Tag Archives: action

Three reasons NOT to have a meeting

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I saw a post today about how to drastically cut meeting time by sending out relevant materials in advance and proceeding right to discussion. Margaret Heffeman writes in her blog at cbsnews.com that assuming people do their homework and proceeding right to discussion will save about 90% of your meeting time.

I have an even better idea. Cancel the meeting! Here are three reasons people often meet when they should not:

To discuss an issue. If you don’t need to decide what to do right away and the issue isn’t sensitive or complicated, people can find other ways to share ideas. Use a chat board or other social media, ask people to respond to a targeted survey or simply use natural opportunities (like hallway conversations) to ask people what they think.

To build relationships. People who work together do need to create a connection that allows for open communication and mutual trust. Opportunities to build relationships can and should be built into a meeting agenda. However, if you’re having a weekly meeting with no other defined and necessary outcomes, you’re probably wasting everyone’s time. Try a monthly lunch instead, and keep meetings focused largely on achieving business results.

Because it’s on the calendar. This is the most frequent type of meeting that should not happen – meetings that are on a regular basis without regard to the need/focus. Schedule the fewest number of recurring meetings possible and feel free to cancel them if you don’t have an output-based agenda.

What are the worthwhile reasons to meet? Hold a meeting if you need to make a decision, engage the group creativity, get aligned on direction or improve a specific aspect of team functioning.

Meeting when it isn’t absolutely necessary wastes everyone’s time, and may actually create more issues. “Our meetings are held to discuss many problems which would never arise if we held fewer meetings” (Ashleigh Brilliant). 

 

Need to make your (fewer) meetings count? Contact Humanergy.

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Can you fix people?

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We have heard it before. “You can’t change people.” Yet we persist with the idea that if we just use the right words at the right time, the other person will “get it.”

In “Leadership in the Age of Complexity: From Hero to Host” Margaret Wheatley (no relation to Humanergy’s co-founder, David Wheatley) talks about the myth of the heroic leader. One thing the heroic leader believes is that people will do what they are told, if they are given good enough instructions.

The problem here is the illusion that leaders control what they cannot, like what others do, think or feel. What you can control is your own actions.

Rather than jumping in to correct what’s wrong with their people, leaders can be a positive influence and provide support. They can:

Articulate a vision for the future

Be specific about expectations

Ask great questions

Give feedback on behaviors

Protect people from bureaucracy, politics and other distractions

Celebrate wins

When you feel the urge to jump in and fix a person, say, “I want to help. How can I best do that?”

Want to help your people navigate choppy waters? Contact Humanergy.

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Yes, you can manage interruptions

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“Don’t be defeated by a self-fulfilling prophecy that your interruptions can’t be controlled.”

Jack D. Ferner

Interruptions can drain your available time to address vital priorities. So, not taking control of your time and managing interruptions is tantamount to giving up on getting your most important work done.

Recovery time, that is, the time it takes an individual to return to a task after being interrupted, can be as much as 10 to 20 times the length of the original interruption. This means a 30 second interruption can result in an average of five minutes of recovery time, and that is optimistically assuming that one returns to the original task and does not abandon it.

Tips for managing interruptions, from 175 Ways to Get More Done in Less Time (2000) by David Cottrell and Mark Layton:

  • Schedule “open” time to compensate for important interruptions
  • When people arrive unscheduled, meet them at the door and talk outside your office
  • Stand and remain standing
  • Have the conversation in the other person’s office. It’s often easier to leave than it is to get someone else to go!
  • Don’t check emails constantly (turn off alerts)
  • Stand while talking on the phone for shorter calls

MindTools recommends keeping a log of interruptions for at least a week. You then analyze which are valid and which you must create strategies to block in the future. Be assertive and calmly address interruptions which are not necessary. Ask people to accumulate items needing your attention and handle them during scheduled time blocks, rather than one-by-one.

You can’t blame others for all of your interruptions. “The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day, of which seventy percent have nothing to do with work” (W. Edward Deming). Many times we are our own worst enemies, disrupting our work flow by checking email, updating Facebook or other time-absorbers.

Yes, you need to take a break. Schedule small chunks of guilt-free time when you need it. Enjoy these pauses, knowing that you have taken control of the rest of your day.

 

 

Need help managing your time? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from microsoft.com.

 


Can you become more tolerant of ambiguity?

