One critical habit to address in reducing workplace stress involves your productive and non-productive use of time. How do these positive work habits compare to your own?
Show Up Early
There is no downside to showing up early. When you come in early, you have extra time to gather your thoughts and get prepared, and you are sure to make a better impression in every situation. All the way around, this work habit reduces stress.
Maintain a Daily Planner
Whether you use software or plain paper, you need a daily planner to make sure that you are on top of all the daily details of your workdays. When you spend time planning, you reduce time spent executing tasks. Thorough daily planning is a key tool.
Be Present
How many times do you sit in meetings and allow your mind to wander from the subject under discussion? You are often physically present, but mentally in a totally different place. When you daydream during meetings, you end up uninformed about the meeting's topic and stressed. To avoid this tendency, sit up straight during meetings, take notes on the topic, and try to keep in eye contact with the speaker.
Avoid Procrastination
Everyone is motivated in different ways. Find what inspires and energizes you to tackle work issues, instead of putting them off. Commit to a regular schedule of work output and project completion.
Set Priorities
No one likes to leave work at the end of the day or week feeling like they didn't accomplish the most critical tasks. When you set and adhere to priorities, you avoid stress and keep on pace with the demands of your workload.
Protect Your Private Time
Some anxiety-provoking work habits, such as bringing work home or staying at work late, are more exhausting than we may realize. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but if it becomes a habit, you can start to feel like you don't have a life outside of work. Try to manage your time at work more efficiently so you can enjoy your time outside of the office.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Testimonials: Dale Carnegie Course - 11/18/09 graduation
Attending Dale Carnegie Course graduations is always inspiring. An incredibly powerful reminder of why I am part of this organization. Here are some excerpts of testimonial letters the participants wrote in preparation for this graduation.
"I have participated in an increased number of potential client meetings....we expect to see increased new client cashflow over the next 6 to 12 months."
Matt Wiles
Financial Associate, Crestone Capital Advisors
"Based on the estimated assets my firm would manage if I am able to acquire this new client, the ROI on my Dale Carnegie Course would be 4900%. Moreover, I have also been offered to lead the way on connecting with a second potential new client."
Alex Paul
Financial Associate, Crestone Capital Advisors
"The major benefit for my company comes from my new approach to negotiating....allowed me to focus on the solution instead of the problem."
Daniel Furman
Purchasing, Blue Mountain Arts
"I am now a more enthusiatic person.....My goal is to better communicate with and educate all of my internal customers."
Matt Bunning
Systems Manager, Blue Mountain Arts
"This class will definitely make a good impact on the way clients or other callers view the company."
Viviana Bracamontes
Intern, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
"I haved built new confidence in myself when talking to professionals in the construction business and my colleagues....My company has recently shown their trust in my abilities by assigning me additional responsibilities to contact potential leads to establish a relationship for future projects."
Shawn Cross
Estimator, FCI Constructors
"I have become a more productive estimator, which has allowed me to take on more responsibilities."
Erik Henry
Estimator, FCI Constructors
"...a better supervisor for the laboratory environment. One who can manage the department and maintain a high level of performance within the department."
Frankie Lujan
Laboratory Supervisor, Molecular Products
"goal I will be working on will be...promoting our department company wide...enhancing relationships.....engaging in lively discussion of the overall culture and the challenges we face."
Debra Howeth
Project Manager, MSN Communications, Inc.
"Taking the Dale Carnegie Course has really impacted how I communicate with people."
Adaivet Martinez
Intern, Basset, Wallace, Selner, & Taylor
"Overall, at the end of next year, I expect a minimum increase of 15% over 2009 gross sales."
Clint Moore
Outside Sales, ProBuild
"Having the ability to effectively communicate and persuade others."
Vencent Singson
Technical Specialist, Hunter Douglas
"I have participated in an increased number of potential client meetings....we expect to see increased new client cashflow over the next 6 to 12 months."
Matt Wiles
Financial Associate, Crestone Capital Advisors
"Based on the estimated assets my firm would manage if I am able to acquire this new client, the ROI on my Dale Carnegie Course would be 4900%. Moreover, I have also been offered to lead the way on connecting with a second potential new client."
Alex Paul
Financial Associate, Crestone Capital Advisors
"The major benefit for my company comes from my new approach to negotiating....allowed me to focus on the solution instead of the problem."
Daniel Furman
Purchasing, Blue Mountain Arts
"I am now a more enthusiatic person.....My goal is to better communicate with and educate all of my internal customers."
