Monday, November 18, 2019

Working long hours and hiding it

Are you someone who works long hours to get the job done and keep the boss happy, but does not actually tell anyone just how much overtime you are doing?  Are you burnt out?

Like a lot of managers and executives, you may have times of high workloads where extra hours become the norm for short periods of time.  However, if the short periods are turning into long periods of time or even worse all the time, it is time to be honest with yourself, and the boss.  Hiding how long you are working does not allow the company to actually realize just how much work you are doing, and that you likely need to hire someone else (even if only part time) to help or re-evaluate the position.  If you fear telling your boss about working longer hours, for fear you may be fired, then you chose how to proceed.  My goal is to provide you options only.  Here is a list of things you can do:

1 - face your fear head on and talk to your boss about the continual longer hours
2 - go to someone else, like Human Resources, to see what your options are
3 - simply ask for an assistant / request an additional head
4 - work only the hours you are willing to (within reason of course)
5 - seek out other employment
6 - do nothing
7 - complete a time study then determine what the time wasters are and try to eliminate or avoid them
8 - review the job description and ensure it is still accurate
9 - review the tasks you do and determine if what you are doing is really needed.  Think about unnecessary reports, meetings, etc that perhaps you can ask your boss about not doing.

This is not a complete list and I do not suggest one over another as again, I am not here to tell you what you need to do, but to assist you by providing some options.

If you need help with this or in what decision you need to make for you, please contact me for a free 15 mins consult.  tara@twinlifecoaching.ca.


Sunday, October 27, 2019

Keeping Yourself Healthy

This may seem a little bit of common sense - stay healthy.  However, this can be difficult when we are stressed or our company is struggling.  People tend to not eat, eat the wrong foods, emotionally eat and forget about exercise.

Our bodies and minds need us to take care of them, especially when stressed.  This is the time when you need to take a lunch break, you need to eat healthy and you need exercise.  So, how do you do this in a fast paced, stressful environment?  Here are a few tips:

Food:
1 - when grocery shopping, pick whole fruits you can grab on the go
2 - grab a premade salad or 2 that will last a few days - again helping with the grab and go
3 - shop the exterior of the grocery store and avoid the middle aisles.  Why?  Because this is where a lot of the foods we don't need, but love to eat are.   These can include: chips, candies, cookies, crackers and other foods that don't help our minds or bodies during stress.
4 - pack your lunch and snacks the night before or as much of it as you can.
5- take time for lunch every single day - at least 20 minutes - this allows your mind to relax and actually makes you more productive for the rest of the day
6 - follow the Canada's food guide to understand what you should be eating daily - https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

Exercise:
1 - go for short walks throughout the day
2 - park further away from the door at work, customer locations, grocery stores or wherever else you are
3 - take the stairs instead of the elevator (going up to a very high floor, then take half the stairs and half the elevator)
4 - have walking meetings
5 - walk around your home in the evening when watching TV (great time is during commercials)
6 - post a motivating sign, picture, or reminder on your fridge to get moving
7 - wear a pedometer or other step counting device and aim to add 100 steps a day until you can get close to 10000.

There are a lot of different tips and tricks out there.  If you need motivational help or help with accountability, I can assist.  Contact me today at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or visit our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Celebrating

As it is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada this weekend, it is important to also remember your employees.  They work hard all year and most companies do something at Christmas, but not usually other times of the year.

Try doing a pizza day, bbq or pot luck before long weekends or stat holidays.  It helps build morale and keep your employees engaged.  These things do not have to cost much and if you just don't have the budget, then try a pot luck or chilli cook off.  Make it exciting where you can try new things and cost very little.  Most employees will enjoy it.

From my family to yours, if you are in Canada, Happy Thanksgiving!  And if you are not in Canada, Happy Saturday!

Tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or www.twinlifecoaching.ca

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Staying Motivated

Even managers and leaders can have times when staying motivated is difficult.  Maybe it's is something at home bothering you, employee issues or concerns, or just from feeling overwhelmed.  It happens.  If it happens every day, you need to take a look at what you are doing and why you are doing it?  Are you truly happy with your job choice?  Remember, life is about choices you make.  If you are not motivated all the time, find the reason why and move forward.  I can help with that.

If motivation is short lived, here are a few tips to keep you and your team motivated:

1 - Take a break.  As managers and leaders, we forget to take a day off or to shut down during vacation.  So do it.  Remember, if you are a great leader, your team will survive without you for a day or two.

2 - Celebrate.  Bring free coffees in to your team, or even a treat.  This may not feel like it will motivate you, but when you receive the thank you's, you may feel motivated to take on the day.

3 - Team Building.  This can help motivate you and your team.  Make it fun, and not a "corporate is making us do something stupid" thing.  Think outside the box.  If possible get away from the office for it.  Maybe an escape room, after work dinner, games day, or even ask for ideas.

4 - Get Support.  If you are not feeling motivated, tell those who make sense (not necessarily your team - you are their motivator).  Tell a friend, family member or your coach and work on taking steps to feel better.

5 - Get Outside.  This may seem obvious to some, but how often do you actually go out for a walk at lunch?  Go for a hike on the weekend?  Enjoy a fire with some neighbours?  Getting outside away from your electronics will bring back some energy that a lack of motivation can steal.

For more help, please do reach out as I am here to help.  Email me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or visit our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Tara

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Keeping Things Organized

You have only so many hours a day and want some work / life balance...and so do your employees.  So what do you do to get that?  Be organized.

1 - Get rid of emails you receive regularly from your suppliers by unsubscribing.  They can call you or you can reach out to them when the time arises.  For a lot of leaders and managers this can significantly reduce your daily or weekly emails.
2 - Organize your inbox.  Create rules that move emails when they come in.  For example, have all emails you are cc'ed on moved to a CC folder for your review when you are able.
3 - When using an out of office on email or the phone, give the person on the other end someone else to contact while you are unavailable.  This can also significantly decrease workloads when you return from a vacation, business trip, etc.
4 - Going on vacation?  Tell everyone!  Again, give them another contact for that time and you will see a huge drop in your emails and phone messages...and when you are on vacation do NOT answer them.  Unless dire and urgent, there is no need to answer them.  This just allows others to think it is okay to contact you on vacation when you need rest.
5 - Cross train.  No one person should be the only one who knows how to do something.  An organized leader will ensure their team is able to work without one or two of them there (think vacation, short term illness, etc).
6 - Practise the 5S process - Sort, Set In Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain (Google it now and I will explain in a later post).
7 - Get rid of or store documents no longer needed.  Check your governments website for how long you actually need to keep records (hire a lawyer to help if you aren't sure).  This will help get rid of the paper clutter we all have around.
8 - Talk to your employees about what reports or other tasks you actually need and don't need.  Review this annually.  Maybe one of your employees runs a sales report for you and you never review it.  Think: is this really worth the time it takes my employee away from other duties?  Are we doing it just because we always have?  Can I get rid of it and free up some of my employee's time?  if you can, then do it.  Times change fast, so the tasks your employees did last year need reviewed to ensure they are still relevant.  You may find a lot of freed up time by doing this.

Organization is one of the keys to success...there are tones of tips out there and I will continue to share throughout my posts.

Until next time you can always contact me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or find us on the web at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Tara

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Change and Your People

As my organization is going through many big changes right now, I thought it would be a good time to write a bit about this.

Usually leaders and managers know and understand the changes much better than the people on the floor or in the office.  This means your employees may overhear conversations, not understand them and become worried, frustrated or scared for their job security.  Maybe you are talking budget cuts and you know it won't affect them, but do they?

Ensuring your employees are in the know as much as they need to be is important.  They don't have to know everything, but give them enough information so they are not fearful.  Remember, if your company is not doing well or undergoing major changes, this can demotivate employees and actually make things worse.  Being more open about why changes are coming, what they are and how they may affect people is important.

