Tag Archives: Laura Lee Rose

How do you deal with workplace bullying?

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Today’s comment came from a busy professional and an entrepreneur:

How do you deal with workplace bullying?

bullyMy friend at work had a computer crash. So he came to me since I know about the environment.
The computer crashed on him, he reset it, but while the program was down, and was costing client’s money. His manager says he does not have time to deal with this. The supervisor says he has to deal with it. This means he would have to pay out his own pocket. How would you deal with this without making a fuss? My advice was to phone the area manager, but there are no rules on what to do here. Do you have better advice for him?

First of all – I am not sure this is an example of “workplace bullying”. Many times “workplace bullying” is in the eye of the beholder. People that do not want to take responsibility for their situations are more comfortable taking the “victim” role than the hero. In this article, we’re going to focus on what you can do as the hero in these types of situation – instead of the victim.

Secondly, “The supervisor says he has to deal with it.” — Doesn’t automatically mean that “he would have to pay out his own pocket”. This is an assumption on your part. What the manager actually said was that the employee needs to use his own best judgment on this issue.

One suggestion is to ask your manager that – since he doesn’t have time to deal with this, would he like you to contact the 2nd line manager (his manager) about this. Or does his manager have someone else you should contact. Asking your manager “point-blank” if you should go to his manager often gets your manager’s attention. Now that you have your manager’s attention – you can work on a solution together.

Take advantage of your one-on-one manager meetings

If you have been following any of my webinars, articles, and blogs, you know how much importance I place on scheduling frequent and regular one-on-one meetings with your manager.   Having these critical meetings actually eliminates or greatly reduces misunderstandings between employers and employees.

The better working relationship you have with your manager, the less likely that your manager will “blow you off” or “bully you”. The one-on-one meetings are just the thing to build a better working relationship with your boss. Take a more active role in building that better working relationship.

I have more tips on how to impress your boss in the webinar: 5 Keys to Impressing Your Boss. If you are interested in more information on that webinar, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info or setup a one-on-one chat using https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

Document the solution

Just because there are “no rules on this” or (no current procedures) doesn’t let you off the hook. Anything that you encounter needs to be properly documented. Once you run into an issue, you need to document the issue and its subsequent solution. Forget that “it’s not my job”- take the initiative and make it part of your regular MO.

Conclusion:

The key to avoiding this situation is to be proactive. Document your work, be transparent with your manager, and talk to the offending parties.   It’s more difficult to get credit for something after the fact, without looking petty. So be proactive on your copyrights/trademarks and “document, document, document.

 

For help on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

 

Or sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ

How to capitalize on your GENIUS

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author. My background is in time and project management.

I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.

At the end of the day, I give people peace of mind.
Today’s question came from a busy professional interested in freeing some time and space to advance in his career.

I have lots of knowledge to share. What are some ways to share my knowledge and get additional exposure as an expert in my field? 

 

Can do it any number of ways – Speak it, Write it, Perform it.

JUST GET IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD!

 

Speak it: audio, webcam video

Write it: Articles, blogs, Tips, Interview

Perform it: brown bag lunches, professional organizations, Youtube it

  • Once you have it out of your head – you can productize it any number of ways.
  • Slap a graphic or slide deck to an audio, and you have a video
  • Put your speaker notes into your slide desk presentation and you have an ebook
  • Take your article and split it into digestible tips and you have your social media postings

Full list of the things you can do can be found in my Capitalizing On Your Genius Cheat Sheet at

http://eepurl.com/Vy0-n

Why should I do this? – If you’re the only one that knows how smart you are, what good are you – really?

 

Everyone already knows this stuff. It’s common sense – You’ll be surprised how uncommon, common sense is. Regardless – some people will know it, and some will not. Some people will be interested and some will not. So what? You’ll never know who will be interested in what you have to share if you never share it.

 

Others can say it better: So what? You can’t get better without practice.
I know your situation is different. Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward. To schedule an appointment, book it HERE.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

I have a monthly presentation on “how to say YES to everything but on your own terms”. To sign up for the complimentary course, go to www.lauraleerose.com/Say-Yes

At what point are you being too greedy in salary negotiation?

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Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose.  I am a speaker and author.  My background is in time and project management.I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable and have time to enjoy life even if they don’t have time to learn new technology or train their staff.  I have a knack for taking big ideas and converting them into smart, sound, and actionable ideas.At the end of the day, I give people peace of mind.Today’s question:At what point does the hiring manager or boss think that you’re being too greedy when it comes to negotiating your salary?

