This is an extract from a mini toolkit (article +E-Templates) that can be source from this link.
Overview
From lessons gathered from forty years of observation, reading and discovery. I have broken the smarter ways into the following categories.
| Making Work Fun | Have an annual grand final |
| Recognition | |
| Celebrate more | |
| Off-site team meetings | |
| Blue sky Fridays – making time to shape the future | |
| Offer leading edge training opportunities | |
| Smarter work Habits | Beware of becoming a workaholic |
| Move to a stand-up desk with three screens | |
| Greeting the guest | |
| Remember you / remember me | |
| Full attention at meetings | |
| Returning phone calls | |
| Network within your organisation | |
| Estimate your deadlines better by using the rule of three | |
| Never be a dick with your phone | |
| Have a cluster of mentors | |
| The importance of a second passion, a safe haven | |
| Using consultants effectively | |
| Look a million dollars | |
| Embracing learning | |
| Better communication | Learn how to sell change |
| Have “Action Meetings” | |
| Hold stand-up SCRUM meetings | |
| Other ways to save time in meetings | |
| Controlling the wild beast -your email | |
| One-page reporting | |
| Contribute to the organisation’s newsletter and intranet | |
| Propel your career with “killer” presentations | |
| Making innovation a daily activity | The importance of Peter Drucker’s abandonment |
| Embracing Kaizen
Jim Collins’ five step innovation blueprint |
Making work fun
There are some smart ways, that have been tried and tested, to ensure your team members feel they are working for a special manager.
Have an annual grand finale
George Hickton, one of New Zealand’s most successful CEOs firmly believes, “You need a grand finale, something to work towards”. The annual conference is a two-day event that everybody attends. It is heralded as an opportunity to communicate and to celebrate
When George Hickton (GH) first introduced this concept to the employment service there was a certain amount of scepticism. GH said to the executive team I wish to acknowledge a member of staff who has gone beyond the call of duty to deliver a stunning service. The executive team replied, “You cannot do that, by singling out an individual you will ostracize the rest”. GH, nodded and said” I accept your point of view, but we will go ahead”.
On the day when GH started to deliver the acknowledgement there was a silence in the room. Upon announcement of the named individual there was spontaneous applause and ovation. Everybody was not only recognising the individual but also celebrating that the organisation was happy to recognise the individual.
As GH recants, tears flowed, and the recipient had to rush out of the hall to ring his wife, to share the first major recognition in twenty years of service.
In Tourism New Zealand they give out rocks as awards, rocks fashioned by nature over millions of years, and as the advert goes “given away in a moment priceless”. The recipients are called “rock stars”. While I was writing this article, I was lucky enough to sit next to a recipient of this award on a plane trip. She recalled to me the shock, gratitude and buzz over the acknowledgement, and she too had to rush out to share the news with the folks at home.
Recognition
I have long been aware of the significance of recognition, but only recently did I realise that it is a fundamental foundation stone to all our relationships. The ability to appreciate and recognise all those we come in contact with defines us as a person and defines how successful, in the broadest terms, we can be. Giving recognition freely makes us a person people like to work for and with, and one to whom they naturally gravitate towards.
As Nicola Pless[i] so succinctly puts it “Recognition is more important than most of us understand. Apart from the need for attachment and affiliation there is a fundamental human need to be recognized, respected, and valued as a human being.”
McDonalds and other companies have taken this tax on recognition to the ultimate by having an employee of the month award, indicating that only one staff member can achieve this. Surely, if four staff have succeeded, then four staff should be given the award.
The power of a letter
Typing a recognition letter and then posting it says a lot about you. That you were so impressed that you made the effort. Now, let us answer the question on your minds, “Why dad not just send an email?”
The physical testimonial means more to the recipient. People receive so little post it will make a greater impact. It saves them having to print it out to show at a meeting.
Besides, you feel good about giving some positive feedback to the universe.
I bought a sports car in Dunedin, and soon I noticed a noise. The power steering was faulty. The dealer, once informed, immediately wanted to put it right. This was done.
Two things happened. I wrote a letter of thanks. And three years later your step-mum and I were dining at the Boulcott Bistro and there was a man eating alone. I engaged in a conversation to find that he came from Dunedin. I said, “I got two very important things from Dunedin, my wife and my white sports car.” He asked, “Was it a white Porsche Boxster?” I said “Yes.” He replied, “You wrote the letter.” How about that for a small world, and the power of a recognition letter?
