you if they need clarification or additional resources. Make sure that you don’t set people up for failure by not providing adequate resources or equipment. I recently consulted with a company who was concerned about productivity within their support staff. I noticed that they had one centralized printer for six people. Each worker had to get up and retrieve their document from a pile whenever something needed to be printed. The company thought it was saving money by not buying $99 printers.
Give helpful feedback. Effective bosses schedule frequent meetings with all their direct reports on a regular basis. Ideally this should occur once per week even if the meeting is only 5-10 minutes.
Manage behavior and performance. Behavior is what people do and performance is the measurable result of their behaviors. Forget trying to change attitudes or motivation. Be clear as to the behavior that is needed at work and the performance expected. If an employee falls short, make sure that you meet with them as soon as possible. It is much easier to correct problems when they are still small.
Show up a lot. Call it management by walking around (MBWA) or simply being available, great bosses are visible and active. Make contact daily with as many employees as possible and they will get to know and trust you. Attend meetings and eat lunch in the cafeteria, not the management lounge. Every encounter is an opportunity to share information, coach, and encourage.
Let people know they are appreciated. Employees frequently report on surveys that the only time they hear from the boss is when there is negative feedback on their performance. Yet, encouraging positive performance is much more effective in promoting productivity. Employees want to know that their contributions are important and they are appreciated. Stop and thank folks who have done the extras. Send handwritten notes to employees that need some encouragement. Publicly praise employees in front of their peers.
Keep things interesting. Work, by definition, is still work. Even the best jobs can be monotonous and boring. Keep workers engaged by offering opportunities to learn and develop. Offer continuing education opportunities that build their resume and increase their skills.
Celebrate successes. Employees frequently complain that there never is a pause in the new projects or initiatives to enjoy the successes. Have a celebration when a large project is completed or financial targets are reached. Post positive comments from customers on a bulletin board so everyone can see. Promote activities outside of work such as a ball game or sporting event. This builds camaraderie among the teams.
Have a sense of humor and admit mistakes. A little humor goes a long way in reducing stress and keeping things in perspective. After all, work is only a means to an end that for most of us means time with friends and family. Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes; this keeps you human.
Go green. A recent poll on green employment by MonsterTRAK.com a job website geared toward students and entry-level hires, found that 80% of young professionals are interested in securing a job that has a positive impact on the environment. Ninety two percent would choose a company that is environmentally friendly. According to Barbara Haig of HAIG/JACKSON Communications, “Young people have been exposed since grade school to the risk of environmental problems. When employers focus on green issues, it sends a message that they are problem solvers and forward thinkers.” For more information on going green, visit: http://www.haigjackson.com/.

For more information on building leadership skills, please visit: http://www.thepeoplepro.com/

Want to understand your Personality Style better? Take this on-line quiz: Personality Test

Marriage Counseling--The Top Three Issues You Must Talk About Before Saying "I Do"

2007-11-19T20:25:00.000-06:00

The wedding preparations seem endless; send the invitations, order the cake, choose the flowers, pick out a dress, etc. Couples run in a frenzy, especially as the important date gets closer. The wedding is the constant topic of conversation but are you and your partner taking the time to talk about what is really important?

Too often, more attention is given to the wedding day than is given to preparing for marriage. To my amazement many couples say “I Do,” without any discussion of the issues that often lead to divorce. Perhaps there is magical thinking that “things will just work out,” or “it will be better after we are married.”

The top three issues that you need to discuss before you say “I do” are money, sex, and kids. These are the top concerns that couples argue about after marriage. You will avoid a lot of conflict if you can reach some agreement on key questions.

Money. There are five different money personalities; planners, savers, strugglers, impulsives and deniers. Planners are careful savers and enjoy financial planning. Savers are extremely careful with their money and seldom see their finances upset by unexpected events. But they are hesitant to take any risks. Strugglers have frequent set backs with their finances. Impulsives are not disciplined to save and plan for the future. And deniers dislike financial planning and don’t worry about the future.

It is important that you and your partner understand your money personality and come to some agreements. Research has shown that planners and savers are the best money managers and wise couples let the partner with that personality handle the money. If neither of you have developed those skills then it is important to seek outside assistance.

Sex. Many couples are shocked to find that their sexual needs are different. Or they have the unrealistic expectation that sex and romance will be like when they first met. Sex lives ebb and flow and wise couples communicate about their needs. A commitment to build intimacy both in and out of the bedroom is essential. You can arrive at a comfortable agreement as to frequency and other issues by some careful communication.

What happens outside of the bedroom is as important as the activity behind closed doors. Research has shown that men who do housework have better sex lives. Couples who partner in activities of daily living find that this partnership spills into the bedroom as well. A little romance, understanding and communication outside of the bedroom enhances intimacy in a marriage.

Kids. Basic question: do you want them? I know, this seems obvious. Yet I have married couples who come to counseling arguing whether they want children. This needs to be discussed before you say “I do.” And if your partner says they REALLY don’t want them, don’t count on changing their mind after marriage. It probably won’t happen.

Sometimes couples already have children and disagree on how to raise them. It is important to talk about and arrive at a shared philosophy of parenting. This does not mean that you have to agree on everything. It is very common that one parent is more of the disciplinary but philosophy, strategies and approaches to child rearing need to be discussed.

Talk about these issues before saying “I do” and you and your partner will be able to navigate the challenges of a long term relationship.

FREE marriage quizzes to determine your money personality, to increase intimacy and evaluate your parenting style at www.whydidimarryyouanyway.com

Get your copy of the just released second edition of Why Did I Marry You Anyway? Overcoming the Myths That Hinder a Happy Marriage. It includes chapters on second marriages and blended families.

Recruitment and Retention-10.5 Strategies to Recruit Quality Staff

2007-10-07T11:23:00.000-05:00

We all know the rules have changed. Employees no longer spend their entire career with one employer and employers no longer promise long-term employment with a job guarantee. But the need for great staff in any organization has not changed. People are still the most important factor in the success of any business.

So where do you find the best people to do the job? The search and recruiting techniques depend on what level you are attempting to fill. Many entry-level jobs are recruited through newspaper ads and other want ads. Middle management is often “home grown” by developing people within the organization and promoting them. Top executives are usually recruited through search firms or executive networking.

Regardless of the position you are attempting to fill, here are some ideas that will produce quality candidates:

Contract with a placement firm that does screening for the position. There are many firms that do much of the up-front legwork and forward only qualified candidates for interview. While the price may appear costly, it saves precious management time. This is especially helpful for small companies who have only one or two management personal performing multiple tasks. Placement firms often offer a “guarantee.” If the new employee does not work out…you don’t pay.
Pay current staff to refer their friends. Chances are good that your employee who is already doing well in the job will know other people with similar talents. They may have worked with them in another setting or mingle with them socially. An added bonus: if they already like each other, you eliminate the “learning curve” and time of having employees get to know each other to establish a working relationship.
Pay higher wages. No, I don’t mean break the bank. A little money will do. It is amazing that a dollar or two will often be the deciding factor for job seekers when considering multiple offers. This is especially true in entry-level positions where wages are more the driving force than benefits or retirement planning. By paying slightly higher than the competition, you will attract higher caliber employee and have shorter training time and less turnover.
Advertise in industry/trade journals. It is likely that your competitors have these journals available in the break room, on the bulletin board or as a pass around. Good employees keep tabs on what is going on in their industry and may contact for additional information. This provides direct access for an employee already familiar with your industry.
Create a brochure specifically for staff. A simple folded pamphlet that can be given to job applicants will enhance the perception of your organization. Include the benefits, both tangible and intangible, of employment at your firm. Outline any special events, or unique opportunities of working at the company. Highlight existing staff in people-friendly pictures. Your employees will love the recognition.
Distribute the brochure at conferences and trade shows. Have a company booth at high visibility conferences or share booth space with another vendor. Leave the brochure on tables in the lobby and where participants have their coffee breaks or meals. This leads to positive PR and buzz about your organization. Even folks not looking for a job may consider a change if the “grass looks greener.” Attendees may also forward the brochure to a friend or relative that is looking for a position.
Provide additional benefits. Consider offering additional (but inexpensive) benefits to sweeten the deal. Some ideas: Adjust the summer hours for longer workdays Monday through Thursday so employees can have Friday afternoons off. Allow one employee per month an extra afternoon off based on productivity. Make it a policy that staff does not have to work on their birthdays. Arrange for travel or vacation opportunities at a discount through the company.
Emphasize flexibility. Many workers are drawn to jobs that allow some flexibility to schedule appointments during the day, catch a soccer game for the kids or just take a mental health day. Let recruits know that family time is a priority and management understands the multiple demands that most workers have. Relatively inexpensive, it provides big bonuses for recruitment and retention. Make it clear you evaluate performance on results…not counting the minutes.
Advertise online. Post positions on line at local job search services. Update the information frequently and present some of the value added items of working at your organization. Testimonials for current employers enhance the credibility of the company culture. Many firms leave some openings on line at all times just in case it produces a quality applicant that they want to pursue.
Provide valuable training for their resume. Make it clear that you are interested in employee development and their long-term career. It is relatively easy to offer additional training for staff at very little expense. There are numerous training programs available through seminar companies and continuing education departments of local universities. For smaller companies, it may make sense to collaborate with other groups to arrange speakers for on-site education.
(10.5) Partner with a local day-care to offer subsidized childcare or special access. Many daycares will offer special arrangements to companies that will guarantee a number of customers. Adjust work hours to make sure that quality daycare is available. Staff will often make employment choices based on the ease of coordinating care for children.

For more information to build your business and balance your life, please visit The People Pro

Check out Barb's other websites at: The Marriage Builder, Personality Test, Marriage Counseling

Productivity-Increase Your Productivity by Letting Go

2007-08-06T13:46:00.000-05:00

After coaching executives for more than twenty years, it is clear that one of the greatest stumbling blocks for productivity is the difficulty successful people have in letting go. They hang on to routines, paper, people, and even meetings that suck their time, energy, and creativity. Consider:

The average US executive wastes six weeks per year retrieving misplaced information on desks or in files. At a salary of $75,000 per year, this translates into $ 9225.
Office workers spend 40-60% of their time working with paper. Despite visions of a paperless office, 95% of all information is still transmitted using paper.
80% of filed papers are never referenced again.
Negative employees cost companies millions of dollars in lost productivity and sales.
Of 1,037 full or part-time workers polled by Opinion Research USA, 27% ranked disorganized, rambling meetings as their top frustration.

Highly creative and energetic people seem especially prone to hang on to things and
routines. After all, this was part of what made them successful. They view “stuff” as opportunity and people as resources. But sometimes it doesn’t work and the clutter, negative employee or useless routine gets in the way of attending to what is really important.

There are steps you can take to “let go” of the things in your life that are stifling your success. Some suggestions:

Let go of perfectionism. Perfectionism is paralysis and often 80% is more than good enough. Sometimes it is better to just complete something than obsess over details that won’t make a difference. Set time limits for projects and stick to them.
Let go of energy suckers. Get rid of negative, non-performing employees on the payroll. When management at 3M laid off the bottom 10% (the poorest performers) at one facility—their productivity skyrocketed up eighteen percent. 3M learned that negative employees not only produce less, but they also cost more. Negative employees destroy morale and turn off potential customers. As one employee said, “an energy sucker is the person you go on break with and come back more exhausted than when you left.”
Let go of meetings. The great corporate time waster. So many meetings aren’t really necessary and too often they are poorly organized and run. Conduct training for effective meetings for all management personnel. This should include an evaluation checklist whether to have the meeting at all. Make sure that meeting organizers know how to create an agenda, start on time and keep control of the proceedings.
Let go of filing. Make your office paperless by using some of the new on-line filing systems such as http://www.thepapertiger.com/. Easy to implement, you can manage both paper and electronic files. It eliminates duplication of materials and does not require scanning.
Let go of crisis management. Avoid the tyranny of the urgent so that you can focus on what is important. Often the result of someone else’s poor planning; it can result in spending most of your day putting out fires. Let co-workers know that you plan your day and don’t jump from project to project. Insist on realistic timeframes for projects.
Let go of interruptions. Train yourself and your co-workers to stop the frequent interruptions that block creativity and “flow.” Every time you are interrupted, it will take an average of 15 minutes to get back into the task at hand. Make sure you are not interrupting yourself with frequent breaks, cups of coffee or chatting in the hall.
Let go of useless tasks. Do you really have to do all the stuff on your “to do” list? I have seen executives typing their own letters, doing computer entry and other everyday jobs that could be easily delegated to someone else. Evaluate what you really need to do.
Build white space in your life. UN-schedule time on your calendar and in your life to just think, read, walk, and relax. Have a weekend from time to time where you have nothing planned. Don’t schedule every hour of the day with no breathing room for the unexpected.
Know what is draining your resources. Take a careful inventory of where your time goes and with whom. What activities/people deplete your energy? Evaluate how you can handle them differently. How do you re-charge? Structure your week with some re-charging activities such as exercise and hobbies.
Start plugging the leaks. Start letting go of the problems areas. Get rid of clutter, let go of your bottom feeding employees and control access to your time.

According to Albert Eistein, there are three rules of work: “Out of clutter find simplicity’ from discord find harmony; in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Bartlein, all rights reserved.

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Stress Management--Employers Can Help De-Stress Employees

2007-07-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

Fewer Americans are taking vacations. According to a new survey on Expedia.com, 35 percent, or an estimated 5.2 million Americans, will not use all of their vacation days this year. They will leave an average of three vacation days on the table, which means that employed adults are giving back a total of more than 438 million vacation days in 2007 alone.

According to Tory Johnson from ABC news, there are two workplace issues that prevent most Americans from taking much-needed time away: stress and concern about job security.

For many Americans, the stress continues even when they take time off. Over thirty percent of workers report that they struggle with work stress when out of the office. Many check their email and voice mail while on vacation or participate in conference calls, thus not really getting a break from the routine.

Employers are beginning to recognize the dollars-and-cents of their employees running ragged without time to relax and recharge. Studies have found that the total health and productivity cost of stress in the workplace could be as high as $150 billion a year. Other studies have found that employees, who take at least a full week of uninterrupted time off, have fewer sick days. Investment in good vacation programs can mean improved productivity and less absenteeism.

Some companies have policies that force people to take their vacations. At the corporate offices of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, employees receive five weeks of paid vacation at two years of service. But there is one condition; they must take two consecutive weeks off to recharge. CEO Brian Scudamore says the “extra vacation helps prevent burnout, which can lead to losing employees—a very high price to pay.”

Employers can help their staff reduce their stress by assisting with vacation planning. Here are some ideas:

Establish vacation savings plans. Sure, employees could do this by themselves but it is so much easier to save money if you never see it. Create an option for an automatic payroll withdrawal for future vacations.
Offer financial counseling through HR or the EAP. Make sure that employees have access to good financial advice so they have the resources for a yearly break.
Coordinate a vacation calendar. This allows for a fair rotation of key dates and weeks. It also allows the employees to have input to make sure dates work for the business.
Announce job changes after vacations, not before. It is impossible to relax if you are worrying about the pending changes at work. Employers need to carefully evaluate the timing of any major announcement.
Partner with a travel agency. Many agencies are willing to work with companies to get group rates, special discounts and organize travel. Provide in-house workshops on vacation planning.
Distribute job responsibilities. Make sure a back up is designated for the vacationing employee. It is difficult for a staffer to relax if they worry that they will return to an overflowing desk, voicemail and e-mail.
Establish voice mail and email vacation greetings. This not only reminds the employee to change the greetings but gives them a quick format to do so. This helps to eliminate the flooding upon return.
Give an extra half-day off before the vacation. This not only helps the employee with last minute plans and details, it builds loyalty. It makes it clear that the company really values their contributions.
Eliminate last minute projects. Nothing is worse than trying to exit and a bunch of new work gets dumped. Work with the employee to get major projects out of the way at least two weeks before the vacation.
Encourage at least a week’s vacation. Long weekends really do not give enough time for relaxation. Make sure company policies and supervisor’s attitudes encourage employees to take the vacation time they need.
Discourage “call-ins” while on vacation. Traditionally viewed as the sign of dedication, employers now recognize that it interferes with true relaxation and can be very unhealthy.
Allow a gentle re-entry. Don’t bombard the returning worker with stacks of work and projects. Demonstrate your interest by scheduling time to visit with the employee about his vacation.