My recommendation is to take everyone out of the picture as your first step.

1) Understand the salary market of your current position and region

2) Understand how relevant your current skills, experience and background is to the current market

3) Understand what salary you desire to achieve the lifestyle that you currently want.

After you have done these steps, you can decide if your salary demands can be sustained by the current market demand.

Then have a transparent discussion with your manager on what your salary goals are.  Provide him with a time line, and alternative compensation solutions.

Work with your manager to define an Individual Development Plan that will take you from where you are today – to where you want to be (in regards to both salary and position) within the suggested time frame.  Work together on a plan to achieve your salary goals.
Avoid approaching this as a “Black/White” negotiation.  Offer alternative compensation solutions like a 4-day work week, flexible hours, working from home a few days a week, an additional week of vacation, additional employee benefits donation/savings matching, educational reimbursements.  Consider to offer if you increase sales and reduce costs by xx% within the next 6-months, that your salary increase will be approved.  Attach your salary directly to monetary performance results.  There are a combination of ways to increase the bottom line of your salary.
The company is in the business to make money.
If you can tangibly quantify how much money you are bringing – it’s easier to negotiate for a raise.

I realize that your situation may be different.   Why don’t we schedule an appointment, where I get to know more about your unique situation? And then I will be happy to make recommendations on what your best steps are moving forward.

With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.

Contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info for additional information on these things.

I also have several worksheets that help clarify your goals, your teams missions, and your performance expectations in the Professional Development Toolkit.  The toolkit goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how of all of the above.  It contains audios, videos, presentations, and worksheets for your use and growth.  Take the next step and check the toolkit out <<HERE>>

Or sign up for my weekly Time and Career Management Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/cZ9_-/

 

How to make the right call between multiple job offers

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How do job seekers receiving multiple job offers that weren’t quite what they expected know when to accept one, keep hunting, change directions or go off on their own?

job labyrintUse my Pro and XCon list.  Everyone is family with the Pro and Con list.  They list what they like about the job and what they don’t like about the job.  Using the Pro and Con method often results in indecisiveness because you often find that each job has as many Pros and they have Con.  Using my Pro and XCon list is a 3 column list.  You have your regular Pro and Con columns.  But then you add your XCon column.  The XCon column is third column.  You use the XCon column to list what needs to happen to turn the Con item into an XCon (or acceptable to you).

Then use the XCon items in your negotiation meetings.  This strategy actually better directs which one to accept OR if you need to continue to look.

Reminder:  Employers and companies are going to be putting their best foot forward during the interview and hiring process. If you find them unwilling to negotiate at the interview stage, they will be less likely to negotiate after you are hired.  If you do not like how they are reacting to your attempts to create alternative solutions, then merely move on without regret or doubt.

How do job seekers  know when to keep hunting or go off on their own?

My recommendation isn’t to “go off you your own”, just because you can’t find the perfect job.  Only start your own business if you want to start your own business.   Then the next question – after you have decided that you want to start your own business – is when to start it?   And, that my friend, is a topic for another day or better yet – a one-on-one business coaching meeting.

I also have several worksheets that help clarify your goals, your teams missions, and your performance expectations in the Professional Development Toolkit.  The toolkit goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how of all of the above.  It contains audios, videos, presentations, and worksheets for your use and growth.  Take the next step and check the toolkit out <<HERE>>

Sample Pro-XCon Worksheet:

Pros Cons XCon What will reduce discomfort of the Con

Job 1

$45/hr – underpaid Request $60-65/hour
Analytical, model and mathematical work that I enjoy Don’t have enough money to do much. Ask if there’s an opportunity to get paid for your articles and publications on your findings (in addition to the hourly rate)
Opportunity to set a standard Can’t enjoy my free time very much. Find alternative/added revenue stream
Opportunity to present papers on discoveries
Opportunity to define processes and lead policies
     

Job 2
$85/hour
Easy work Have to accept without reading/signing a contract.  After I accept, I get a written contract to review and sign. Accept job, with the contingency on the review and acceptance of the terms.  And you will start 2-weeks after you sign the contract. Don’t give Glaxo a resignation until you have read contract.
Will have enough money to do a few more things (including supporting my daughter if she needs it). Not very exciting or challenging work. Ask if there are presentation opportunities within the company.
Will have some funds to enjoy my free time.  Will have some free time to enjoy. Ask if there are any opportunities (in this company) to set standards or procedures in the area that you are interested in.
Is there an outside activity that can fill the presentation, publication, and setting standards gap?  Is there another thing that gives me the same fulfillment or filling?

