Moving out of your comfort zone!

It’s great to work with a group of people who are willing to ‘have a go’ and try working outside of their comfort zone. 

The group I worked with last week were just like that. Their task was to run a training event for their colleagues – not a presentation - but designing and running an interactive training session,  with less than 1 day to prepare.

With training experience in the room ranging from ‘none’ to ‘a little’, it was evident that this task was a huge challenge to most and emotions ranged from apprehensive excitement to pure nervousness.

The end result was amazing.  Everyone surprised themselves as they delivered interesting and participative sessions covering a whole range of work related topics. What was particularly impressive was the creativity and fun that was demonstrated.

The secret of success was clearly down to two factors –

1     1)    Preparation
       2)    Team support

Founder of Virgin – Sir Richard Branson stated in one of his recent blogs that ‘One of the great benefits of taking on challenges in your working life is that you and your team learn to confront risk together’

Moving out of your comfort zone is something that you need not do alone. In fact working with supportive colleagues, in an open culture of feedback is one way of developing confidence and ensuring positive results.  Certainly that was the case last week when team spirit provided the atmosphere and environment for individual success.

Isn’t it amazing what can be achieved when we feel supported and engaged to learn something new?

Moving out of your comfort zone can give you a great feeling of achievement and success.  Have a go - you may even enjoy yourself!

Sharon Halliday of People & Design Ltd - www.peopleanddesign.com

Hey bosses! Is your company a happy place to work?

So, according to recent studies, around 70% of US workers don't feel happy or 'engaged' at work.  

I'm not sure of the UK statistics on this, but chances are we're not far behind.  Every business knows there is a strong correlation between 'happy workers' and 'high business performance', yet few companies really take a fresh, innovative approach to the simple, inexpensive things that can be done to make people happy at work.

We've all studied enough Maslow and Hertzberg to be able to recite backwards the key principles, yet organisations still fall back on trying to design overly complicated and ineffective performance management systems to motivate and reward ............Boring!

Take a look at this recent BBC link - 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/business-23640900 

and also check out what Tony Hsieh (CEO) of Zappos  www.zappos.com 'about Zappos' has done with his team - creative stuff and amazingly successful.  Zappos style may not suit every business, but there's plenty of ideas to inspire.

Create a happy work place, or watch your employees take their talents elsewhere.

Sharon Halliday of People & Design

Improving performance management

 

 

 

The latest series of performance management workshops were a great success!  Aimed at senior management, the design was focussed on the characteristics of a 'high performing organisation' and linked to the challenges faced by today's management.

Get into networking!

If you run your own business, you’ll already know that networking is more than a ‘nice to do’ – it’s an essential.  Networking can be one of the most effective ways of developing new contacts, sharing ideas and promoting your business. But it’s not an exact science and because of this, it’s often left more to chance.

So what are the obstacles?  Why do we put off networking? Well, lack of time is usually one of the main reasons cited, along with the knowledge that sometimes it can feel a little uncomfortable and at worst, appear self-indulgent.

So how can we make networking an easier and more acceptable use of our time and ensure we benefit from this essential tool for business or career development? 

 Here are three ideas to get started –

1.     Make networking a habit. Develop a networking plan to increase your networking activity and stick with it! Go for small, achievable steps.  For example - updating your social networks weekly; attending a networking event every quarter; writing a monthly blog; or contacting clients you haven’t worked with for 6 months.  What you do and when you do it should be designed to give you realistic and regular actions. Having routine habitual commitments to networking will make it more of a process rather than an ad-hoc activity.

2.     See what you can do for others.  Actually, this is one of the most rewarding aspects of networking.  Can you use your contacts to help and connect others? Maybe it is as simple as introducing one of your clients to a supplier you use or vice versa. How can you support someone in your network by praising their work or just by listening to an issue they are working on? Whatever the outcome, always think about how you can help others.  Once you get into this way of thinking, it may surprise you that others are only too pleased to return the gesture.

3.     Be yourself.  People can tell when you are genuinely interested or whether you are giving them the ‘cold sales patter’!  Whether it’s writing blogs, sending emails or meeting people face to face, just be yourself and reflect in all these forms of networking, your own unique personality. Avoid selling and telling!  Remember to be a good listener, ask open questions.  A positive and genuine communication style will help develop trust and interest; key ingredients for business relationships to grow.

Happy networking!

Sharon

Employers!  There’s so much youth talent out there!

With unemployment rising above 1.2 million for 16 to 24-year-olds, this gloomy statistic presents a depressing picture for today’s teenagers. Whether they leave college with a skill, or university with a degree; realistically what kind of future can they expect?

So with this in mind, I just wish that everyone could have witnessed the enthusiasm and talent that a group of 16-17 yr olds recently demonstrated at their Academy’s ‘Challenge of Management’ event.

Working alongside local employers, the students discussed best practice management techniques; looked at the skills of entrepreneurs and delivered articulate and professional presentations on their experiences of shadowing managers in the work place.

The confidence and abilities of the students impressed the employers – many of whom expressed their concerns about the current employment prospects affecting youth in the UK.

It’s hoped that Employers everywhere will proactively consider opportunities they have available for 16-24 yr olds. Real jobs with real challenges will not only enable our youth to independently contribute to society but will add fresh new skills and ideas to the workplace and ensure innovation and creativity for the future.

(The ‘Challenge of Management’ event was designed and delivered by Sharon Halliday of People & Design)

Some thoughts on leadership ........

"The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority"    (K Blanchard)

" A sense of humour is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done"    (D Eisenhower)

" A good leader inspires other men and women with confidence.  A great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves"    (R Markham)

"A leader is a dealer in hope"    (N Bonaparte)

"Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them"  
 (J Maxwell)

BBC's TV's - 'The Apprentice' - not to be taken seriously .....

According to today's news, over 10 million viewers watched last night's episode of the BBC TV reality show 'The Apprentice'. Why? To marvel at aspiring businessmen and women as they demonstrate their entrepreneurial and business skills? No, more likely just to revel in Lord Sugar's chastising of the finalists as they continued to reinforce the viewer's opinion of  'how on earth did this lot get to the final?!' 

The programme certainly draws you in and leaves you convinced that you could do so much better! However, the downside of  a programme  like this is the negative impression it gives about a whole range of topics; such as the value of  feedback, team work and  supportive management techniques.

In the real world, people want to work for leaders who have a clear vision on what needs to be done combined with being inspirational and motivational to work with. There is no place in today's workplace for a managment style based on 'failure focus'.

All four of last night's finalists produced weak Business Plans and were duly berated. It appeared they were set up for failure. Would it not have been more constructive to allow them to have guidance from an expert first, and then have a go at submitting their own plan? This would have been a far more positive approach, reflecting, how in the real world, most of us learn......but I guess that's not what makes hit TV shows!! 
Sharon H.