Tag Archive: leadership

How to Be a Shirtless Jogger at Work

July 4, 2014Blog, , , , , , , , ,

It is possible that the title of this blog only resonates for those who live in the Greater Toronto Area. It’s also possible that with social

shirtless jogger

media and the global popularity of Rob Ford, that others are now familiar with the awesome Shirtless Jogger. But for those of you who aren’t, let me explain…

Toronto’s famous/infamous mayor, Rob Ford, returned from his stint in rehab this past Monday, June 30th. The next day was July 1st, Canada’s 147th birthday, fully of parades and flag waving and fireworks and BBQ’s and… a shirtless jogger.

At a parade in the Toronto neighbourhood of East York, 35 year-old Joe Killoran, a local teacher, experienced his 15 minutes of fame when he confronted the Mayor with questions to which Torontonians (most of them, anyway) want answers. Mr Killoran was out for a jog, it was a hot day, he was shirtless, he was bold, and the media captured it here.

Toronto Twitter exploded with the hashtag #ShirtlessJogger, and the national media picked it up and ran with it – the Globe and Mail called for more Shirtless-Jogger-Brand Outrage in Toronto.

That got me thinking…

How Can We Have More Shirtless-Jogger-Brand Outrage at Work?

Of course it’s not ok to shout and yell at work, and it’s probably not a good idea to be shirtless unless you’re a lifeguard. But the sentiment behind Mr. Killoran’s actions is that he was fed up and he wanted to be heard, so he saw an opportunity and did something about it.

One of the characteristics of office group behaviour is the tendency to agree with things when around a conference table, and then immediately dismiss or bad mouth them as soon as the meeting is over.

Have you ever seen someone do that? Have you seen groups of people chat away in the break room, complaining about something that was just announced, or about a change that is coming? Were they all nodding and supportive, or refusing to ask questions, while it was being announced? Did anyone actually do anything about it? This is classic passive aggressive behaviour, and it’s not only unhelpful, but can be destructive to office morale and productivity.

This is where the Shirtless-Jogger-Brand Outrage is required.

You can be the person to break the cycle of negative groupthink by being constructive, thoughtful, and open to discussion. This is your chance to openly question, present your concerns, and confront questionable (or seemingly questionable) actions in a thoughtful and helpful.

Once you decide to ask the questions and address the issues, remember that your leaders will appreciate your points much more if you:

  1. Ensure you are in a calm frame of mind. The Shirtless Jogger asked the right questions, and although he didn’t have much choice but to shout, it certainly won’t give you any credibility in the office. So think things through and make sure you’re in a conversational, not argumentative, state of mind.
  2. Be kind and curious. Make sure you have the facts, and where you don’t, ask questions rather than make assumptions.
  3. Plan your conversation. Doing this properly requires finesse and planning – it may even be an opportunity to “coach up“, and that ALWAYS requires planning.
  4. Make an appointment. Unless you find yourself in a spontaneous perfect situation for the discussion or, like Mr. Killoran, there’s simply no other choice but to rain on someone’s parade, it’s best to make an appointment.

Great leaders at all levels have an obligation to constructively question decisions in an open and respectful way. Once those discussions are complete and decisions are made, then the show must go on. Click to Tweet If there is no moral objection to the direction, then we must not only proceed with that direction but support it. Or we leave. It’s that simple.

Be a leader. Be the Shirtless Jogger and inspire change. Then tell us about it.

Until next time,

Ruth.

The Top 6 things your Boss should know about you!

June 27, 2014Blog, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The only way to build a successful high performing team is to understand what makes the individuals on that team tick. To reach that truly collaborative state of mind where the power of the group is greater than any of the individual contributors, and they all know it (and aren’t still competing for your attention) you need to understand those individuals better.    Feel like your boss doesn’t understand you or use your skills adequately? Feel like you don’t get why your team is functioning like a group of individuals and not a team?  Bosses – get coaching.  Individuals, start talking.

The Top 6 things your boss wants to know:3889389-boss-and-business-team-on-white-background

