In my work over the past few weeks the subject of motivation inside and outside of work has come up a lot. When working with new starts in companies the first thing we cover in their training and development induction is personality preferences and then we move onto their motivational makeup. When you start thinking about what motivates you it is good to consider both professional and personal life. Some people are lucky enough to find professional roles that tick a lot to their motivational mix boxes however in the majority of cases some of our motivational requirements are met by work while others are from outside of work activities. It doesn’t matter how your motivation is fuelled however it needs to be from one source of the other to ensure you are fulfilled and happy with the direction in your life

There are many different things that can motivate us individually and if you manage a team of people it is time well invested to understand not only your own motivational factors but also those of each person who works for you. There are many different models you can use to facilitate a discussion on this subject and the one that I have used for over 10 years has a grid of 21 different things that can be considered ranging from Rewards – e.g. money, perks, status to Creativity to things like suitability,structure and security to name just a few of the 21. The whole point of a discussion around motivation is so that both parties work out what makes the other person thrive. It is also helpful to realise that what motivates one person might de motivate another e.g. I am motivated by new challenges and the types of people I work with whereas my business partner is motivated by variety and fun and recognition. From a leadership perspective  working what each member of your team needs to keep motivated is like a golden key. It is also useful to find out what has a demotivating effect on each individual so that if you do have choice it the type of project or tasks that you allocate out amongst the team you can match these to the right person wherever possible.

 

 

Sandra works as a coach to both business and private clients and more information can be found at http://www.sandrawebbercoaching.com she has also published a self development book called Own it http://www.own-it-book.com 

 

We are all extremely busy, whether we are working for an organisation or running our own businesses however when I worked for a company the question of whether to do a task myself or whether to ask someone else to do it felt a lot easier to decide. I was lucky to have some good mentors in my corporate career who encouraged me to delegate as much of my role as possible so that I was free to lead my team properly and as a result the people who worked for me got an opportunity to grow as they took on more interesting work and raised their visibility. When working with leaders in a coaching capacity today this is the approach I encourage them to take, working with the fear of initially letting go and trusting others to do work to the same standard. Learning to delegate well is a topic and gives fertile training ground for ensuring explicitness in the final deliverables.

 The challenge of delegating to others or outsourcing tasks when you are self-employed or running a small business is often cost. To be specific it’s the return on the investment of outsourcing work and the opportunity cost of your own time spent doing other things that you either find easier, are more able to do or earn you more money per hour.

 The fun matrix at the top of this blog illustrates a thought process than can be used to decide on whether to outsource or not and whether to stop an activity or not. Sometimes a key question is firstly does it need to be done at all? Is it something that isn’t adding any value and therefore you can stop doing without any impact on customer satisfaction or profitability. It can often be tough to let go of something if you are emotionally attached to the topic or process however it might be that it isn’t working, it’s not cost effective or may no longer be required. The second difficulty is if it costs you a lot to outsource to an expert and you are running a business which is the early stages and where money is tight you might find it difficult to justify this additional cost. From my personal experience in the early years I did make some expensive errors of judgement in this area and if I look back the mistakes I made where when the activity didn’t pass the value-added test e.g. Did the activity need to be done? Some of the activities I outsourced in the earlier days weren’t critical to the success of the business and I also made some wrong choices when I choose suppliers and didn’t shop around enough to find the right person or company whose values and professionalism aligned to the company we were setting up. I now test any supplier with a small project of work first to ensure I am happy with the quality and the working relationship before outsourcing more work on an ongoing basis. The emotional relief and quality of output when you do find the right partners and can negotiate a win win result in the price paid however is well worth the risk and allows you to work on the stuff you are good at.

More details on this model and other information can be found in Sandra’s book Own It regain control and live life on your terms available from Amazon http://amzn.to/2m3l8Vl

Do

We are all familiar with this saying but today I did I get a practical reminder of this fact.

Just catching the train to London on a busy platform  three different people came up to say hello within a matter of minutes. All business people or connected to business people and all have access to a lot more people in their networks. It was a very brief conversation as the train approached however it got me thinking.

As we are in the second month of 2016 I have been reviewing goals that individuals set at the start of the year to see how things are going. As a coach I also have my own goals and to achieve the ones that I set both personally and in regards of the business they all require reaching out and connecting with the right people who can help me achieve my goals. When reviewing some of my clients goals the same question emerges who have you connected with since the beginning of the year, who have you asked for help?

