Archive for the ‘Improving Morale’ Category

« Older Entries

The Limits of Compassion (and yes, there are some)

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
© Beatrice Killam | Dreamstime.com

© Beatrice Killam | Dreamstime.com

I am human.  And I’m willing to bet that four out of five readers of this column are human, too.

As humans, we come equipped with massive contradictions and imperfections.  Our emotions battle with our intellect.  Our community spirit wrestles with our selfishness.  We think thoughts both lofty and low and emit smells both lovely and, uh…not.

But when we come together in the workplace, we’re making a deal with each other to bring our higher, stronger, better selves to the game.  It’s not that our weaknesses cease to exist, but they do cease to ride shotgun on our day.

There are days when I’m running on two cylinders or less—not enough sleep, not enough breakfast, too many pressures, bad news, whatever.  You have to figure at least one out of every four people around you feels about the same on any given day.

Now suppose we all had permission to give full expression to those feelings—you’d have 25 percent of the people in any given workplace whining, sighing, crying, or screaming their way through the day. The drain on productivity would be impossible.  Forget about achieving anything great or being of profound service, even on your own good days.

A little expression of fatigue or frustration once in a while is fine, and we can all be there for each other at those times.  But then there are the people who seem to have woven dramatic emotional displays into their job description, day after day after day.

Not okay.

Approach this carefully by all means, but for the sake of everyone’s sanity, DO approach it.  Start by expressing genuine concern.  Is there something going on in this person’s life that they’d like to talk about?  Is there anything you can do to help?

If he or she waves off your attempts to help and continues to be a vortex of negative energy, ramp it up a bit.  Ask Human Resources or your immediate manager if anything can be done to assist the person—and drop a mention of how long it has gone on and how difficult it is to work well in the presence of such displays.

If you have offered personal concern AND attempted to get help at a higher level and no improvement is made, it’s time to call in that mutual contract, that unspoken but rock-solid agreement to bring our higher, stronger selves to work.  Let the person know gently but firmly that something’s gotta give, that she MUST take advantage of offers of help, that the situation is impacting the work and attitudes of those around her.

If no improvement is forthcoming, it is incumbent on you to return to management with a stronger insistence that something be done.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Improving Morale, Personal Transformation, Self-Growth | No Comments »

Confessions of a Recovering Workplace Gossip

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
© Varina And Jay Patel | Dreamstime.com

© Varina And Jay Patel | Dreamstime.com

So you’ve never gossiped, you say – never talked about a colleague behind her back, never spread a juicy rumor.  Congratulations!  I don’t believe you.

Okay, I suppose it’s possible.  But most of you out there have probably indulged in this bad behavior at some point.  I’m sorry to say there was a time when I did as well.  Then I came to realize how poisonous and destructive workplace gossip is.  Now I spend my time spreading the anti-gossip gospel.

A workplace full of whispered gossip is excruciating.  It is destructive to the soul of your workplace and the souls of the people in it.  They never feel safe, always wondering who is talking behind their backs.

Jack has a problem with Tom. So what does Jack do? He tells Lynne, and Jess, and Steve, and Jim, and Sandy.  Everyone, that is, but Tom.

It gets even better. Jack quickly realizes he can’t trust Lynne, Jess, Steve, Jim, or Sandy. They are the kind of people who welcome gossip, you see, and people who accept gossip tend to be equal-opportunity mudslingers. Soon enough, they’ll be welcoming gossip about Jack.

Okay, now let’s suppose you’ve got the message.  You’ve quit cold turkey on gossiping and backstabbing.  But what do you do when someone ELSE comes to you with gossip?

You can certainly put your fingers in your ears and hum the 1812 Overture while tap dancing.  But that won’t do anything to help Jack out of his own nasty gossiping habit.  And since it’s your watering hole he’s muddying, you have a vested interest in helping him on the road to recovery.

Next time Jack comes to you with complaints about Tom, simply say, “Gee, this sounds serious!  Let’s go talk to Tom directly so you can work this out.” When he looks panic-stricken, underline the point: “Well is this a serious problem or isn’t it?  I can’t do anything to help you solve it – only Tom can do that. So please promise me you’re heading directly there. If it isn’t serious, then what are we talking about?”