  1. Your career “story”:  Your boss has your resume and  was at your interview – so there’s some basic knowledge there, but what about the story behind it?  I started my career as a temp who was really good at sending out courier packages, better than any temp before me, so they hired me.  There’s alot more to the story, but it’s not a list of my accomplishments and my job skills – its the actual path I took to get there.  This is a great source of information for your boss to understand how you view career progression and how you demonstrate (or don’t) loyalty and engagement with the organization you work in.
  2. Your generational style ( how to communicate best with you):  Everyone and every situation is different.  What is the best form of communication for you? Email? Text? Face to Face, or god forbid (for me anyways), the phone?  Find out the best method of getting the point across in a wide array of situations to get the most out of your team.
  3. Your thinking style (what type of work should they delegate to you):  Are you a Doer, Dreamer, or Analyzer?  Is your skillset best in execution, creativity, or data analysis?  Tailor the work to the type of thinking style whenever possible to get the best results!
  4. Your conflict resolution style (how will you resolve conflict when it arises):  How your resolve conflict will determine your ability to deal with challenging situations in the workplace.  Do you confront and control conflict aiming to win? Do you compromise your needs in order to please others?  No one conflict resolution style is right for all situations, but learning to use each style effectively can yield optimal results.
  5. The 3 P’s: People, Projects, and Personal: The 3 P’s are the easiest way to effectively have a 1:1 with your boss.  You should be able to identify whether there are any conflicts, HR issues, staffing issues, interpersonal issues with anyone on the team, the status of your projects and work, and then is there anything going on personally that might impact your work.  This is a touchy one – this doesn’t mean a lengthy retelling of last saturday night’s escapades, but it may mean – my grandmother is sick in the hospital – I may have to leave early the next couple of days to deal with that.  Just giving you a head’s up.  This helps your boss plan and assign work better – like a boss.
  6. How you like to be rewarded/recognized:

Well, as it is the long weekend, I will leave you to ponder these top 6 things.  Are there more?  Bosses out there what else do you want to know?  Keep us in the loop @whiteboardcons #betterfastercheaper.

Until next week (Ruth will be back YAY!),

Nicole

 

Is Voicemail retro yet?

June 20, 2014Blog, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Say the V-Word!!!!

Oh that’s right. I went there.  To me it is a dirty word.  No matter how much everyone tries to tell me it isn’t a big deal, I loath it.  VOICEMAIL.  My Dad and I bicker relentlessly about my inability to  listen to voicemail or return phone calls in general. My theory is if you need something – text me!

I believe that my dramatic fear of voicemail stems from two primary issues:

  • The first comes from a huge pet peeve of listening to people talking loudly on cellphones in public places.  I don’t care what streetcar you are on, what Anna did yesterday that infuriated you, or whatever you have to say loudly while on public transit. Once I was on a train and heard a woman tell her engagement story 12 times on the way to Montreal.  By time number thirteen I ripped the phone out of her hand and told the story verbatim to the frightened person on the other end myself.
  • The second is my “doer” thinking style.  Checking a voicemail just takes too long. I have to call a whole number, enter a password, and then contort my face against the phone to listen to you mumble “Hi it’s me. Call me back”?  It makes absolutely no efficient sense to me. Just send me a note and tell me what you need. It saves me 5 minutes in checking that voicemail, and the 5 minute call to find out what you needed – when I could have been using that time to DO what you needed me to do.download

So depending on your fears and needs, this blog has two themes – reducing voicemails and how to leave voicemails. Read on…

How to reduce annoying voicemails.

1. Always respond to voicemail-aholics with a text or email. People are somewhat trainable (I’m still working on my Dad).  If every time you write them back maybe eventually they will catch on and write you in the first place.

2. Don’t have an outgoing voicemail message or if that’s not possible tell people they will get a faster response by email or text.  See reasoning for #1.  Their fear of you not getting it will go one of two ways, they’ll email or hyper-call (that’s a whole other ballgame folks).

3. Accept the fact that sometimes voicemails are appropriate, necessary, or meet the thinking/communicating style of the other party.  Hey, soon enough voicemail will be “retro” it will be like getting snail-mail.  Embrace it’s retro-ness you hipster you.

4. Leave effective and efficient voicemails (see below).  Again, people are trainable and mimic good behaviour.  At least if you have to listen to one it will be painless.

How to leave voicemails (for the talk-aphobics).

1. State your name and where you are calling from at the beginning of the call.

“This is Nicole Dunn calling from Whiteboard Consulting.”

2. BRIEFLY state your connection and the objective of your call. This is where voicemails go wrong.  You don’t plan, you start babbling. You aren’t prepared and your message sounds like a bad Shakespeare soliloquy that’s difficult to hear and just plain annoying. Be clear with what you are looking for.  This allows the person to look into available

” Sam introduced us last week at the cocktail party. I’d love to set up a meeting with you next week to talk about business processes at ACME Temp Agency and am looking for your availability.”

3. Repeat your name and phone number TWICE (the second time more slowly). This helps if you are a mumbler, fast talker, or use Rogers and your phone cuts out for no reason whatsoever. It also helps if your listener didn’t have their pen ready.

“Again, this is Nicole Dunn from Whiteboard Consulting at 416-531-9889. That’s Nicole Dunn at 4-1-6-5-3-1-9-8-8-9.  Thanks kindly”.

Soon my pretties…soon voicemail will be like Kodak Moments, tranceparencies, mimeographs, and shoulder pads. A distant and funny memory of something from the nineties (Click to Tweet). For now let’s be kind and curious and placate our vehement voicemail users until it goes away.  When they come back, I’ll write an equally snarky blog about how to deal with people who are now “into” voicemails because they are retro.

Until next time! Tell us your voicemail woes @whiteboardcons using #ihatevoicemail.

P.S. How many weird phone calls and voicemails do you think I will get????

 

 

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