Last time I blogged about the fact that I literally have a minimum of an extra hour a day due to being more organized.

Perhaps you struggle with the same thing and need some tips. If I can stay organized so can you!

Here are a few things I did:

1. Put everything on my desk. (It was overflowing and made for a great "before" picture)
2. Sort items into four piles. Delegate, Action Required, Project, Read and Review, Trash, Possibly and Information.
3. Tackle each item. Start from the top.
4. If an action item will take 2 minutes or less then do it immediately. If it will take longer then assign the next step. For example, if I need to make a call I will add a task to my outlook and add the phone number.

Some of these ideas are taken from David Allen's book, Getting Things Done.

Organization of my office took 2 full days to complete. No phone calls or emails allowed. This kept me focused on the task at hand and in the end I knew were everything was and had a trusted system.

I now sit down at my desk and open my calendar and begin my day with my tasks. I file things immediately after use. In the past, I always felt that I did not have time to put things away. What a mistake. I can now move quickly and efficiently through my day.

Oh and by the way, at the end of the 2 days I had a beautiful "after" picture!

Labels: business life, getting things done, more time, organized office, professional organizer

It all started with my Thrive Workshops. I had invited a professional organizer to speak about organization at home and in the office. I intentionally had someone else teach this segment due to the fact that this is not my area of expertise.

As workshop participants shared ideas of how they stayed organized I had an AHA moment. Someone mentioned that she color coordinated her bedroom closet. Not only did she use all the same hangers but she also hung her clothes in blocks of colors and type of clothing. At first I laughed and couldn't imagine doing this and sticking to it. However, the same night I decided to go home and try it. Now, several months later I am happy to tell you that I am hooked! My closet look amazing and every night I work the system of hanging things up where they belong. (I know for some of you this is a no brainer)

Why am I talking about this on a business blog? Because many times we bring the same bad habits we struggle with in our homes, into our office.

My organized closet gave me an exhilarated feeling. Suddenly, I felt like I had a new lease on life. It now takes only a few minutes to get ready for the day because I can quickly coordinate my daily wardrobe. Not only that, but the success I experienced at home inspired me to duplicate this in my office.

This past week I worked with the same professional organizer to organize my office. Wow! My life has changed, in fact, I will discuss this in the next blog but I will let you in on a secret. Through this experience, I have discovered the 25th hour. I literally have an extra hour a day due to the fact that I no longer waste hours looking for misplaced items.

Next time, I will share with you some of the things we did to organize my office and the tools I have discovered to effectively keep myself organized and give myself at least another hour in the day.

Labels: more time, organized office, professional organizer

Have you been frustrated with the lack of skills some of your staff exhibit? Perhaps it is a manager that belittles her staff, a sales rep who does not hand in his paperwork on time, or the administrative assistant who seems to be distracted. It is difficult to extrapolate the reasons why employees are inefficient; however, as a leader it is essential that you identify issues that affect unproductive work.

In a fast paced environment that most of us work in, it is difficult to be aware of all the deficiencies that arise. A consultant or trainer can help find the root cause of the issue that negatively impacts your business. In fact, it is important to give the consultant the time they need to conduct a thorough needs assessment. This will not only unveil the "what" but also the "why" of training. The added benefit of hiring a consultant is that employees feel less intimidated and will be more open with someone other than their manager. This valuable information will allow for targeted training sessions rather than band-aid solutions.

How often have you left a meeting frustrated that little or nothing was achieved? Studies show that CEO's spend at least 70 percent of their time in meetings. This in itself indicates the importance of having a well run meeting. If you are chairing a meeting here are a few tips I have found effective in ensuring a well run meeting that produces results.

1. Be prepared! This is crucial. Before the meeting send out an agenda to ensure attendees understand the purpose of the meeting and what they need to prepare before the meeting.
2. Only invite the people that need to be there.
3. Begin on time. People don't want to waste their time waiting on those that are late.
4. Have time limits for each agenda item in order to keep on task.
5. Items that need more time for discussion should be tabled and discussed later and brought to the group at a later time.
6. Allow everyone time to speak on an issue that needs discussion, however, do not allow people to hijack the conversation.
7. For each item that needs to be completed assign action item to designated person and deadline to be achieved.
8. Add food, fun and humour to make meetings more enjoyable.
9. End on time.
10. Send out meeting minutes with action items attached, to each attendee no later than the following day.

Here's to more successful meetings coming your way.

Labels: action item, agenda, effective meetings, management

How has your week been? Have you encountered any failures? How about your team? Was there someone that made a huge mistake, that threw everyone for a loop? If so, how did you handle it? I hope you were gracious and reminded either yourself or your employee that failure can be beneficial. It is easy for us to feel annoyed, frustrated and possibly even angry when an employee makes a mistake, especially when it comes to a high cost, either monetary or otherwise to our business. However, it is imperative that we use this as a teachable moment. John Maxwell calls this "failing forward". He says that our failures should move us forward as we learn from our mistakes. Often our mistakes make way for new possibilities.