This approach may or may not shock Jack into giving up gossip, but it will certainly send a message that YOU are not an available receiver.  It also lets him know that you will not be gossiping behind his back – a positive message in and of itself.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Improving Morale, Personal Transformation | No Comments »

Give yourself a break—for productivity’s sake

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
© Siart | Dreamstime.com

© Siart | Dreamstime.com

How are you responding to these stressful times?  Feeling frazzled?  Going to bed a little later and getting up a little earlier?  Eating lunch at your desk?

If your intention is to strengthen your job security as layoffs happen all around you—you just might want to reconsider that six-cylinder, 24/7 strategy.  It’s counterproductive.

Overstressed employees are less engaged, less focused, and less vision-driven.  This hurts customer service, which in turn hurts everything.  Stressed employees are also more likely to get sick, lose sleep, and develop dysfunctional behaviors, all of which further hurts productivity.

Martin Luther once said, “I generally pray for two hours every day, except on very busy and demanding days. On those days, I pray three.”

Productivity WINS and the bottom line WINS and quality goes UP when employees are happy, rested, and well cared for.  We need to say, “In normal times, I get seven hours’ sleep each night.  But during busy and demanding weeks, I get eight.” It makes sense, and it works.

Want to improve the quality of your work, boost your productivity, impress the boss?  Become a well-oiled machine, not an overheated engine.  Here’s how:

•  First and foremost, take responsibility for your physical and emotional health.  Get rest, eat right, and exercise.  If you see a frazzled, sleep-deprived face in the mirror, consider it not as a badge of honor but as a failure to maximize your abilities by taking proper care of yourself.

•  Show up fully wherever you are.  When you’re at work, be at work, 100 percent.  When you’re at home, be at home.  Both work and home will benefit from your full attention.

•  Set definite limits on work done at home.  Sometimes bringing work home is unavoidable, and that’s fine.  But when it becomes a norm to work through the evening, you are sapping your energy and reducing your productivity.

•  Share your planned limits with those around you.  If you’ve decided not to work after 7 p.m., tell your wife or husband and the kids.  They’ll hold you to it.

•  Build non-negotiable breaks into your workday.  I’m talking about real breaks.  Eating lunch at your desk does NOT count.  Reading spreadsheets in the break room does NOT count.  Get away and recharge your battery.

•  Learn when to say no.  Over commitment destroys productivity.  Stop seeing it as a virtue.  It’s a failure of personal quality control.

One of the keys to all this is silencing the nagging voice in our heads—the one that says “no pain, no gain,” that tells you working more and harder and longer with fewer breaks and less sleep will make you better and more productive.  It’s NONSENSE. 

Run a car’s engine in high gear for hours and you’ll end up with a pile of junk.  Why would running a human being be any different?

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Employee Engagement, Improving Morale, Personal Transformation | No Comments »

The Terrible Trio—Vampires, Victims, and Whiners (oh my!)

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
© Rinderart | Dreamstime.com

© Rinderart | Dreamstime.com

Part 3:  The Whiner

Ah, whiners.  Instead of telling you what can be done, whiners spend hours vividly outlining what can’t be done and why. Had whiners ruled the world, we’d still be sitting in our caves, huddled around the fire complaining that we can’t find the remote control.

Whining is an attempt to “one-up” others by dismissing all possibilities before anyone has a chance to make a suggestion. Oddly enough, while a whiner’s statement may sound definite, the bluster is actually born of insecurity. Although they have enough mental sharpness to point out problems, they don’t have enough confidence to work at resolving them.  Many people who grow up to be whiners learned early on in life that they could get more attention and by voicing a complaint than by trying to correct a situation.

There isn’t much room for someone like that in a workplace where team members want to rock or in an office where everyone is willing to carry their weight and then some.

Of course, this is not to say that there will never be any whining again, ever. Sometimes it goes with the human condition.  And if we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we’ve ALL have had our moments of whining.

