Prioritising Blog time

Sitting writing my daily plan this morning, I blocked out 90 minutes for; Marketing - web, blog, LinkedIn, cards.

I then realised we had not updated anything onto the blog for many moons. I am still not sure how many moons as I will leave looking until I post this.

How remiss. How often do we not get something done - often on the sales and/or marketing side of things, if we do not prioritise any actual time? So many of us are more busy doing the little things in our To Do lists, than planning, and suddenly we realise we've finished our day without achieving what we set out to do, or even gotten a little out of date - whether we are talking blogs, websites or even products and services. There's little worse than being behind the times, left behind while the competition overtakes.

So, plan your deadlines and blocks of time so that you can prioritise times throughout your month, week and day for the important (and hopefully not yet urgent) projects, keep on top of the game, and plan time for improvements.

The stylised weekly planning grid below may help to see how you can plan blocks of time through the week.

For other time management tips, drop us a line and we'll be glad to help.

Example Weekly Plan Matrix

Objectives for the Week:

1. BLUE

2. GREEN

3. ORANGE

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
0930 1030
1030 1130
1130 1230
1230 1300	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH	LUNCH
1300 1400	BLOCKED OFF	BLOCKED OFF	BLOCKED OFF	BLOCKED OFF	BLOCKED OFF
1400 1500
1500 1600
1600 1700
1700 1730

Enough of cost cutting by restructuring? The need for Creative Thinking - Continuous Improvement in business.

The need for innovation, change and cutting out waste is a key theme of our  training at present. Managers are being trained in coaching skills, managing their staff through change, and awareness about empowerment, whilst staff are being asked to be more effective and efficient whilst at the same time developing sales and business development opportunities, taking responsibility for networking and selling the business, and coming up with new and creative ways of doing more.

On the face of it, it is pretty clear what is fuelling this drive towards doing more, differently, with less.

However, it is definitely a positive sign of the way in which both the public and the private sectors intend to challenge the hard times.

Intrapreneurial thinking is being encouraged across the same sectors where two years ago it appeared the belt tightening included the new and innovative, and the only real change going through organisations was the restructuring. This of course should still be happening as businesses need to recognise the worst performing departments and staff, and firmly and fairly deal with them.

However, alongside, or separate from restructuring there is the need for the new, innovation, creativity, drive, responsibility, ownership and intrapreneurial thinking that will take today's businesses into the future.

Transformational Leadership

Managers in today’s business environment are increasingly being asked to demonstrate a variety of skills and behaviours, some of which have not always been the focus of “traditional” management training programmes. Many of these new behaviours can be labeled “transformational” whilst the more traditional management skills can be called “transactional”.


What is Transactional Leadership ?

Transactional leaders achieve results by setting objectives and giving rewards based on achieving those objectives. Typical rewards may be financial, promotional or simply praise. This type of leadership focuses on motivating, planning, controlling, praising and stabilizing. These management skills have been sufficient in the past, but new skills are now also required.

Why develop Transformational Leadership ?

The most successful managers are those who demonstrate transformational qualities in addition to transactional behaviours. Managers who are more transformational, produce better results and are able to foster greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment amongst staff. Today’s business environment of constant change and uncertainty are exactly the conditions under which the transformational leader is most effective. Transformational Leadership training is essential in today’s corporate environment.

What exactly is Transformational Leadership ?

Transformational leaders go beyond expressing transactional behaviours by demonstrating more intangible, abstract and less easily observable skills and attributes. A leader is said to be transformational when they demonstrate some or all of :-

1) Idealised Influence. These managers are role models who generate respect, admiration and trust. They do this by demonstrating charisma, being ethical, sharing risks, demonstrating high standards of conduct and avoiding the use of power for personal gain.

2) Inspirational Motivation. These managers inspire their followers to transcend self interest and to behave in ways which will instead benefit the group as a whole. They do this by providing meaning and challenge to their work and by generating and communicating their vision of an attractive future. Such leaders are enthusiastic, optimistic, and use evocative language, images and symbols to generate extra effort from their followers.

3) Intellectual Stimulation. These managers challenge the status quo. They encourage their followers to think of new ways to solve old problems. They promote creativity, risktaking and the questioning of assumptions, and at the same time do not publicly criticise staff’s mistakes.

4) Individualised Consideration. Transformational leaders develop their followers to reach higher levels of ability and potential. They coach them to take on greater responsibility for their own development, and for the development of others. They create new learning opportunities and are able to recognise individual differences and needs. The famous phrase “management by walking around” is practiced and as a result a far more personal interaction with staff is the result.

Sifteo - The Future of Play

Sifteo - The Future of Play

Management and Leadership in Sport still get it wrong - what we can learn from Cricket and Rugby

It is often surprising delivering management and leadership courses how experienced managers in 2011 still do not realise the vital importance of empowerment and appropriate leadership.

In our courses, depending on the level of delegate, or the needs of the client, we will either use the Blanchard SLII Situational Leadership Model, or more often, the competence model in order to explain how leaders need to adapt their style to the needs of the individual (or team).

After facilitating ideas with a group, the flipchart might look something like; (with competence/development level, and what they need from the leader).