Don’t miss the chance to take a break this summer. But remember, Erma
Bombeck once said, “When you look like your passport photo, it is time to come home.”

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Productivity-What is Your Desk Personality?

2007-05-29T09:57:00.000-05:00

After years of coaching and presenting seminars to corporations on time management and organizational skills, I now learn that people with messier offices actually make more money. According to a new survey by Adecco Group, the largest human resource service company in the world, only 11% of those earning $75,000 or more claim they are ‘neat freaks.’

According to Bernadette Kenny, senior vice president of human resources at Adecco North American, this could be for a variety of reasons. “Perhaps this is because they are in higher positions and are inundated with more work. Or, perhaps those with smaller salaries are in more junior-level positions, where they need to comply with someone else’s standards and strive to make a good impression on managers.”

Or maybe it just takes too much time to get organized. “We don’t factor in the time it takes to be organized,” says Eric Abrahamson, co-author of A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder. and a professor of management at Columbia Business School. “Are those benefits commensurate with the time spent to get that way? That’s the downside of order. The value of time can be very high, and we don’t want to waste valuable time getting organized.”

What does your workplace say about you? Researchers claim that desks may reveal the true personality, habits and ambitions of their owners. Hundreds of workspaces belonging to office workers were studied by Donna Dawson, a behavioral psychologist with Adecco. She examined the layout and patterns of possessions on desks and found six main types of personality.

The Super-Organized Desk. This functional workplace is very neat with no frills or personal clutter. Likely to be a super-efficient secretary or assistant, only the essentials are prominent; a pen, notebook and stapler. They want to feel needed and can be very charming when they feel others are relying on them. This desk personality can be subject to mood swings and may disguise a chip on its owner’s shoulder from lack of appreciation.
The Organized Chaos Desk. This personality has piles of paper, overflowing onto the floor and window seat. The owner will claim to have a “filing-system” where they can easily find what they are looking for. There may be multiple sticky notes wallpapering the room with reminders and to-do items. To cope with the pressures and stress, this person frequently gets up to warm up their coffee or have a cigarette break. While likely to be a workaholic, they are fun to chat with and are flexible and brilliant for brainstorming.
The Creative Chaos Desk. This desk is filled with an interesting array of clutter revealing a creative and agile mind. Not focused on technology, this owner is a great source of ideas. They are always on the go and only vaguely know where everything is that they are working on. They may misplace projects or papers. Easily distracted, this person tends to be a lateral thinker.
The Personality Extension Desk. Covered with dozens of personal touches, this desk displays poster, photos, holiday cards and zany mouse-mats. The owner may even keep personal items such as vitamin pills, hand cream or perfume easily accessible. This personality is very energetic, and keeps food, drink and other items readily available for quick nourishment. They are friendly and talkative but may not be discreet with confidential information.
The Show Desk. This desk has been carefully scripted to present an image of the importance of its occupant. It is very large with few items visible and no personal memorabilia. Giving the impression of space and control, this individual is like to have a double sided personality. Although friendly in a social group, they become coldly professional once behind the desk. Few people at work will ever know the real person behind the façade.
The Trophy Desk. This workspace is messy and covered with items that reflect its owner’s social, professional or financial success. These “trophies” may include awards, plaques, pictures of expensive holidays, or sporting equipment. While the look may appear random, each item is strategically placed for maximum effect and visibility. Desktop accessories will be bold and brightly colored. These people tend to think big and are natural leaders, but need to be appreciated or they may sulk or have a tantrum.

No matter what your desk style is, it is important to be aware that it sends a message
to others that could be a factor in your success. Remember people will judge you by what you show them.

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Happiness-Maximize Each Day by Paying Attention

2007-05-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, recently passed away. Best know for his novels, Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, he also wrote a Broadway play and numerous short stories. But some of my favorite Vonnegut quotes come from his college commencements speeches, celebrations he describes as “delayed puberty.”

Vonnegut often referred in his speeches to his Uncle Alex, who was a Harvard graduate and worked as an insurance agent in Indianapolis. Vonnegut states, “One of the things that Uncle Alex found objectionable about human beings was that they so rarely noticed it when they were happy; He himself did his best to acknowledge it when times were sweet. We could be drinking lemonade in the shade of an apple tree in the summertime and Uncle Alex would interrupt the conversation to say, ‘If this isn’t nice, what is?’”

It makes me ponder how many great moments at work, at home, and in life, have drifted by me without any acknowledgement of their significance. It is so easy to always “be busy,” with new projects, initiatives and strategic plans that you miss the payoffs. Happiness and fulfillment are ignored rather than celebrated as the outcome of hard work. Too often, we are so focused on the future and what we “have to do,” that we miss all the pleasures of the present.

The latest Associated Press poll on happiness found that for most people it is a U-shaped phenomenon. That is, we are happiest at our youngest and oldest lifetime points. People are reported to be most unhappy at age 40. Is this because we are just SO busy at this point in our lives? Or are our expectations unrealistic? Whatever the cause, here are some suggestions to maximize your happiness:

Take note when you are happy. Pay attention to the little moments and clear your head to let them in. Researcher David Myers of Hope College believes that “biological wisdom” is a factor for happiness. Taking note of pleasurable times each day fortifies the neurological system and stress and anxiety are less likely to capture your attention.
Stretch your happiness. University of Minnesota researcher, David Lykken, suggests that we can adjust our level of contentment by paying attention to what makes us happy and what brings us down. Seeking out simple pleasures like taking a walk, working in the garden, or reading a good book can “stretch” our happiness.
Avoid comparisons. Whether it is physical appearance, money or possessions, comparisons always leaves someone coming up short. According to Danial Gilbert, author of Stumbling On Happiness, people tend to make systematic errors when predicting future happiness. That is, they are overly optimistic how a future change will affect their happiness. Whether it is losing weight, having a new car, a new job, or a new spouse, trying to keep up with the Jones will lead to unhappiness.
Celebrate successes. My grandfather was a carpenter and crafted beautiful woodwork and furniture. He had a habit of sitting down and admiring his work whenever he completed a project. I would often sit with him to discuss the work and how nice it turned out. Take time to sit down and admire what you have accomplished. Celebrate your successes at work and at home.
Turn off electronics. Take a walk without your cell phone, Blackberry, and electronics. All these devices pull you out of the moment and deposit you in cyberspace. These distractions prevent you from noticing and appreciating the present.
Acknowledge and appreciate others. Too often the employees that get the most attention are those that are poor performers. The folks who dependably get their work done and on time are ignored precisely because they are so reliable. Let others know how much you appreciate their efforts. Write notes, give coupons and just stop in your busy day to connect.
Acknowledge and appreciate yourself. Sometimes the person we are the hardest on is ourselves. Savor your successes and bask in your achievements. Reward yourself for the completion of difficult projects. And yes, it is OK to tell yourself that you did a good job.

I recently had dinner with my daughter at a sidewalk café on Madison’s State Street. Watching the sunset and laughing about our shopping earlier in the day, I remarked, “If this isn’t nice, what is?”

Copyright 2007, by Barbara Bartlein. All Rights Reserved.

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How to Reduce Procrastination

2007-04-04T16:47:00.000-05:00

Procrastination is on the rise and affects more men than women (about 54 out of 100 chronic procrastinators are men), according to Piers Steel, a Canadian industrial psychologist. And why not procrastinate? There are so many temptations that make it so easy; internet, TV, cell phones, Blackberries, iPods and games. In fact, wasting time is little more than a mouse click away for most of us. “That stupid game Minesweeper—that probably has cost billions of dollars for the whole society,” says Steel.

Procrastination is epidemic in all countries, occupations and age groups. There is actually a national Procrastination Day, though no one has gotten around to identifying the date, and several Procrastination Societies. The International Society for the Promotion of Procrastination has a website that requests potential members send in an application but then states, “If you actually get around to buying a stamp and mailing the envelope, you are obviously not qualified for membership and will not be accepted.”

So how do you reduce procrastination in your life? Here are some techniques and tips that can work for you:

Start each week with a planning session and review the plan for 5 minutes each morning. Use a daily planner and write down all important appointments and deadlines. Make sure that your priorities for each day are clear. Use a yellow highlighter to note anything that is ASAP or urgent.
Plan your days according to your personal energy. When are the most productive hours of your day? Focus on doing the most difficult tasks during these times when you are least likely to procrastinate.
Do at least one undesirable task first thing in the morning. The rest of the day you can feel that you at least accomplished something. If it was something you were avoiding, it will free up your energy.
Put a time limit on what you feel like avoiding. Knowing that there is an end in sight can give you new energy to get started or keep moving. Even the most unpleasant task becomes more bearable when you know that you don’t have to do it all day or until it is finished.
Divide big projects into smaller, doable pieces. This is where a chart can be very helpful with specific dates and timeframes. Do one step at a time. I am often asked how I find time to write books. I reply, “I don’t write books. I write 250 words at a time.” Much less intimating.
Control interruptions. Anticipate potential interruptions by turning off the phone, not answering the door and letting others know that you are working on a special project. And remember not to interrupt yourself with frequent checks of the e-mail, or getting up for yet, another, cup of coffee.
Balance your day and reward yourself. Use enjoyable tasks to fill in between those you are not so thrilled about doing. Take a walk or get outside for a break. It gives you something to look forward to and will give you new energy to tackle the rest of the day.
Practice learned industriousness. It is often said that success breeds success. There are times in our lives when we are “on a roll” and things just keep happening. This is because of a basic learning mechanism called classical conditioning. Hard work that leads to success is very rewarding. That is why successful people find it easier to work hard, they know the success is worth it. When you start a new task, make sure that you structure it so that your early efforts are successful. This will give you the conditioning to proceed.
Regulate your energy. “I’m too tired to work, (exercise, clean the yard, play with the kids, etc, etc.), is a common refrain for procrastinators. Especially work that requires concentration or physical exertion becomes hard to start when we feel energy depleted. Make sure you are doing the basics; eight hours of sleep, healthy meals, and exercising. While you may feel too tired to exercise, it actually increases your energy level over time. Sometimes you just have to force yourself to get started!
Get an accountability partner. When you tell someone you are going to do something, set a timetable and then have to report, you are much more likely to complete the task. Or better yet, form a MasterMind group with other professionals in your field and meet once a month to discuss career issues, projects, etc. It will help you stay focused and rapidly advance your career.

Remember, procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.

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Procrastination: More People Aren't Doing Today What They Won't Do Tomorrow

2007-03-09T11:33:00.000-06:00

Procrastination is on the rise according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association. The ten years of research, which was only suppose to take five years, was conducted by professor Piers Steel from the University of Calgary. He found that procrastination is on the rise and makes people poorer, fatter, and unhappier.

Dr. Steel has found that procrastination is pervasive and affects individuals, families, communities and business. “Ninety-five percent of us procrastinate at least occasionally and about 15-20% of do it consistently and problematically,” according to Steel. “Also, there are historical records of people procrastinating going back at least 3,000 years.” According to this massive study, in 1978, only about 5% of Americans viewed themselves as chronic procrastinators. It is now 26%.

His comprehensive analysis of procrastination research, published in the recent edition of the American Psychological Association’s Psychological Bulletin, presents some surprising conclusions on the subject, such as:

Most people will not follow through with their New Year’s resolutions
Perfectionism is not at the root of procrastination

“Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task,” Steel says. “Perfectionism is not the culprit. In fact, perfectionists actually procrastinate less, but they worry about it more.”

Some other behaviors that predict procrastination include: task aversiveness, impulsiveness, distractibility, and how much a person is motivated to achieve. Not all delays can be considered procrastination; the key is that a person must believe it would be better to start working on given tasks immediately, but still not start.

There are many theories on why people procrastinate and Dr. Steel has examined the four most popular ones generally promoted.

Anxiety: Fear of Failure and Perfectionism
People are thought to procrastinate on tasks that are stressful. Therefore, those who are more susceptible to experiencing stress should procrastinate more. This theory is not supported by research. It may explain why we might avoid tasks entirely, but not why we delay them. In fact, more anxiety is experienced as we near a deadline, so procrastination appears to be a way of increasing anxiety, not reducing it. Research evidence indicates a weak or no relationship between anxiety and irrational beliefs and procrastination. In fact, self-perfectionists actually report less procrastination than other people.

Self-Handicapping
This refers to the habit of placing obstacles that interfere with their own good performance. The motivation is often to protect self-esteem by giving them an “out” if they fail to do well. While there is some overlap of symptoms with procrastination, it has different causes and treatment.

Rebelliousness
According to some research, rebelliousness, hostility and disagreeableness are thought to be major motivations for procrastination. While parents of teenagers may disagree, this theory is not supported. It may explain why we might avoid tasks entirely, but not why we delay them. In fact, we appear more autonomous by just not doing a task. By doing it at the last minute, procrastination may appear to be “caving in” to the demands.

Temporal Motivation Theory (TMT)
Steel identifies this theory as “cutting edge” based on an equation that evaluates people’s decisions. He has found that people will low levels of self-efficacy or feelings of competence, procrastinate more. Procrastination is also strongly association with the value of the task. The more unpleasant it is viewed to be, the more likely to be delayed. Steel found that people who are more distractible, impulsive, and have less self-control tend to procrastinate more.

Procrastination is strongly associated with time delay. The closer we are to realizing the goal, the harder we work at it. In fact, work often expands to the time allotted for completion. As Johnny Carson once said, “If you have all week to do a TV show, it will take you all week. If you have a show everyday, you get it done everyday.”

The TMT theory also predicts an intention-action gap, where we intend to work but fail to act on our intentions. Procrastinators often have many intentions but tend to fail to put them into action.

Interested in an evaluation of your procrastination? Log on to http://www.procrastinus.com to participate in online study. You will receive an evaluation of your procrastination along with suggestions to reduce delaying what you need to get done. Do it today, not tomorrow.

As Mark Twain remarked, “Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

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Leadership-How to Deal With the Pointy-Haired Boss

2007-02-08T12:30:00.000-06:00

Inspired by the character from the Dilbert comic strip, he has come to represent all clueless managers, especially those technologically challenged. He is described by Dilbert author Scott Adams as "every employee's worst nightmare." Unscrupulous and mean, his top priorities are the bottom line and looking good to his superiors.

The Pointy-Haired Boss can be spotted taking credit for other people's ideas, projects, and work. He jumps up quickly at meetings to exclaim how much effort he has put into a new venture. Reluctant to thank his team or the people who actually did the labor, the PHB wants to make sure that his superiors know how hard he works.

The PHB stays current on all the latest business trends, though he rarely understands them. He is quick to adopt the hottest buzzwords and uses them to try to impress others with his business savvy. He gets excited over mission statements, strategic plans and teambuilding exercises. To see Dilbert's Boss in action producing mission statements, visit: Dilbert Mission Statements You can see the boss saying, "Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah."

