#welocals

Last week we touched on identifying routes and creating structure to get our business to where we want it to be - what we call the GPS of business.

This week we're questioning routine! - It's great to give others direction, but it's equally important to keep questioning whether that direction is the best one for everyone to be following.

I first got challenged to change my routine in a workshop given by the inspirational Aileen Gonsalves. 

“Just walk on the other side of the street when you come to work - and observe all the things that are different.” The point being that Aileen wanted me to wake up, start looking around me and become aware of my environment again.

The same applies at work. 

if we are to be efficient leaders we need to be able to step back from the comfort of routine, be aware of what’s happening around us, in our own business and in others - and act accordingly!

Sometimes routine will prevail.  Other times things will need to be switched around because circumstances have changed.  It could be any number of internal factors, unintended consequences or external pressures  - but they all need to be identified and acted on if we want to keep our competitive edge. 

Just like that GPS will recommend a different, more efficient route, we need to be able to identify these in the journey that our business is on and decide whether to reset the route or not.

James O’Loghlin is one of Australia's most respected, entertaining and experienced corporate speakers, corporate comedians and media personalities - you can read his great article on the danger of routines here.

Incidentally, changing the routine on my commute led me to the discover one of my favorite Ramen places in NYC - Teppen Ramen - thank you Aileen :-)

Good luck – appreciate any thoughts and feedback.

How often do you end up in place these days and frankly you have no idea where you are or how you got there?

Welcome to the age of the GPS and AI – We’re guided to our destination along the most efficient route. 

Along the way corrections are made for our mistakes or for other unforeseen obstacles, and if we have certain tasks we have to achieve along the way like drop the kids off at school, that can be programmed in as well. 

At any point during the journey we can change to what is now a better route and still arrive at the goal in the most efficient way.

I for one would love my business to run like this.

But I can’t help feeling that my very reliance on tools like the GPS has made my brain a little lazy in this area. Choosing a destination, mapping out the route, monitoring performance along the way and changing routes if necessary, are no longer things that we ask our minds to do on a daily basis.

But in our business they should be.

So act more like a GPS in your business – you’re probably familiar with the where are we, where are we going and how are we going to get there scenario. 

Once you’ve identified this and mapped it out for everyone to follow, make sure you also have tools in place to monitor progress, measure success and point you towards other routes to the same goal if they become more sensible.

Oh – and one other thing – practice that neutral GPS tone if you find yourself looking for someone else to blame. 

A fun exercise that we do sometimes is to give people copies of a google map of the area around their business.  In pairs one person gives directions for a recent journey they made, the other follows the map – we see if they end up at the same place J, they then change roles to discuss it they would have gone the same way and why.

Good luck – appreciate any thoughts and feedback.

I’m in trouble if I go in to a restaurant with a TV playing.  Unless I can sit with my back to it, I can’t help but get distracted by whatever’s going on on the screen.

This, understandably, annoys anyone I’m with who’s trying to have a conversation with me as my eyes keep shifting with distraction.

Remember those times when our parents would try to get our attention with a frustrated  “look at me!”.

They usually did this when they had something very important to say and wanted to make sure that we listened and had understood.

Essentially they were getting us to focus not just one but two senses on them – hearing and sight.

By doing this they could not only be sure we were listening but also judge our reactions and see if the message was getting through.

And we know this method worked!

Guess what, the opposite is also true.

 Not only is it helpful to get others to look at us when we have something important to say, it’s equally important for us to look at others  – and not just because of the obvious reasons like sincerity, interest, respect and trust

 Just as importantly, looking at people gives you a chance to read people and decide how well your strategy is working:

Are they listening to you?

Are you getting through to them in the right way?

Are they understanding you?

Are they agreeing with you?

Do you need to change tactics to get your point across?

Start practicing in everyday life – look at people when you say thank you – you will come across as more sincere and trustworthy, plus you will be able to make a much better assessment of the person you’re talking to.

Eye contact is a powerful tool – use it to maximum effect.  Here are some more tips and views on achieving more with positive eye contact.

Related subjects: Ditch the cellphone

Good luck – appreciate any thoughts and feedback.

Like most people, I get a little peeved being told how to run my own business.  But I do like it when someone comes up with an idea that will help me do things better!

We’ve all been there. Had a great idea, meant to follow through with it but got distracted by one of the many other issues that come up in the day to day running of our business.

I can’t count the times that I’ve taken time to think about my business strategy and implementation

What are the most important things that need focusing on?

How are we going to implement them?

How are we going to own them and get others to embrace them?

How do we make sure they stay in place and are effective?

What are the success measures?

