Archive for the Communication Issues Category
One Sentence Work Journal
You must find a way to do what excites you. That means understanding what makes you feel engaged, upset and happy.
Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project gave me the idea of keeping a one sentence journal. I think this habit will help you understand more about who you are and what you need to be happy within your business.
I usually write two sentences instead of just one because I like to write about what happened in my day and how I felt about it. I focus on the most emotionally powerful event. This helps me stay focused and not let the journal get too jumbled.
Download the One Sentence Work Journal PDF
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A Simple Guide to Overcoming Project Resistance
Do you ever notice how you are just resistant to some projects? You may have a 10 day deadline and you don’t start on it until day 5.
You think this will allow you to do some other stuff you’ve wanted to work on. The problem is you end up trolling the internet or doing stuff that doesn’t matter that much.
You’ve convinced yourself of the advantages of procrastinating and it backfires again and again. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a little procrastination, but when your procrastination starts stressing you out then you have a problem.
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What’s the Quickest Way to Irk a Co-Worker?
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Eileen Habelow and Randstad
Nothing can disrupt a productive day at the office like inconsiderate colleagues. It seems no matter how hard we try, they always find ways – mostly unintentional – to disrupt your workday “mojo.” While there are extreme cases of workplace irritation (back-stabbing, taking credit for other’s work), it’s the little, irritating habits of co-workers that seem to regularly get under our skin. According to a recent Randstad Work Watch survey on workplace pet peeves, 43 percent of people are most annoyed with their co-workers’ poor time management skills.
In this current economic climate, we have all taken on more responsibility and have been asked to do more with fewer resources. So, it’s easy to understand why we would expect our colleagues to work efficiently, maximizing the time spent in the office each day. The last thing anyone wants is to watch – or deal with – a neighbor in the next cubicle wasting valuable time on menial activities or struggling to complete assignments due to wasted or mismanaged time.
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4 Ultimate PC Productivity Tools
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Wendy Graham of online colleges.
If you work from home or attend online college, you know the importance of keeping productive; while working from the comfort of your house may seem like the best of all possible work environments, it can have its drawbacks. For one, you must have strong reserves of self-discipline and treat your work life as it were… a job. This can be difficult if one uses the same home computer for work and leisure. If this applies to you, consider the following programs.
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My Arch Nemesis Dr. Oatzel Almost Stole My Superpowers
As I improve my business I realize that I have a lot of fear.
Fear of people hating my stuff.
Fear of people laughing at my ideas.
Fear of not earning enough money.
Fear of not giving enough value.
As I work on hugging my fears, learning from them, then releasing them I become more powerful.
The fears at one time felt so intense and abstract at the same time. I felt like I couldn’t destroy such epic emotions.
They were my kryptonite. Can you hear the bells of awakening go off? Well, I did.
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7 Ways Your Boss Can Mess Up Your Evaluation
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Susan C.
Anna Johnson has identified five behavioural mistakes that bosses make in performance evaluations. I’ve added two other factors that might contribute to a boss giving you a bad performance evaluation. If you can recognize that the following mistakes, attitudes and behaviours say more about your boss than they do about you, it might help you find a way to take the higher path when responding to your boss. If you can respond as calmly as possible from a non-defensive place, you might be able to defuse an intense discussion and hopefully recalibrate the level of respectfulness observed in the discussion. The following suggestions have to be tailored to what you know about your boss’s attitude to receiving feedback, and your overall comfort level with speaking up for yourself and giving your boss feedback.
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Pushing Past Your Comfort Zone Will…
> force you to appreciate your present situation.
> encourage you to laugh at your mistakes.
> create feelings you don’t want to face, but should.
> make you happier because you understand what you are capable of accomplishing.
> allow you to develop a deeper understanding of yourself.
What have you put on your backburner that could challenge you to reach new levels?
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Entrepreneurs Making a Difference – Giveaway
At the end of this post you’ll learn how you can win the set of cards featured in the photo below.
Evan Carmichael created a project called Entrepreneur Trading Cards. He highlights great business leaders and bloggers who are making a difference in this world.
Entrepreneurs like:
These packs trading cards come in a pack of 5 for $3.95 if you pre-order today. All the money raised will go to Kiva.org, which focuses on raising money for entrepreneurs in impoverished countries.
Rehumanize Business – Part 1
Too many businesses are worried about playing it safe. They don’t want to uncover the bad stuff that is happening in their business, so they look the other way instead. Human Resources is there to protect the company. Upper management only wants to know about positive sales figures.
Who can most employees turn to?
They don’t turn to anyone; they just leave.
I want to rehumanize (I borrowed the word from Chris Brogan) business so that people feel free to speak up. The only way business is going to become faster, more enjoyable and more profitable is if you have every person in your company and even your customers become a part of your marketing department. That means they tell their friends, family and their internet buddies that your products/services are awesome.
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How to Use the 5 Whys to Discover Your True Needs
There are many great business processes that the rest of the world doesn’t know about. One of my favorites is Toyota’s “5 Whys.”
The idea is to ask yourself “why” 5 times in order to get to the root of the problem.
For example, a couple of years ago I didn’t want to go to a meeting.
I was having trouble figuring out why, so I used the “5 Whys” method.
1. Why don’t I want to go to this meeting? – Because it’s going to be worthless.
2. Why: Because everyone always talks about the same problems.
3. Why: Because I want to lead the meeting to be more productive, but I’m scared.
4. Why: Because I don’t want to get laughed at.
5. Why: Because my speaking confidence isn’t as strong as it should be.
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