Technology is just another way to waste time and promote himself for the PHB. He regularly "ego surfs," the process of surfing the web to see how many times his name turns up and what people are saying about him. He occasionally blogs some useless information just to see his name in print.

The PHB uses e-mail to make himself look good. He can be found adding his two cents to the memos from the boss resulting in a "kudo loop" of meaningless e-mails. He carefully follows up to any subordinate's e-mail with comments of his own to make it look like the idea was orginally his. This process of "e-dundanting" others with a flurry of e-mails is designed so that everyone knows how hard he toils.

Working for a PHB is discouraging and intimidating. He dominates others with his unrelenting quest to get ahead. Often driven by an insecurity deeply rooted in his childhood, he uses others rather than getting some psychotherapy.

Paul works for such a boss. Quiet and soft spoken, Paul is highly educated with a degree from Yale, and displays exceptional talent in sales and marketing. He has put together a number of marketing plans and promotional campaigns and forwarded them to the PHB for approval before implementation. He waits for a reponse. And he waits some more.

Several months later, the PHB presents one of his plans with minor changes at the sales meeting. While he mentions that his staff "helped" with the project, he does not credit Paul by name. Paul attempts to talk with the boss about his behavior but is told, "Look, I'm in charge here. Just do your job."

That is one of the main problems with working for a PHB; it is highly unlikely that any intervention on your part will make any difference in how he operates. You can attempt to talk with him or form a relationship but will not be successful. The PHB is not interested in you and your success; he just wants to get ahead.

Perhaps the most discouraging part of working for the PHB is that his success also says something about the leadership of the organization. They are either totally clueless or completely incompetent or both. They miss the obvious about the PHB that everyone else can see; he is lousy at managing people and inept in his job. How can top management not see this?

The answer is simple: they are incompetent or just don't care. Either way you are SOL with your career. Anyone with options and talent will leave. The rest will "dumb down" to fit with management.

It is said that people rise to their level of incompetence, and in too many organizations this is true.

Tips for Success:

Never work for someone you don't admire. You spend too many hours at work to be stuck with a PHB. Ideally, your boss should be someone you can emulate and respect.
Look for employment where you can learn and be mentored. The best employers are interested in the development of their employees and offer them opportunities for growth.
If stuck with the PHB, limit exposure. Stuck with him? Then try to have as little contact as necessary. Practice the art of keeping out of sight and just doing your job. Avoid face to face meetings as much as possible.
Put your name on everything you do. Don't let him take credit for your work; put your name on it. Make sure the upper management knows your accomplishments.
Don't be shy about taking credit for what you do. This is not the time for modesty or being humble. The PHB is not about to acknowledge your efforts so you have to.
Work with fellow employees to give each other credit. It's time to band together for survival. A tight work team can survive the PHB with mutual support, humor and camaraderie.
Nominate each other for awards and honors. Support other employees and make sure that they receive the recognition they deserve. They may return the favor.
Put Dilbert cartoons up by your desk. Maybe the PHB will get the hint.

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Happiness, Money and the Pursuit of Both

2007-01-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

Money does not seem to make us happy. Not only do we want what we don’t have, we aren’t always sure what exactly it is that we want. And often, once we get it, it doesn’t make us happy. In fact, people have interesting attitudes about money and what it can do for them and what they will do to get it.

These are the conclusions of a number of research projects conducted by psychologists, economists and social scientist from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Illinois, Princeton University and others. Numerous studies are evaluating the connection between happiness and money.

In the book, Are You Normal About Money?, author Bernice Kanner outlines responses from a public survey posted on the Bloomberg Web site. According to respondents, sixty-five percent would live on a deserted island for a year for $1 million dollars. Sixty percent would even admit to a crime that they didn’t do and serve six months in jail for the amount—and 10 percent would lend their spouse for a night. For $10 million, most of us would do just about anything: one-fourth would abandon our friends, our family, and our church. And for that amount of money, 7 percent—one in every fourteen of us—would even murder.

Part of the problem with money is that people want more. Thanks to fifty plus years of mass media pushing merchandise at us, we are convinced that more will make us happier. For decades, Lewis Lapham has been asking people how much money they would need to be happy. “No matter what their income,” he reports, “a depressing number of Americans believe that if only they had twice as much, they would inherit the estate of happiness promised them in the Declaration of Independence. The man who receives $15,000 a year is sure that he could relieve his sorrow if he had only $30,000 a year; the man with $1 million a year knows that all would be well if he had $2 million a year…Nobody, he concludes, “ever has enough.”

Yet, there is no firm research that supports the notion that more will make us happier. The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in California examined data from 20 nations regarding happiness. In each country, rich people reported more happiness than the poor. But in comparing nations overall, the pattern was mixed, with the happiness levels for poor countries often nearly as high as they were for richer ones. (The United States was tops in happiness, but Cuba was a close second.)

While Americans have become more affluent, they happiness levels have not really increased. In a series of studies by the University of Chicago, the average U.S. family has become 60% richer in the last thirty years, they are not significantly happier. In 1960, approximately 42% of Americans surveyed pronounced themselves “very happy.” A similar poll in 1990, found that 43% were “very happy.”

What seems to matter most for your sense of well-being and your happiness level is how you stack up against your neighbors. People tend to use this yardstick of comparison to evaluate their money and circumstances. Even a millionaire will feel miserable in the company of billionaires.

An example is found in the wild financial years of the mid-eighties, when many New York investment bankers earning “only” $600,000 a year felt poor and suffered from depression, anxiety, and loss of confidence. On less than $600,000, they were unable to keep up with their neighbors, colleagues and friends. As one broker described his lack of success, “I’m nothing. You understand that, nothing. I earn $250,000 a year, but it’s nothing, and I’m nobody.”

This is the problem with money and consumption. Each new luxury quickly becomes a necessity and then an even newer luxury must be identified. We become convinced that we need the flat screen TV, granite counter tops, and heated seats in the new car. From early on, we learn a pattern of consumption that is focused on “extrinsic values,” of obtaining more to make us happy.

There is increasing evidence, however, that the pursuit of affluence has damaging psychological effects, including severe depression and anxiety. In a series of case studies dating to 1993, Ryan and Kasser examined the effects of pursuing money and material goods. Focusing excessively on obtaining wealth was found to create a lower sense of well-being and self-esteem. Everyone who sought affluence as a goal had a lower score for happiness.

There was one point that all research on happiness seemed to agree; happy people do better than unhappy people in most realms of life; they have better social relationships, do more volunteer work, have better health and make more money. So money may not make you happier, but being happy may make you more money.

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Increase Productivity for the New Year

2007-01-02T15:26:00.000-06:00

A study of a thousand business people reported that 89% take work home, 65% work more than one weekend a month and 53% spend less than two hours a week looking after their children. Completed by the American Management Association, the study also revealed that more than 68% of the survey respondents felt at least somewhat more overwhelmed at work than they did two years ago.

Are you looking for more time in your life to do the things you really want? We can’t create more time, but by using time more effectively, you can streamline work and responsibilities. Here are some ideas for the New Year:

Observe yourself. The first step in time management is to know how you currently spend your time. Log all the hours and what you are doing for one week. You will quickly discover time that is lost with inefficiencies, interruptions, and lack of planning. Be especially wary of the great time waster—television. Discipline yourself to make better choices.
Go to bed. According to the 2005 Sleep in America Poll, approximately half of American workers report that lack of sleep regularly affects their performance on the job and at home. Adults in the US report that they receive, on average, 6.9 hours of sleep each night. The recommended amount is 7.5 to 8.5 hours for a healthy adult. Don’t skimp on sleep to get everything done. You may be more productive by sleeping that extra hour.
Have a “don’t do” list. Be clear on what things you don’t want to do or interfere with your efficiency. I am often asked to lunch by people who want to “network.” While I enjoy meeting new people, I have found this to be an enormous waste of time with little benefit to either party. I now refuse these requests and invite them instead to join me at a larger networking event.
Go paperless. You have the technology, so use it. Eliminate the paper trails, files, and copies. Use the computer to put your documents into files and organize your projects. At least twice a year, take a few hours to go through files and delete what isn’t being used.
Make e-mail the communication of choice. Eliminate as many phone calls as possible. Integrate voicemails and faxes into your e-mail system to avoid wasting time on other technology.
Use e-mail filtering. This will keep the amount of e-mails at an acceptable level. Tools like “in-box rules” and search folders can mark and group messages based on content and importance.
Ignore new e-mails. It’s fine to have the e-mail notification icon on your toolbar but discipline yourself to ignore it. Each time you switch between screens to check the latest incoming mail; you lose your flow and your productivity. Rather open your mail no more than once per hour.
Learn the computer programs. Most of us use less than 10% of the capacity of the programs we have installed on our computers. Yet, you can save time by using macros and other tools. Don’t have time to sign up for a course? Download a free list of shortcuts from Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290938
Use a computerized contact management system. There are a number of great ones available such as ACT. Many also can integrate into your palm pilot for scheduling, contact, info, etc. It’s a great way to keep track of key customer, contacts or even your Holiday list.
Set short deadlines. Long deadlines are the fodder for procrastination. Most of us wait until we are under the gun and then work like crazy to complete the project. Create a deadline system for yourself that includes daily goals even if it is only part of a project.
Understand who does the typing. Consulting with large corporations, I am often amazed that they try to save money by eliminating support staff. How many hours of time are wasted by folks who are typing with two fingers? Either learn to type or hire someone who does. This holds true for other projects too. If there is someone who can do it better, faster, and more efficient than you, outsource the work.
Systemize everything you can. From scheduling to grocery shopping, calendars to cleaning, create a system. Systems turn into habits and organized habits increase efficiency.
Eliminate everything from your schedule that does not add value. Too often reports, measurements and routine tasks are of little benefit and interfere with other projects. There is an old Scottish proverb: “Weighing sheep won’t make them any fatter.” Measurements have their place but periodically evaluate if they are still needed.

Implement these ideas to increase your productivity for 2007. Then take a nice vacation.

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Copyright 2007 by Barbara Bartlein. All rights reserved.

POP-How to Make Your Business Stand Out in a Crowded Market

2006-11-06T22:35:00.000-06:00

There is an old saying, “Be anything but boring.” Boring means not memorable; which translates into NO repeat business. Customers and colleagues must see your business as the premier resource in your field. Your business needs to be notable from competitors by product, brand, and customer service. If you are one of many, you will always be competing with others for business.

In a fascinating new book, POP-Stand Out In Any Crowd, author and award winning speaker, Sam Horn, shows you new ways to brainstorm, communicate ideas and connect with customers, clients and colleagues. It is packed with concrete ideas to break away from the pack and stand out in your field. A great tool for entrepreneurs, business people, and authors, it delivers fresh ideas, new inspiration, and techniques that work.

Horn describes the W9 Form: nine key questions to clarify your purpose; The Eureka Moment: why people love to discover the Next New Thing; and The Jerry Maguire Test: five secrets to crafting a message that gets people at hello. She shows you how to coin original phrases so you are the expert and sole “go-to” resource in your field. Some other ideas from Horn:

Think POP—Purposeful, Original and Pithy messages. People today are BB—they’re busy and bored. They have a hundred things competing for their attention and they have seen and heard it all—or at least, they think they have. Your message has to resonate in the first few seconds with people or they will tune you out. POP messages pleasantly surprise people and capture their favorable attention in 15 seconds or less.

The best way to corner a niche is to create a niche. And the best way to create a niche is to coin a word that belongs to you and you alone. That’s what Horn did with her book, Tongue Fu! (The verbal form of Kung Fu!) When you produce a trade-markable term, you don’t just have a clever title or phrase, you have the potential for a business empire.

Identify what stops you in your tracks. Keep your antennae up for what grabs your attention. If it stops you in your tracks, it will be noticed by others which set you apart from the pack. Example? A book on punctuation became an international bestseller last year because author Lynn Truss didn’t give it a yawn-inducing name. She titled it after the punch line of a joke—Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.

Don’t repeat cliché’s, re-arrange cliché’s. Trotting out tired expressions (such as, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice”) sends the message that we don’t have anything new to add to the discussion. They elicit a “so what?” response and many people will roll their eyes and tune out. Rearrange cliché’s to give them a fresh look. For example, a dog walking service called their business, DogOn Fitness: “We’re more than just a walk around the block!”

Aflac your business so they see what you’re saying. The Aflac insurance company had a difficult task, how to make people remember their name when it is basically just a string of letters. More importantly, why would people want to give their money to a firm when they don’t even know what the name means? Some brilliant marketing folks came up with the idea to equate Aflac with a duck. Now, because of their TV commercials and print ads featuring a duck quacking “Aflac,” the public associates that abstract business name with an adorable animal. Another insurance company did the same thing with similar success. What do you think of when you see the letters GEICO?

Put your slogan in a beat that is easy to repeat. Craft your slogan or tagline to a distinctive rhythm that makes it stick in people’s brains, or even better, becomes a part of the popular culture. Remember the fast food commercials with the lady saying, “Where’s the beef?” It had s distinctive cadence that and became very popular. Most people still remember that phrase. Think of a more recent example with Verizon’s “Can you hear me now?” This trademark slogan has made its way into the popular culture. Do people remember your tagline?

For more ideas to make your business POP, check out www.SamHorn.com. Remember, if you are not the lead dog, all the scenery looks the same.

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Copyright 2006 by Barbara Bartlein. All rights reserved.

Customer Services Means Keeping Your Promises

2006-11-06T22:28:00.000-06:00

One benefit of being a professional speaker and trainer is that I have the opportunity to stay in some of the nicest hotels. This was the case on a recent visit to Florida where I spent the night at a beautiful resort complete with pools, golf course, and spa. With the usual in-room amenities, I rose to make coffee while preparing to speak at a business conference.

Digging out the coffee pot, I located the decaf but not the regular coffee. Looking around the cupboard and in the drawers, I finally called the front desk to explain my dilemma.

“We are out of coffee,” explained the desk clerk calmly.

“What do you mean, you are out of coffee?” I asked, not so calmly. “How can a five-star hotel be out of coffee?”

“Oh, I’m really sorry,” he explained. “Our shipment did not come in, and we have no regular coffee packets for the rooms.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “I mean coffee is like towels or toilet paper. It is really a basic necessity.”

“Yes, I know. I’m really sorry,” said the desk clerk. “We will take steps to attend to this immediately.”

Within minutes there was a knock on the door and a waiter stood with a pot of coffee, cream, and fresh fruit. He assured me it was complementary for the inconvenience of not having coffee in the room and, again, apologized for the problem.

It was clear that the desk clerk had kept his promise to rectify the situation, but two other important promises were not kept.

Customer Service means keeping promises. Promises build trust, understanding and customer loyalty. Customers evaluate a company based on how well promises get delivered. There are really three types of promises that need to be considered for great customer service:

Personal Promises. These are the promises that an individual makes to a customer. When the desk clerk indicated that he would attend to the problem; that was a personal promise. When a customer service representative says that they will get back to you by the end of the day; that is a personal promise. Personal promises are from one person to another, yet the results reflect on the entire company. Customers watch these promises carefully and evaluate the follow through. They know that if you can’t trust a company’s representative, you can’t trust the company.

Companies committed to customer service train their staff carefully to make sure that they understand the importance of their personal promises. Empty assurances and unrealistic timelines only frustrate the customer and erode trust. Staff must be careful in their efforts to “put out the fire,” that they don’t add gasoline.

Organizational Promises. These are the promises that the organization makes to the customer. Expecting coffee in a five-star hotel is an organizational promise. When a hotel advertised that they are “five-star,” this indicates that they have passed the criteria to earn these stars. Customers expect a certain level of accommodations, services and extras that this classification implies. They certainly expect coffee.

