Reviewing Your Work As A Ringmaster

Salary.com posted an article entitled, "The Seven Noble Virtues of the Workplace." They interviewed employees about what they considered to be the most important virtues to have in the workplace. They were:

• Prudence (Knowing when to keep quiet about something)
• Justice (Being honest and fair with others)
• Restraint (Allowing coworkers to make their own mistakes)
• Courage (Accepting challenging tasks)
• Faith (Trusting your teams)
• Hope (Being generally optimistic)
• Charity (Helping coworkers with their projects even if you will see no benefit)

 The list might be a good way for you to review your work as a ringmaster to insure that you are creating and maintaining an environment where your performers are motivated to give their best effort.

Distracted Conversation

I saw a cartoon by Piero Tonin that to me was too real to life for me to laugh. The cartoon shows a boss with a phone in his hand talking to his employee. The boss is saying, "Would you mind if I made a few calls while I carefully listen to your ideas?"

This is more reality than it is a joke. I see this message delivered non-verbally, multiple times each day. It isn't always as blatant as the cartoon (although at least the boss is asking permission) but distracted conversations are a common occurrence

For example, I was recently meeting with an executive and reviewing a detailed and complex proposal. As we were visiting, his smart phone continually beeped as he would receive an incoming text message or email. EVERY TIME that the phone beeped, he would immediately turn on his phone and read the message - sometimes even while he was attempting to share his thoughts at the same time. A few times he even had to ask me to repeat my last comment because he had missed what I was saying as he read his message. Soon, I pushed back my chair and completely disengaged from the meeting. If our time together isn't important enough to shut off the phone, turn off email and/or focus, then why should I waste my breath and best thinking? He is free to waste his time since it is on his dime. I get paid the same either way.

I see this happening at the dinner table (not just with teenagers), in restaurants, in meetings, on conference calls, in social settings, during training events, while driving, etc. People think that they can mentally do two things at once or carry on two conversations at once. But the reality is they are distracted, not completely processing ideas and wasting the other person's time - not to mention that it is extremely rude and offensive.

If you are consistently carrying on distracted conversations, you should consider what type of message you are sending. You should also realize that trying to do two things at once means that you are actually not doing either thing well at all.

You Must Find Some Pain!

One of the many "aha" moments in the Juggling Elephants training program comes when we discuss the need to stop juggling elephants-that is, to stop working from the mindset that everything can get done. We then work with the individuals on finding the "pain" associated with attempting the juggling elephants routine on a daily basis. Some potential answers include:

• Reduced productivity
• Lack of sense of accomplishment
• Physical stress
• Mental distraction
• Isolation from friends/family

Few of us are willing to change unless we find a source of pain that is so prominent we seek a better way. If you are struggling with the juggling elephants routine today, what's the pain you can identify that would drive you to seek the solutions offered by the perspective of the circus?

Beware of "Fillers"

Have you ever eaten at a buffet? Have you noticed how the buffet is set up? Well, you find the salad first and in the middle of the buffet you find a variety of other foods like vegetables, fruits, breads, pasta, potatoes, etc. At the end of the buffet are usually the meats like roast beef, chicken, shrimp, ham and/or fish - the high quality and more expensive items found in the buffet.

The owners of the buffet are smart and strategically place the quality/expensive foods at the end of the buffet line and the "fillers" (fillers of your stomach and plate) at the beginning. This is in hopes that by the time you near the end of the line; you don't have enough room on your plate. And, this strategy works! As you near the end of the line (the meat section) with a full plate, you think to yourself, "I will eat what I have and then come back for the good stuff." But, by the time you finish what is on your plate, you are near being full and have just enough room for the dessert.

Most people approach their day the same way they approach the buffet line. They fill their plates up with a bunch of "filler" activities and don't save room for the "meat" - the things that will truly make a difference. "If I have time, I will come back and focus on the meat...the things that are most important." But the day fills up with with less important activities and by the end; they are tired and just have enough time for some dessert.

Beware of filling your daily plate with items that are not important. Start with the meat and then come back to your "things to do" list and add the "filler" activities.

Be sure to always save room for dessert!

Humor For Your Friday Intermission

Tired of all the boring out-of-office auto responses you get when emailing other people? Here's a link to some humorous auto responses you might consider... maybe NOT if you want to keep your job, though.

On a serious note, don't just use auto-response to let others know you are out of the office or on vacation. Consider utilizing it when you want to be more fully focused on a major task or project that may consume your day. By setting up the auto-response they get an acknowledgment of your email but know you won't respond until a time given in the auto response.

If, however, you do respond to their email prior to the time you mentioned in the auto response, you have just trained that recipient to expect you to respond to their email anytime they send it-even if you have set up an auto response.