Management teams do sometimes forget the biggest human element in change management - emotions.  We all have emotions and will go through them whether it be: shock, frustration, acceptance, depression, fear, etc.  We must be prepared to manage the emotions of our employees in a way that allows us to move forward with change in a positive manner.  How do you do this?  Share information.  Maybe you say that you are making cost cuts due to expected slow downs and ask them if they have any ideas on how your department can help.  This may actually prove a huge benefit and help you eliminate the need to cut people or other items you know you need or will need in the future.

If your company is not open book, then share what you can to ensure your employees will be by your side, help in managing the change and have a positive outlook.

Until next time, you can reach me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or feel free to check us out online at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Have you evaluated your team?

You have probably evaluated each team member separately during their performance reviews.  Likely the typical things: quality of work, attendance, etc.  But have you evaluated your team and how they can actually help each other?

I am sure you have heard of a SWOT analysis.  You take a situation or project, review your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats so you can work through to achieving your goal.  Have you ever thought of doing a SWOT on your team?

You don't do this with the team, but by yourself evaluating each one.  If you have 3 direct reports and there are some issues here and there for all of them, then do  a SW - Strengths and Weakness on each of those reports.  Maybe a strength of A is that they are punctual, but not very accurate.  Another one (B) is always late, but they are extremely accurate.  Perhaps C is always punctual and a great trainer.  So now look at your Opportunities - Can team member C help team member B with accuracy?  Can team member B help team member A with how to train?  Can team member A help someone be on time somehow?  Then review your threats - perhaps the person who is not punctual is bored and maybe having them do some training with another team member that is struggling will help them feel more empowered.  Maybe you need to have 1:1 meetings to discuss their weaknesses and strengths so they can improve and your team can be great!  Be cautious not to put people down though.  For example, maybe I say to team member A "I see you are having some trouble getting to meetings on time.  What do you think the people who are on time may do differently than you?  Do you think you may be able to do those things to help with being punctual?"

People love praise, so work with things found strengths to help those on your team who may have these as weaknesses.  Help each other be productive.  Basically, you need to know where your teams strengths and weaknesses are so you can make opportunities to improve the team and remove any possible threats.

There is the food for thought for today.  If you need to get in touch with me, please email me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or www.twinlifecoaching.ca for our website.




Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Are you educating yourself?

As a leader or manager, we should always be ensuring continual training and education of our employees, but what about you?

Learning and growing is part of life.  Without it we get stagnant and can't move forward or even get left behind.  Most leaders will take some sort of course, seminar or webinar every now and then (at least quarterly) on the key aspects of their role.  It not only helps you stay updated on our ever changing world, but also allows your employees to see that you too need to always stay educated or trained.  Remember the saying "knowledge is power"?  It is true.  The more knowledge we have, the better we are at making the right decisions.

So, what as a leader do you need training on regularly?  It depends on your role, but if you have direct reports, you should at the very least take an employment law course and then follow that up every year with an update conference or seminar.  Labour laws change frequently and you need to stay abreast of all the changes.

Another one would be human rights.  You need to ensure that not only yourself, but your co-workers and employees are following the human rights laws.  If not, then you need to assess the situation and get legal advice.

A leader should always find a webinar or seminar on leadership.  Even reading a book or this blog is working towards keep yourself educated and updated on the changing leadership world.

Need a leadership coach?  I can help.  Feel free to email me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or check out our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Tara

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Open Book or Closed Book?

Are you an open book organization who shares your financial status with your employees, or are you a closed book organization?

I have worked in both.  My personal opinion is I prefer open book.  This may scare a lot of leaders, but let me share some reasons why it can be a great thing.

1 - It creates understanding.  You can teach your employees all about expenses and how it affects the companies bottom line.  This in turn makes them think about asking for unnecessary items.  For example, if they know that you are having a sluggish profit year, they may hold off asking for that new desk as they know it will affect not only the company, but their job too.  It may even affect their wage increase.