7 Public Speaking Tips for Introverts

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SpeakingHello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management books TimePeace: Making peace with time  and The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations– and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  Stephen Wynkoop and I regularly meet on professional development topics. Our interviews can be found at Laura Rose Career Management Series

This week’s topic was “Public speaking tips for introverts”

7 public speaking tips for introverts

As we rise up the corporate ladder, public speaking (whether in the form of presentations, proposals or seminars) becomes a large part of our advancement.  It helps us build our reputation, credentials and professionalism.  As our career develops, our professionalism and talent needs to become more public; therefore, public speaking will become a part of the job.
Even though public speaking is important to any career advancement, many are uncomfortable in front on an audience.

Here are some quick tips:

1)    Consider ToastMasters to improve your public speaking.  It’s a unintimidating environment filled with people with the same goals.

2)    Talk about things you are passionate and know about.  Everyone is excited to talk about their passions and experiences.

3)    Practice, practice, practice.  Take every opportunity to stretch yourself.  At every interaction, make it a goal to tell one story to a stranger or group (just one story).

4)    Think positive. Visualize the speech several times before you actually make it.  Screenplay it exactly has you want it to go.  While you are speaking, pretend that you are someone else.  Channel one of your role models and give the speech as he/she would do it.

5)    Everyone understands how difficult it is to speak in front of groups.  They appreciate what it takes to get up there and want you to succeed. Acknowledge that everyone in the audience is on your side.

6)     Another thing that helps is to use your speech to speak well of someone else.  Sometimes it is easier to speak of someone else’s’ endeavors and accomplishments because you are placing the spotlight on them (instead of on yourself).

7)    Use a familiar prop.  Sometimes a prop helps with nerves because some of your attention is focused away from the audience and onto the prop.  Creating “how to” speeches or presentation is an easy way for introverts to ease into public speaking.  Make sure you know “how to” do that item.

Let’s cover some of these tips in more detail.

Talk about things you are passionate and know about. Talk about things you know all about.  Start with some “how-to” presentations or items that you are the resident expert.

To avoid the “audience know-it-all”, talk about your experience.  If someone disagrees with your opinion, all you have to do is say, “Well, this has been my experience.  Your results may vary.”

If/When you don’t know the answer, use that opportunity to business network.  Say, “I don’t know, but I am also interested in the answer.  I’ll look into that.  If you can leave your business card or contact information, I’ll find out and will get back to you.”

Practice, Practice, Practice.  In this day and age, there is no reason not to practice.  Most laptops, Ipads, tablet, iphone has camera/video options.  Film your speaking engagements; setup weekly BlogTalkRadio episodes, give webinar presentation, setup Brown Bag Lunch session at the office; offer to speak at your professional organization or business networking meetings.  There is an unlimited number of ways to practice.

Use props such as PowerPoint slides, short video, cartoon, joke, white board, chalk board, demo software, or a visual aide to illustrate a point or metaphor.  This allows you distract yourself away from the audience.

Focus on someone else’s accomplishments and achievement in your speech.  By focusing your attention on your admiration on someone else, you forget about yourself.

Pick one or two faces in the audience and talk directly to them.  Pretend that they are new friends and you are just explaining your topic to them.  Everyone in the audience is already interested in your topic (otherwise they would not be there).  So there are already tuned-in and supporting.

Just relax and breathe.  Everyone is already one your side in this.

In the Professional Development Toolkit, I go into the: who, what, where, when and how to accomplish all of the above. I also have a transferable skill worksheet.

Don’t shy away from asking for a raise

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Now that it’s 2014, performance evaluation and pay raises are dancing in people’s head.  If you are like many, it’s been awhile since you’ve seen a pay increase.  Therefore, one of your 2014 Career goals should be to “not to shy away from asking for a raise.” 

Some quick tips:

1) Do your homework.  Understand where your current pay compares to the salary ranges for your title and region.  Salary.com can provide that information.

2) Quantify your individual and team job performance in regards to the company goals.  Illustrate how much money your work saved the company, or created for the company. Show tangible results in regards to increase customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer referrals.