Organizational promises can also include statements about service, product quality, pricing, etc. These promises may be a part of an organizations slogans or branding. When Midwest Airlines claims to be “The Best Care In The Air,” they can back up their claim with the latest market surveys. When Harley Davidson says, “Be part of something bigger,” they can back up their claim with information about bike rallies, events, clothing and the Harley culture.

Expected Promises. These are industry promises; what is expected from providers in a specific industry. This if what customers expect even if it is not spelled out. Fine hotels should have coffee. Period. The best ones also have fresh cream available in the room, instead of powered cement to stir in the coffee. I have learned to expect this after staying in hundreds of hotels.

Several years ago we bought a new van. We brought it home from the dealer with 175 miles on the odometer. The next morning it wouldn’t start. I called the dealer and said, “Is it supposed to go more than 175 miles?” He didn’t appreciate the humor. You expect a new car to run. Expected promises are the basic. You have to do them because everyone else in your industry is already doing them. Great companies do more than the expected promises; they do the extras to set their service apart from the competition.

What promises are you making to your customers? Remember the rule for great customer service, “Under Promise and Over Deliver.” Give your customers more than they expect and they will be loyal advocates for the company.

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Also visit Barb's other websites at: www.marriagecounseling101.com and www.personalitytest101.com

Copyright 2006, by Barbara Bartlein. All rights reserved.

"No Problem" Attitude Builds Customer Loyalty

2006-10-01T23:49:00.000-05:00

We recently completed a two week cruise of the Mediterranean on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. After embarking in Barcelona, we cruised over two thousand miles to five countries and eight ports of call. Celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, this dream vacation resulted from years of saving and months of planning. We were not disappointed.

From the Coliseum in Rome to the ruins of Pompeii, we were dazzled with scenery, sites and history. We listened to tour guides, ate Gelato, and swam on the Italian Riviera. We mustered, tendered and ate way too much. And much to our delight, we enjoyed the finest service I have ever experienced.

The attitude on board ship was “no problem.” With a crew meticulously trained, it was clear from the moment we boarded that whatever our interest, request or problem, they were there to serve. This was no easy task as the ship accommodates more than two thousand guests; each with their own agendas, preferences and anxieties. There are tourists who lose their cameras, their itineraries and their children during the course of the day.

At one point I purchased tickets for a boat trip to shore that were not needed as it was included in another excursion. Though the ticket said “not refundable,” I sheepishly went to the counter to inquire about a refund. The answer? “No problem.”

Craving guacamole one afternoon, I arrived at one of the restaurants looking for the avocado treat. Though not open, one of the chefs raced back in the kitchen and brought out tip and chips. When I thanked him, he said, you guessed it, “No problem.” In spite of several thousand guests who also had various needs, issues, and requests, we were made to feel special.

The “no problem” attitude can work well for any business. What small things can you do for your customers to make it clear you value their business and the relationship? Here are some ideas:

Adopt the “no problem” attitude. Train your staff to use that phrase on a regular basis regardless of the request or the inconvenience. In a sometimes hostile and argumentative world, it is refreshing to do business with people who don’t argue about the small stuff or make a transaction more difficult than it needs to be. The phrase works well to make it clear that the customer comes first.
Accommodate as much as possible. I frequently observe customer interactions that appear to be nothing more than a verbal shoving match. Staff may argue about a detail that really doesn’t make any difference just to win the skirmish but lose the war. Don’t make the customer feel that you are doing him a favor by taking his money. He won’t be back.
Ban the “P” words. Nobody cares about your policies, procedures or protocols. They only care about what you can do for them. Nothing will annoy a customer more than hearing that what they want is not allowed because of policy and procedure. Standard operating procedures are for your benefit, not the customers.
Under promise and over deliver. Exceed expectations and you will create customer loyalty. People have come to expect poor customer service these days, and those businesses that focus on quality stand out. Go the extra mile and do the unexpected. Customers will remember the service.
Train staff in customer relations. Jeffrey Gitomer refers to it as buying all the staff Chap Stick. Staff will need it for kissing all the customers. Make it clear to all employees that their paycheck comes from the customers, not the payroll department. If the customers weren’t spending, they wouldn’t get paid.
Maximize the first encounter. It is said that you only get one chance to make a first impression. That is especially important for businesses. Who is answering your phone? Do customers encounter a friendly voice or a burned out robot? This critical position needs to be trained and retrained so that each and every encounter is positive, friendly and helpful.
Don’t forget the follow up. Service doesn’t stop once the transaction is paid. Stay in contact with your customers through newsletters, mailings and phone calls. Offer them helpful resources that position your company as the experts. The next time they need your service, you will be the one they call.

Adopt the “no problem” approach for your business. Let your customer know how much you appreciate them and their confidence in your goods and services. Long term relationships are the key to growing any business. Make sure that you are thinking of the third and fourth transaction when you are making the first.

For more tools to build customer loyalty at your organization, get your copy of Barb's latest teleseminar, Customer Service Power

Copyright 2006 by Barbara Bartlein. All rights reserved.

Customer Service Means Keeping Promises

2006-10-01T23:31:00.000-05:00

One benefit of being a professional speaker and trainer is that I have the opportunity to stay in some of the nicest hotels. This was the case on a recent visit to Florida where I spent the night at a beautiful resort complete with pools, golf course, and spa. With the usual in-room amenities, I rose to make coffee while preparing to speak at a business conference.

Digging out the coffee pot, I located the decaf but not the regular coffee. Looking around the cupboard and in the drawers, I finally called the front desk to explain my dilemma.

“We are out of coffee,” explained the desk clerk calmly.

“What do you mean, you are out of coffee?” I asked, not so calmly. “How can a five-star hotel be out of coffee?”

“Oh, I’m really sorry,” he explained. “Our shipment did not come in, and we have no regular coffee packets for the rooms.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “I mean coffee is like towels or toilet paper. It is really a basic necessity.”

“Yes, I know. I’m really sorry,” said the desk clerk. “We will take steps to attend to this immediately.”

Within minutes there was a knock on the door and a waiter stood with a pot of coffee, cream, and fresh fruit. He assured me it was complementary for the inconvenience of not having coffee in the room and, again, apologized for the problem.

It was clear that the desk clerk had kept his promise to rectify the situation, but two other important promises were not kept.

Customer Service means keeping promises. Promises build trust, understanding and customer loyalty. Customers evaluate a company based on how well promises get delivered. There are really three types of promises that need to be considered for great customer service:

Personal Promises. These are the promises that an individual makes to a customer. When the desk clerk indicated that he would attend to the problem; that was a personal promise. When a customer service representative says that they will get back to you by the end of the day; that is a personal promise. Personal promises are from one person to another, yet the results reflect on the entire company. Customers watch these promises carefully and evaluate the follow through. They know that if you can’t trust a company’s representative, you can’t trust the company.

Companies committed to customer service train their staff carefully to make sure that they understand the importance of their personal promises. Empty assurances and unrealistic timelines only frustrate the customer and erode trust. Staff must be careful in their efforts to “put out the fire,” that they don’t add gasoline.

Organizational Promises. These are the promises that the organization makes to the customer. Expecting coffee in a five-star hotel is an organizational promise. When a hotel advertised that they are “five-star,” this indicates that they have passed the criteria to earn these stars. Customers expect a certain level of accommodations, services and extras that this classification implies. They certainly expect coffee.

Organizational promises can also include statements about service, product quality, pricing, etc. These promises may be a part of an organizations slogans or branding. When Midwest Airlines claims to be “The Best Care In The Air,” they can back up their claim with the latest market surveys. When Harley Davidson says, “Be part of something bigger,” they can back up their claim with information about bike rallies, events, clothing and the Harley culture.

Expected Promises. These are industry promises; what is expected from providers in a specific industry. This if what customers expect even if it is not spelled out. Fine hotels should have coffee. Period. The best ones also have fresh cream available in the room, instead of powered cement to stir in the coffee. I have learned to expect this after staying in hundreds of hotels.

Several years ago we bought a new van. We brought it home from the dealer with 175 miles on the odometer. The next morning it wouldn’t start. I called the dealer and said, “Is it supposed to go more than 175 miles?” He didn’t appreciate the humor. You expect a new car to run. Expected promises are the basic. You have to do them because everyone else in your industry is already doing them. Great companies do more than the expected promises; they do the extras to set their service apart from the competition.

What promises are you making to your customers? Remember the rule for great customer service, “Under Promise and Over Deliver.” Give your customers more than they expect and they will be loyal advocates for the company.

For more tools to build customer loyalty at your company, listen to Barb's latest teleseminar, Customer Service Power

Copyright 2006, All rights reserved.

Helping Successful People Get Even Better

2006-06-26T12:15:00.000-05:00

Managers and supervisors often utilize “feedback” to coach and mentor their employees. Yet feedback has many drawbacks according to research by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach to many Fortune 100 companies. “Feedback tends to reinforce feelings of failure,” says Goldsmith, “It focuses on the past, not on the future.”

Most people dread feedback meetings as “feedback” tends to have a negative connotation. The receiver may begin to feel defensive even before the first word is spoken as they anticipate “corrective input” that they did not request. While the intent of the feedback is meant to be helpful, it is usually heard as criticism, not coaching. Often the feedback process is focused on proving what the receiver did wrong, not helping them be right. It is much easier to identify what went wrong in the past than to initiate behaviors to correct the problem for the future.

Goldsmith recommends another approach called Feedforward. A technique that can be used with managers, peers, team members and family, it can cover the same material as feedback but in a more positive manner. Feedforward assumes that people can change and future behavior can be modified. Feedforward can come from anyone who knows the task, not just the person. It is an effective approach as successful people like getting ideas aimed at helping them achieve their goals. Because the goals are chosen by the participants rather than a supervisor or boss, they are more open to the input in the process.

For Feedforward, people are asked to:

Choose to change one behavior to make a positive difference in their lives.
Describe this behavior to others.
Ask for two suggestions for achieving a positive change in the behavior.
Listen to suggestions and take notes without commenting on them.
Thank others for their suggestions.
Ask others what they would like to change.
Provide Feedforward –two suggestions aimed at helping them change.
Say, “You are welcome,” when thanked for the suggestion.

This exercise can be done in team meetings or as individual assignments. You can direct team members to engage in short conversations based on the above guidelines and write down the suggestions. Participants usually describe it as “energizing, fun, and helpful.” It builds teamwork as people seek each other out for suggestions and share information. As they gather information to help them with their pre-selected behavior, they receive a concrete place to start rather than vague ideas of what to improve.

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Feedforward tends to be efficient and takes only a few minutes. Participants listen carefully to the suggestions provided as they requested the input. They are also more likely to be effective in initiating change, as the behavior identified for improvement was their idea not someone else’s.

The key to long term success with Feedforward is the follow-up accountability. As it takes a minimum of 30-90 days to create a new habit, it is important to build a “check-in” process for participants to report on their progress. This can be done in a number of ways.

Have a brief meeting where everyone checks in with their progress.
Conduct an e-mail survey every thirty days where participants identify what suggestions are working for them.
Schedule another Feedforward where participants obtain additional suggestions for their identified behavior change.
Have participants call a “partner” to ask how they are doing after a 30 day interval.
Inquire about progress in one-to-one meetings.

Follow-up accountability keeps participants focused on what they said they were going to do. It also prevents the Feedforward from simply becoming “the program of the week,” where employees hear about it once and it drops off the radar screen. Research by Goldsmith demonstrates that ongoing monitoring of the program is a key factor for success.

Participants must be encouraged to be helpful coaches to each other, not cynics, critics or judges. If successful people feel that they are being encouraged and supported by their peers, they are much more likely to achieve long-range results. If they feel that they are being judged, they will become apathetic to the process and quit trying. Additional training must be given to participants to assist them in learning coaching and mentoring techniques.

Using feedforward, you not only convey the right message, you also ensure that those who receive it are receptive to its content and open to change. Try it and make your life and workplace more enjoyable.

For more information on Feedforward and coaching and mentoring, listen to Barb's teleseminar, "Helping Successful People Get Even Better."

Copyright June 2006. All rights reserved.

Successful People Have Difficulty Changing

2006-06-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

A hard working partner at a major law firm, John B., finds that he gets short with co-workers especially when under stress. He is not viewed as a “team player” by other members of the firm and the support staff avoid him. In spite of feedback and coaching from his colleagues, he has experienced little progress in modifying his behavior.

Judy S. struggles with balancing her personal and professional life, often finding herself overcommitted. As a VP of a large health care organization, she also serves on a number of community boards. She has difficulty saying “No” and feels guilty that she is not doing enough for her children. She has tried repeatedly to decrease her work time but seems to be busier each year.

Both of these successful people may find it difficult to change.

There is a “paradox of success,” according to the executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, reported in a Business Strategy Review article. This paradox makes it difficult for successful people to grow and improve. When things are going well, people have little motivation to change. Yet, successful people need to change before they have to change or they will plateau or even decline in effectiveness. Even the most successful leaders can increase their effectiveness by changing some elements of their behavior.

Goldsmith has worked with hundreds of executives in Fortune 100 companies and has found that successful people have four key beliefs that drive their success and, often, limit their growth. These beliefs are:

I choose to succeed. Successful people believe that they are doing what they choose to do, because they choose to do it. They have a strong need for self-determination and do not like feeling controlled or manipulated. They believe that their behavior is a result of their choices and commitments. The “I choose to succeed” belief is highly correlated with achievement. The more we believe that our behavior is a result of our own choices and commitments, the less likely we are to want to change our behavior.
Successful people’s personal commitment can make it hard for them to change.
I can succeed. Successful people believe that they have the internal capacity to make desirable things happen. They do not see themselves as victims of fate; rather they believe that their motivation and ability has driven their success.
Successful people often confuse correlation with causality. Because they get positive reinforcement for results, they may not have an accurate perception of what behaviors drove those results. This can result in “superstitious behavior” where the successful person repeats behavior that they believe was a factor in their success.
Successful people have difficulty realizing that they are successful “in spite” of certain behaviors, not “because of” them.
I will succeed. A contagious sense of optimism is one of the most important characteristics of successful people. They not only believe that they can achieve, they believe that they will achieve. Because they are ambitious and goal oriented, they have difficulty saying “no” to desirable opportunities. They often equate “busyness” with success. Some successful people drown in a sea of opportunity and burn out their staff trying to complete what they have promised.
Successful people are very busy and face the danger of over commitment.
I have succeeded. Successful people tend to have a positive interpretation of their past performance. They consistently over-rate their performance relative to their professional peers. When positive outcomes occur, they believe that their efforts were instrumental to the success. They see their history of what they have done as a validation of who they are and their personal attributes.
Successful people’s positive view of their performance can make it difficult to hear negative feedback from others.

Goldsmith has found that successful people have great difficulty in accepting input from others regarding their behavior. If the feedback does not agree with their perceptions of themselves they tend to deny the information for three reasons: 1) the input is from someone that they do see as their peer or equal in terms of success, therefore it “doesn’t count;” 2) they view input that is inconsistent with their self-image to be “incorrect” and the other person is “confused” or 3) they agree there is truth in the feedback but it could not be important since they are so successful. These are some of the reasons that feedback is not very effective with successful people.

As Denis Diderot once said, “we swallow with one gulp the lie that flatters us, and drink drop by drop the truth which is bitter to us.”

