Tag Archives: growth

On the Move? Things to Consider Before Relocating for Work

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Moving boxes in empty roomTraveling across the country for a new job may be just the adventure you’ve been waiting for. Like all adventures, relocating for work comes with its share of challenges. Being honest about the benefits and drawbacks of moving for work can save you time, money and family struggles down the road.

Show Me the Money

One big relocation incentive is a pay increase. But extra zeroes may not make much difference when the boxes are all unpacked. Ask yourself these questions regarding price vs. rewards before relocating:

  • Can I sell my home and break even or make a profit? If you can’t sell your house in a timely way and make enough from the sale for a down payment on another home in the new location, the difference in salary may not be worth the move.
  • Is the pay substantially better than where I am? Although the pay may look like enough to make moving worth the effort, some serious number crunching can help you get a clearer picture. Compare utility costs, fuel costs, taxes, as well as the cost of food in the new location. Are there added perks to the new job, like a car that could save you money? Take time to compare 401k plans, profit sharing and potential bonuses between your current job and the new offer. Adding everything together helps you get a clear picture of how much more you will make if you relocate.
  • Will the new company help with moving expenses? Moving across the country is expensive. Calculating how much the move will cost and whether your new job will to pay for it is an important part of your decision-making process.
  • Will the company cover temporary housing? If you are moving to a large city like, say, Phoenix, finding the right neighborhood for your family can take a lot of time. Many companies offer a short-term housing allowance to cover apartment rentals to give you and your family time to find the right house, neighborhood and school district.

The Relationship Factor

No matter how good the job offer, relocating can be difficult on relationships. Spouses, significant others, children and extended family are all part of the equation. Consider the impact your move will have on those you love by asking yourself these questions:

  • How will the move affect my spouse’s career? If your spouse has achieved certain career goals or is working toward them, relocating for your job may not be in her best interest. Be willing to say “no” to a new offer for the sake of your spouse.
  • What about the children? Moving can be harder on children than anyone in your family. Changing schools, making new friends, getting used to a new neighborhood can be devastating for children if not planned intentionally and strategically. Consider carefully how relocating will impact your children and, if they are old enough, get them involved in the conversation.
  • How will my extended family react? If you live near aging parents, consider how moving will impact them. Do they need help with their daily routine? Will moving mean multiple trips back and forth each year to meet their changing needs? Do your parents provide support like babysitting? How will your family replace this in a new town?

What’s the difference between strong management and harassing behavior?

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One reader asked me: I’d like to get some insight about the fine line between behavior by a manager that is legitimately harsh and within normal management practices and behavior that could be considered harassment. For example, how do you determine whether reprimanding an employee in front of his or her peers is harassment? Questions: Are there certain criteria that apply to conduct that is considered to be harassment? Can yelling at an employee in front of his or her peers be harassment? What determines whether or not it is? How likely is it that an employee who is disciplined under legitimate circumstances will complain of harassment? How does an employer deal with this situation?
I think this issue can be greatly simplified by simply focusing on ‘appropriate behavior’.
Instead of trying to define the line between managing and harassing behavior — corporations should focus simply on appropriate behavior. Something can be deemed ‘inappropriate’ more easily than the legal definition of ‘harassing’.
If the company’s only goal is to avoid legal ramifications, then that is one thing. But if the company’s goal is to provide an appropriate atmosphere for employees to be productive and inspired — then focusing on ‘appropriate’ behavior will be more beneficial to both management and employee.
Appropriate behavior supports calm, confident, and flexible leadership.
If management is confident that he/she can handle any situation – then there is no need to yell, scream or curse at any time.
  • Inappropriate actions would include:
  • reprimanding an employee in front of his or her peers
  • blaming individuals or external environment for project status
  • defending one’s position on a particular solution against all other solutions
  • demanding that there is only one way to accomplish a shared goal.
If you focus on high-level appropriate reactions, then the legal line of harassment rarely comes into play.
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When to hire?

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When to hire?

Professional development series

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and life coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into office etiquette on various real-world IT topics in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series.

In the recent interview with Steve Wynkoop (founder of SSWUG.org) we covered the “hiring” topic (don’t miss another professional newsletter tip—signup for the free newsletter here). This article covers the topic in more detail.