Matt Bunning
Systems Manager, Blue Mountain Arts
"This class will definitely make a good impact on the way clients or other callers view the company."
Viviana Bracamontes
Intern, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
"I haved built new confidence in myself when talking to professionals in the construction business and my colleagues....My company has recently shown their trust in my abilities by assigning me additional responsibilities to contact potential leads to establish a relationship for future projects."
Shawn Cross
Estimator, FCI Constructors
"I have become a more productive estimator, which has allowed me to take on more responsibilities."
Erik Henry
Estimator, FCI Constructors
"...a better supervisor for the laboratory environment. One who can manage the department and maintain a high level of performance within the department."
Frankie Lujan
Laboratory Supervisor, Molecular Products
"goal I will be working on will be...promoting our department company wide...enhancing relationships.....engaging in lively discussion of the overall culture and the challenges we face."
Debra Howeth
Project Manager, MSN Communications, Inc.
"Taking the Dale Carnegie Course has really impacted how I communicate with people."
Adaivet Martinez
Intern, Basset, Wallace, Selner, & Taylor
"Overall, at the end of next year, I expect a minimum increase of 15% over 2009 gross sales."
Clint Moore
Outside Sales, ProBuild
"Having the ability to effectively communicate and persuade others."
Vencent Singson
Technical Specialist, Hunter Douglas
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Coaching Process
Coaching is a major responsibility for every manager, and for many people, it can be a major challenge. Managers need to be able to maintain performance standards, be certain people are following policies and procedures, and hit individual and team targets through other people.
Step One: Identify the Opportunity
There are five ways to identify opportunities.
1. You identify an opportunity for another person.
2. An individual identifies an opportunity for themselves.
3. A customer, vendor, or other outsider identifies an opportunity.
4. You identify new skills needed within your team.
5. A situation creates an opportunity.
These different opportunities may arise due to a new need or out of taking on a new job or project that requires a new skill, or they may come out of a performance review or be identified after a mistake occurs.
Multiple opportunities arise for people on your team, and it is your job as a manager to prioritize those needs to keep others on your team from getting overwhelmed by the possibilities.
Jot down some opportunities that you see for yourself or for others in your workplace. Are you the right person to point out these needs? What is the best way to do so?
Step Two: Picture the Desired Outcome
Once the opportunity is identified, it is important to take the time and pinpoint what the situation will look like when the gap is filled. This is the step that many people skip or don't develop fully, which can lead to confusion, misunderstanding, and frustration for everyone.
One of the most important concepts in coaching is having a vision or end goal in mind. Without that, people often lose sight of the importance of making the needed changes. How we create this picture of what is possible is the central component of this step in the coaching process.
People with a clear vision of the end result of coaching tend to move in that direction more quickly than those without. It is crucial that both the coach and the trainee own the goal. Without that sense of ownership, coach or trainee may lose motivation. We focus on motivation and buy-in even more in the next step of the process, but this is where direction and motivation really begin.
Step Three: Establish the Right Attitudes
How well you really know your team may determine how quickly you know if you have the right trainee for the job and are able to gauge their motivation. This step is a critical part of the process of effective coaching. Without it, you spend a great deal of your time just overcoming resistance.
You often hear that people resist change. It isn't true. People resist being changed when they:
• Don't see the need
• Don't want to do it
• Believe that the change is not possible for them
In this step, you should focus on some of the skills required to cut resistance and move through the coaching process with less friction. These skills are:
• Leadership
• Communication
• Building trust
• Getting commitment vs. compliance
Step Four: Provide the Resources
In order for a coaching process to be successful, it is important the appropriate resources available. This includes time and, most importantly, a personal commitment to succeed from everyone. Other resources may include money, equipment, training, information, and upper level buy-in and support.
Ensure that the appropriate resources are in place and available. Nothing is as frustrating as being promised something and then not getting it. It can make everyone feel like they have been set up to fail.
Step Five: Practice & Skill Development
Once the resources are in place and the correct skill set has been identified, explained, and demonstrated, it is now time for the trainee to practice and apply what has been learned. For knowledge to evolve into a skill, you must practice it and perfect the skill with the help of a coach, who can ensure that you are practicing the new skill and not the old habit.
Practice also allows the coach to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• How to encourage others to success
• How closely to monitor and when to let go
• How to hold others accountable for progress
Step Six: Reinforce Progress
Making progress is one thing, but without a way to reinforce and maintain it, people may quickly go back to their old habits. One of the biggest fallacies managers hold on to is the assumption that if people know something, they will do it. People don't do what they know; they do what they have always done.
