In Your Corner Coaching & Consulting Services

TimeBridge is a snappy tool to schedule meetings, removing the eternal back-and-forth that adds clog to your e-mail inbox or voicemail queue. In a snap, you can propose multiple times for a meeting, invite participants, and even include a free conference call number if necessary. If you like, it will confirm the best time automatically. It integrates with Outlook or Google calendars, so while you’re proposing times, you will be able to see your own availability plus any participants who have chosen to share their free/busy information with you.

So far, I’ve found no down side whatsoever. I’m very happy I found this. So is PC World where you will find this rave review.

The short answer is “yes.” Even those Kings of Intensity, the International Game Developers Association recognize this in their very good article “Why Crunch Mode Doesn’t Work”. Although written for software developers, there’s lots of information applicable to the rest of us about productivity rates, sleep deprivation, etc.

Here’s an interesting statistic:

In our study, FDC [artillery Fire Direction Center — ER] teams from the 82nd Airborne division were tested during simulated continuous combat operations lasting 36 hours. Throughout the 36 hours, their ability to accurately derive range, bearing, elevation, and charge was unimpaired. However, after circa 24 hours they … no longer knew where they were relative to friendly and enemy units. They no longer knew what they were firing at. Early in the simulation, when we called for simulated fire on a hospital, etc., the team would check the situation map, appreciate the nature of the target, and refuse the request. Later on in the simulation … they would fire without hesitation regardless of the nature of the target.

Next time I’m in the hospital, I’m asking that resident how much sleep he’s had lately.

As the end of the year approaches, managers and employees approach the season (no, not that season) with dread. It’s performance review time.

At worst, performance reviews can be an exercise in frustration, tension, fruitless efforts to retrieve memories of untracked goals, and sometimes evasion and whitewashing. But at its best, the performance review can be an opportunity for reward, development and retargeting for the coming year.

Mark Goulston of Fast Company magazine offers some wise words.

It’s important for the manager to keep in mind the purpose of performance reviews in the first place. If you’re not careful, performance reviews can be taken as a look at past performance for which the employee expects to be either castigated for doing poorly or rewarded with a raise. But looking back is not what a performance review should be about. Instead, the right perspective would be to ask “what information can I provide this employee that will help him or her reach a higher level of performance in the future?”

Read the whole article here.

One of the easiest things a manager can do is hire the wrong person.

A good way of avoiding that unfortunate outcome is to hone your interviewing skills. The past several years have seen an upsurge in popularity of “behaviorally-based interviewing” which asks the candidate to describes actions he or she has actually taken rather than asking for their speculations about what they would do in a certain situation.

Inc. magazine suggests 10 questions that might provide helpful information in identifying talents (or the lack of talents) that won’t show up on the resume.

1. Have you ever had several projects with the same deadline? How did you tackle that?
   Why: To measure a candidate’s conscientiousness, coping skills, and organization.
2. Could you tell us about a time you failed at a task?
   Why: To see how a candidate responds to adversity.
3. How have you handled the last few angry customers you’ve come across?
   Why: To gauge a candidate’s customer- and client- service skills.
4. Tell us about a project for which you fiscal responsibility. How did you stay on budget?
   Why: To get a sense of how a candidate will handle company finances.
5. Tell us about a recent split-second decision you made on the job. How did you approach it?
   Why: To gain insight into a candidate’s decisiveness and decision-making style.
6. What is the last thing about which you and your boss disagreed? How did you settle it?
   Why: To see whether a candidate is manageable and how well he or she communicates.
7. What is the most significant presentation you’ve given to clients?
   Why: To measure a candidate’s presentation and public-speaking skills.
8. What was your most frustrating experience on your last job? The most satisfying?
   Why: To gauge a candidate’s motivation and general temperament.
9. How do you handle a task when you’re asked to make changes at the last minute?
   Why: To see whether a candidate is flexible and can adapt quickly.
10. Tell us about a time you took a risk and failed. How did it feel?
    Why: To measure a candidate’s resilience and attitude toward risk.

Think only those with direct reports need to know how to manage people? Think again.

The days are gone when we could succeed by keeping our eyes down on our desks, doing our own well-defined jobs and going home. It’s a good bet that, if you think about it, you’ll recognize many times when a project’s success has depended on information, resources or influence from someone not in your hierarchical chain.

Jeff was transferred from product engineering to a newly created position coordinating quality and tracking warranty costs. His technical expertise, which had contributed to most of his success in his previous job, was less helpful now as his straightforward, get-it-done style was tripped up by what seemed to be unwarranted resistance from manufacturing supervisors and accountants. He gradually came to see that unless he found ways of persuading them that working together with him was in their own interests as well as his, he was going to fail. His technical credibility was helpful, but learning to help his new colleagues meet their goals on the way to meeting his own was the key to his eventual success.

But what do you do when this is all new to you or your interpersonal skills need development? See our Resources page for suggestions, or leave a comment suggesting or requesting a recommendation in a particular area.

Everyone is talking about goals. How do you know what goals to identify. Francisco Dao writes in Inc. magazine:

The most frightening trend seems to be goal setting by the process of wishful thinking. Setting the right goals is a tricky matter. If you aim too low, then the goals become trivial, but if you make them so high that they seem unattainable, your employees will likely think you’re delusional.

Read the whole article here.

It takes an expert touch to exercise the assertiveness you need to contribute at work while maintaining the appropriate deference to rank, experience and the standing practices of the business. No wonder new employees find it particularly difficult to enter a new job at a high level of contribution while having to step around potential landmines in communication with the boss. Researchers from the University of Michigan emphasize the importance of finding an effective balance: job candidates, [especially those] with advanced education, . . . are hired to contribute to an organization, not to capitulate.

