Monthly Archives: July 2017
Eating Frogs
Procrastination. Clearing the gutters, a phone call with an awkward relative, that not-entirely-positive performance review you have to conduct….. We all have one; that dreaded task you know you really need to complete, but, somehow, consistently works it’s way to the bottom of your ‘to-do’ list…. You don’t want to face it, but the longer you ignore “THE TASK”, it more looms there in the back of your mind, dominating your subconscious until you grit your teeth, tackle it head on, cross it off that list and breathe again! So how do you make yourself do it? Mark Twain put it like this: “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Yes, I know that sounds horrendously unpalatable, (not to mention the animal rights concerns!) but, in …
Book Review: It’s Your Ship
My brother, who works for a global and well known computer components company lent me his copy of It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, by former US Navy Captain D Michael Abrashoff. The book contains practical lessons from his experience of transforming the USS Benfold, previously one of the worst performing ships in the US Navy. His management techniques provide a unique collection of best practice, which can be used with as much success in the business world as they have had in the military. As a read, I found it easy, practical, entertaining, although at times with a little too much focussed on the one ship example. It’s not a weighty management tome, rather a fast moving motivating book to challenge managers at all levels on how to invest in top down …
Performance Development Review
The words “performance review” can send shivers down the spines of employers and employees alike, but without regular evaluation, how do you know if your employees are doing the right thing? How do they? We’ve prepared a few simple hints to help take the stress out of the process: Keep it regular – Do you need to do annual performance reviews or would bi-annual or quarterly appraisals be more appropriate? Pick a time scale and stick to it. Prepare – The boy scout motto says it all – “be prepared!” Familiarise yourself with your employee’s performance record BEFORE the meeting. Make a note of targets that have been met and areas that require improvement. Give warning – Don’t ambush your employees! Give everyone a chance to prepare for their individual performance reviews and encourage them to keep a personal record …
The art of interruption
I confess. I do remember, once, that when an email arrived, I stopped what I was doing to look at it. (I may have conveniently forgotten the 11,999 other occasions over the past 15 years when I’ve done the same thing.) A friend of mine discovered that when he needs to work on a specific project, or to respond to a large number of emails, that it is more effective to drive 15 minutes home from work, work uninterrupted for an hour, then drive back to the office – because interruptions are such an issue in his workplace. An interesting study conducted by Gloria Mark associate professor at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, and a leading expert on work found that it took 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return …