Try to use these strategies to reinforce learned skills:
• Empowering people to get results after they have learned new skills
• Giving the right kind of feedback
• Following up
• Handling nonperformance issues
• Handling mistakes and people who get off track
Step Seven: Reward
One of the best ways to cement growth and progress is to reward it. Rewarded behavior is repeated, and what gets repeated becomes habit.
But change can be uncomfortable. That is why people often revert to their habits if reinforcement and reward are not motivating forces. Habit is stronger than knowledge. To ensure that change happens quickly and is kept in place as long as needed, celebration and reward are important.
Some of the skills you put into coaching in this step of the process are:
• Praise and recognition
• Positive feedback techniques
• Recognizing people's strengths and accomplishments
• Having the right credibility and impact in the delivery
Step One: Identify the Opportunity
There are five ways to identify opportunities.
1. You identify an opportunity for another person.
2. An individual identifies an opportunity for themselves.
3. A customer, vendor, or other outsider identifies an opportunity.
4. You identify new skills needed within your team.
5. A situation creates an opportunity.
These different opportunities may arise due to a new need or out of taking on a new job or project that requires a new skill, or they may come out of a performance review or be identified after a mistake occurs.
Multiple opportunities arise for people on your team, and it is your job as a manager to prioritize those needs to keep others on your team from getting overwhelmed by the possibilities.
Jot down some opportunities that you see for yourself or for others in your workplace. Are you the right person to point out these needs? What is the best way to do so?
Step Two: Picture the Desired Outcome
Once the opportunity is identified, it is important to take the time and pinpoint what the situation will look like when the gap is filled. This is the step that many people skip or don't develop fully, which can lead to confusion, misunderstanding, and frustration for everyone.
One of the most important concepts in coaching is having a vision or end goal in mind. Without that, people often lose sight of the importance of making the needed changes. How we create this picture of what is possible is the central component of this step in the coaching process.
People with a clear vision of the end result of coaching tend to move in that direction more quickly than those without. It is crucial that both the coach and the trainee own the goal. Without that sense of ownership, coach or trainee may lose motivation. We focus on motivation and buy-in even more in the next step of the process, but this is where direction and motivation really begin.
Step Three: Establish the Right Attitudes
How well you really know your team may determine how quickly you know if you have the right trainee for the job and are able to gauge their motivation. This step is a critical part of the process of effective coaching. Without it, you spend a great deal of your time just overcoming resistance.
You often hear that people resist change. It isn't true. People resist being changed when they:
• Don't see the need
• Don't want to do it
• Believe that the change is not possible for them
In this step, you should focus on some of the skills required to cut resistance and move through the coaching process with less friction. These skills are:
• Leadership
• Communication
• Building trust
• Getting commitment vs. compliance
Step Four: Provide the Resources
In order for a coaching process to be successful, it is important the appropriate resources available. This includes time and, most importantly, a personal commitment to succeed from everyone. Other resources may include money, equipment, training, information, and upper level buy-in and support.
Ensure that the appropriate resources are in place and available. Nothing is as frustrating as being promised something and then not getting it. It can make everyone feel like they have been set up to fail.
Step Five: Practice & Skill Development
Once the resources are in place and the correct skill set has been identified, explained, and demonstrated, it is now time for the trainee to practice and apply what has been learned. For knowledge to evolve into a skill, you must practice it and perfect the skill with the help of a coach, who can ensure that you are practicing the new skill and not the old habit.
Practice also allows the coach to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• How to encourage others to success
• How closely to monitor and when to let go
• How to hold others accountable for progress
Step Six: Reinforce Progress
Making progress is one thing, but without a way to reinforce and maintain it, people may quickly go back to their old habits. One of the biggest fallacies managers hold on to is the assumption that if people know something, they will do it. People don't do what they know; they do what they have always done.
Try to use these strategies to reinforce learned skills:
• Empowering people to get results after they have learned new skills
• Giving the right kind of feedback
• Following up
• Handling nonperformance issues
• Handling mistakes and people who get off track
Step Seven: Reward
One of the best ways to cement growth and progress is to reward it. Rewarded behavior is repeated, and what gets repeated becomes habit.
But change can be uncomfortable. That is why people often revert to their habits if reinforcement and reward are not motivating forces. Habit is stronger than knowledge. To ensure that change happens quickly and is kept in place as long as needed, celebration and reward are important.
Some of the skills you put into coaching in this step of the process are:
• Praise and recognition
• Positive feedback techniques
• Recognizing people's strengths and accomplishments
• Having the right credibility and impact in the delivery
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