2011 | It's Worth Noting

Productivity

7 hours/week email challenge

April 19, 2011

I recently surveyed some members of our team to find out how many hours a week they were spending on email. They, and other business colleagues I asked, all came back to say they spend more than two hours a day, or ten hours a week, managing email. How much time do you spend on work email each week? If you’re not sure, you can use a tool like RescueTime to find out. Everyone agreed that ten hours a week, 20% or more of work weeks, was too much given roles and our other priorities. We admitted that we had gotten lazy and allowed a number of bad habits to fester turning email into a time monster. What if we could reduce the hours spent on email by 30%? The opportunity to reclaim a few hours a week was motivating and we agreed to a challenge – to reduce time…

Leadership Technology

No cameras please. Remove all cameras.

March 24, 2011

Last week my wife and I attended a Cirque du Soleil show. The show was wonderful, but the scene at the security checkpoint left something to be desired. As we went through the line to present our tickets and gain admittance, an obligatory staffer yelled out, “No cameras please. Remove all cameras.” Meanwhile, thousands of people like us went through the line texting and playing with their smart phones to pass the time. Every single one of them is a camera. Probably 3/4 of them are also video cameras. Security personnel was oblivious. The scene is the same at almost every performance I go to where they check for cameras. How could these security companies and their personnel be so naive? I’d venture to say it is because they focus less on adapting to a changing environment and more on getting a changing environment to adapt to them. The tragedy is that…

Leadership Reviews

Are you ready for the thank you economy?

March 15, 2011

I heard a talk yesterday by Gary Vaynerchuk about his new book: The Thank You Economy. His basic premise is that for companies to succeed in the coming decade they will have to genuinely care for their customers. By caring, he’s not talking about sending thank you notes or coupons to buy more. He advocates the need to care passionately and personally, to create a sticky experience focused on what’s best for the customer, not for you. While at the end of the day it’s business, you must humanize the interaction with customers to continue to win their business and maintain loyalty. He argues that if your caring baramoter is a Zappos, you’re aiming too low. You need to blow their customer care out of the water. What do you think? Are you planning on reading his new book? Are you evaluating how to revolutionize how you care for customers?

Leadership

Thank a customer today

February 24, 2011

Saying thank you only takes a few minutes of consideration and then following through. Think of one customer today that you really appreciate. How could you express your thanks? Deliver something early? Send a note or call to share how they’ve helped your business grow or improve? Send a gift for a referral, whether from yesterday or years past? Whatever the idea, just make sure it’s unexpected, thoughtful and reflective of how important they are to you. How do you say thank you?

Leadership

Do you have a family bucket list?

February 16, 2011

A movie entitled “The Bucket List” popularized the idea of creating a bucket list of things to do before you die. Do you have a bucket list? Reflect upon what’s on it. If it’s like a lot of the lists I’ve seen, it includes individual accomplishments like running a marathon or maybe visiting a beautiful place or landmark. An individual bucket list can be a great motivator. It can influence some decisions and provide certain direction in your life. Have you considered a similar list for your family? What about sitting down tonight for dinner and asking everyone what they would like to pursue or accomplish as a family during your years together? Depending on whether you have children and their ages, you may have to revisit this conversation several times over the years to capture everyone’s input, Maybe your family’s list includes visiting Disney World, hosting an exchange student,…

Productivity

5 simple steps for a more productive day

February 8, 2011

1. Set a 15 timer and work on those lingering tasks or emails that only need a few minutes of your time. 2. Take a couple minutes to unsubcribe or create rules for five emails that routinely clutter your inbox. 3. Start with end in mind. When you head home, what accomplishment would make you smile? 4. Drop something. Identify one thing you need to stop doing, but that you know is tempting and will hurt your productivity. 5. Answer the question why. What’s the benefit of being productive for you? Keep that in mind as you strive to maintain discipline.

Leadership

The power of unprompted giving

February 2, 2011

Want to have an immediate impact on a few people today? Anyone can give when they’re prompted or a need is staring them in the face. What about giving without being prompted or without a need being known? What about doing this at work? Here’s a three step beginner’s guide: Think of 2-3 people in your sphere of influence, whether colleagues, vendors or customers. Take a moment to reflect on their unique interests, needs or impact on your life. Identify one thing you can do or say today to give to them, whether that means supporting their interests, meeting their needs or affirming their impact on your life. Regular, unprompted giving might happen in a healthy home or church, but it’s too rarely seen in the workplace. While prompted giving is great, unprompted giving is even better because you are the sole catalyst. This makes the thought more meaningful and the…

Leadership

Misson and Values: Taking your team’s pulse

January 26, 2011

If you ask members of your team to describe the mission and values they witness being lived out in your organization day after day, would the results differ from what’s written on the plaque or in the handbook? Do they know how their daily work furthers the mission and embodies the values? Would they give you blank stares or an earful? Try taking your team’s pulse by asking the question. Give them complete freedom to respond candidly without repercussions. The results could be really encouraging or make you sick. You won’t know until you ask. Regardless of how it turns out, you’ll know where you stand. You’ll know whether your team is cohesively pursuing the desired mission, embodying the values and relating their work respectively or whether your actions fail to match up to your words. If the latter, your customers are probably experiencing the same, so there’s even more urgency…

Leadership

Don’t be selfish – pursue inconvenient moments

January 18, 2011

If you’re like me, you avoid inconvenient moments. You hustle to get there, go here or finish that. Along the way, people and situations that should get your attention are completely missed simply because you are not interested in being interrupted. It doesn’t fit your plan or schedule for the day. The trouble I’ve found with this mindset, at least for me, is that it is entirely self-centered. I fall into the trap of only wanting to give or care when it’s planned and convenient for me. If it’s unplanned and inconvenient, I keep moving barely noticing what I’ve decided to ignore. If you want to have a significant and unexpected impact on the people around you today, pursue some inconvenient moments that cross your path. Have the conversation you do not have time for. Assist the person broke down on the side of the road. Help the mom in line in front of…

Leadership

Explaining why is more important than when or how

January 13, 2011

If you just share what needs to get done, you’re giving orders. If you explain when it needs to get done, you’re prioritizing and scheduling for someone else. If you explain how it needs to get done, you’re micromanaging. What if you always explained why something needed to get done, focusing on the importance and impact? Saying why provides guidance that empowers the people around you to solve problems, make decisions and accelerate delivery. Your team can figure out the when and how if you explain the why. Are you leaving it out?