We all have our occasional pity parties or bouts of attention seeking. Despite our knowing how whining can negatively impact others and render us ineffective, there’s a remote chance we might once again choose to uncork that bottle of whine. We’re only human.

Although the ugly truth is that there’s nothing attractive about whining, there are ways to prevent and avoid the condition in ourselves AND in others.  The key is to name it, to make it public, to give ourselves and others permission to laugh it away.

Forge an agreement in your workplace to drive whining away once and for all by flashing the “W” sign—three fingers extended—whenever anyone starts to whine, moan, or groan.  It’s a humorous, non-threatening reminder to stop whining and start creating a solution.

Whenever someone gets the sign, they must agree to stop IMMEDIATELY.  The usual result is a good-natured laugh.  Make sure you distribute the sign evenly around the office—don’t gang up on a single person—and be sure to handle your own occasional dips into Whine Country with good humor and honesty.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Employee Engagement, Improving Morale, Motivating Employees, Personal Transformation | No Comments »

The Terrible Trio—Vampires, Victims, and Whiners (oh my!)

Friday, February 26th, 2010
© Lisavan | Dreamstime.com

© Lisavan | Dreamstime.com

Part 2:  The Victim

The second in our three-part series on energy drains in the workplace is the perpetual victim—the person who is always yammering on about the crud hand the world has dealt them.

Their past jobs lost, their failed marriages, their C in Chemistry and their FICO score that looks like a batting average are all on the topic list, and most importantly, all the fault of someone else.

Onlookers have no difficulty in figuring out who really ruined the victim’s life. She did. She did it by not moving on and by choosing to stay miserable.

Victims remain victims because they receive feedback that supports their victimhood.  This support comes from others who are often well-meaning and unconscious of the negative impact.

When perpetual victims complain about how awful their lives are, their supporters support them by buying into it. “Yep,” they’ll say, “Ain’t it just awful.” That’s all the positive reinforcement the victim needs, as off they go seeking the next hit of YPT (You Poor Thing—their drug of choice).

A person who supports a victim in that way is not really a friend but an enabler. Sane and loving people will distance themselves from victims precisely to help them stop being victims.

So what do you do when a victim comes to you and complains yet again about something someone else or some other department did? It’s easy. Place accountability for change back on that person. “Sounds like an opportunity, really. What are YOU going to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again or to make peace with it so you can move on?”

Victims hate that—but it’s the intervention they need. They either have to stop being a victim and draining your energy, or find someone else who is a willing enabler to victimhood. Either way, you win!

Another strategy is to appeal to their inner ego, no matter how deeply buried, to contradict the self-image as a victim. “You’re pretty powerful,” you say, “so I know you don’t view yourself as a victim. I can’t wait to hear what you’re doing to make the situation better!”

The person must either admit to helplessness and weakness or seize on your appraisal of strength.  Ninety-nine out of a hundred will go for the strength.

If you’ve done everything you can to reprogram, empower, and redirect a perpetual victim, the next step is simple avoidance. Steer clear of the person so that you can preserve your own energy.  If they seek you out and begin their monologue, simply raise one hand, silently, and continue on your way.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Improving Morale, Motivating Employees, Personal Transformation | No Comments »

The Terrible Trio—Vampires, Victims, and Whiners (oh my!)

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
© Khz | Dreamstime.com

© Khz | Dreamstime.com

Part 1:  The Energy Vampire™

“They are Vampires, and their modus operandi is not to steal your blood but rather, your precious energy. Your life-force. Your mojo.  To drain you emotionally and psychologically. To frustrate you with their repetitious, self-indulgent, attention-seeking diatribe.”—Craig Harper

She doesn’t wear all black.  You can see her reflection in mirrors. She likes garlic just fine.  Yet her coworkers know she is a vampire as soon as they open their mouths.  But it’s not blood she’s sucking—it’s positive energy.

“I’m up for a promotion,” you say. “Isn’t that great?”

“Hey, a higher cell in the prison. Congrats on that,” she replies with a smirk.

“Sales are going to be up, up, up this year,” you say.

“That’s only because they were in the toilet last year.”

“My glass is half full.”

“You call that a glass?”