2 - It helps with sales.  If the sales force is paid on commission, bonus or your other employees get profit sharing, if they see the numbers being sluggish, they will pull together to make it work.  For example, someone in production may pay closer attention to their quality, someone order picking may catch an error and fix it before it leaves the plant, your sales force may call on that small customer to get an order that could lead to more.

3 - It develops trust.  If you can get the trust of your employees, then you keep your employees.  People naturally like to know information.  Sharing what is seemingly "intimate" financial information allows your employees to feel trusted and even empowered to make proper decisions.

4 - It creates ideas.  If your employees want more profit sharing / bonus / higher wages, they will work at creating cost saving ideas - especially if you ask them for them.  As leaders we do not always see the waste in some processes, so asking employees for their feedback can and will likely save your company thousands.

Why would you say open book is good for a company?

Still afraid to share too much?  Then start simple...tell them if you are doing ok, or having a sluggish year.  Ask them for ideas to help the bottom line.  It affects them too.

Until next time, I can be reached at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or you can check out our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

1:1 employee meetings

I have recently been having some 1:1 employee meetings with my employees.  Why?  Because I find that they are more open and honest in these meetings, and that builds trust. It is also a great way to understand their needs, express any concerns or praise too.

So, what should you discuss in these meetings?

1 - Share and chat about personal stuff to start - small talk to get them comfortable.  This is important because it shows you care, but also gives a more relaxing atmosphere to the meeting.  If you have an employee who does not want to open up, then you can start.  Be sure to not get too personal, but do you at least know their spouse's name?  The children's names?  Do they have similar pets to you, that you can share stories about?

2 - Find out their pain of the week.  By pain I mean, what has bothered them, stopped them from completing their work, or what they find is a road block to their success at work.  Then work together to find solutions that best work for your business.

3 - Review your employee's goals with them.  If you have not set goals, you should.  Then during these meetings be sure to discuss the status of the goal.  Are they meeting it?  Great!  Are they not meeting it?  Then do some work together to figure it out.  Are they always exceeding it?  Then you need to review the goal and create one that is a bit of a challenge for them to keep them interested.

4 - Whatever else comes up.  Maybe there are personnel issues you need to address.

Be sure to take a few notes.  You don't need to write a novel, but a few notes that will help remind you next time what you discussed or any action items you may have for the next meeting.

I have these meetings weekly and for 20-30 mins at a time.  I suggest this as things change daily in the business world.  If you have numerous employees then maybe you can stretch this out to every 2 weeks, but keep the communication lines open.

As always, you can check us out on line at www.twinlifecoaching.ca or contact me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

Are you a leader?

I have published an article on our website that answers this question.

Check it out at https://twinlifecoaching.ca/are-you-a-leader.  If the link does not work, simply copy and paste it into your web browser.

Always here to help, so feel free to email me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca.

Have a great day!

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Types of communication

There are many different types of communication these days, especially with all the devices out there.  We can write each other, we can call each other, text, face-to-face meetings, emoji's, social media, presentations, webinars and so many others.  So what happens when something is missing?

Let's look at an example of doing a training session.

If we are in a classroom we have the opportunity to use our eyes, gestures and even how we dress to communicate, along with our words and perhaps handouts or a PowerPoint.  All of these help us express ourselves in the way we want to be understood.  We are able to not only communicate the information, but put emphasis on things, show our emotions, or even role play, when we are in person or face-to-face.

If we do the same training on a webinar, we are missing the visual cues for: eye contact, gestures and even our clothes.  What does this mean?  It means we may not be able to fully communicate points to the audience or stress a point like we would in person or show our professionalism.

Now let's say we just email the training in a PowerPoint to our employees and ask them to read it.  So much is missing in the communication.  You are not there to stress key points, your employees cannot see your gestures, emotions or even for you to have role play to practise techniques you may be trying to teach.