Unconscious Incompetence
(people new to the job / role)

Information, Direction

Conscious Incompetence

Direction, Reassurance

Conscious Competence

Praise, Trust, Empowerment

Unconscious Competence

(experts and stars)

Challenge and Trust

Now, I would argue that anyone playing major sports for the country would be in the bottom two levels, although they might initially need information and direction about things they do not know about when they join the squad. However, the articles below really highlight the impact of inappropriate leadership and management strategies on the results of teams and individuals.

Sport is high profile, and the results are obvious. In business the results are usually less obvious, however be assured that if you use the right or wrong strategy, you will be responsible for their results, not your staff.

Cricket lovers will know Shivnarine Chanderpaul - rated 10^th in all time number of runs in all test careers, 16^th in one day internationals, the highest West Indian after the great Brian Lara. Shiv is 37 years old and just three years ago was ranked the best player in the world.

Shiv recently had this to say - reported on Cricinfo.com 5^th May 2011

 

When asked whether he was happy with his form over the past year before he was dropped, Chanderpaul - speaking to local Barbados radio station Line and Length - said he could have done better...

"I think, given the opportunity, I might have got bigger scores. Every time I settled in and started to get runs, messages would come telling what to do and what not to do, how to bat and how not to bat," Chanderpaul said. "I've been doing it for 17 years. When John Dyson was coach he never said anything to me. When Bennett King was coach he said, 'You go and do your job, we don't have to tell you what to do.' I had no problem then.

"Now we have people here, who are telling me how to bat. And when the game is over, I have to answer questions. I have to answer those questions and when I do, and it's not suitable, then I have to agree with whatever answers they want before the meeting is over.

He compared the present regime unfavourably to those of previous coaches John Dyson and Bennett King, under whom Chanderpaul felt this same West Indies squad had far better results.

England rugby also failed to impress some over the last few years, and a recent article reported in the press on the 10^th of March this year summed up what happened, and what had to change - and it wasn't the skill level of the players.

(UKPA March 2011)

Defence coach Mike Ford has revealed England are only on the Grand Slam trail because they eradicated a culture of fear and selfishness from the squad.

"After the autumn of 2009 the coaches decided the mindset and environment we created in the camp had to change."

Martin Johnson's management team reviewed England's dismal autumn campaign of 2009 and concluded something dramatic had to change. England had lost to both Australia and New Zealand, matches Ford now concedes they never had any chance of winning.

Johnson and his coaches were demanding England stick a pre-prescribed game-plan. They did not trust the players and so were unwilling to allow them any kind of decision-making control.

This eroded confidence, and created an environment where the players lived in fear of being dropped.

"We (eventually) encouraged the players to go at the opposition and not fear they will be dropped if they drop the ball or have a bad pass. It took players a bit of time to trust that we wouldn't hang players out to dry.

"It has been a two-way thing. The players have probably come here in the past and just looked after themselves thinking 'England are not playing well so what do I need to do to keep in for next week? I am going to be selfish and make sure my performance is all right'.

"But in rugby you need a team not 15 individuals playing well. We have set up five more meetings with player input and empowered the players a lot more whereas before we (as management) were probably 'tell, tell, tell'."

Conclusion

Your staff can be as good at their particular job as the sports stars of the world, and empower them and challenge them, without a culture of fear, otherwise they will have to look out for themselves, team work will erode, performance will suffer and when they get the chance they will jump ship and earn their living in better place.

VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization | Video on TED.com

VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization | Video on TED.com

Line Managers Central to government’s mental health strategy

Ensuring line managers are trained to promote workforce well-being will be crucial in supporting the government’s new mental health campaign, said Deborah Jamieson, the head of well-being strategy at the Department of Work and Pensions.
“Employers have a very positive role to play in the promotion of health, and the workplace is a great place to start by making sure that line managers have the right training.

“When people go off sick, there should be a line of communication. We want to return and retain people in work, and improve the health and well-being of the working age population.”

The government has outlined its campaign, which aims to detect and prevent mental health problems earlier in a bid to tackle the £105 billion cost to the economy and help the one in four people who suffer from such illnesses.

Deputy PM Nick Clegg announced an additional £400 million to extend personalized support to 3.2 million people across the country, by increasing access to psychological therapies such a counseling and cognitive behavioural therapy.
Addressing the CIPD’s well-being conference in February, Jaimeson explained that people really enjoyed better mental health when they were in meaningful work.
She said that employers should take on board that many line managers needed to raise their awareness of mental health issues and their understanding of how to respond confidently and effectively to staff affected by such problems.

Not recognizing the benefits of well-being initiatives and early intervention, plus a perception that employees needed to be 100% fit to return to work, were all barriers to change, Jamieson said.

“Line managers are often ill-equipped to handle sickness absence and health well-being issues”, she continued. “Unenlightened attitudes toward mental health and chronic pain, means that training is really crucial”.

Jaimeson said that improved access routes to psychological therapies were being piloted in association with health organizations, Jobcentre Plus and Disability Employment advisers.

“The sooner and employment adviser sees a client; the more likely it is that they will make a sufficient recovery to retain employment. The longer people are absent or out of work, the more likely they are to experience depression or anxiety.
Jamieson added that mental disorders now accounted for 30 to 40 per cent of early retirements across some EU member states, costing £295 billion.

She went on to say that the DWP itself had saved £20million in the past year through the introduction of well-being initiatives.