You get the idea.  And you know this person, I’ll bet.  These vampires are as common in the workplace as their bloodsucking cousins are in Anne Rice novels.  Within seconds, they can take your great day and make it miserable.

The vampire’s arsenal is limitless, from rolling eyes and crossed arms to smirks, whining, name-calling…you name it. Whatever the form, know that you have the right to protect yourself and to call the vampire out.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we’ve ALL have had our moments like this—times when we can’t think of anything good to say and seem to want to guarantee the same fate for everyone around us.  But that doesn’t make it okay.

Next time you find yourself on the sharp end of the Energy Vampire’s smile, your job is to suck away their NEGATIVE energy just as hard.  They thrive on commiseration, so deny it!  Answer each pronouncement of darkness with something like, “Oh I don’t know about that—I like working here!”  Then watch how fast they shrivel up and blow away.

Now if the person is part of your responsibility, you’ll need to get serious about this.  It’s up to you to either convert the vampire to a productive human or join the mob with pitchforks and torches and get that person out of the company before their toxic behavior spreads—and you end up with a company full of the walking undead!

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Improving Morale, Motivating Employees, Self-Growth | No Comments »

Top 10 Workplace Dysfunctions—and How to TERMINATE Them

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Creatista | Dreamstime.com

Creatista | Dreamstime.com

The dysfunctional workplace is a killer.  Untreated, the dysfunction will kill off your customer base, your profits, and your joy for living as surely as anything.

So you’ve got to kill it first.  Here are the Top Ten dysfunctions—and the cure for each:

No. 1:  People being at odds with each other with no desire to fix it.
Have the most direct supervisor meet with those involved to learn what it will take to resolve it and to secure a firm commitment to do so.  Spell out immediate consequences in the event of failure.

No. 2:  Saying one thing and meaning another.
If you have an employee with a pattern of saying, “But what I meant was…”, call them on it.  Requiring the offender to have all communications checked for clarity for a period of time usually nips this in the bud.

No. 3:  Giving lip service to new ideas, then undercutting them in private.
You’ll want to enlist everyone’s help in keeping this one out.  Make it clear that dissenting opinions are welcomed during decisionmaking, but that once a decision is made, undercutting will not be tolerated.

No. 4:  Defensiveness at reasonable suggestions.
Let your people know that you consider a willingness to improve to be one of the hallmarks of a person with a bright future in the company.  Defensiveness should be viewed as what it is—an unwillingness to improve one’s self.

No. 5:  Attraction to chaos.
Pot stirring is a violation of principles both written and unwritten and a threat to productivity.  Counterbalance the pleasure they get from drama with a greater measure of negative consequences.

No. 6:  Not following through on commitments.
Let people know that they are expected to acknowledge errors and make a commitment to clean up every last bit of the resulting mess.

No. 7:  Deflecting blame.
Deflecting blame equals deflecting responsibility.  Make it clear that the only acceptable behavior is acceptance of responsibility and (as above) quick work to clean up the mess.

No. 8:  People pretending like they “never got the memo.”
If there was no breakdown in the actual system, make it clear that the employee is responsible for consistently accessing internal communications—memos, email, and so on—so that he is never again “out of the loop.”

No. 9:  Refusing to deal with conflict directly.
Conflict resolution is an essential part of a manager’s job.  Performance reviews can and should count disruptive interpersonal conflicts against managers on whose watch they occur.

No. 10.  Gossiping and backstabbing.
Once you establish a zero-tolerance policy for talking behind another person’s back, give your people permission to address conflict head-on, out loud, courageously and honestly. And make it clear that giving or receiving gossip is not acceptable.

You may have noticed a refrain coming back again and again in this advice:  Make it clear.  Once you’ve made the determination to purge your workplace of dysfunctional behavior, your greatest ally and most powerful tool will be clarity.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Improving Morale, Personal Transformation | No Comments »

Values As Your True North

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
 
© Dusanzidar | Dreamstime.com

© Dusanzidar | Dreamstime.com

I had an old friend who was a software programmer in San Jose.  At the time I knew him, he’d held several jobs in a few years. He told me he wasn’t happy in his newest job and wanted to find a new one.  Again.

