Improve My Business

Today’s post focuses on treats… (see previous blog post for tricks).

Tomorrow is Halloween and I think we’re all ready to receive a few treats! Here are 10 ways managing your time more efficiently will reward (treat) you:

1. Gaining control of your life. You will stop being reactive in life and working proactively towards goals.
2. Ability to Meet Goals. By setting priorities you will achieve your goals sooner and more efficiently, no more cramming at the last minute or giving up without success.
3. Increased Confidence. Improved piece of mind and sense of achievement will boost your self-esteem and encourage you to take on more projects.
4. Feel Healthier. Energy levels will improve due to less mental clutter. You will feel less frustration, anxiety, guilt, and stress because you will not have the extra burden of undone tasks weighing on your mind.
5. Heightened Creativity. With less pressure on you for all the tasks you can’t get done, you’ll find you have time to be creative, even if you don’t think of yourself as a particularly creative person.
6. More Productive. You’ll get more done, which means more profit at work and more quality time at home. You can spend your saved time doing things that are important to you. Maybe you’d like to volunteer, go to more of your kids’ events, family gatherings, take up a new hobby, or even take an occasional weekend getaway – guilt free!
7. Have Fun. Laugh. With better time management you can take time to smell the roses, play a game, or enjoy a nice chat with a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. When you are burdened with too many undone tasks fun time gets to be just going through the motions (your hearts not in it) and it loses its therapeutic and restorative effects.
8. Be More Successful. This is in line with #’s 2, 3 and 6, but it should be said controlling your time will make your endeavors more successful. Whether its finishing a project, landing a new client, or planning a vacation, with good time management you are more likely to succeed.
9. Stop Being Labeled a Procrastinator. How good would it feel to say that you don’t procrastinate? Think of the kudos you’ll get on your employee reviews, or the honor of being sought after as a mentor by others who admire your efficiency.
10. Work Seems Less Like Work. Tasks will get done faster. You’ll have more personal time to relax and enjoy life, family, romance, and hobbies. Work may be a means to an end, but it doesn’t have to be a chore. Take satisfaction in your accomplishments.

So, what do you say? Is it worth employing a few tricks to receive the treats? Have a safe and fun Halloween, and don’t forget to make your tricks and treats last throughout the year!

Technorati Tags: efficiency, Halloween, having fun, living your life, managing your time, quality of life

In the United States, October 31st is Halloween - where children dress in costumes and go door-to-door saying, “Trick or Treat!”. In order to prevent pranks (the tricks), adults hand over candy (the treat).

Today’s post focuses on ‘tricks’ that you can use to become more efficient (and stay tuned for our next post to address treats…)

Everyone’s looking for a shortcut to be more efficient. What are some of the industry ‘tricks’ in order to be more efficient?

1) Plan. Taking some time at the end of the weekend (Sunday evening), or at the beginning of the week (Monday morning), will go a long way towards ensuring that the little things aren’t overlooked.

2) Communicate Concisely. Identify the goal of a conversation before you initiate the discussion. Understand the other person’s time situation, if they are in a time crunch wait until a more appropriate time to ensure your issue gets the proper attention. Only discuss one issue at a time, and practice active listening, if you spend your time thinking of what you will say next, you will very likely miss details and forget what was said, at least on their part, later.

3) Manage Interruptions. Identify your typical interruptions and then plan on how to counter-act them. Control your phone use, let voicemail allow you to prioritize your calls and finish your task before returning the call. Respond appropriately to interruptions, don’t let yourself be led into their panic, if it is not an emergency, let them know when you can respond.

4) Organize/File Effectively. Keep your computer files tidy. Don’t save unnecessary docs and emails. Use a consistent naming convention throughout your folders, keep completed work separate from your in-progress work.

5) Stay Positive – If you tell yourself there’s no possible way you can get it all done, then you will undoubtedly find a way to not get to all you tasks, getting mired down with the thoughts of “so much to do” will distract you from actually focusing your time and getting it done.

Later this week we’ll post our efficiency “treats”!  In the meantime, please share the “tricks”  you use to increase your efficiency.

Technorati Tags: efficiency, Halloween, managing your time, organizing, Stop Procrastinating

Those of you who are regular readers of the blog may notice that we have several bloggers who regularly write these posts. This is done for two reasons:

1) I’m willing to share the limelight with other McDonald Consulting employees - that’s just the kind of sharing, selfless person I am.

2) I don’t want to write blog posts twice a week, every week. That feels too much like ‘work’.

OK, so there are really 2.5 reasons:

2.5) I think it’s important for you, or loyal (or occasional) reader, to hear more than one voice, one outlook, one viewpoint on how you can improve your business.

