Category: Corporate Games

According to QMI Agency,
85%-90% of business communication
is email.
However, text usage is increasing.

When to text and
when to email?

I don’t text.
I find it informal,
and lacking the necessary tracking.
I always email
when I need the information
formally communicated
and/or approved.

Natalie Manor,
CEO of Natalie Manor & Associates
agrees.
“I think you need
to have a relationship
with a colleague
before you begin texting.”
She also says
that texting is used for
sharing immediate information
such as
‘Going to be late’
and
‘Do you want me to bring the contract?’

In other words,
text may replace a phone call,
but it doesn’t replace email.

With summer here,
many bloggers are posting
about vacations
and about how fewer employees are taking them
(57% of Americans use up all their vacation time,
as per a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll)
and when they do,
they work via internet/phones.
They say this like it is a bad thing.

It can be.
It can also be a good thing.

My grandpa was a farmer.
He never took a vacation.
He didn’t understand why people took vacations
because he loved what he did
and his work was incorporated into his life.

When I was in new product development
for a major beverage manufacturer,
I’d spend a good part of my vacations
at exotic grocery stores,
looking at the beverages available
in other countries.
I loved it,
my hubby loved it,
and we do that on vacation
to this very day.

I recently came back
from a two week cruise
and I wrote every single day.
I loved it.

Yes, our work lives and home lives
are merging.
That’s why it is more important
than ever
to love what you do.

If you’re counting down the days
until vacation,
it is a signal that you’re not doing
the work you are meant to do.

In my last placement,
teleconferences were the norm.
In any given cubicle row,
there’d be at least one teleconference
on speaker phone.

There were pro’s and con’s
to the teleconference.

More people attend them,
and they tend to multitask
during the call
and don’t ‘waste’ the time in a meeting.

On the other hand,
since they’re often on speaker phone,
there’s no confidentiality,
and the meeting is only getting
a sliver of the person’s attention.
According to a Robert Half Survey,
45% of executives confessed
to frequently doing other things
while in teleconferences.

Teleconferences are a great tool
for transferring information to everyone
but may not be
for making critical decisions,
confidential projects,
or
brainstorming.

They are NOT a replacement
for every meeting.

Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny,
David Maxfield, Ron McMillan,
and Al Switzler in the book
Change Anything
share the top 6 career tips
to make you 10 times more successful.

They are
1) Visualize what you want
2) Take time for professional development
3) Associate with hard workers
4) Find a trusted mentor
5) Put money at risk
by rewarding yourself
and
6) Control your workspace

I would probably swap out #3
Associate with hard workers
with
Associate with achievers
though they are often
the same thing.

If you surround yourself
with achievers,
you will learn their secrets for success,
be driven to keep pace with them,
and
you WILL work hard.

A rising tide lifts all boats.
In other words,
it is easy to make money
when everyone is making money.

Companies know this
so when times are good,
they take chances
on new executives,
new products,
and new ideas.

Italy’s Cerruti CEO
Florent Perrichon
told the Reuters Global Fashion
and Luxury Summit
“It is when business is good
that fashion brands
can take important decisions
and change designers,
not when times are difficult.”

As an up and comer,
make your move
while times are good,
and then prove you can create success
so you’re also the person to go to
when times are bad.

Ride that rising tide.

A loved one put in
his two week’s notice.

My advice to him?

Be happy, and positive.
Don’t say anything bad
about your current company.
Don’t do those phony exit interviews.
(those go on your work record
and they keep your work record forever)
Don’t bitch and complain.

Why?

Because your coworkers
are still working for the company
you’re leaving.
Bad mouth the company
and you bad mouth their decision
to stay.

And THAT bad mouthing
will be the only thing they remember
and the only thing they repeat.
You can forget returning to the company
in the future
when that CEO position is open
(or when you’re in between jobs)

What if you hate the company
and every single co-worker there?

Still be happy and positive.
If you’re bitter and grumpy,
they’ll be relieved when you’re gone.
You don’t want that.
You want them to be
sad
that you’re gone.
You want them to rue the day
they mistreated you
or passed you up for that promotion
or didn’t pay you enough.

Be happy and positive
about your current employer.

Yesterday,
I received some criticism
on my writing,
so what I did
was send out an email
to my writing buddies,
reiterating the criticism,
and stating that I believe
rectifying this fault would increase sales.

I didn’t hear anything back.
There was silence.
Only the sound of crickets chirping.

Why?

Because my writing buddies AGREED
with this criticism.

I know because,
a couple of months ago,
I received another piece of criticism,
responded the same way,
and the group argued
in defense of my treatment.

If no one disagrees with criticism,
then that means they agree with it.
It is a legitimate concern
and is likely holding back your success.

Overcome this error or fault,
and your chances of moving
to the next level increase.
I find it is the easiest route to a win.

One of the key reasons
for an established professional
to sign on
with a start up organization
is the possibility of ownership.

It is assumed
when you interview for these positions
that you ask about ownership
or stock options.
That discussion won’t be originated
by the interviewers
(because no one volunteers to give up ownership)
but you’ll look like
a dumb ass if you don’t ask.

I ALWAYS ask,
regardless of the size of the company.

There is no downside to asking.
No one has ever passed up a prospective employee
because she believes in the company
and wants to own a piece of it.

In fact, if a job candidate
didn’t ask,
I’d wonder if she was the right candidate.

Ask for a piece of the company
you will work for.

Yesterday,
I arrived to a meeting on time.
However, half of the participants didn’t.
We spent fifteen precious minutes
waiting for the latecomers
to finally show up.

In an edition of
CMA Magazine
(an edition because
I couldn’t find the date on it anywhere),
Steve Prentice,
author of
Cool Down: Getting Further by Going Slow,
suggests to
make meetings 55 minutes long
because people will know
when the meeting will be over
and it, somehow, encourages them
not to be late.

“It’s like pricing
something at $19.95
instead of $20.
It’s only five minutes,
but it works.”

People like to bargain price
and a bargain meeting.
Shave five minutes off your meetings.

In March’s Men’s Health
Tim Ferris
gives some tips
on running a brisk meeting.

One of his suggestions?

“Strike early.
Schedule your meeting
for first thing in the morning
to lessen the chance
of interrupting tasks.
Task switching
consumes up to
30 percent
of the average worker’s day.
And always include an end time.”

I HATE early morning meetings.
Why?
Because I’m the most productive
in the mornings
and I dislike wasting
that productive time
watching people drink coffee
and listening to them
talk about their commute in.

I prefer an after lunch meeting
for the same reason
Ferris gives
(not interrupting a block
of working time),
without it interfering
with my productive mornings.

Consider grouping meetings
with non-business time.
Before folks start working.
After folks have lunch.
Before folks go home for the day.