“Are you moving toward a new job,” I asked, “or running away from your current mess?”

“Well,” he said, “if I’m honest with myself…I suppose I’m running away.”

“That’s too bad,” I said, “because there was obviously some lesson you missed while there, some mistakes you’ll probably repeat. I suggest you stay and learn the lesson so you can move toward something—otherwise, we’ll be having this exact same conversation in another year when you’re looking for your next job.”

Despite my sage advice, he left anyway, and started a new job…which he recently lost.

Same story, different day.

The trick here is to be honest with yourself. If you’re getting married, it’s easy to say you’re moving toward a relationship—but you might be moving away from being alone. That’s a very different reason to get married, and not a very good one. How many divorced and/or miserable people are out there raising their hands on this one?

You will find that almost EVERY bad decision follows from a violation of a value—a moving away from a fear instead of moving toward something you love.

So you’ve made some good decisions, and you’ve made a few lousy ones. Welcome to the human race. But what can you learn from your personal history to improve the ratio of good to lousy?

Let’s do an autopsy on the decisions you’ve made that have killed deals, killed relationships, reduced your success, and otherwise created general chaos in your life:

You needed to meet a goal or quota, so you did the wrong thing by the client. You thought the client and your boss wouldn’t notice. That didn’t work. You violated your value of always doing the right thing by the customer, and a bad result was your reward.

You had to get home early to meet with friends, so you didn’t double-check that project before sending it out to the client. You lost the deal because you didn’t uphold your value of quality work. Again, bummer result.

You were in a pinch to fill a position, so you hired someone you knew just didn’t share your values. Twenty-four hours after the start time, you know you have a problem.

In each of these cases, you made a decision that deep in your gut felt wrong before you even made it. That butterflies-swirling-like-a-flush-down-the-porcelain-bowl feeling is all that’s needed to know for certain that we blew it.

Let’s make this easy. Psychologists tell us that all emotions are rooted either in love or in fear. Anger, for example, is a symptom of fear. You can’t be angry if you’re not afraid. Joy is based in love. You can’t feel bliss without having love at the core. Fear is a “moving-away-from” emotion. Love is “moving-toward.”

Analyze the disastrous decisions you’ve made, and a pattern of “moving away” from something will generally emerge. 
• Moving away from missing a quota.
• Moving away from confronting a problem.
• Moving away from one company or boss as opposed to moving toward a bigger calling—thus, the saying, “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.”

So the next time you need to make a decision, ask yourself if you’re moving away from something or moving toward something.  Once you master that assessment, it’s amazing how much better your decisionmaking, and your results, will become.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Employee Engagement, Improving Morale, Motivating Employees | No Comments »

Woohoo! Thank God Its Monday Hit #1 Overall

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Thank you to everyone for all the help of spreading the word about Thank God It’s Monday. It hit number 1 overall as of all books sold! It is experiencing the second week as the number one business book and it’s also sold out in the U.K. and made the best seller list in Canada as well.

Pinch me!!!

Again, thank you to everyone who have sent the massive amount of emails saying you’ve bought 10 plus copies for all your friends. Now THAT is a commitment to a healthy workplace.

Thank you for being a part of this movement.

Only a few days left until Monday!!!

Cheers,

Roxanne

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Employee Engagement, Improving Morale, Motivating Employees, Personal Transformation, Self-Growth | No Comments »

Great News…Thank God It’s Monday Just Hit Amazon’s #2 Overall

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

This is SUCH great news. My new book, Thank God It’s Monday, just hit #2 overall of all books on Amazon a few minutes ago and has been the #1 selling business book for two weeks in a row!

It also hit The Wall Street Journal list last week.

Why?

I think it’s because people are tired of not loving their work. With all the layoffs, those who are “left behind” with twice the work and half the friends are so disheartened and don’t know how to get their rhythm back.

Here’s a few tips on getting that “new job” feeling back… (more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Culture Transformation, Employee Engagement, Improving Morale, Personal Transformation, Self-Growth | No Comments »

« Older Entries