If you delegate responsibilities to your employees, which every effective leader should do, make sure the responsibilities also come with instructions and coaching. Do not assume that because you know how to do something that your employee knows and understands this. Often, it is the lack of a clearly defined task that results in failure. I have found this to be the case when I have been to busy to give clear instructions and follow up with employees to see if they have any questions. In the end it takes more time to fix the problem than if I had taken the time to define the task clearly and given ongoing feedback.

If you have given clear instructions and there is still a mistake made it could be due to underlying issues you are not aware of. This is the time to let your employee know that failure is a way of learning what we could have done different. It is a way that we can learn from our mistakes.

These are the benefits of failure; to learn from our mistakes, to establish clear communication and to be gracious to others.

Make it a great day!

Labels: communication, failure, feedback

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill

Many people in my circle of influence have experienced difficult times in the past few months. Difficulties that encompass illness, job loss, and death of a loved one. These times change our world in an instant, and we are often left feeling shell shocked. Wondering how we could have prepared ourselves for such devastating results.

How do we push through such circumstances? I have seen these extraordinary people grieve their losses, but they have not stayed there. Loss of any kind is always difficult, but as Churchill states, the optimist sees opportunity. Opportunity to embrace life with all of it's changes, and to begin a new, possibly more satisfying career, or helping others through grief.

I personally rely on my faith. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I choose to become better not bitter. In the past few years I have chosen to embrace difficult situations and use what I have learned to help others. I do not claim this to be easy, or even a short term process, however, looking at the positive side of an otherwise negative life challenge tends to make us stronger.

Where are you at? Do you see the difficulty or the opportunity? I challenge you to take a look at a difficult situation whether personal, or work-related, and face it with optimism. Ask yourself how you can turn it into a dynamic opportunity? You will be amazed at what you can accomplish with the strength gained through difficult circumstances.

Labels: business life, difficult situations, job loss, opportunities

" It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to understand it, analyze it and appropriately act on it." Stephen Covey

When we set out to accomplish a goal it often includes others. As you discover what goals are important to the success of your business, you will find that feedback from others is essential in creating your long term plan.

I have found several mentors over the years that believed in me and became my personal cheer leaders. I asked for feedback and was open to their advice knowing they observed things from a different perspective. The benefit of asking people from all walks of life and business is the diverse and yet valuable insights you will glean from them. There are also those friends and family members that are either negative or jealous of your accomplishments. The best solution is to find more supportive people, or choose not to speak with them about your goals and dreams. This is the time you need to rally those around you that are excited about your dream and passion and believe that your goals will get you there.

Occasionally your adviser will give you feedback that causes you to be fearful or doubt yourself. This is when you need to evaluate where they are coming from. Ask enough questions to understand the context in which they speak. Perhaps there observations are true or they may have had a negative experience and not worked through it yet, thus tainting their ability to give impartial advice. This is why it is vital that you ask a lot of questions so that you are able to be discerning.

Lastly, learning to act appropriately on advice given; when someone has given me advice I have asked others to confirm this, read articles and books on the subject to ensure I have a good handle on how to implement the advised change.

This week I challenge you to call a mentor, friend or family member for coffee and humbly seek their advice. You never know what can happen until you ask!

Enjoy your weekend!

Labels: advisors, business life, goals, mentors, wisdom

Welcome to my blog! This is a place of sharing things I have learned and continue to learn about business and life. Or should I say owning a business and still having a life? It is for all of you that love work and life!

It is January and the magazines, blogs, television shows and friends are all talking about New Year’s resolutions. I don’t want to talk about resolutions because I have often set myself up for failure believing that this year I will lose that weight or whatever else I have wanted to do and failed over the years. Instead I want to talk about goals. I believe goals can be achieved if we take the proper steps and commit to doing them. I am sure many of you have learned about the S.M.A.R.T method in achieving goals. This is where goals need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. This is a strategic way to ensure that your goals have a better chance of being reached.

This Christmas at my family gathering my brother posed this question to several people. “What is one of your goals for this year?” Two people mentioned taking a personal retreat, one growing their business, one person mentioned taking care of their spouse who has been having some health issues. These were all wonderful but I found it interesting and somewhat disheartening, how some people could not think of any goals they wanted to pursue. The reason this saddens me is because I see too many people not living intentionally. People walking aimlessly without any thought of how important their lives are and what they could accomplish if they chose to live intentionally. How about you? Are you living intentionally?

My blogs this month will be dedicated to pursuing intentional living, through goal setting. Perhaps you are like me where you are very intentional in some areas but lax in other areas. This causes an imbalance that we often need to explore each day. I’d love to hear from you and what you are doing to live life to the fullest and how you plan to reach your goals.

All the best in 2010.