Most high performing individuals realise the benefit of building a supportive and useful network and in order to achieve this are normally also keen to put others in touch with people they know who they think could help you. I love realising that two people I know would benefit from having a conversation and over the years one of the most rewarding aspects of my role has been seeing how some of these initial connections that I have initiated have grown into powerful relationships and sometimes powerful business opportunities and solutions.

The step that a lot of people don’t take is making time to strategically review their network in the light of the goals they want to achieve and deliberately take action to make the powerful connections they need to make.

So my action on the train as I type this is to think… Following my chance three conversations on the platform an hour ago are any of those people connected to anyone in organisations that I am trying to reach out too and can I ask for an introduction to another person who may be able to help me.

Anyone who you come into contact with over the next few days have a think whether they might just happen to know someone who can help you with your goals. If in doubt ask, do this frequently so it becomes a habit and a natural skill to add to your personal toolkit. Also when people ask you for similar try and help out it is very rewarding to see some of the results.

 

 

Love it or hate it New Year’s Eve will divide most groups of friends or colleagues a bit like marmite. I love it as it provides a perfect time to take stock formally on how the current year has been from a holistic work/life balance perspective.

 Some people will argue why wait until the end of the year to review progress and they would be right, in an ideal world a high performer will be having regular checkpoints throughout the twelve months to ensure everything is on track. A more thorough review exercise is still however really valuable on an annual basis similar to the performance appraisals we come across in business life.

So how did you do in 2015? How are you going to review the year do you have a structured approach? The method isn’t that important it’s the discipline of the exercise which I find powerful and encourages continual personal growth and development.

 I have kept a few personal development journals over the years and these little books are great for reviewing at this time of year. In these journals are rough goal setting exercises, reviews of prior years in narrative and tabular formats. I haven’t really had a consistent structure as the process has gradually been streamlined in recent years.

 On previous New Year’s eves I have listed various elements of my life such as work,family,relationship,friends,health,spiritual,financial,social etc. and given them a score out of 10. Looking back on these tables now the categories show very different scores with some significant areas of improvement which is good to see a reward for some key decisions taken and action put into place in prior years.

 A few years ago I changed the format into a more narrative account of what had happened in the year and I did this every 6 months. For certain areas of my life I did specify some particular goals I wanted to achieve or events I wanted to attend.

 For the past two years as well as writing an account of the year I also set myself the challenge of identifying just one single goal to focus on for each year and this approach has worked well.

So today on my to-do list is to journal my review of 2015 and tomorrow I will write down my area of focus for 2016.

A recent week in the sun allowed for a period of rest and reflection and it was very much needed to recharge the batteries. Work has been very hectic and I hadn’t planned my holidays last year that well meaning that there had been no break from work for along time. It made me realise the importance of such breaks in relation to productivity and energy levels at work.

I have met a few people recently who haven’t been taking their allotted leave entitlements because of workload and I have had to actively encourage them to devise a plan where this situation can be rectified. If people continue to work long hours for an extended period of time it can cause inefficiency to creep in, leaders can become less effective and teamwork becomes strained.

If you have a customer facing role it is expected that every day you will face the public with enthusiasm and energy. In order to keep these attributes high, regular breaks with a chance to restore your energy levels, are vital.

With technology and ease of availability to work e.g emails , voicemail, in order to take a complete break and recharge you need to be extremely disciplined not to check email and get involved in work related issues while on holiday. Ask someone to read your emails while you are away so that they can edit all the rubbish and only leave those you need to action or actually read. Consciously make an effort to change the daily routine while on holiday. For a week there was no alarm on our recent break…. complete heaven allowing us to wake naturally. There was no schedule of activities we just decided on the day what to do, again a completely different routine. As a consequence of deliberate changes in routine it was a chance to rest, recharge and reflect and energy levels were restored.

At some time in your life it is likely that you will have to make a presentation, whether work related or for a social occasion, most remain fearful but elated by the success once completed. It is a life skill and if you follow a few simple guidelines can be quite fulfilling.

Presentations are about communicating information so doing the groundwork and knowing your subject will help you to enthuse and if appropriate move your audience to action. It will also make you confident and help steady those nerves.

Understand your audience – Who are you looking to attract and who might attend, make sure your presentation is relevant and think about the skills they may have this will help with your content and also help to keep your audience engaged.