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People differ greatly in their tolerance for ambiguity, though it is uncommon for leaders to admit that they don’t like situations that are unclear. As leaders, they feel that they must be seen to roll with the punches, help people find clarity in uncertain situations, and act decisively.

To get a more realistic understanding of your own comfort with ambiguity, start with assessing yourself on four modes developed by David Wilkinson regarding the ability to deal with increasing degrees of ambiguity and complexity.

Mode One – Technical Leadership. These leaders usually deal with ambiguity by denial or creating their own certainty. Mode One leaders are also more dictatorial and are very risk-averse by nature.

Mode Two – Cooperative Leadership. The aim of Mode Two leaders is to reduce uncertainty and to build teams around them to mitigate risk.

Mode Three – Collaborative Leadership. Mode Three leaders have a tendency towards consensual methods of leadership. They prefer to work towards aligning team members’ values and getting agreement. Their approach to ambiguity is for the group to examine it.

Mode Four – Generative Leadership. These leaders use ambiguity to find opportunity. They tend to be habitual learners and innovators.

People have a certain threshold for dealing with ambiguity and that capability can be developed through structured practice and coaching. How can you start expanding your tolerance of ambiguity?

Banish availability cascades. These are the assumptions that something is true simply because we have often heard that it is a fact, or can think of examples where it is true. Availability cascades keep you stuck in the past, clinging to misconceptions (for example, leaders need to have the answers, strategic planning always looks five years out, the most effective motivator is money).

Explore the “new world.” Carefully examine the changes that have occurred in your field in recent years. What new rules, facts and beliefs are pertinent now? How do these jive with your “old world” view? Learn something from the system outside your current reality – a younger employee or a different industry – and implement it to improve your own performance.

Look for cognitive dissonance. When confronted with situations that challenge your beliefs, knowledge or values, what is your reaction? Carefully examine your thoughts and behavior in the face of something that seems “just wrong.” You may not change your world view, but you will at least recognize that reality is less fixed and homogenous than you once assumed.

Dealing effectively with ambiguity means slowing things down at times and not rushing to find “the solution” to every dilemma. “The creative person is willing to live with ambiguity. He doesn’t need problems solved immediately and can afford to wait for the right ideas” (Abe Tannenbaum).

 

Want to become a generative leader who embraces ambiguity? Contact Humanergy.

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Just do one thing

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Most people would describe their lives as busy, even overwhelming. That’s the most common reason people give for not tackling the not-urgent-and-very-important things that we say are priorities. We don’t do them, in spite of the fact that they are the difference between reaching our potential and simply getting by.

How can you finally tackle that personal development goal that always gets moved to the back burner? How can your organization address the strategic issue that will surely derail you if you don’t attend to it?

I heard a bit of simple wisdom the other day. (I wish I could remember where!)

This week, do just one thing.

Do the one thing that will move you closer to achieving the result you need. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming or extremely difficult. It simply needs to be the one thing you can do now.

Next week do one more thing. “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right” (Napoleon Hill).

 

Can’t figure out what one thing to do? Contact Humanergy!


Assume the best

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You get to work and read an email from a coworker:

Christi – the side door was left unlocked between 2 and 3 pm again. Have you thought of creating a checklist that will help you remember?

Jane

You think:

  • What a jerk
  • Thanks for the helpful suggestion. I’ll try it!
  • She seems to have good ideas, so maybe she can help me figure out what to do

Your answer to this question says a lot about what you believe to be true about people. If you sometimes think the worst of people, you can change and more often give people the benefit of the doubt. Try these tips:

Slow things down. A frenetic pace can promote reactivity and impatience. Take a moment to stop, think and choose your behavior.

Train yourself to think from others’ point of view. Remember that people bring a diversity of culture, learning and experience to every life situation. Practice thinking, “I wonder why she feels that way” and respond based upon genuine curiosity. Learn why they take the actions they take. Ask about what you don’t understand.

Give yourself cues. Display a picture or quote that reminds you of people’s positive qualities. Light a scented candle or play relaxing music to set a laid-back tone.

Treat yourself with respect. People who are critical of others are often their own worst critic. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt, and it will be easier to lighten up with others as well.

Remember that giving others a break is really doing you a favor. When you assume the best, you experience less stress. It doesn’t mean you won’t confront truly inappropriate behavior. You just don’t assume that every possible slight is real or intentional. By choosing your battles, you have more productive energy for addressing the issues that matter most.