In today’s tight economy, many employers are under financial strain.  They need additional staff and resources to get the products and services out the door, so that they can expand and sell more products.  On the other hand, ‘right now’ money is tight to hire new employees.   Because of this dilemma, many  businesses wait much too long to hire and fail because of this.

 

So – when is the right time to hire?

The simplest answer to this complex question is: “When the important work isn’t getting done.”

There will always be an abundance of work on our plates.  But when we see that the MUST DO tasks are not getting done at the quality, accuracy or speed that our business needs to be successful – then we need to reevaluate where we are placing our resources.  We need to constantly focus on the business goals, mission and vision (versus being distracted from the everyday items).

For instance – if the ‘nice-to-have’ items are getting done; instead of the MUST DO – there are several things we can do:

1)      Reposition resources from the ‘nice-to-have’ items and onto the MUST DO.

2)      Train inside personnel to move onto MUST DO items

3)      Contract help for a short-term to close the gap on the MUST DO.  This is useful if it’s a temporarily blip or gap.

4)      Replace/retrain ineffective personnel (Performance Improvement Plan or PIP).  This is useful if the MUST DO is fully staffed but just not being executed effectively.

5)      Place ineffectual employee on a PIP plan and subsidize with a temp-to-hire personal.  If PIP fails, you can convert the temp-to-hire. (For more information on how to implement a PIP, contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info )

6)      Add additional staff, if you have the funds and time to interview.

7)      Outsource or hand-off to business partner/affiliate, if you don’t have the funds or time to interview/train.

Hiring isn’t always the silver bullet.

Quick steps to move forward:

1)      Identify the staffing gap (clarify the business goals that are not getting accomplished).

2)      Outline the skill set and time frame needed for the gap.

3)      Research alternative ways to fill that gap that fit your budget and time frame.

Conclusions:

Don’t wait until the last minute to hire a candidate that requires training.  Merely hiring someone will not solve the problem.   When you hire, you ultimately increase administration tasks, expenses and learning curves.  The delay caused by the inevitable learning curve places additional financial and morale strain at the workplace. Consider your natural business cycle with hiring.  If you are hiring in a spike consider more qualified candidates.  If you are hiring during the slow season and are ramping up for your next spike, then you have time to train someone less experienced. If you don’t have time or money to hire, consider outsourcing or handing-off to business partners/affiliates with a referral revenue plan.

If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or subscribe to my weekly professional tips newsletter at http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

 

Using Game Theory to Navigate Business Obstacles

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Many of the strategies used in games can be effectively translated to business and professional navigation.  Find out how….

Notice the similarities between game play and office strategies:

  • Play by the rules of the game
  • Familiarize yourself with your opponents strengths and weaknesses
  • Understand the stats on your teammates
  • Accommodate for any handicaps on your team, and defend against the strength on the other team
  • Keep your ‘tells’ in check (Be aware of what your nonverbal cues and reactions are expressing)
  • Understand your options.  (You have more than one game piece on the board)
  • Continue to increase your skills and focusing on gaining additional game pieces
  • Take advantage that you have three lives.  (Be willing to take risks to learn how to get to the next level)

If you were to take advantage of just one idea — I recommend the multiple lives rules.

Most games give you multiple chances to advance. In baseball you get three strikes before you are out.   Even then you have more than one inning at bat.  In video adventure games, you have 3 virtual lives.  We grew up with the idea of multiple changes and taking gaming risks (gambling with our game pieces), but most of us are too timid to do this in the office.  Avoiding risks at the office translate into never going to bat (which means removing any opportunity for a home run).

Take the HOME RUN TEST to learn want steps to take to win at the office.

In my GoTo Academy: Tools for the GoTo Guy and Gal continuous online coaching series, I go into Time-boxing and the use of Parking Lot methods in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please signup for the continuing online coaching series.

Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Detaching from results opens doors to new possibilities.

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Detaching from results opens doors to new possibilities.

This week I have been reviewing some of the events that lead me to some of my largest successes.  Almost all of them stemmed from unexpected and unforeseen resources.

Some examples:

  •   Last several years I had been invited to speak at the DevLink Technical Conferences in Tennessee.   Last year SSWUG.org was attracted to my DevLink seminars and invited me to Tuscon, AZ to tape 4 seminars for their SSWUG.org online webinar series.  This led me to a wonderful working relationship with Stephen WynKoop (founder of Bits on the Wire and SSWUG.org).  We now have a weekly interview program and online coaching series on professional development.
  •  A few years ago, I presented at a local company health fair.  There I met Theresa Corcoran (who was manning another booth at the fair.  Today we are business partners at 360 Degree Inspired Success  (www.360degreeInspiredSuccess.com)

 

In both cases, I had no reason to expect these results.