Discover your personality style by taking the Online Personality Test at Personality Test

Survey Shows That Few Organizations Understand Employee Retention

2006-05-14T13:56:00.000-05:00

As the boomers plan retirement and there is a projected worker shortage, a new comprehensive study by Spherion Corporation indicates that many employers aren’t taking the steps necessary to retain existing employees or attract top talent from a shrinking worker pool.

Spherion’s 2005 Emerging Workforce Study surveyed a nationally representative sample of U.S. companies and employees and found a serious disconnect between employers and workers on important workplace issues. They differ on the critical issues affecting retention, such as training and development and work/life balance. The study found that less than one in five employers is positioned for the future to recruit and retain top talent.

According to the Emerging Workforce Study:

Only 34% of HR managers mention turnover/retention as a key HR concern.
60% of workers rate time and flexibility as a key factor in retention, but only thirty-five percent of employers feel the same.
Only 49% of employers rate money as an important issue in retention but 69% of workers believe it is.

Nearly 40% of U.S. employees intend to find a new job in the next 12 months, but employers expect only 14% of their workforce to leave in the next year.

One of the biggest gaps between employers and employees is the importance workers place on the balance between their professional and personal lives. In a previous study in 2003, 96% of employees agreed that an employer was more attractive when it helped them meet family responsibilities through flextime, work at home options, telecommuting and job sharing. Yet only 24% of employers offer a formal flex-time program, only 12% offer telecommuting and 11% offer job sharing.

The results are of concern as the new emerging workforce is very different than the traditional workforce that many employers have had for many years. There is a new breed of American worker who is confident, self-reliant and has a different set of workplace values and expectations about work and life. They are much more focused on the importance of balance and family time. This growing group currently represents about 31% of workers today and is expected to be the majority of employees by 2007. Many experts are predicting that the more traditionally minded workers will dwindle to near extinction in the next few years.

Yet, the Spherion Workforce study found that only 19% of employers have the progressive mindset, HR approaches and policies to attract and retain top talent for the future. The traditional employers, representing 33% of all employers, have dated views on retention and focus little on the issues of time, flexibility or opportunities for growth.

The employers who are best positioned for the future:

Offer work/life balance programs, training and educational opportunities and other options to retain employees.
Frequently survey employees to identify specific retention issues that need to be addressed.
Hire the right mix of full-time, part-time and contingent resources that assist in building appropriate staffing levels during business fluctuations.

Utilize HR practices that emphasize individual employee growth and offer flexibility in the workplace.

To build customer loyalty, you must have loyal employees. Employee loyalty is built when it is clear that the employer is concerned about employees both professionally and personally. Workers are encouraged to find the employment options that help them balance their responsibilities at work and at home. They are mentored by management to achieve their potential and maximize their talents. They are urged to participate in training and education that will advance their career and build their life.

Frequently I am asked by employers, “But what if I train an employee and then he leaves?” To which I answer, “What if you don’t, and he stays?”

For more tips to improve retention in your organization, listen to my recent teleseminar at:
Empowerment With The Emerging Workforce.

What it Took Me Fifty Years to Learn

2006-05-14T13:53:00.000-05:00

I turn fifty this month. As part of a generation that vowed not to trust anyone over thirty, this is a humbling milestone. I take some comfort in the fact that I am not alone. Every seven seconds, a baby boomer turns fifty. Nearly 64 million boomers will turn 50 in the next 14 years. Listen closely; you can hear their screams. The generation of perpetual youth is now planning retirement.

I am reminded that it is impossible to grow wiser without growing older but a lot of people get older without growing wiser. Here is some of what I have learned in a half-century of living:

We all think we look younger than our age.
It doesn’t occur to most of us at 20 years of age that we will ever be 50.
We all think we are good drivers. It is the other guys that are lousy. If they are going slow in front of us, they are idiots. If they are right on our tail, they are morons.
A job, no matter how great, is still a job. That’s why they have to pay you to do it.
The best organizations work on understanding people first and business second.
I have yet to meet a successful person that did not work very hard. As Eddie Cantor once said, “It took me twenty years to be an overnight success.”
Never work for someone you don’t admire and respect. You won’t advance your learning.
Hire for attitude and train for skills. Skill building is easy. Attitude changing, impossible.
You can’t train people to have good judgment. As Mark Twain said, “Common sense is not that common.”
Employees want to do a good job and feel successful. Employers can set them up to fail.
Whether you call it downsizing, rightsizing, re-engineering, or re-structuring, to the guy out the door it feels like “fired.”
It’s not who you know, it is who knows you.
My life is not simpler or easier with all the new technology. The “time saving” devices take up all my time.
If my summer clothes feel loose in the Spring, it is because the elastic has washed out in the wash.
The things I like the best are not good for me.
The basics of healthy eating, exercise and balance aren’t all that basic or easy.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t drink 10 glasses of water per day.
If I had the first 50 years to live over, I would worry less and laugh more.
Happiness is in the doing…not the result. Spend your time doing what you love.
Marriage is not based on love; it is based on trust and commitment.
The primary goal of raising children is to have a good relationship with them when they are grown.
Life is like a toilet paper roll; it goes faster the closer you get to the end.
My mother was right about everything; from flossing, taking vitamins, the joys of children, to the importance of forgiveness.
If you reach 50 years of age with no major health problems, loving family and friends and you don’t know how blessed you are…you will never get it.

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Copyright 2003, by Barbara Bartlein. All rights reserved.

Runaway Meetings Are The Top Time Waster At Work

2006-01-27T10:30:00.000-06:00

A new nationwide survey finds that “runaway” meetings are the biggest time waster in the workplace. More than 27 percent of workers polled said meetings are the largest culprit for inefficiency and lack of productivity.

The survey was developed by Office Team, a staffing service specializing in skilled administrative professionals. With responses from 613 men and women, all 18 years or older, the findings are part of the “Office Team Career Challenge,” a project to help administrative professionals advance their careers.

With today’s lean staffing levels, there is increasing pressure for employees to manage their time effectively. Yet, many employers actually sabotage time management with runaway meetings and interruptions. Industry Week calls meetings “the Great White Collar Crime” estimating they waste 37 billion dollars a year.

Some ‘red flags’ that can indicate a mismanaged meeting:

No one in charge. If the leadership of the meeting isn’t clear, there is a tendency for attendees to waste time, pontificate their points and not draw any conclusions.
Not starting on time. This practice ‘trains’ employees to come late and expect additional time for socializing.
Lack of objectives or agenda. With no clear purpose or agenda to follow, it is easy for the meeting to get off track. Participants may not be clear as to what needs to be discussed or for how long.
Lengthy guest list. As a general rule, the more people at a meeting, the less work accomplished. When the list of attendees is extensive, it is often because there is a focus on not excluding anyone, not because each member’s participation is necessary.
Just part of the routine. Regularly scheduled meetings can lose value as circumstances and staff change. All routine meetings should be periodically evaluated to determine whether they should be held at all.

To learn how to make meetings more productive, I contacted Chris Clarke-Epstein, CSP, who wrote the book, I Can’t Take Your Call Right Now, I’m In a Meeting. The former president of the National Speaker’s Association, she works with clients to help employees learn faster and work better. She offers concrete ideas to make your meetings more effective.

Idea #1: Not every meeting should take place. The right times to schedule a meeting are when conflicts need to be resolved, groups of people need to start working together or information needs to be shared at the same time. Meetings are a group activity so they can be effective when a group needs to reach consensus or rally around an idea or plan.
Idea#2: The person who calls the meeting has more to do than reserve the room. They need to also consider other logistical issues, including; time, equipment needed, and food/beverage. They need to take ownership of the content including preparation of an agenda and distribution of review materials. It is important to have a system to follow up on assignments and monitor the results of the meeting.
Idea #3: Meetings are no better than the people attending them. According to the Warton Center for Applied Research, the primary cause of unproductive meetings is not having the right people in attendance. The most effective participants at any meeting are: people who have the information you need, people who can make decisions, and people who will implement the decisions.
Idea #4: What gets recorded at a meeting has a chance of getting done. All meetings need some form of collective, agreed-upon memory. Without documentation, consensus can quickly evaporate. Meeting notes need to summarize the decisions made, itemize the actions agreed upon, fix accountability and document the deadlines for all actions.
Idea #5: Meetings that end without assignments are doomed to be repeated. Groups are often very good at decision making and unbelievably poor at implementation. There needs to be an identified person to implement each decision within a specific timeframe. Watch to make certain that everyone is getting some of the responsibilities.
Idea #6: Teams that evaluate their meetings have better meetings. Take two or three minutes at the end of each meeting to evaluate the process. Use index cards and answer the following questions: Were the meeting’s objectives met? Was the meeting’s format effective? Was the meeting of value?

The true value of any meeting is what actually happens after the meeting takes place. Make sure that individuals are held accountable for meeting results. And remember, if you don’t measure it, it won’t happen.

For more ideas on effective meetings and building productive teams, please visit: http://www.chrisclarke-epstein.com/

For more tips to build your business, please visit: www.ThePeoplePro.com

Multi-Tasking Decreases Productivity

2006-01-18T09:57:00.000-06:00

Beware all you multi-taskers, you may not be as productive as you thought. According to new research compiled by David E. Meyer, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, productivity is actually hindered when people try to accomplish two things (or more) at once. Mr. Meyer reports that people who switch back and forth between tasks, like working on a project and answering the phone or e-mails, may spend up to 50% more time on those tasks than if they work on them separately, completing one before starting the other.

There has been little research into the habit of multi-tasking but Mr. Meyer theorizes that some workers may feel more productive or it provides a show of accomplishment for co-workers. Increasingly, however, researchers are questioning whether the constant flow of data is part of the problem.

“It’s magnetic,” said Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatry instructor at Harvard. “It’s like a tar baby: the more you touch it, the more you have to.”

Dr. Hallowell and John Ratey, an associate professor at Harvard, join a growing number of physicians who are concerned about the effects of technology on creativity, thinking processes and productivity. Increasingly, they have observed workers who are compulsively drawn to the constant stimulation provided by incoming data. They have coined their own term for the apparent addiction that some have for the constant flow of data and jumping from one task to another: pseudo-attention deficit disorder. Its sufferers are influenced by the fast pace of modern life and the constant use of technology to the point that they have developed shorter attention spans. They become frustrated with long term projects or activities that require intense concentration.

“It’s like a dopamine squirt to be connected,” said Dr. Ratey, who describes a narcotic-like effect of being constantly wired. “It’s an addiction,” he said, “Some people cannot deal with down time or quiet moments.”

The data speed demons worry they will fall behind if they disconnect and are compulsively drawn to fast moving data. Duped O.C.D.—online compulsive disorder, by researchers studying the syndrome, there are actual symptoms of withdrawal for folks when they unplug and seek quieter moments. Some clues that you may have a problem:

It is difficult to unplug. Whether at a conference, on vacation, or simply after hours at home, you become anxious if you haven’t checked your e-mail, voice messages and fax after a few hours. If you go get a cup of coffee and feel that you have to check the e-mail when you return, you are over plugged.
Your desk is cluttered with multiple unfinished projects. Multi-tasking can be a way to avoid projects that are stalled or difficult to finish. Seat belt yourself to the chair and focus on finishing the largest undertaking first. Turn off the phone/fax/internet so that you can concentrate.
Data becomes difficult to separate from information. We are bombarded with data these days, but is it really information? Any worthwhile information or news will be reported in multiple places. Arrange for the delivery of information from one or two sources and tune out the rest.
Creativity and new ideas are stalled. It is well known that many of the best ideas and creative thinking occurs when the mind is uncluttered. That is why people often report that if they “sleep on it” they wake up with the answer to a problem. Make sure that you are building quiet, uncomplicated time into each day for creative thinking.

For more information on managing your time, get Barb's Taking Charge of You Time on CD.

You learn:

The two biggest workplace pressures
How to identify your beliefs about time
Symptoms of poor time management
How to set priorities
The difference between development and maintenance activities
The enemies of Time Management
Time Management tips

How to use time to your benefitIncludes a comprehensive handout for download.
Taking Charge of Your Time

Ten Tips to Hire the Perfect Speaker for Your Next Event

2006-01-16T12:03:00.000-06:00

You have the dates scheduled, the conference center reserved, and the agenda outlined; but now you need to book the speakers to make the event a success. Perhaps last year the speaker was hard to work with, too expensive, or just plain boring. You want to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen this year. Here’s ten tips that can help:

Start with the end in mind. As Stephen Covey says, look at the results you want. What is the purpose of the conference? What type of information are attendees looking for? Ask yourself the question, “If everyone got exactly what they need, what would that be?” Be cautious of looking for “motivation.” If motivation and energy aren’t tied with content and a plan, the attendees will lose their enthusiasm shortly after arriving back at work.
Talk to speakers from previous years. Speakers are happy to give recommendations and advice on future speakers. They know that if you like who they recommend, they further build a relationship with you. While the professional speaker will not talk negatively about another speaker, they certainly will be happy to steer you the best person who can meet your needs.
Contact other meeting planners. Talk with other meeting planners about speakers who have been exceptional. You may want to create a “preferred” list that can be used in your industry.
Check credentials. Look at the background for the speaker. Do they have the credentials to speak on their chosen topics? Also look for membership in professional organizations like the National Speakers Association and the American Society for Training and Development. While there are good speakers who do not belong and poor speakers who do, most speakers serious about their own growth belong to one or both of these organizations. Also consider whether the speaker is a Certified Professional Speaker or CSP. This is the highest earned designation of NSA and indicates that the speaker has worked with at least 100 clients, given 250 presentations and has received great reviews.
Ask for testimonials. This can include letters from satisfied clients or a reference list that you can call. Look what others have said about their style, approach and delivery.
Preview the speaker in action. If possible, do this in person. Great speakers are busy speakers and have many local and national bookings. While the presentation or subject may not be what you had in mind, you can evaluate their platform skills and the response of a live audience. A demo video can be used, if necessary; but they often don’t represent the “best” the speaker has to offer.
Arrange a meeting. While this may not always be possible, quality speakers know that face-to-face meetings are a great opportunity. This is your chance to see whether the person is a good fit; for the conference, for the participants and for working with you.
Evaluate the attitude. Beware of the speaker who is egotistical and/or cocky. In the speaking business we call this “believing your own press kit.” It is often the sign of someone who is actually unsure of their talent, preparation, and delivery. The best speakers I know are actually very modest and are focused on the audience not themselves.
Give them information. The more background the speaker receives on the event, the participants, the goals and objectives, the better able she will be to customize the presentation. Great speakers also do their own research by reading annual reports, checking on-line, and reading up in the industry. Some speakers use pre-program questionnaires to gather information. Others prefer a face to face meeting with key players or a telephone conference call with the leadership. Regardless of the approach, the more information the better.
Partner with the speaker. Great speakers are eager to be a part of the entire event. Feel free to contact them to discuss details other than just their presentation. They often have valuable input into layout, AV options, and marketing. Many speakers now have e-mail newsletters and other regular communication with past participants. If appropriate, see if they will publicize and promote the event electronically. Consider a book signing or other opportunity for participants to have access to the speaker. Most speakers are gracious about talking with attendees knowing that this can make the event very special and memorable.

For more information on keynotes, presentations and seminars, please visit: www.ThePeoplePro.com

Let Gratitude be Your Attitude

2006-01-06T17:56:00.000-06:00

Psychologists now know what makes people happy and it has little to do with money, keeping up with the neighbors, or chasing pleasure. The happiest people surround themselves with family and friends and practice a life of gratitude and appreciation.