People are fallible and everyone makes mistakes. You might assume that some of these mistakes are directed at you. In reality, most often, the behavior is a result of ignorance or a different frame of reference. Or, said less kindly in the phrase known as Hanlon’s Razor, “Never assume malice when stupidity will suffice.”

 

 

Need to make a commitment to assume positive intent? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from istockphoto.

 

 


The answer to how is yes

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I just read a blog that refers to a book called “The Answer to How is Yes.” I don’t know anything about the book, but that title really got my brain churning.

Like many people, I have trouble making change stick. What I’ve realized is that it’s not a discipline problem. It’s a commitment problem. I get stuck thinking of the details – the how – even before I’ve fully committed to the end result. (How can I exercise every day when my daughter has to be at school so early…when I am sick….when she is sick….when work is busy?)

In fact, I get stuck in the details BECAUSE I am not committed. If I know I need to do something, I need to first answer all those how questions with a firm yes. If I can’t do that, I will not move forward.

Think of all the time I’ll save not working out those pesky details related to something I really wasn’t going to do anyway!

 

Need to say “yes” to something important? Contact Humanergy to get you started!

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Way to go!

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My daughter Shannon works in customer service, and she is cursed, screamed at and verbally abused on a daily basis. One day, however, the clouds parted and sunshine came in the form of an extremely happy customer. This person was delighted with Shannon’s speedy and effective help. This customer was so delighted that she wanted to share her feedback with Shannon’s supervisor, even though she had to wait on hold for several minutes to speak with the boss.

It was a great day for Shannon and her boss, who both got to take a break from problems, complaints and drama and revel in what was going right.

How much time do you spend problem-spotting versus applauding your people’s great actions and results?

Do it now, before the distractions of your work put it on the back burner again. Write an email, send a note or go tell someone in person that what they are doing makes a difference. You’ll make someone’s day amazing…and yours will be better, too!

Why are you still reading this?

 

Need creative ways to focus on the positives? Contact Humanergy.

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Use influence to reel in success

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Influence allows you to impact results through your interactions with other people. Although you can’t control the outcome completely, you can increase the probability of achieving the impact you desire by how you network, communicate and find common ground with other people.

A powerful metaphor for influence is sport fishing. How is it that you can use a 50-pound line to land a 250 pound fish?

Be patient. Know where you want to end up, but manage your expectations along the way.

Be aware. Influence and manage the other people on the boat – the other people who can affect the situation.

Control yourself. Check your ego and your need to win.

Be purposeful. Be intense, but don’t make rash choices; consider the impact of your actions.

Know your fish. What are the characteristics of others involved? What choices are they making right now?

Be the fish. Don’t focus on you and your needs; get in the heads of the others involved.

Adjust as you learn. Your desired outcomes and your actions may need to change to create the right results for everyone.

Work within the parameters of the line. What are your limits and abilities? What do others want? What can they contribute?

Reel it in. Don’t ease up just because things seem to be going well. Follow through with 100% of the discipline you had when you started.

Use your influence to reel in the big fish and contribute to the greater good. Remember the words of Jackie Robinson: “A life isn’t significant except for its influence on other lives.”

 


Are you nuts?

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Do you have to be boring or serious to be a great leader? The responsibilities may be challenging and even daunting some days. That doesn’t mean you have to turn into a somber, bland person.

In fact, it’s okay to be a little over-the-top, unique, zany or even a little nuts. Some of the best leaders in the world have been non-traditional and even a bit unhinged (Richard Branson and Steve Jobs, for example).

Experts on organizational success advise businesses to infuse their personality into everything they do. If businesses can be a little nuts, can’t their leaders be the same?

How can you express your individuality more fully in your leadership role?

Revel in and share your hobbies and interests, your culture or past experiences. Have you jumped from a plane? Do you sing opera? Can you whip up some amazing food?

Ask crazy, “what-if” questions about your work. What if we want to expand to Hawaii? What would we do differently if we decided to be the best in the world?

Laugh (mostly at yourself).

Allow your creative side to show. Jazz up your workspace in a way that fuels your thinking. Dress for success, with a bit of personality, so that you stand out from the crowd in a positive way.

Above all, enjoy each day’s moments by doing work that is meaningful to you. As Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.”

Need some help connecting with the real you? Contact Humanergy.

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