 

1)      Although DevLink is an exceptional conference, I had no reason to believe that another company would be interested in video and incorporating the 4 presentations into their main-stream learning cycle.

2)      After I connected with SSWUG, the DevLink invitation stopped coming.  This was very interesting to me because it led me to believe that my DevLink interaction has completed its mission.  The sole reason for DevLink to cross my path this way was to allow me to hook up with SSWUG and to better sales opportunities.

3)      The local company health fair only had 20 employees.  On the surface, one may have thought it wasn’t worth my time or energy.  But I met my future business partner — which is leading me to better recurring revenue stream in areas that are in my genius.

Bottom Line:

Don’t attach to a specific result.  Chances are that the results of our actions are not always predictable or immediate.

Take a deep breath and relax….everything is unfolding perfectly.

Give Reasonable Directions

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Follow up instructions with reason.

Professional development series

This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and life coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into office etiquette on various real-world IT topics in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please sign-up for the continuing online coaching series.

I experienced two very different situations that highlighted the need for explaining the reason for your instructions.

1)     A friend received instructions from her doctor to take the next few days off and away from work.  My friend agreed to take several days off – then proceeded to continue to read work emails and call into conference calls.

2)     A family member wanted to increase their protein intake and purchased some Whey powder to mix in with their coffee.  Since the canister’s instructions mentioned that 9 scoops will cover their daily protein requirements, she returned the product because she would not be using 9 scoops in her coffee.

As you can see from the above (very different) examples, different people interpret instructions differently.

But what if the instructions came with the following explanation or reasons?

What if the doctor said: “The reason I recommend taking several days off and away from work is to allow both your mind and body a break from work-related issues”?.  I want you to unplug completely for several days to recharge and get well.  This means no emails, no meetings, no nothing.  Hand off any immediate tasks to your manager and then completely unplug.”

What if my family member understood that the protein supplement is just that, a tool or supplement to add more protein to your current dietary program?  You wouldn’t necessarily need to use 9 scoops, if your current meal plan already included protein.  It is only meant as a tool to assist you in absorbing the right amount of daily required protein in a balanced plan.

If my friend and family member had understood the purpose behind the instructions, their response would have been more in lined with the intent of the instructions.  But by providing just the instructions, we have allowed room for error.

So – how can we, as team leaders and employers, avoid these pitfalls?  The first step is to avoid one-way instructions or directions.  Although email may be a convenient “instruction” media, it does not assure that the directions were interpreted correctly (or the way you had intended).

Here are some steps to assure that you will get what you want.

Understand the intent or goal of your instructions:

If you cannot articulate the reason for your request, it’s impossible for your employee or teammate to ‘hit it out of the park’ for you.

Verify that every step of your instructions support and are aligned with your goal.

Everything changes.  What worked last month may not be relevant today.  Verify that your current process is still aligned with your intentions.

For example: Requiring your salaried employees to submit time cards to verify that they are working the proper number of hours.

 This procedure may not be accomplishing your true goal.  Your goal is probably to make sure your salaried employees are performing and accomplishing the work they are committed to accomplish.  You may want to consider weekly one-on-one meetings to verify status on projects and tasks (versus keeping track of the hours they are logging).

Convey both the directions/instructions and reason to your staff/team.

To properly convey the instructions and reason, you need to also include active and empathic LISTENING skills.  Merely stating the instructions and reasons, only, do not assure that the message was received properly.  You need to also ask Open-ended questions to verify the message was received correctly.  This means sending an email-instruction is not sufficient.  You need an interactive face-to-face or phone meeting.  Some things to validate on that interactive meeting:

  1. Convey your instructions and reason
  2. Ask audience members to paraphrase your instructions and reason
  3. Ask audience members to share what these instructions mean to their current roles and responsibilities
  4. Ask audience members how these instructions will change the way they do their jobs (both positive and negatively)
  5. If any negative changes results, discuss/brainstorm on alternatives to accomplish your goal without negative impact to the team.