No one needs to convince me of the value of friends, family, and gratitude, especially when life is hard. Unfortunately, 2005 was the hardest and saddest year of my life. On January 9, 2005, the car our daughter was driving was rear-ended at highway speed by a drugged driver. Our daughter, Stephanie, sustained back and neck injuries and her roommate and best friend, Maura was killed. Friends since the third grade, our families are also best friends. We vacation together in Colorado, Florida and the UP, and have watched the kids grow up together. There are no words to express the sorrow we have experienced.

Yet, this year brought new appreciation into our lives for the wonderful family, friends, and colleagues who supported us with prayers, friendship and love. So many people, who reached out and eased our pain, sustained our efforts and made us laugh. They brought us food, referred us for services, and took us to lunch. I am especially grateful to the people who shared their own stories of loss which gave us hope and direction. As one friend said, “You get up in the morning and put one shoe on at a time. That seems to help.” And it did.

I find myself grateful to the very special people who handle these sorts of tragedies; the highway patrol and legal system who have treated us with compassion and caring. These are very difficult jobs and you hear so little appreciation for what they do.
And in spite of years of attorney jokes, we are grateful to one of our attorney friends who stepped forward to handle things so we could focus on supporting our daughter and dear friends.

The business became a low priority this year, and I am grateful for the many referrals from friends and colleagues that helped with the finances. While we have excellent insurance, it became increasingly clear to me how a series of events can leave a family financially destitute in a short period of time. With limited time and energy to work, the bills mount up quickly.

I am grateful to the many health professionals who have assisted us and living in a country where we have easy access to care. Their suggestions, recommendations and empathy have helped us with both the physical and mental pain of this tragedy. I am appreciative of their expertise and experience.

As we look forward to the New Year, we are focused on letting others know how much we appreciate all they do. We are determined to savor the quiet, simple moments of our lives and live in the present. As psychologist Daniel Gilbert from Harvard University says, “If you knew exactly what the future held, you still wouldn’t know how much you would like it when you got there.” He suggests, “We should have more trust in our own resilience and less confidence in our predictions about how we’ll feel. We should be a bit more humble and a bit more brave.”

This year, we will be working on both.

Dedicated in loving memory of Maura Croke Harmon

www.ThePeoplePro.com

Improve Your Sales

2005-12-12T10:12:00.000-06:00

Stop the Cold Calls.
Get the Buyers to Come to You by Marketing Your Expertise

NEW Teleseminar! December 15th, 3:00 pm CST

Drive the buyers to you by creating articles, tip sheets and other written material that establishes you as an expert. This fun and fast moving program gives you the three step formula to create “keepable” content that sells YOU and your products and services.

You will learn:

The advantages of "expert marketing"
How to create catchy titles
The simple formula to produce articles quickly
How to use articles to gain exposure and creditability
How to place articles on the internet to drive customers to your business
How to re-use material to create other productsRegister NOW for this teleseminar and keep your phone ringing.

December 15th, 3:00 pm CST

How to Keep Your Telephone Ringing by Marketing Your Expertise

Can't make this day or time? NO PROBLEM. A CD of the seminar will be mailed to all registrants after the program airs.

For more resources to build your business and balance your life:

www.ThePeoplePro.com

New Survey Shows That Few Organizations Understand Employee Retention

2005-11-26T23:33:00.000-06:00

Only 34% of HR managers mention turnover/retention as a key HR concern.
60% of workers rate time and flexibility as a key factor in retention, but only thirty-five percent of employers feel the same.
Only 49% of employers rate money as an important issue in retention but 69% of workers believe it is.
Nearly 40% of U.S. employees intend to find a new job in the next 12 months, but employers expect only 14% of their workforce to leave in the next year.

One of the biggest gaps between employers and employees is the importance workers place on the balance between their professional and personal lives. In a previous study in 2003, 96% of employees agreed that an employer was more attractive when it helped them meet family responsibilities through flextime, work at home options, telecommuting and job sharing. Yet only 24% of employers offer a formal flex-time program, only 12% offer telecommuting and 11% offer job sharing.

The results are of concern as the new emerging workforce is very different than the traditional workforce that many employers have had for many years. There is a new breed of American worker who is confident, self-reliant and has a different set of workplace values and expectations about work and life. They are much more focused on the importance of balance and family time. This growing group currently represents about 31% of workers today and is expected to be the majority of employees by 2007. Many experts are predicting that the more traditionally minded workers will dwindle to near extinction in the next few years.

Yet, the Spherion Workforce study found that only 19% of employers have the progressive mindset, HR approaches and policies to attract and retain top talent for the future. The traditional employers, representing 33% of all employers, have dated views on retention and focus little on the issues of time, flexibility or opportunities for growth.

The employers who are best positioned for the future:

Offer work/life balance programs, training and educational opportunities and other options to retain employees.
Frequently survey employees to identify specific retention issues that need to be addressed.
Hire the right mix of full-time, part-time and contingent resources that assist in building appropriate staffing levels during business fluctuations.
Utilize HR practices that emphasize individual employee growth and offer flexibility in the workplace.

To build customer loyalty, you must have loyal employees. Employee loyalty is built when it is clear that the employer is concerned about employees both professionally and personally. Workers are encouraged to find the employment options that help them balance their responsibilities at work and at home. They are mentored by management to achieve their potential and maximize their talents. They are urged to participate in training and education that will advance their career and build their life.

Frequently I am asked by employers, “But what if I train an employee and then he leaves?” To which I answer, “What if you don’t, and he stays?”

For more information on building your business and balancing your life, please visit: www.ThePeoplePro.com

Milwaukee Author and Motivational Humorist Receives International Award

2005-11-23T13:53:00.000-06:00

(Milwaukee, WI, November 2005) Milwaukee author and motivational humorist, Barbara Bartlein, has earned the National Speakers Association’s Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation. She was honored with the association’s highest earned designation during ceremony at the 2005 NSA International Convention held in Atlanta, GA.

Established in 1980, the CSP designation serves as an international measure of professional platform skill and proven speaking experience. To qualify, candidates must meet a combination of educational, professional and performance standards. Currently, less than eight percent of all members worldwide have earned this prestigious designation.

“I wish to thank all the clients, friends, and colleagues who made this happen. I so appreciate your recommendations, references and confidence,” said Bartlein.

NSA requires that candidates for this designation serve at least 100 different clients, give a minimum of 250 presentations and earn at least $250,000 in speaking fees, all within a five year period.

Barbara Bartlein is The People Pro and Past President of NSA-WI. She is a relationship expert and presents on leadership, customer service, teamwork, stress management and working with people. For more information, please visit her website at www.ThePeoplePro.com

How to Deal With Energy Suckers (Negative People)

2005-10-27T23:59:00.000-05:00

We all know some; maybe at work or even at home. The Energy Suckers. They will suck you dry if you fall into their trap.

Energy Suckers are negative people. It’s easy to know when you are with them because the longer the exposure, the more drained you feel. You try to avoid them, but Energy Suckers thrive on spreading bad tidings so they seek you out. They show up in your office, at meetings, and family gatherings.

If they call you on the phone, your stomach starts to hurt as soon as you realize who is calling. While you pretend to listen, you are really thinking of a way to get off the phone. In fact you try to return their calls when you know they won’t be at home or at the office. You just want credit for the call; you don’t really want to talk with them.

While you don’t want to join them in the mud, they seem to know when you are vulnerable and try to pull you in. You may even find, to your dismay that you agree with some of what they are saying.

So how do you protect yourself? Here are some of the common types of Energy Suckers and how to deal with them:

The Seagull—These are often managers or supervisors. They fly by when everyone is busy with a project, deposit garbage all over and soar away after destroying enthusiasm. They tend to pick at details like they are combing the beach, making negative comments as they work. They leave staff and co-workers feeling defeated and unappreciated.
Solution: Obtain careful clarification before starting a project. If there has been confusion in the past with this Sucker, you may want to get things in writing.
The Yeh-Butts—While they pretend to be friendly, their real focus is on the negative. They often use the phrase, “Yeh, but…” They then describe why the procedure, idea, or approach couldn’t possibly work. Experienced “Yeh-Butts” extend their method to other areas of life as well. If you mention the great weather, they say, “Yeh, but it’s supposed to rain by the weekend.” If you tell them they look nice, they say, “Yeh, but this dress really isn’t in style anymore.” They are not happy and they want you to know it.
Solution: Ignore Yeh-Butts and their awful phrase. You may want to charge a quarter when ever someone in the office or at home uses the “Yeh, But” phrase.
The Muck Mixers—These are the folks who love to stir the pot. They look for gossip or “information” that they feel they must know and then take it upon themselves to disseminate the dirt. They adore turmoil and conflict and will feed both if given the chance. Muck Mixers often “keep score” and tend to remember obscure information that can hurt others or their reputations. They are sometimes hard to ignore because their information is SOOO interesting.
Solution: Avoid them like the plague or you will also become fodder for discussion. Their lack of productivity will eventually catch up with them. Make sure you are not standing next to them when they go down.
Melvin Milktoast or Dorothy Doormat—These are the male and female equivalents of the Martyr. They are absolutely convinced that no one has seen the trouble they have. No one works as hard as they do. And they are the only ones who do not get a break. They seem to find trouble and then want everyone to know how they fix things at great personal expense. They may try to make those around them feel guilty with their superhuman efforts.
Solution: Let them work. You have worked too hard to have a balanced life to fall for this game.

Stay away from the Energy Suckers in your life. Spend your time with people who lift you up…not pull you down. You will find your own energy to be contagious.

Build Customer Loyalty Like a "Rolling Stone"

2005-09-29T23:11:00.000-05:00

Hold the old-guy jokes, The Rolling Stones concert at the Bradley Center on September 8th was a sold out event. This shouldn’t be a big surprise as their current concert tour, A Bigger Bang, is sold out in every city it is playing. Referred to as “the most prestigious luxury brand name in rock’n’roll” by the Schenectady Daily Gazette, tickets to the concert were as high as $650. And fans were not disappointed.

Their new album, A Bigger Bang, was released this year to rave reviews. Receiving ****1/2 stars by the Rolling Stone Magazine, it is billed as their best album in decades. But as any Stones fan would tell you, they would come to see Jagger and the gang even if the new album danked. The Stones simply have the most customer loyalty of any rock group in history.

So how do the Stones do it? In a business that is has is known for “one-hit wonders” and “15 minutes of fame,” how have they built the Rolling Stones into a brand that has lasted over 40 years? Here is some of the Stones strategy that can provide an idea or two for your business. The Stones:

Built a fan club. The best way (and in some cities the only way) to get tickets is to be a member of their fan club. Anyone can join on line for $100 and the Stones then have the names, addresses and e-mails of potential buyers. Would a fan club, winners circle, preferred status, work with your customers? People love to feel special. Offer special scheduling to frequent clients, discounts to repeaters and bonuses for continued loyalty.
Offer first tickets to fan club members. One advantage of being a club member is that you receive a code to buy concert tickets before they go on sale to the general public. You not only avoid the hassle of fighting for tickets, they are at a substantial savings (our tickets were $60). How can you eliminate some of the frustrations that you customers encounter? Evaluate your phone system and make sure that you are maximizing your internet access for the convenience of your customers.
Ask ticket holders for their requests. About a month before the concert, I received an e-mail from “The Stones” asking my input into their song list. My input? I’ve been to hundreds of concerts and have never been asked what I would like to hear. Some artists even act like they are doing you a favor to play at all. When was the last time you asked your customers what they wanted?
Play to the entire crowd. Halfway through the concert the entire stage began to move on tracks while the band played. Rolling to the center of the Auditorium, it locked into another stage complete with lights and ramps. Prancing around the “new” stage, Jagger played to every fan there. Make sure every one of your customers feel that special when they pay for your service.
Keep the energy and enthusiasm. One can only imagine how many times Mick Jagger has sung, I Can’t Get No Satisfaction; certainly thousands of renditions. Yet when he performed it as an encore there was so much energy that you would swear it was the premier performance. The entire band gave it everything they had for they know that people tend to remember entrances and exits. Evaluate carefully how you and your staff enter and exit each business transaction.
Stay in constant contact. The fan club notifies me about new concerts, reviews, gossip, and charitable activities. They make every effort to update the fans on what is happening. Brief and to the point, the e-mails are about what is important to the fans. The most effective businesses sell more than a product, they sell a lifestyle. (Think of Harley). How does your product or service enhance the lives of your customers?
Follow up with product sales. The Bradley Center reported that the Stones concert netted more in product sales than any other event. Know why? We all had to have a T-Shirt or souvenir of the event. People love to buy and the Stones make it easy to do so.

Have to go…I’m logging on to buy another T-shirt.

Eight Sure-Fire Ways to Lose Your Best Employees

2005-09-26T23:02:00.000-05:00

While we are near full employment and quality staff is difficult to find, some employers seem to go out of their way to lose the best employees they have. Indeed, when there is a problem in the workplace, it is always the best employees who leave first

as they have the most options. The employer is left with the least talented, least creative employees, the folks reluctant to take risks.

How do employers accomplish this exodus?

Hire your friends and family—This makes it clear to all employees that there is not an even playing field. Get close to the boss…and advancement is yours. It creates a climate of favoritism and brown nosing, which results in management being told what they want to hear.
HINT: Any family or friends that are employed should not have a direct reporting relationship. They should compete like anyone else for the job and advancement.
Don’t allow any flexibility—In employee surveys, flexibility in schedules and time off is identified as more important than wages. Caught between raising children and caring for elderly parents, today’s employees are sandwiched between conflicting demands.
HINT: Make flexibility a priority. Focus on supporting the employee rather than policing the policies.
Don’t replace employees that leave…simply spread the work among remaining staff—A remnant from the “mean and lean” philosophy of the 80’s and 90’s, immediate cost savings are realized while staff becomes demoralized. People want to feel successful at work, not set up for failure.
HINT: It takes years to undo a negative perception as an employer. Do not sacrifice employee retention for short-term gain.
Compare Staff Members—Whether publicly or privately, comparison means someone always comes up short. Comparisons tend to demoralize and discourage and promote competition rather than cooperation. Cooperation is essential to build teams and create a learning organization.
HINT: Never compliment one person at the expense of another. Don’t engage in workplace gossip.
Use praise instead of encouragement—What’s the difference? PLENTY. Praise is given for a job completed. A job well done. Encouragement is given for effort or improvement. The problem with praise is it is often given only to those who need it the least. While there can be rewards for stellar performance, in a learning organization, more attention should be given to efforts across the organization.
HINT: Establish systems that reward efforts and new ideas with a focus on improvement.
Micro-manage all staff activities—Few things disempower staff like a boss who hovers over their shoulder questioning every move and managing each decision. The message is clear—“I have no confidence in your abilities.” Staff feels discourages and lose creativity. It is important to remember that there is more than one right way to do things.
HINT: Hire good people, and then get out of their way.
Leave job descriptions vague and uncertain—Similar to embarking on a major journey without a map, expecting great performance by “winging it” doesn’t work. People tend to live up to the expectations given to them.
HINT: Make job descriptions detailed and specific. Regularly meet with staff to discuss progress and encourage improvement.
Give feedback only when there is a problem—The employee learns quickly that there is little recognition of what they do “right.” The boss will be viewed as nit picking and critical when they hear only the negatives.
HINT: Meet with employees regularly to give positive feedback and encourage improvement.

To keep the best employees in today’s job market, the employee must be treated as a key customer. Make employee retention and development a top priority. Good internal customer service translates into great external customer service. Great customer service does not happen where employees are unhappy in their jobs. Evaluate carefully the needs of your work force. Build in flexibility and mentoring to insure long-term stability of staff.

Is Success Hazardous to Your Health?