Set up – Always arrive before your audience make yourself familiar with the location and any electrical equipment you may be using, you don’t want to end up showing a picture of Aunt Bessie at last year’s family Christmas party instead of your financial report! Make time to have a quick run through.

Using Power Point and other Visual aids – This is a great way to illustrate or strengthen your point and to follow structure, but don’t get distracted. When making reference to the power point, graph, picture or whatever stand to the side and avoid putting your back to your audience.

Inflection – Change the tone and volume of your voice, smile if you are saying something amusing this will all help to maintain your audience’s attention and interest in your subject matter. Don’t talk to fast, learn to pause and be enthusiastic about your subject.

Eye Contact – Maintain eye contact during your presentation with members of the audience this will give personal emphasis to what you are saying and make them intent on listening.

Structure – Have a clear structure. Have an introduction so people really understand what your presentation is about and what they can expect. Use facts to delivery your message and conclude with a recap and summing up and make all points relevant and avoid lots of unnecessary detail.

Questions – If it is a good question acknowledge that is as it shows they have been interested in what you have been saying. However , don’t pretend to know something if you don’t, If someone asks a question and you really don’t know the answer be truthful and say that you will find out and get back to them , but make sure then that you do .

Chanel you nerves – try to relax, stand rather than sit and move around a little if possible.

Time Management – Time yourself, know how long your slot is and don’t run over. Keep an eye on the time.

Rehearse – Practice will help you feel prepared.

Present your self – Think about what you might wear, something that makes you feel good and give yourself plenty of time to get ready and arrive refreshed. Don’t forget to thank you audience and your host for their time and help, you might want to return.

So bearing the above in mind go out to do the best you can, take a deep breath and stay focused and you never know you might actually enjoy it!

You are very excited as you have managed to get through to a Graduate Assessment Centre for an organisation you would really like to work for , but you are wondering how the assessment days’ work and how you can come out on top.

Assessment Centres can vary in content but the idea is to create an environment where you will work alongside other candidates to demonstrate key skills in the areas of teamwork, Leadership and Management, time management; problem solving and decision making, allowing a future employer to assess how you would fit into their organisation. Making yourself familiar with the process, doing some research and following a few simple rules will help you to prepare and give confidence on the day.

The day itself will be generally made up of a mix of any of the following, Group Exercises, Case Studies, In-tray/ e-tray or other practical exercises, presentations and interviews, not for getting that the social side of coffee breaks and lunch are also an opportunity to show off your networking skills

The Assessors on the day will probably have a list of attributes and competencies they may be looking for, if appropriate you could try to find out so that you have an idea of what you will be measured against. Think about your body language and listening skills throughout the day and manage your time. You will be required to read and process information in the tasks quickly, so picking out the key elements and focusing on these will help.

Group Excercises- Look to contribute but not dominate, listen but do not interrupt and make it an inclusive discussion drawing in quieter members of the group. Stay focused on the objectives of the task be diplomatic and be prepared to compromise if necessary. Put your point across in an assertive but not aggressive way and don’t switch off once you have had your say, remaining engaged throughout.

In tray or e-tray exercises – These are normally made up of all the things you are likely to find in your in tray or inbox and will demonstrate how you process information, prioritise workloads, make decision or act on urgent requests. Before you start read carefully what the task is asking you to do then read through items in the tray to establish which relevant bits you need to action. There is rarely a right or wrong answer to these it is more about the skills you bring to the task.

Presentations – You may be asked prior to the assessment centre to present on a certain subject or you may be given the opportunity to speak on a subject of your choice. Whichever it is keep it simple and something you feel comfortable with. Put structure to your presentation so it is easy to follow. Practice eye contact, smiling and alter the tone in your voice from time to time to accentuate different points to keep your audience engaged. Use visual aids to support you, but if using a power point don’t fill it with too much information, only use key points as it will help to keep your presentation on track. If using a flip chart don’t turn away from your audience and talk to it! Stand to the side, glancing at it when making reference to it. Keep to time and practice to help build your confidence.

Interviews – At some point during the day you may have an interview, make sure you are well prepared, have researched the organisation well and understand what the graduate programme entails so you can ask relevant questions.

Above all don’t worry if you feel nervous about attending an Assessment centre for the first time , just be prepared to engage fully in the day’s activities, present yourself in the best way possible and research as much as you can, this will all help build your confidence, be yourself and enjoy the experience!

Good Luck