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for all of these.  It is about choosing the right one to ensure you communicate exactly what you want to.  If role play for practise is not important, then perhaps a webinar will do.  If feedback or interaction is important, but you have people all across the country, then a webinar may be perfect.  If you have no key points but important information to pass on, then maybe just an email will work.

Ask yourself: what is the best way to communicate this so that my trainees understand what it is and will be able to use the information properly?

As you can see, we communicate in a lot more ways than just words too.  Gestures and eye contact are visual clues for the other parties to receive infomration you are trying to share.  Clothes can show people how serious or professional we expect to be.  Written words or pictures can help with providing examples, definitions or to add to a presentation to help keep attention.  Face - to - Face allows us to role play (as with training), see facial expressions, show emotions or to ask for feedback.  You need to remember all types of communication and pick the best ones for what you are trying to communicate.

If you have any questions or wish a coaching session, please feel free to reach out to me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or check out our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Until next time!


Wednesday, July 3, 2019

The Riddle

So, did you have some fun trying to figure out the riddle from the other day?

Still don't know?  Then try this:  Ask up to 10 open questions (without asking What happened) and see where you get.

The answer, if you are the one asking, is that the men jumped out of a plane and one of their parachutes in their backpacks did not open.

Did you guess this in the 10 closed questions?  Probably not, but I bet you can now ask your co-workers again and they will ask the right open questions to get a quick answer.

This is fun and can be done in any leadership training.  You can even change up the story...just don't let them ask you "What happened?"

Until next time you can find me at www.twinlifecoaching.ca or email at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Closed and Open Questions

When communicating there are 2 types of questions that need to be used, depending on the situation.
Closed questions are those that have the answer "yes" or "no".  An example may be: Is this due tomorrow?  The answer is Yes.  Another example may be: Will you be in tomorrow?  The answer is No.  Basically these questions are asked when you are looking for a very matter of fact answer.  These types of questions are appropriate in job interviews when confirming experience.  For example, if you are hiring a customer service rep, you may ask if they have telephone experience.  Once the answer Yes or No is given, you can move on to other questions or end the interview if you need someone with that experience and they answer No.

Open questions are ones where you are wanting or allowing more information to be provided.  These questions start with: Who? What? Where? Why? When? or How?  For example in interviewing for your customer service rep, you may ask How long have you worked in a field where you were answering the phone?  This gives you a lot more information than the closed question above and allows them to feel comfortable with providing more information.

In my Train-The-Trainer Leadership certificate, we were asked to solve a riddle.  Using only 10 closed questions, figure out what happened.  Remember I can only answer "yes" or "no" and nothing else.

2 men were on the top of a mountain.  One of them was dead.  Both had backpacks, one was full and one was empty.  What happened?

Try this with some co-workers and stay tuned for the second part in a couple of days.

You can reach me via email at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or feel free to check out our website too at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Till next time!

Tara

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Communicate to be Understood

Today I want to focus on your communication, not those of others.  We want to be understood in the way we expect to be, but this does not always happen.  Why?  Because we may not be clear in our words, use words that could have different meanings to different people, or even have visual signals that show something different.

If you want to be understood, be sure you are being clear.  This means that when we are going to be in the 5km race I discussed in an earlier post, we are clear on what our participation means.  I am not a runner, so I am there as a vendor to raise money for the charity.  If we take an example of a manager asking an employee to complete a task, we may say I need this done for tomorrow.  What we really mean is I need it done by lunch tomorrow for a meeting in the afternoon, but we were rushing to give the employee instructions.  We will be disappointed in our employee tomorrow when it is not done on time, but this could be entirely our fault, not our employees.  If we are not clear in the timeline expectation, our employee may prioritize their work to ensure yours is done by end of day tomorrow.  Being clear with your words and expectations is very important, as is deadlines.  We want our team to succeed as much as we want to succeed.  Remember, they are your back up crew.  They are your team, so ensure they are given the communication you want them to hear.