How does this work? Well, any one of us can write a post and upload it to our site. Suzanne, our intrepid Ops Manager, will review quickly for grammar, spelling, but otherwise does not change what’s written (in most cases, unless we’re ragging on Suzanne, in which case I’m guessing she’d edit it prior to posting) and then upload. Oftentimes, the first time I’m reading the blog post is the same time that you are.

This is great for 2.5 reasons:

1) It gives me insight into what others who are working with me closely are thinking (because sometimes our conversation just doesn’t get around to whatever the blog post topic is on);

2) It gives you multiple voices to hear from on ways to improve your business, implement efficiency ideas, or hear what we’re thinking;

and

2.5) I don’t have to write blog posts, twice a week, every week. (at least you know I’m honest!)

So if you like a post, or dislike a post, or want to comment on the post, note who wrote it - and feel free to address us by name!

Thanks to our bloggers Suzanne, Barret, Jenny, and James!

-Mary

Technorati Tags: blogging, communication, working smarter

As October, and the fall, continue to march forward, we start to notice the loss of daylight more. This may require us to shift our schedules - exercising after work rather than before, for example; or starting to prepare dinner earlier than in summer since the kids have to go to bed earlier in preparation for those EARLY morning reveilles….

As your daily pattern changes, remember to examine those changes to see if there are positive plans that you can implement.

Some ideas:

- during those dark hours in the morning, when the day still seems ‘quiet’, can you meditate, pray, or practice some self-renewal ritual?

- Is there a way to incorporate movement into your daily routine - parking farther away, taking stairs, or walking briskly during breaks and lunch? Can you do an indoor workout? Movement will have a positive effect on your mental as well as your physical well-being.

- Incorporate family time and movement/exercise. Our family is somewhat typical - we have game systems in the house… so we have Dance Dance Revolution, a game involving rhythmic stepping/dancing for the PlayStation, and are looking at the Wii Fit. This is something that the whole family can do together, and involves lots of laughter (mostly at mom) as well as lots of movement (for all of us).

- Make an extra effort to get outside during daylight hours - studies have shown that exposure to natural light has a positive effect on the production of endorphins which has been shown to be a natural mood-lifter, and necessary for vitamin D absorption, among other benefits. See this article on Shine for more and resources. Lack of sunlight is also responsible for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in some people. You can learn more about SAD at the Mayo Clinic website. (see above suggestion for walking during lunch)…

Embrace the change in season and see how you can improve your business!

Technorati Tags: efficiency, flexibility, living your life, Time Management, well-being

How do we define great leaders? Whether you are hiring management, picking a team captain, or simply aspiring to be one yourself, it is important to have a good definition for what a great leader is. Without a clear definition, you do not have a clear goal or standard against which to measure people and your own progress. Many people think that they have a clear understanding of what makes a great leader and will simply say great leaders get great results. While this definition might be helpful in the hiring process, it hardly gives us a good target for improving ourselves as leaders. Saying “I wish to achieve great results so I can be a great leader” is like saying “I wish to be eight feet tall so I can be a great basketball player”; all the wishing in the world isn’t going to get you there.

So, as we attempt to improve ourselves as leaders, we need to first define better what it means to be a great leader and use that as a target. A starting point could be to pick a past or present great leader as a role model. This certainly gives us a better target then simply saying “I want to achieve great results”, but role models don’t necessarily make the best targets. Great leadership, it is pretty easy to see, comes in large part from authenticity. If you try to use other peoples’ methods, or champion a cause you do not truly believe in, the best you can achieve is mediocrity. To be truly great, you must be authentic to yourself and that authenticity will shine through. This is why looking at the actions, methods and tactics of past and present great leaders can be helpful; but trying to imitate them will not make you a great leader.

This is not to say we should completely ignore what other great leaders can teach us, we simply need to look at them in a broader category, rather than single them out as role models for our behavior. In other words, the value of looking at great leaders to define great leadership is not to look at any single individual, but to look at the class of great leaders as a whole, and identify what the common attributes amongst them are. You can find one groups’ take on what common attributes amongst great leaders are at http://www.leadershiplanding.com/en/leadership_attributes.htm. They define five attributes as the key features of great leadership. These five attributes are: Self-awareness, Bravery, Kindness, Innovation and Inspiration.

Pulling out attributes like this gives us a good definition of what makes a great leader. By using this list of attributes, we can determine with authority whether or not someone meets the definition of great leadership and, perhaps more importantly, we can identify leadership strengths and weakness in other leaders around us and in ourselves. Having a list of attributes in front of us when assessing great leadership, whether in hiring or for personal growth, allows us to set specific goals and evaluation criteria related to the attributes we have identified. Instead of simply wishing for great results, or trying to model our behavior based on someone regarded as great leader, we must identify the characteristics that make great leaders, and then cultivate those characteristics in ourselves to create an authentic brand of leadership based on the principles of greatness.

How do you define a great leader? What are the attributes you look for?

Technorati Tags: hiring, leadership, self-assessment