Posts Tagged ‘Love Your Work’

Set Ground Rules for your Meetings

Monday, January 11th, 2010

* Transcription

Thank God it’s Monday!™ Meetings can be exhilarating or exhausting, and it really depends on how the kids play around the table. Since you know that, why not set some ground rules about how you want them to play? Think of all the things that make you crazy in meetings and start (even if you’re not the leader) by saying, “Can we spend a minute deciding the ground rules for this and all our meetings?” Then be prepared to list all the things that make you crazy and list them as ground rules. Examples could be:

Start on time!

Make sure the agenda is actionable with agreed upon time frames for each piece.

Don’t go off on tangents, don’t interrupt, state things in the positive, and use advancing language
instead of complaining.

Don’t repeat yourself or the same thought, hear opposing view points openly, make sure your comments are focused and speak of solutions, not of problems.

Then make sure there’s a code that reels people back in when they get off track. Perhaps you’ll have a visible hand sign—a nice one of course—that indicates a violation of a ground rule. This sign then means that there’s no debating, but to just bring your behaviors back on track.

So set some ground rules for your meetings and start having some great meetings that are exhilarating, fun, and productive.

Have a great Monday!

Roxanne

Roxanne Emmerich’s Thank God It’s Monday! How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love climbed to #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list and made the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists—all in the first week of its release. Roxanne is renowned for her ability to transform “ho-hum” workplaces into dynamic, results-oriented, “bring-it-on” cultures. If you are not currently receiving the Thank God It’s Monday e-zine and weekly audios, subscribe today at www.ThankGoditsMonday.com.

Love this audio message? You may also download the MP3 version and PDF transcript below:



Download Instructions: Right-click the download button(s) and
choose ‘save link as…’ to save the file to your computer.

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

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…)

Being happy – for goodness’ sake

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Credit:  © Frenta | Dreamstime.com

Credit: © Frenta | Dreamstime.com

The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good. —Bertrand Russell

If it seems weird for a column about making work more fun and engaging to open with a quote from the philosopher Bertrand Russell—then honey, you don’t know Bert.

Some philosophers spend their time working out obscure problems that don’t seem to have much to do with you and me. But Bertrand Russell spent a lot of his time thinking about everyday things—like happiness, and what it means to be good. (more…)

Creating a Celebration Culture

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Credit:  © Monkeybusinessimages| Dreamstime.com

Credit: © Monkeybusinessimages| Dreamstime.com

When’s the last time you heard someone say, “The problem with working here is I’m just appreciated way too much?”  Healthy cultures have appreciation and celebration as their cultural backbone. They create an environment in which everyone oohs and aahs over each other’s successes and contributions.

Notice I said EVERYONE, not just managers.  You might convince yourself that the manager who high-fives the top salespeople is just doing his or her job.  But once you get celebration and congratulation flowing from peer to peer, you know you’ve created a celebration culture.

So how do you get there? By creating rituals of celebration. (more…)