3) Understand the responsibilities of your grade and pay level.  Understand the responsibilities of the next level.  Highlight as many responsibilities that you accomplish from the higher pay-grade or band level.  Employers expect their employees to do excellent work in their assigned pay-grade and responsibilities.   By doing what they expect – gives you a Meet Expectations performance grade.   By doing things below your pay-grade (even though those items are assigned to you and no one else will do them) gets you a Performing Below Expectations. 
By doing things above your pay-grade gets Exceeds Expectations and that raise.

You will feel more confident in asking for a raise if you can show tactile and tangible measurements of your individual and team contributions.  Talk in $$ or % increase/decrease  (in numbers) when outlining your results.
I have a full online course on this topic.  Check out the Get That Well-Deserved Raise Laser Lesson
Other topics the Get That Well-Deserved Raise Laser Lesson  covers are:
  • What’s the best time to ask for a raise? –
  • What materials should you have prepared when asking for a raise? –
  • What’s the best way to ask for a raise?
  • What’s a good way to phrase your request for a pay raise?
  • How can you figure out the right range, figure or percent to ask for? What’s too high? What’s too low?

Employers that interview but never hires.

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This is Laura Lee Rose, a business and efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  In my Professional Development Toolkit package , I go into professional development and real-world IT topics in detail. If you are interested in more training in these areas, get signed up

 I know the usual reasons for not hiring a particular individual, such as under-qualification or just-not-a-fit; but what are the reasons employers interview and then decide not to hire anyone?

There are often different reasons why employers interview and then don’t hire.  Because reasons are normally asynchronous to the hiring process, they are less evident.

Since the interview process takes time and money (from advertizing for the position, filtering and sorting incoming resumes, initial candidate screening and the interview meeting),no company goes into this process with the idea that “they do not intend to really hire anyone”.  They enter this process with the full intention of finding good candidates and eventually a good employee.

But because this process takes time, things can change during the interview process itself.  The longer it takes to find someone, the higher the risk of something changing.
Some things that they may realize during the interview process are:

1) The longer it takes to find the right person, the higher the risk that they realize that this position isn’t as critical as first thought.  They may feel that they are doing fine without the extra hand.  After viewing several candidates, they realize that they rather train and promote from within. Or they find that they have actually completed the project that they were trying to hire.
2) The position disappears because of an re-organization or business strategy change. It could be combined with some other role or eliminated altogether.
3) A new project management strategy is instituted such that either the schedule is extended to allow the current resources to handle the added tasks; or the project scope is diminished such that the current resources are satisfactory.
4) A hiring freeze was just initiated.
5) A different way of subsidizing the resources is implemented instead. This could be a short-term contractor, an affiliated partner is providing the service (outsourcing), the company decides to eliminate that service altogether (and refer clients to their referral partners)

It’s important for job seekers to not take it personally, and work hard to stay on these potential employer’s radar.  Things change – which means things will change again.  If you stay on their radar (through continued business networking techniques), when things change back again, you are on the top of their Rolodex.

In the Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations  contains 105 work-life scenarios like the above.  The scenarios show how to accomplish your goals in similar situation.

For more information on how to get this toolkit or the “Book of Answers” email LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

5 Things a new hire should do before attending their first performance review.

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What advice do you have for a new hire about to attend his or her first performance review?

There are several things a new hire should be doing throughout the year (prior to their first performance review).  The performance review or evalutation process really starts on day 1; not just on the day of the meeting.
Therefore, from day 1:

1) They should take the initiative to schedule regular (weekly) one-on-one meetings with their manager.  These meetings can be as short as 15-20 minutes in length.  The idea is to have frequent meetings with your manager about your challenges, your accomplishments, your questions, and your performance.  If you take the initiative to set these up, you will always know where you stand in regards to a performance review.

2) They should already have created a Personal Business Commitment plan with their manager (use your weekly one-on-one meetings with your manager to do this).  The PBC outlines your role, responsibilities, expectations and success criteria for your position.  Once you have your commitments outlined, the new hire should create specific SMARTER goals on how they will accomplish those goals and how they plan to track and prove their progress on those items.

3) They should create an Accomplishment Folder and collect any and all awards, recognitions, thank you notes, and accomplishments in this folder (as it is happening).  Trying to remember everything that you have accomplished the day before the performance review is short-changing yourself.  Most people will remember the last thing you’ve done (which could be good or bad).  But if you deliberately collect the information as you go along, you won’t be missing some important achievements.