Conclusions:

Although these above steps take a little more time upfront (versus merely providing an email directive), it will avoid misinterpretations and some email-churn of Q&A after the project has started.     Being impatient or too concise with your direction may cost you in the long run (because your instructions can be misinterpreted and your project derailed). Allowing your team to play a co-creative role in this solution will lead to a more collaborative working relationship.

If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or subscribe to my weekly professional tips newsletter at http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Design your next performance review workshop

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Greetings from Laura

I just completed a great lesson plan on “Designing your next performance review.” for my online coaching series.  I’m really excited about the materials, techniques and alternative references that I have been including in this subscription based lessons-learned series.
But this particular episode holds a particular soft-spot in my heart.   Most of my professional friends are disappointed at one time or another about a recent performance appraisals.   This particular lesson outlines several easy steps to assure an exceptional review.

If you would like this on-line class material (at no cost and one-time limited offer), please fill in this order form.  No credit or payment information is required.

My hope is that you will find the material very valuable and decide to subscribe to this continuous on-line coaching series.

Even if you decide not to enroll in the series, please use this particular lesson to your best advantage.

Warmly,
Laura Lee Rose

Stop working 7 Days a Week to get your job done.

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This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and life coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional continuous online coaching series, I go into office etiquette on various real-world IT topics in detail.
If you are interested in more training in these areas, please signup for the continuing online coaching series.

In the previous newsletter article on Professional Development, we covered some office conflicts (don’t miss another professional newsletter tip—signup for the free newsletter here). A follow-up client question (regarding the previous newsletter article) was “If your workplace is getting too hard, but you like the job – do you leave the job or stay there? What’s your recommendation, please.”

I am not a fan of the idea of working 7 days a week. As a time and project manager, I am more in-lined with realistically scheduling for 5 quality work days (or equivalent). The company is paying you for 5 days of quality (i.e. the very best of you). You can’t give the best of you,  if you are not the best of you (which mean the well-rounded healthy, happy, stress-free you). I recommend realistically planning and working 5 quality work days. This way you have the energy and stamina to handle anything that comes your way. You will have the adrenalin required for the infrequent emergency.

“But the works continues to come and my boss expects me to do it.  If I don’t do it, I get a poor performance review or worst: fired!”

Imagine the company as a restaurant with a glutton of menu items.  But you don’t have the funds (time and energy) to purchase everything on the menu.  Therefore, you deliberately pick and choose the items that best fit your budget and preferences.  Now, imagine your manager as a blind waiter.  The blind waiter will continue to pour your coffee until you say “when”.  In both situations (the menu and the coffee), it is your responsibility to speak up.  The company and waiter will continue to bring you food and drinks until you say “stop”.  Their job is to push their product.   And even if you take the meals home to complete later, they end up spoiled and stacked at the back of your refrigerator.

Your manager wants the work ‘done with quality’ — not laying at the bottom of your in-basket (i.e. back of your refrigerator).  He doesn’t much care if you get it done or someone else gets it done.  Allowing him enough lead time to manage and hand-off to someone else is the responsible thing to do.

“I’m worried about my performance review.”

At the end of the day, your manager expects good work from you.  They contracted for 5 days of quality work, allowing you to create a balanced life that sustains your energy, passions, and expertise.  The weekends and vacations are designed to energize, feed your creativity and hone your skills.  Taking this needed time away from work allows you to be more productive and effective during the paid 5 days at the office.  Being fully transparent on the items that you can realistically accomplish with quality and those that need to be re-assigned or postponed, allow your team to properly manage the business.  Taking full advantage of the team attitude propels you to a different level.  Quality and honest service begets larger rewards.

On the other hand, working long hours 6 or 7 days a week will product mediocre product and services. Not taking the vacations, weekends, breaks and training drains your batteries.  Although effective for short periods in ‘high-crunch’ emergencies, the execution as a long-term strategy will be exhausting. You will be producing 7 days of mediocre work.  Not producing your best 5 days a week is stealing from your company.  The company will not be impressed with the mediocre work (even though you feel you are working hard and putting in extra hours) and you will get a poor performance review. Now you are resenting the extra hours and the lack of appreciation.

Conclusion:

As in the restaurant, the company will always have things for you to do.  The projects and ideas will continue to flow and evolve.  Every accomplishment will yield new ideas for the next project or service.  It is a never-ending spiral of growth and expansion.  Therefore, the list will never be completed.  If the list will never be completed, then working 7 days a week won’t be enough, either.  In the restaurant, you have no problem picking and choosing from the menu.  You have no problem saying “when”.  We need to feel that comfortable in the professional office as well.