2005-09-24T23:57:00.000-05:00

The recent death of James Cantalupo, CEO of Mc Donald’s International, has cast new interest on the health of high level executives, especially those at the very top, the CEOs. There has been a number of deaths and/or heart attacks of prominent executives in recent years. These include; Roberto Goizueta, chairman of Coca-Cola, Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, Mike O’Callaghan, Chairman of the Las Vegas Sun, David Barry, CEO of Triangle Pharmaceuticals, and Pierre Bonelli, CEO of Bull. In addition, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney CO had emergency heart bypass surgery in 1994.

CEO’s have long been identified as hard-working and driven personality types; Type “A’s” with a constant diet of stress, rich foods and sedentary lifestyle. Though it may look a life of luxury for those looking in, it is often 80 hour work weeks, exhaustive travel, and demands on free time for charity and community events.

While anecdotal evidence has been around for years that the CEO title may be hazardous to your health, there is new evidence that this may be true. For the past nine months, a CT scanning company in Florida, BodyView, has been offering free CT scans to CEOs as a marketing tool in hopes that others in the company will also want to pay $2200 for a scan.

According to BodyView, over 155 CEOs have completed the scan. The findings indicate that 38% had evidence of coronary disease, 10% had serious coronary disease and 6% needed immediate surgical intervention. This compares to just 6% with severe coronary disease for all men tested in this age group, according to James Stannard, Body View’s managing director.

Some things you can do to protect you and the organization:

Skip the fancy meals. Most are fat laden, rich foods in large portions. Instead, consider the advise of Ira Lipman, CEO of security guard company Guardsmark. Lipman, who underwent triple bypass surgery in 1996, faxes his “Culinary Likes and Dislikes” to hotels and conventions. The fax includes a long list of fruits, vegetables and fish and omits red meat, eggs, and butter.
Schedule the yearly physical. The only way to truly know your own physical status is through routine blood work and a cardio work up. Make sure your know your key numbers; ie. Total cholesterol, LDH/HDL, and triglycerides. Monitoring these values will give you a lot of information about your risks. Early intervention through medication and lifestyle changes and prevent problems from ever becoming clinical issues.
Lighten up. Experts have long held the belief that Type A personalities had more heart disease and cardiovascular problems. But researches have identified, in recent years, that it is not the hard-driving aspects of personality that cause the problem. All personality types that harbor anger and hostility are more likely to develop heart disease. It is critical that you handle frustration and stress in a positive manner using humor and a healthy perspective. As Charles Bell of McDonald’s was quoted last fall, “I don’t get stressed. I give stress.”
Put exercise on the calendar. If you don’t schedule and measure it, it won’t happen. Ira Lipman exercised at least one hour on a treadmill at 3.8 miles per hour a total of 245 days last year. How often did you? Schedule exercise right in your calendar and count miles, calories, or repetitions to make sure you stay on task. One half hour per day is a minimum.
Have a succession plan. A sudden loss of a leader can paralyze an organization. Just ask Coca-Cola. They have yet to re-establish their top management team after the death of Chairman and CEO Roberto Goizueta in 1997. While no one likes to think about the possibility, failure to plan can damage a company’s image, performance and morale. Establish the succession team and groom future leaders. Make sure they have the experience needed to handle changes.

Remember, there is no point in working your way to the top unless you are around to enjoy the view.

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Three Tips to Avoid Harmful Office Gossip

2005-09-10T23:56:00.000-05:00

As an outgoing and gregarious person, I have had the unfortunate experience of putting my foot deeply down my gullet on many occasions. You know what I am referring to, the actual choking on the base of your fibula and tibia after hastily saying something that now hangs in the air in an otherwise silent room.

While personally knowing the embarrassment, humiliation and regret of hasty comments, I also know that loose lips sink corporate ships. That is, office gossip promotes an institutional pathology that keeps energy focused internally in the organization rather than externally on the customer. The gossip becomes a disease, robbing the company of valuable energy, creativity and time and is very hurtful to the participants.

To avoid foot in mouth disease, I have found these guidelines very helpful:

Is it kind? If the comment isn’t kind, do you really have to share it? Evaluate each remark as to whether it reflects positively on the subject and you. Does it focus on the important characteristics of the person or their faults? It’s like a golf swing. I can easily find the problems with other people’s golf swings, but darned if I can diagnose my own problems. Is it the stance, the address or the follow through? (Probably all three). When we focus on the negative with people, we become the negative person. Limit your comments to kind remarks.
Is it true? Nothing travels faster than bad news and information that is totally false. Many a person has been deeply hurt when untrue comments are passed person to person until the truth is lost in the muck. And truth in all areas is important, even if the false information is more interesting and provocative. The misinformation becomes difficult to undo because it takes on a life of its own and passes quickly among the employees who don’t have enough to do. Even when the information is clarified later, people aren’t interested because the original false news broadcast was so much more enticing.
Is it important? While the trivia of life makes for good copy for the tabloids at the super market, it does not have a role in the workplace. It takes a lot of energy to follow to stay on top of all the muck and make sure that everyone “has heard” the news. Time is much better spent on understanding the customer, developing new products or giving better service. If there is any extra energy, it can be directed towards enhancing your personal creativity or finding a better balance. Ignore the trivia and focus on making a difference.

Two more quick rules: never ask anyone about their pregnancy unless you are actually observing the birth, and don’t comment on someone’s age unless you are at their funeral.

Are You Ready to Jump Ship?

2005-08-25T23:03:00.000-05:00

My phone is ringing and my e-mail humming with the same complaint from friends and colleagues returning from vacations, “I don’t feel like going back to work.” One friend who is a vice-president at large advertising agency said, “I’m sorry I ever took the vacation. It made it clear how much I was missing with my kids and husband. Now I find I’m just looking forward to the next break.”

While vacations can be the perfect time to recharge, refresh and return to work energized, for an increasing number of American workers, vacation leads to a reevaluation of priorities, time and a quest to simplify a complicated life. It is very common to have a “gut” feeling about your job long before you consciously admit you need to make a change. While you may be debating your future, your unconscious mind has already made the decision. So how do you know whether you just have “vacation let-down” vs. a real need to make changes?

Evaluate how many of these “quitting signs” are true for you:

Rather than feeling invigorated and refreshed after vacation, you dread returning to the office.
You wonder why you don’t spend more of each day doing the things you really enjoy.
You feel like you are missing special time with family.
On the weekends, you look on the Internet for other job opportunities.
You find it hard to get out of bed in the morning to face another day.
You have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights because you are already thinking of all you have to accomplish on Monday.
You complain to friends and family about your job.
You find you have less patience with co-workers and customers than you use to.
Even though you are getting enough sleep, you feel tired once you are at work.
When you leave the office, you take your time returning to work.
You don’t mention concerns to the boss because it is usually a waste of time.
You try to kill time at work my talking with co-workers or making personal calls.
You often arrive late for work.
Once in the office, you find it difficult to know where to start.
You do the minimum amount of work required.
You check the clock frequently to see how close you are to leaving work.
You start getting ready to exit before quitting time.

Too many “quitting signs”? The first step is to see if you can make some changes with the job you have. Is it possible to restructure your duties to make them more interesting or flexible? It may be possible to work four long days and leave at noon the fifth day. The work week feels different if you are able to arrange work hours so that there is one “early” day to get errands done or play or round of golf.

Perhaps there is an option to work from home one or two days per week. Many employers are encouraging staff to do so as they are able to invest in less space and equipment. Convinced your boss won’t go for it? It doesn’t hurt to ask. Just remember you need to structure your request how such an arrangement can benefit the company; more flexibility to meet with customers, better concentration for large projects, etc.

There may be a new opportunity in another division where you are currently working. Check with human resources what other positions may be open for your talent and expertise. In today’s work environment, there is little expectation that a worker will stay in one position for a lengthy period of time.

Still find that you dread Monday morning? Then what are you waiting for, start looking for a new opportunity. You don’t want to be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.

For more tools to build your career and balance your life, please visit www.ThePeoplePro.com

Hire For Attitude, Train For Skill

2005-08-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

“I just don’t understand why everyone at work is complaining about me,” a woman in my office whined, “The same thing happened at my last job too.” Though she could not see the cause/effect of her actions, it was clear she was alienating people in the workplace. The most likely reason? Her attitude.

Attitude is everything to personal and professional success. It colors our vision of how we see the world and other people. Attitude affects our beliefs and our behavior. It impacts teamwork, customer relations, motivation and the ability to deal with change. Attitude makes the difference between a pleasant working environment and a place we dread to go.

We all know a “bad” attitude when we experience it, and perhaps, on occasion, we have one ourselves. But, successful people make a conscious effort for attitude adjustment when theirs is sub par. They also avoid “energy suckers,” people with pessimistic attitudes that suck the life out of a sunny day.

Unfortunately, I have never had any success “adjusting” someone else’s attitude. I learned early in my management experience that it was easier to teach new skills than it was to change attitudes. To find employees with great attitudes, the following guidelines for hiring and staff development are helpful:

The best you will ever see is the first 90 days. If you have problem with an employee while they are still on probation, you might as well cut bait. After all, this is the time that they presumably have their best foot forward. At best, they are poor performers, at worst; they have poor judgment (even harder to correct than attitude).
If they complain about the last boss, they will complain about you too. Exercise great caution in hiring someone who has nothing good to say about his or her last boss or last position. It may be more about them than their employment. In fact, it might always be someone else’s fault. People who blame are very hard to coach.
Are they an optimist or pessimist? Ascertain how they appear to see the world. Pessimistic people tend to be energy suckers in the workplace and can breed an institutional pathology that pulls others into their negative energy. Are they able to find the bright side of difficult situations?
Do they demonstrate personal insight and a commitment to their development? Those committed to an ongoing program of self-improvement are much more coachable and willing to learn new skills and behaviors. Ask in the interview what areas may need improvement. Inquire about the details of the candidate’s personal plan for development.
Are they coachable? How receptive to feedback do they seem to be? It’s easy to assess in an interview; offer them some suggestions regarding their resume. If they are quick to disagree, defend, or actually become huffy, they are not likely to welcome your input on more significant matters.
Do they listen? You can forget all of the above if the potential employee is not a good listener. They will have performance problems, people conflict and difficulty receiving feedback. Evaluate their ability to understand more than what they simply hear. Listening is an active process that blends patience with understanding.

Attitude is a critical factor for success and the one we have the most control over. As Earl Nightingale once said, “Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.”

The Ten Competencies of Highly Productive People

2005-08-11T09:34:00.000-05:00

The recent Microsoft study that reports that most employees are productive only three days per week has left many employers and workers wondering what they can do to improve productivity. How is it possible to boost efficiency without increasing hours? How can one get home from the office earlier when there is so much work to do?

To answer these questions, I contacted Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, “The Productivity Pro,” and author of Leave the Office Earlier. A productivity expert and national speaker, Stack emphasizes the development of competencies that support personal efficiency. These include:

1. Preparation—Preparation and goal setting provide direction for your life and focus your activities. Every minute planning saves you twenty minutes in getting the job done. Take your long term goals and translate them into daily actionable tasks you can do today. Be proactive rather than reactive during the day by taking a few moments each morning to identify your priorities.

2. Reduction—Reduce the time wasters in your daily activities by being assertive rather than passive in allowing others to dictate your schedule. If you excel in this competency, you reduce the “speed bumps” that waste your time and sap your energy. Speed bumps can include too many meetings, frustrating red tape and unclear priorities. Learn to say no so that you create space to accomplish the important.

3. Order—Create systems instead of piles. You should be able to find what you want, when you want it, in thirty seconds or less. Order is your ability to sort, filter and process incoming information effectively. Remember a cluttered work area means a cluttered mind.

4. Discipline—If you excel in this competency, you complete what you must do, rather than what you want to do. While everyone has an “off day,” highly productive people do what needs to be done and exercise restraint over their impulses, emotions, and desires. They know that sometimes the best tool for accomplishing results is “butt glue.”

5. Unease—According to a nationwide office productivity study conducted by Xerox and Harris Interactive in 2003, most people work over 60 hours a week total, and over 33 percent work on weekends. The “faster, cheaper, do more with nothing” approach has created a workplace where workers are always in high gear. This work style reduces productivity and creates an urgency addiction that increases stress. Spend time each day reducing your stress through exercise, meditation, reading and listening to music. The focus should be on value, rather than velocity.

6. Concentration—This refers to your ability to stay on target and focus on the task at hand. Productive people achieve a state of “flow” or “working in the groove,” that maximizes attentiveness and efficiency. They resist unproductive multi-tasking and complete one activity before starting another. They are purposeful, rather than distracted.

7. Time Mastery—Effective time management brings purpose in life, structure to your day, direction, and a sense of accomplishment. According to Stack, “You must run your life, rather than allowing your life to run you.”

8. Information Management—While technology can improve your productivity, it must be used wisely. Choose the best method and medium of communication for the particular message you want to convey. Be decisive rather than tentative in filtering all the data that comes to you to assure it is really information, not cyberjunk.

9. Vitality—Many people take better care of their cars than they do their own health. Yet cars can be replaced…you can’t. You can dramatically impact your productivity by paying closer attention to your daily habits. Do you sleep enough? Exercise each day? Eat a diet rich with vegetables and fruits? Make sure that you are maximizing your energy and talent with careful self-care.

10. Equilibrium—Successful people know that high performance depends on both personal satisfaction and professional achievement. Know your early symptoms of overload so that you can rebalance when the scale gets tipped. Make sure that you keep the proper mix of activities in your life.

And remember, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.”

For more information on Laura Stack, “The Productivity Pro,” and to take your free Productivity Quotient Assessment please visit her website at: www.TheProductivityPro.com

Survey Finds Workers Average Only Three Productive Days Per Week

2005-08-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

Ineffective meetings, unclear objectives and lack of team communication are some of the top time wasters that workers say make them feel unproductive for as much as a third of the workweek. According to a new online survey by Microsoft, respondents also said that they struggle with the need to work longer hours while seeking better balance in their lives. They found that they rely on technology tools to assist in personal and professional productivity.

With responses from more than 38,000 people in 200 countries, the Microsoft Office Personal Productivity Challenge, rated workers productivity based on responses to 18 statements about their workplace. Some of the U.S. findings:

Employees work an average of 45 hours a week; 16 hours are considered unproductive.
Approximately 16% of participants relate their productivity directly to their software.
Over 66% said that they don’t have work-life balance.
Only 31% said they are using proven scheduling tools and techniques.
Women had an average productivity score of 70% while men were at 68%.
Workers said they receive an average of 56 e-mail messages per day.
The most common productivity problems are procrastination, 42%, lack of team communication, 39%, and ineffective meetings, 34%

The results of the survey come as no surprise to many employees. Procrastination
occurs when information is not clear, or the employee does not feel comfortable with the task. Workers frequently complain that objectives are muddy and information is not communicated effectively.

“Runaway meetings” are identified as the biggest time waster by more than a quarter (27 percent) of workers polled in a recent survey by Office Team, a staffing service specializing in skilled administrative professionals. Many companies continue to conduct meetings in the same format as years ago; inviting large groups of people, allowing excessive time, and often with no clear leadership of the meeting. With today’s lean staffing levels, there is a need to restructure meetings for greater efficiency.