One way to ensure you know they are understanding what you are trying to say is to ask a question.  For example: How will you prioritize your work to ensure I can get that report by tomorrow at noon?  This open question allows for more conversation and clarity to your expectation.

If you are struggling with an employee getting work done on time, accurately, etc, then first ask yourself if they truly know what the expectation is.  I was in a training one time where they explained that a leader may be on a path and believe that their employees are on the same path.  However, one little miscommunication could mean that you are on the path heading North and your employee is headed South.

We will chat more about open questions in a future blog, as these can be key to clear understanding.

As always, feel free to check out our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca or to email me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Comments welcome

This is just a short post to let my readers know that positive comments and questions are always welcome.  As leaders we need to share what works and what does not, so be sure to let me know if you have questions or ideas that can be shared with others reading.

Please note that negative or defamatory comments are not welcome on this blog.  This is about positive change and leadership growth, so those will be removed.

I look forward to seeing what others have to say and will share more about communication in the days to come.

I am available via email at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or you can check out what we have to offer and articles on our web page at www.twinlifecoaching.ca

Have a great evening!

Tara

Saturday, June 15, 2019

What is Communication?

Now that you know a bit about me and my journey (and I will share more as I go), it is time to dig in to some of the fundamentals of being a great leader.

It should not be a surprise at all that Communication is one of the key fundamentals to being a great leader.  So what is communication anyway?  In its basic definition, it is sharing information.  However, as a leader it is much more than just that.

Everyone takes in lots of information each second.  They brain can take in a lot, but only processes a handful.  This may be why we miss things.  I have a bad habit of not seeing people I know at the mall because I am focused on what I am buying or where I am going, so my mind is not focused on taking in other information.  It is not until I hear my name, most times, that I recognize my friend is standing right there in front of me...always an embarrassing moment.

What a leader needs to ensure, and I will touch on each of these in future blogs, is on communicating to be understood, taking in information to understand, being an active participant in communication, practise active listening, using proper questioning techniques, using constructive feedback AND accepting it, and always ensuring you hear or read what they actually want you to.  What one person says can be interpreted in many different ways.  Today I will leave you with 1 example:

I say to someone: "I am going to participate in a 5km race next weekend.  I am very excited as it is for charity."

You hear that I am running a 5 km race next Saturday, I am asking you to sponsor me for charity and I am happy about it.

What I meant was that I am a vendor at a 5km race next Sunday, a proceed of my sales will go to the charity, and I am very happy about it.

This is what I mean by ensuring you communicate to be understood and take in information to understand.  How do you do that?  By being specific in what you say and asking questions to ensure you properly understood.

Practice being more specific with your next communications.  But be sure to not talk down to the other party.  I will leave you with what I could have said from above.

"I am going to be a vendor at a 5km race next Sunday.  I am very excited as I am donating 5% of all my sales to the charity of the run."

Till next time!
Tara

Feel free to email me at tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or visit our website for articles and more information on our life and business coaching at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Have a vision.


Having a vision and a goal was key to me growing in my position.  You can do this by creating a personal vision board, working with a coach, posting a picture of your dream, writing it down and so many other ways.  But most importantly you must have a vision.  Whether it is to grow yourself or your team, you need to know what road you are on and where the end is.  Only then can you begin to take a step forward on your leadership path.

I did just that.  I knew I wanted to be a manager and leader one day.  However, my company is small and growth is limited.  I was patient, but I learned everything I could about different jobs and positions.  I started in customer service, moved to accounting, worked in quality, loved doing pricing, was given Human Resources and now manage many different departments.   I love learning and every leader needs to continually learn and educate themselves.  I made it to manager status back in 2010.  Becoming a leader in my company meant being a person people could count on and trust.

I will share some tips and tricks to becoming an effective leader that I have learned over the years, as well as having your awesome team behind you.  Today I challenge you to set your vision, your goal, where you want to be and want to become as a leader.

You can reach me by emailing tara@twinlifecoaching.ca or check out our website at www.twinlifecoaching.ca.

Tara