On the other hand, I believe you can have it all.   To learn how to have it all, please subscribe to the GoTo Academy: Soft Skill Tools for the GoTo Professional.

If you liked this tips, more can be found at www.lauraleerose.com/blog or subscribe to my weekly professional tips newsletter at http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

The weekly newsletter contains tips on:
1)      Time management
2)      Career maintenance
3)      Business networking
4)      Work life balance strategies

If you haven’t taken advantage of your introductory time management coaching session, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

How to build a healthy employee relationship

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Whether you are a small business owner or head of a corporate department, building healthy employee relationships is much like building any relationship.  Read on for some quick building blocks for a strong employer/employee foundation.
Some significant tools are:
1) Good and open communications
2) Avoiding blame or defensiveness (don’t take anything personally)
3) Don’t make assumptions (avoid judging others)
4) Incorporate aspects of coaching and mentoring (lead by outstanding example)
Key phrases to incorporate:
Someone’s performance level is dropping and they are constantly late and/or missing important meetings:
Review the previous agreement or understanding:
“John, I need help on something. Because this is a small company and we’re working hard to make it a success, I need all my staff to be working effectively and efficiently. When I first hired you, we agreed that the work-day would start promptly at 8:30am – 5:00pm (with 1 hour for lunch at 12:00). Does that match your memory?”
“yes”
Review the reason behind the rule or agreement:
“Great. The reason I need those time blocks is so that I can schedule the proper staff meetings, conference calls, project planning and schedules within those allotted blocks. With those agreements in place, I can depend upon my full staff available during those blocks. This allows the department to function seamlessly without the overhead of micromanaging and time-cards. Have I held up to my commitment to only schedule work-related activities during those hours?”
“yes”
State your observations in a non-judgmental tone:
“Great. In regards to this specific area, I have noticed that you have not be attending our staff meetings and have been arriving late and leaving earlier. This has been a recent occurrence, maybe 2 weeks. Is there something outside of the office that is affecting your ability be fully available during the regular work hours? Something that just recently happened?”
Listen with an open mind:
At this point you might discover that your employee is going through something temporary (either in or out of the office). For example: he/she may be going through a divorce and is struggling with child custody issues. It might simply be a matter figuring out the new child-drop-off patterns or resolving some additional child-care arrangements.
Come up with a plan that accomplishes both your and their needs:
In this example, it could simply be a matter of allowing the employee to work from home on the days they are responsible for their children. Or shifting the meetings that they are critical/responsible for — later in the day/morning. Or recording the staff meetings for people to review later.
Bottom line: A healthy employee relationship is not much different from any personal or business relationship. It takes compassion without compromising your individual or business goals, mission or vision. Majority of the time, there is a solution that uplifts both sides.

Work is getting too hard, but you enjoy the job….what do you do?

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This is Laura Lee Rose, business and success coach that specializes in time management, career management and work/life balance strategies.   Recently I received the questions: “Work is getting too hard, but I enjoy the job.  What should I do? Should I stick it out or leave?”

Although I don’t know enough about this particular situation to answer in detail — I do know that if you don’t do something different, things will get worse.

On the other hand, I believe you can have it all.   Here are some tips to experiment with:

  1.  Clearly articulate what you really like about your current position.
  2. Find ways to increase your focus on those aspects that you enjoy.
  3. Find ways to delegate and train others on the tasks that are not aligned with your individual career goals.
  4. Acknowledge that the MUST DO items will always get done (otherwise they are not really MUST DO items). Also acknowledge that you can’t do everything. You can only do your best.
  5. If some of those “MUST DO” items are not aligned with your individual career goals, be transparent with your manager.  Express that you want to always give your best.  And you are unable to do your quality best on this particular item.
  6.  Be transparent with co-workers and managers on what you are working on and what you are not currently working on. Be transparent on (and realistic about)  when you will get to things, and what you are prioritizing very low. If they feel that the things you are not working on are important — it will get assigned to someone else. If it doesn’t get assigned to someone else — then it’s not that important. (See Rule 4).

Read Don Ruiz’s The Four Agreements  (quick summary below):

  1. Be impeccable with your word (Say way you mean, and do what you say)
  2. Don’t take anything personally
  3. Don’t assume or judge
  4. Always do your best.