This can be made even more complicated if you are in an unfamiliar environment of strong organizational or ethnic cultural expectations. Global business dealings require a high level of sensitivity to the combination of deference and assertiveness usual in that particular culture. But it can catch you by surprise to find a similar need for finesse while working closer to home.

Some organizations have powerful operating assumptions that can be easily transgressed by the unaware. For instance, while I was on an assignment in a manufacturing plant, a question arose about the proper interpretation of a clause in the national labor contract. My previous position had been in corporate headquarters, and I had had lunch there with the lead negotiator for the company, so I proactively shot off an e-mail to him posing the question. I proudly showed the outcome of my results-oriented efficiency to my supervisor who was, to my surprise, overcome by dismay. I had leaped over about eight rungs in the chain of command, which was Just Not Done, leaving her in an awkward position.

When entering a new situation, it is wise to spend some time “playing anthropologist”, gathering information about the norms and practices around you. Observe meetings, casual interactions, e-mail correspondence. Where and how does the real work get done — before the meeting, during the meeting, or after the meeting? Ask questions of a peer or trusted subordinate. Above all, don’t be afraid to appear stupid. One of the most effective examples I have seen of an external entrant into a high-level management position included inquiry about the norms of communication and “how business is done around here.” She saved herself a lot of mistakes (and invested in the loyalty of her new department) by learning from their experience how to be effective within the organization.

The answer, as usual, is “It depends.” For some of us, we are always on the move, always jumping to the next thing, perhaps overly influenced by the compelling nature of our obligations or interests. In that case, it can be good to interrupt the flow with some time to assess whether we’re actually on track toward goals worth meeting.

Others of us have less of an action-orientation. We gather information, think things through, strategize and plan with great skill, but choosing among options and moving into decisive action can be more of a challenge.

I often fall into the second category. I enjoy exploring possibilities and tweaking plans, looking for the best option. When it’s time to move from analysis to action, I can find it hard to make the transition. At that moment, momentum can be a valuable gift. I’ve learned that when I experience energy and enthusiasm towards something that needs to be done, it’s best to consciously lean into it and let it carry me along.

Here’s an example: At the time I started graduate school, I had three children around middle-school age. The increased complexity of my life, with classes, homework and project teams added to school carpooling, soccer games and Boy Scouts, seriously challenged my ability to manage my time reliably. I decided I needed to find the right tool on the first try - I didn’t have the luxury of cobbling something together that “might” work, or I could end up forgetting to pick up my son at dusk in the middle of Ypsilanti.

So, one day, I made a pilgrimage to the not-so-local Franklin Quest store. I kited myself out with a leather binder, a year’s worth of attractive daily planning pages, and all the trimmings I thought I would need. I also signed up then and there for “Franklin Planner training” for the next day. Within half a week, I had imported all the important information about my life into the planner and was ready to use it in a robust way, a development for which I thanked God regularly throughout the rest of my educational career.

I used my enthusiasm for “cool tools” and the energy of momentum to accomplish in several days what might have taken months if I’d adopted an incremental approach.

So know yourself. What kind of person are you? What motivates you to take a right action? If momentum serves you, stir it up and use it.

If you’re like me, waiting at the luggage carousel brings on a feeling of foreboding. Person after person hauls up her suitcase and trolleys off to the door while I wait anxiously for my bag to come thumping down the ramp.

These luggage tags have just made it onto my “must-have” list. There’s a pocket to insert your travel itinerary; printed instructions in 8 languages tell the finder of your wandering luggage to send them on to meet you at your next generation.

I that that if I don’t get these, the next time I change planes I’ll wish I had.

One of life’s big challenges is focusing your energy without letting anything important fall through the cracks. Here are some helpful tips to help you stay out of the sand traps of life:

Write things down.

Unless you’re among the 2% or so of people who can carry every detail in their heads without fail, develop a simple system to capture the date of your next committee meeting, the mechanic’s estimate for your engine rebuild, or nifty tool your brother-in-law can’t live without. Take a look at our Tips and Tools page for some handy ways to keep track of details.

Turn off the radio.

After you check the traffic and weather, snap off the radio for the rest of your drive to work. Think about the day ahead. Call to mind the things that are important — both tasks that need to be accomplished and the kind of person you want to be during your day. Have you read or heard something lately that inspired you? Call it to mind. Do you have a particularly sticky problem on the horizon? This can be a good time to sit with it and let your mind be creative.

Know Your Style

Do you like silent seclusion in order to focus? Or do you do your best work collaboratively? Be proactive about providing yourself the kind of environment that helps you function at a high level. Is your work environment the exact opposite of what you need? Be creative. Look for ways to carve yourself a niche, or keep an eye out for other similarly collaborative folks and find a conference room with a whiteboard for brainstorming.

Know Your Strengths

According to research by the Gallup Organization, one of the elements of engaging and effective work is doing what you do best every day. But many of us don’t have a clear idea of what our strengths are. A good starting point is the Signature Strengths inventory available at AuthenticHappiness.com (free registration required).

Use Your Strengths

Once you are aware of your innate strengths (not, by the way, to be confused with training or skills), you need to employ them. Sometimes, though, it’s not clear how our strengths can be applied to the challenges we face. For instance, perhaps Rebecca, a rather shy software developer, is called upon to make connections with other key departments and persuade them to share information vital to completing an important project. How can she use her tendencies to be detail-oriented and methodical to good advantage?

A naturally reserved person is often uncomfortable in interactions that have to be improvised on the fly. So Rebecca’s strengths can be called upon in her preparation. Her analytical talent-set will come in handy to develop reasons that an ongoing collaboration might be beneficial to the other departments. Development of a clear explanation of the value of the project to the entire organization, a precise description of what is required, and anticipation of possible objections will increase the likelihood of a prompt and positive response.