I come out of these sessions psyched with great action plans. Only to find that a few days later, I’m focusing on something else and I have no trigger to pull me back on course. 

I loved the analogy Elizabeth Lyle used in a Ted Talk the other day on how to break bad management habits, describing herself as a serial dish stacker as she allowed them to pile up in the sink, always finding excuses not to take care of them!

My solution came when a friend of mine suggested I buy a plant for my desk!

Apart from sounding a little O.T.T., you’d think that this would be pretty simple but, after a few failed attempts, it became obvious that a little thought needed to go in to this.

What type of plant best suited my environment  – I wasn’t so sure so I asked my colleagues?

What does that plant say about me?

How much care would it need?

Would I be prepared to take care of it?

Who would take care of it if I was gone?

What would I do if it turned out to be the wrong plant – how would I Know?

Ok, so you can see where this is going if you compare both lists.

But, actually the most important part of having a plant on my desk is the fact that it acts like a constant trigger.  Every time I look at it, it reminds me that projects have to be nurtured -

And just like everything else, if I ignore it, it will fail and die.

So, even if it’s not a plant, get yourself a trigger that sits near your place of work and reminds you that your business and the very structure and systems that you have set up need nurturing.

Here’s an additional bonus. It also encourages conversation when colleagues  visit your work station. And so you start to encourage similar behavior in others!

It’s pretty obvious why Apple has the DO NOT DISTURB WHILST DRIVING feature on the I-phone.  

The same applies to business. We may feel we’re multitasking and getting lots done as we hold meetings, check our devices and juggle tasks , just as we will sometimes text whilst driving because of course nothing’s going to happen to us and we know how to do this efficiently!

But, just like that time we almost walked in to a lamppost, we’re not totally immune  to distraction which can lead to accidents and bad calls.

And then there’s the other side of the coin.  Even if we are that good and can juggle all of this, think of the message we’re sending to anyone we’re trying to engage with whilst being glued to our device.

My texts, emails and stock updates, in fact anything on my screen is more important than you.  Even if that is the case, it’s not what we want to convey and there goes any opportunity for effective collaboration, respect, eye-contact, bonding and earning trust – amongst other things!!

PLUS, our obsession with that tiny screen is distracting us from being able to plan, strategize and perform as we are bombarded by information and requests that send your brain spinning in  all directions.  Think back to our “Get Out” piece where we  focused on the importance of creating space to think.

The problem is that we’re living in a world where our device has become our third arm, we’re even texting each other at home instead of talking to each other across the room!

But let’s not beat a dead horse.  I think we’re all pretty aware of the situation.  The trick is to find some workable and effective solutions.  Here are a few tricks that I’ve found quite helpful:

A)    ENCOURAGE GOOD BEHAVIOR IN YOUR TEAM:

You may think that as the boss you’re different from your team, need to be permanently connected and are good enough to multi task.

That may be true but it doesn’t fly.  Teams take their cue from leaders. If you’re permanently on your device, they’ll feel they have to be too. If you always appear to be distracted and multitasking, they will assume the same behavior is expected of them.

A distracted, multi-tasking team that isn’t focusing on the subject at hand is a rabbit hole you want to avoid.

Make a habit of checking your device away from your team or your customers.

If you do need to check it in front of them, acknowledge that you have to do so and why.

This will encourage good behavior in your team and in the way that they behave in front of customers.

 B)    ACKOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE LOST WITHOUT OUR DEVICES:

Having said all this, it’s true that psychologically we all feel we can’t survive in this crazy paced business world without being permanently plugged in.

So factor in time for everyone to check their devices and emails during meetings & events  – 5 minute breaks every half hour for example.

Have realistic guidelines on cellphone use and when to silence ringers.

Discuss what is and isn’t acceptable practice – for example may use a smartphone to take notes – what’s the policy there?

In a retail/service environment, create an area where team members can go to check devices during their breaks. This way you acknowledge the need for this but also encourage it not to happen in front of customers.

 C)    DON’T LET OTHERS WASTE YOUR TIME:

The device is on the other foot so to speak - What to do if someone else is ignoring you or being distracted by their device?

Politely tell them that you will resume the conversation when they are less busy: “I can see you’re busy. Let’s talk about this later”

 D)    DITCH THE CELLPHONE WHEN YOU “GET OUT”

Going back to our first piece – don’t take your device with you for that thinking moment that you’ve trained yourself to have.

If you’re moment includes music, make this independent of your other notifications – ever wondered why people still have I-pods?

 Here are some further interesting thoughts on this in an article I was reading in US News business.

 Good luck – appreciate any thoughts and feedback.