The three component parts of a recognition
Marshall Rosenberg, the father of effective communication said there were three distinguishing components in the expression of appreciation:
- the actions that have contributed to your well-being
- the particular needs of yours that have been fulfilled; and
- the pleasureful feelings engendered by the fulfilment of those needs.
Some draft recognition letters for you
Dear _____,
Re Exceptional Service
I would like to comment on the service ______ that I received during our eight-day camper van hire. ___, ____ and _____ could not have been more helpful (especially sending back the forgotten possessions). Their smiling faces and humor were much appreciated.
We look forward to returning next year as we are already suffering skiing withdrawal symptoms.
Thanks again from one very happy customer.
Yours sincerely
Dear _____,
I would like to comment on the exceptional service you, your packers, and your agent in New Zealand have provided.
The removal of family heirlooms was complicated by the fact that I was in New Zealand supporting a sick wife. The services offered was exceptional in every respect.
- _____, the sales consultant in London was able to give a reasonably accurate quote based on the information I had from my family.
- The packers’ work was exceptional. The three crates made were works of art and I have made every endeavor to ensure they have further use.
- All my valuable possessions arrived intact due to the care the packers applied to my belongings.
- The information about the shipping and the advice on the paperwork was well thought through and timely.
- The liaison from ______ was likewise efficient.
I believe the level of service delivered to me is testament to the professional staff you employ. I will recommend your services to others who are shipping effects to New Zealand.
Yours sincerely
Celebrate more
When those hard-working teams are seen working into the night, colleagues tend to wonder what they are doing. Surely, they aren’t doing anything of value, since if they did valuable activities they would celebrate them? A celebration is a great communicator of success. It tells others you have performed well. Yet many teams often go from one deadline to the next deferring the celebration for a quiet time, sometime in the future. If you tend to follow that pattern, you are missing a vital PR event. Let’s face it, the marketing team is celebrating all the time, telling everyone of their achievements.
As Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric, once said, ‘Work is too much a part of life not to recognise moments of achievement’.
One CEO has a weekly “Success Express” newsletters others have CEO awards. Encourage your CEO to participate in such activities. They will enjoy it.
Off-site team meetings
I came across a team that held a half-day, offsite meeting after each month ended. They discussed what they had done well and celebrated those individuals. They proceeded to discuss what they could improve and, finally, they looked at a new approach, with someone invited to present a new methodology or tool, see Exhibit 1 for a possible agenda.
More commonly there are teams that have some off-site training session every three months. Anything less is totally inadequate.
If you are ever involved in a boring repetitive task, my team were involved in benchmarking, we made work more enjoyable by going to a café; twice a day! I would certainly recommend, to all managers, setting a target of at least once a week. Naturally the cost is borne by the organisation.
Exhibit 1- A possible agenda for an offsite meeting
| Meeting Agenda
Location: _________ Date: ________ Attendees: all the accounting team with special guests _________ ________ ________ Requirements: session secretary (Pat Carruthers), lap tops x2, data show, white boards x2 |
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Blue sky Fridays – making time to shape the future
Far too many of us are caught firefighting all the time. Never getting enough time to plan to make the future a better place.
During an overseas speaking tour, I was with a good friend one Sunday afternoon, visiting a church fair. We had run out of things to do. Among the stalls was a person selling new lounge chairs. We soon got into conversation with the salesmen. My friend Clive said, “I think I have one of these in the shed, but I have never used it.” The salesman, too honest for his own good said “So do I, and likewise, it is never used.” Both men were too busy to use their lounger and contemplate the future.
When I arrived back at my office I realised that I had an unused lounge chair and was not spending enough time focusing on my future. Hence on Friday mornings, I move my laptop from my home office to the lounge, bring in my lounge chair and then begin to undertake tasks that shape my future.
Suggested Rules for a blue-sky Friday
These are the rules I adopted for my blue-sky Friday:
- To focus on the “important but not yet urgent tasks,” The report that needs writing, the presentation that needs careful preparation, the research into new system, planning future tours, organizing interviews etc.
- To make strategic phone calls and send emails to advance my ‘future’ rocks
- No answering phone calls, texts, emails
- No time spent on Facebook, Linked-in, or other addictive social media
Offer leading edge training opportunities
Aim to have at least one in-house training day for the whole team, once a year. You will gain much from the team building that occurs during the day. In addition, you can offer, after __ years of service, support for further tertiary education, especially MBA programmes for the your protégés.
This is an extract from a mini toolkit (article +E-Templates) that can be source from this link.
[i] Nicola Pless “Understanding Responsible Leadership: Role Identity and Motivational Drivers”, Journal of Business Ethics 2007