Workers in Microsoft’s survey reported that they rely on technology tools to stay on
task. Here are some things you can do in your workplace for better efficiency:

Train staff how to proactively use technology instead of reactively responding. One reason that “time saving” devices often don’t save time is that we react to them rather than structuring their use. Plan your day with specific times to answer phone calls, check messages, and read e-mails. You lose efficiency when you rapidly move from one task to another.
Use a system to find electronic documents quickly and efficiently. Use folders to organize your documents and important files. Make sure that the document names are descriptive and easy to find.
Make sure all computer users back up important documents and programs. Don’t forget to back up programs on a regular basis. Back up on the hard drive as well as an external storage (CD’s, floppys) for extra safety. Nothing will slow you down quicker than a crashed system.
Staff should be trained in basic computer maintenance such as cleaning up disk space and defragmenting to increase computer efficiency. These routine tasks do not need to be done by IT personnel or a tech person. Each user can easily be trained to program and monitor these routine operations.
Establish spam filters and sorters to help manage e-mail more effectively. There are increasingly sophisticated programs to filter e-mails and protect machines. Initiate a company wide filter and add one for your home computer.
Set company guidelines on how e-mail is to be used. One of the most common complaints of employees these days is “too much e-mail.” Set procedures on who needs to be copied and on what. Train staff on e-mail protocol including appropriate length, content, and tone.
While employees may have had some training in time management, it needs to be refreshed on a regular basis to be effective. Make sure that employees at all levels know how to establish a priority system and time accountabilities.

Remember, time is the one non-renewable resource.

For more tools to sell more goods and services, visit www.thepeoplepro.com

Less is More

2005-08-06T21:46:00.000-05:00

As the economy sputters and business leaders are scrambling for answers, Karen Vernal, of Vernal management consultants, is urging them, instead, to discover the right questions. Based in Milwaukee, the team at Vernal has quietly been providing consulting services to organizations for over eighteen years. Experts in teambuilding, leadership development, and strategic planning, they promote simplicity and focus for organizations to achieve their goals.

“Too often executives attempt to undertake too many changes at once,” explains Vernal. “It is much more effective to identify one or two things that are priority. The success of one skill leads to other successes.”

Some other advice from the Vernal team of experts:

Discover the right questions. Too often businesses are looking for packaged and ready-made solutions rather than looking deeper at the issues. Talking less and listening more will help elicit what the questions really are. Listen to your customers, co-workers and staff. Don’t forget to ask people outside of your industry as they may offer a unique perspective. From the questions come the solutions to many business problems.

Less is more. Rather than constant bombardment with info-garbage, tighten the focus on where change can occur. Avoid the “program of the week” and multiple new initiatives that only confuse employees and leave them fragmented in their efforts. Give less to your team and make sure that the information is meaningful. Concretize results in action.
Learning is discovery. Much of the growth of leadership is personal discovery, according to Vernal. “Spirited leadership” ignites the fire of enthusiasm, teamwork and commitment of an organization. The current climate and future organizational success mirrors the spirit and skills of its leaders. Executives must follow a personal discovery process to be inspirational leaders for their teams. Make sure that you have your own personal development plan on the front burner as a model to the rest of the team.
Focus efforts on where change can occur. Strategic initiatives are great but behavioral changes at a service level are even better. Where is change most likely to occur in the organization? Where will it have the most impact? There is many a strategic plan that never got off the bookcase shelf.
Listen. By listening carefully to multiple people, wisdom emerges as to the right steps at the right time. And don’t forget the minority opinion. Many breakthrough initiatives have been started by the one person who disagreed.
Make choices wisely. Today’s leaders are faced with hundreds of important decisions on a daily basis. Make sure that each choice produces maximal results. As Vernal states, “If you are going to use up the calories, make sure it’s with the best chocolate you can find.”

For Best Results, Look At Structure

2005-07-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

By Barbara Bartlein, The People Pro

“His work displays excellent quality, but he never gets it finished on time.”

“I keep telling my staff the same directions over and over again. They don’t seem to follow through with details.”

“This is the third person we have had in that position. Why can’t we find good help?”

Statements such as these can be overheard in any office and are often delivered in a blaming, whining voice. With a focus on employee failure, little attention is given to the structure of positions, performance expectations or the operational design necessary for positive results. This is surprising because most of the time, other than an attitude problem, the reason employees are not successful is because of structure.

It may be the actual structure of the position including workload, reporting relationships, and working environment. It may be that accountabilities are too hazy or too rigid or there is a lack of feedback. The pay structure may be out of sync with the market, making it impossible to recruit quality candidates. Whatever the issues, it is helpful to remember the following principles about structure when performance is a problem:

Structure determines performance. Whether a car, space shuttle, the Titanic, or a work team, structure drives outcome. Structure is not stagnant, it changes frequently and needs to be evaluated on a regular basis to see if major or minor modifications are needed. This is one of the advantages of regular, even monthly, reviews with staff members. It allows an opportunity to examine what is working and what isn’t. Structure can be “tweaked” and reevaluated for performance improvement.
A well-designed structure naturally gives you the results you want. It eliminates the need for “micro-managing” or the “detail dictator.” Positive results are inevitable, because the structure drives the everyday decisions and work flow. Expectations are clear and concise. Positive performance is reinforced with verbal feedback and appropriate salaries.
When you know what you want but aren’t getting it, the structure you’re in is likely to be the problem. People don’t come to work to fail…they want to do a good job. So if the work is not getting done the way you want, look at structure before blaming the employee. Especially in situations where there is a lot of turnover in the position. Maybe the problem is the position. Is the workload realistic? Do they have a level of authority to match the responsibilities? Is the reporting relationship clear? A NO answer to any of these questions will deliver a poor performance.
The best structures allow for information to flow laterally. Change is not top-down. While many CEO’s delude themselves with the belief that they are the catalyst for change, the best changes in an organization occur when work teams cross-pollinate and share ideas. This is created structurally by eliminating competition and encouraging cooperation. A work environment that includes a healthy dose of fun and good humor drives this kind of change, as people are more creative when they enjoy what they are doing.
Some of the most powerful elements of the structure are invisible. Consciousness is itself a powerful structure; it determines the way in which we design our systems and thus the results we are getting. Employees that are encouraged to use their creativity for problem solving and given time for creative thinking will produce new ideas. This type of creativity cannot take place when employees are buried in busy work and choked in waves of paper.

“Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he’ll have to touch it to be sure.”

Barbara Bartlein, CSP, is the People Pro and President of Great Lakes Consulting Group, LLC, which provides training and consultation to business. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by e-mail at: barb@ThePeoplePro.com or visit her website at http://www.thepeoplepro.com/

Build Process Goals for Greater Success

2005-07-02T13:40:00.000-05:00

By Barbara Bartlein, The People Pro

The year is half over and many folks are finding that their goals, resolutions, and resolve that started in the New Year have melted with the snow. “I always begin the year with lots of ideas to improve my life at work and at home,” one retail executive laments, “But then I get busy with the day to day tasks and they seem to fall by the wayside.”

The problem may be measurement. If you don’t measure it…it won’t happen.

Too often, people set “trophy goals” for themselves, i.e.; increase sales 20%, streamline operations, lose ten pounds, or make more time for family. These trophy goals are great for visioning where you want to be in the future. But they are useless to actually achieve the goals.

For goals to be accomplished they have to be broken down into smaller increments that can be measured on a daily basis; they must be turned into “process goals.” Also referred to as “incremental goals,” they must be concrete, have a time frame, and be measurable to be successful.

Trophy goals can be converted to process goals by asking the question, “What do I need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to make this happen?” Then make a list of the answers in the left column of a paper. Include as many ideas as possible so that if some of the steps are difficult or don’t work, you don’t get stuck. Then create check boxes or lines that you can mark on a daily basis to track your progress.

For example, if you want to increase sales 20% this year, your process goals might include; ten phone calls to new customers per day, 25 phone calls/or contacts with key customers per week, a monthly article or newsletter to all previous customers, attendance at a monthly networking session, etc. The more ideas you have, the more likely your success.

Some other tips to help you achieve your goals this year:

Effort=results. Success is in direct proportion to the effort you expend to get there. Yes, I know, there are some who seem to get “lucky” breaks and don’t work hard to get what they want. They are the exception in my experience. The people I know who have reached a pinnacle of success have worked very, very, hard.
More effort is needed to produce momentum. An object at rest tends to stay at rest. That is why it is so hard to get started with a new direction; whether it is a sales goal or a new exercise program. There are simply times you have to force yourself to get moving, stay focused, and follow though. Sometimes the most valuable resource you have is butt glue that keeps you on task. Once momentum is established, it is much easier to keep things going.
Create daily rituals. Take your list of process goals and turn them into daily rituals and habits. It is often helpful to do the same tasks at the same time each day. For example, I usually spend the first 90 minutes of each day writing. This is when I am the freshest. I then schedule time for phone calls. Appointments are routinely scheduled for the afternoon. This gives me a system to get the process goals into a routine.
Redefine failure. Didn’t get all your check marks done this week? This isn’t the time to crumple up the paper in frustration and throw it at the wall. Instead, use it as a learning experience. What is getting in the way? Is the list too long or are you allowing too many interruptions? Often by measuring, we are pleasantly surprised how much is actually being completed.
Plan for rewards. It takes 30-60 days to create a new habit. Reward yourself when you have followed through on your plan for 60 days. You are well on your way to better habits. Go out for a special dinner, buy a new outfit, or schedule a weekend away. This is the time to applaud your efforts in reaching new goals.

Barbara Bartlein is the PeopleProTM. She helps businesses sell more goods and services by developing people. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by e-mail at: barb@thepeoplepro.com or visit her website at www.ThePeoplePro.com

The Ten Traits of Legendary Leaders

2005-06-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

By Barbara Bartlein, The People Pro

What is the difference between leaders that are great and other leaders? This is an area that has been studied by many writers like John Kotter in The General Managers, Warren Bennis in On Becoming a Leader, and Burt Nanus in Visionary Leadership. But after consulting with dozens of CEO’s and executives in fortune 500 companies, here are the ten traits that we have seen most often with great leaders. Legendary leaders:

Seek significance (people) rather than success (money). Great leaders are focused on people; their families, employees, and customers. They evaluate each initiative, plan and decision as to the impact on these key stakeholders. People are consistently put first at work and at home.
Serve a purpose rather than achieve results. In a corporate world where quarterly results and profits are the barometer of success, effective leaders resist the pressure for immediate gratification and focus on long term purpose. They evaluate new product and services based on the needs in the marketplace and how they can improve the lives of the users.
Focus on “what can I give?” rather than “what can I get?” Great leaders follow a philosophy of abundance. They know that the more they give, the more that returns. Instead of fighting to get a bigger piece of the pie, they work to make the pie larger.
Do the right thing regardless of the outcome. Legendary leaders listen to their guts and follow a moral compass. With a high value on creativity and intuition, great leaders take time each day for reflection and meditation. They know that creativity does not take place in a cluttered mind.
Expect in advance for things to go wrong. Problems are not only anticipated they are sought out by great leaders. They know that every computer conversion, new product launch and corporate initiative will result in glitches. They openly communicate this to staff so all are comfortable with change and, at times, ambiguity.
Redefine failure for learning. When things do go wrong, effective leaders view these times as opportunities for learning. They analyze and evaluate what could be improved, re-designed, or scrapped. They actively encourage those around them to also participate in a “learning” process and recognize that experimenting is essential for knowledge.
Resist “urgency addiction.” The bane of multi-taskers, great leaders resist the addictive tendency to run around putting out brush fires rather than staying focused on what’s important. They avoid the caffeinated tyranny of the urgent to follow through and complete what is truly significant. They guide others in the organization to resist the “hop-scotching” that decreases productivity.
Stay focused on vision. Like a rudder for a ship, vision guides effective leaders each day, week, and month. They communicate the vision for the organization frequently so all employees understand and can implement what is important. They have employees and customers participate in the vision and direction of where the organization is going to increase loyalty and commitment.
Do not take rejection personally. Great leaders don’t spend time keeping score or worrying about their popularity. They know that the key to success is the recognition that they will never please everyone. With careful consideration they listen to feedback, especially unpopular opinions. They know that this may offer some of the most valuable insights.
Keep a sense of humor. A healthy funny bone allows the great leader to maintain balance, reduce stress and enjoy each day. They communicate the humor to their team and employees which set a positive tone in the organization. The legendary leader knows that happy employees provide effective customer service, are likely to stay long-term, and recruit other positive employees to join the team.

Barbara Bartlein, CSP, is The People Pro and President of Great Lakes Consulting Group, which helps businesses sell more goods and services by developing people. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by e-mail at: mailto:barb@ThePeoplePro.com or visit her website at http://www.thepeoplepro.com/

Executives are "Ego Surfing" for Business Information

2005-05-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

By Barbara Bartlein, The People Pro

Wondering what’s new about you? Type your name into Google or Yahoo and see what comes up. Termed “ego surfing,” it has gone mainstream as CEO’s, corporate communication departments and executives are using the Internet to follow what is being said about them, their companies and their competitors. Termed CEegO surfing when the CEO does the search, businesses are discovering important information on the web that may or may not be accurate.

A recent search of the Fortune 100 CEOs for USA Today uncovered fascinating material on top executives. While much of the information is harmless, some can be damaging to careers and business. A search for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, leads you to a 72-second video of him attempting to motivate the work force by wild gyrations and screaming on stage. Coined, “The Monkey Dance,” on the Net, there are multiple websites directing you to the “Original Monkey Boy Gyrations,” and a listing appears in the second line on Google.

There can also be a case of mistaken identity. Cynthia McKay, CEO of Le Gourmet Gift Basket, was surprised to learn that there is a British actress of the same name who has an established reputation in the porn industry. Kathy Peel, the CEO of Family Manager, found another namesake who won the Miss Plus American pageant for large sized women. Some CEO’s use their middle initial or full name to avoid confusion with others of the same name in a different industry.

Tracking exact numbers of surfers is difficult, yet according to the search engine Watch, there are 25 million to 50 million Internet searches each day using proper names. Many CEO’s either surf on a regular basis or have staff track web activity for their name through the use of a Google ad. While there is a cost involved in this, Google then e-mails reports about who is searching on that name.

Some CEO’s and businesses are also creating blogs on their websites where they can post fresh material that is quickly picked up by search engines. It makes it easier to control the top listings on the search engines by “blogging” the net with the material you want to appear.

Businesses often search on their name as this provides an easy way to discover potential problems, customer complaints or erroneous information. There then is an opportunity to challenge misinformation before it becomes widely dispersed on the web.

Here are some surfing strategies to help your career:

Surf on your name. Make sure that your public appearances, articles, and press releases are accurately posted. Double check any information that is mistaken and contact the Webmaster to post corrections. Clarify whether there is another person of the same name that could cause confusion.
Google/Yahoo your company. Are the press releases, information, and search keywords pulling up your company easily and quickly? Evaluate whether there are additional areas on the web that you want your company to appear. Make sure that there are no unauthorized links or pop-ups that have been hacked into your site.
Monitor hits to your website. On a weekly or monthly basis, review the hits to your website. You should be able to obtain information on entrance/exit pages, the number of unique visitors, number of page views, top pages, navigation paths and what domain names are being entered. These reports give you valuable information to make changes to your site to increase effectiveness and drive the results you are looking for.
Check out your competitors/colleagues. It is helpful to see how their website is linked, where their advertising is placed, and the sites that are giving them exposure. Evaluate how they are positioned and determine if some of the same strategies would be helpful for your business. What organizations are they connected with? What periodicals are giving them ink? Submit your own information to the same sources.

Surfing on a regular basis is more than just vanity; it gives you information. As playwright Thornton Wilder once said, “There’s nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head.”

Barbara Bartlein is the PeopleProTM. She helps businesses sell more goods and services by developing people. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by e-mail at: barb@ThePeoplePro.com or visit her website at http://www.thePeoplePro.com