4) Understand how the performance evaluation and bonus process works at the company.  For instance: Many companies pool all their employees of a specific level or pay grade together (i.e. across department).  For instance, all band or grade level 8 employees are compared against each other; all band or grade level 9 employees are compared against other band 9 employees, etc.  regardless of their departments.  All the managers that have band 9 employees will be evaluating your work against the other band 9 employees.  If your manager is the only one that knows your work and value to you bring to the company, you may not do well in that meeting.  The more managers in that room that know who you are, what your bring to the company, and your tangible results to the company’s mission/vision/goals – the better.  So- if you know up front that this is how your company does performance ranking, then you will be making sure to market and brand your value to not only your manager but to sibling departments and managers.  You will realize that business marketing is an important part of the performance evaluation process.
5) In one of your regular one-on-one manager meetings, request for a mock performance evaluation session in mid-season or even every quarter.  Not only will you get practice in the performance review meeting, you will get an early report (with time to correct your path) and be able to understand how exactly the evaluation process will proceed.  This is a great opportunity to ask your manager everything that you need to ask (with time to correct your path) without penalty.

In general – if you document your goals, expectations, and accomplishments as you go along (and continue to be open and transparent with your manager) on a weekly basis, you will be well repaired fo the reivew and not have a surprise at your performance evaluation.

If you are interested in more information along these lines, check out some of the free online career management courses on Udemy.com

Check out the Get That Well-Deserved Raise Laser Lesson
Check out the Professional Development Toolkit

 

One mistake most career changers make.

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The one mistakes most career changers make.

Writing their resume without the “new career” mindset.

Most career changers list their work experience and job tasks in the mindset of the past role or job title INSTEAD of the new career role or title in mind.

For example:  You are a teacher’s assistance and you want to make a career change into Graphic Designer in Instructional Videos and Presentations.  Instead of focusing your resume on everyday teacher assistance duties like watching the children, taking roll-call, distributing supplies and teaching materials, enforcing rules and regulations, etc. — you focus on the various instructional videos and presentation that you created for the classes, parent orientation, and teacher’s brown bag lunch sessions (that you did while you were in that role).  You focus and highlight the graphics and software expertise.  You provide actual video, presentation and audio examples of your work.

I am Laura Lee Rose, author of the books “TimePeace: Making peace with time”  and The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations.  I am a business and career management coach that focuses on professional development, time management, project management and work life balance strategies.  If you need assistance in taking that leap into a new career, please contact me at LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

5 Resume Myths Debunked

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There are some resume myths that confuse some job seekers.  Here are some information to debunk some major resume myths. For instance: Does the resume absolutely have to be 1 page? Is a cover letter always necessary?
Below are 5 Resume Myths

1) Resume needs to be 1 page.

Resume can be 2 pages — but if the first page doesn’t keep the reader’s attention, the second page will not be read.

Your resume needs to capture the attention and interest (and keep it) throughout.

 2) Need to list all your employment history and tasks

Only highlight the employment history and tasks that are relevant to the current position that you are applying for.

Since your resume needs to capture and keep the attention right away, discussing how you flipped hamburgers in a resume that you are applying as web site designer position is distracting.

3) Need to reuse the same resume for all potential job applications

20 years ago, you often created one resume, created 60 copies and mailed the same resume out to everyone.

With the ease of electronics, you should customize each resume to the verbage, responsibilities and role that was documented in the position description.  Customerize your resume to perfectly match the positions descriptions (if you have the proper background for the job).

4) Stick to the job position and title that you’ve held in the past.
       One mistake is to think that you need to first get hired into a similar position and then expand into a different role after you are hired.
       By highlighting your transferable skills (instead of the job title), you can position your resume to fit alternative or adjacent roles.  For instance, if your work experience is in testing, you can highlight your trouble-shooting, test lead, customer orientation, usability focus group and customer advocacy background into a Technical Support Manager position or even Business Analyst position.
5) There’s no longer a need for a cover letter.
       A cover letter allows you to better illustrate your fitness for this particular job.  It is encouraged to expand upon the skills and tangible results that illustrates your value and contributions to past and future employers.  It’s also a good idea to highlight what additional benefits you bring to this particular company and position as well.
The bottom line is that there really isn’t just one answer or one type of resume.  Work with a business coach or recruiter to decide the best format and strategy for your individual goal.  It may be creating one format for one type of job; and a different format or strategy for another type of job or career change.
I am a business and career management coach that focuses on time management, project management, professional development and work life balance strategies.  I have authored several books, including “TimePeace: Making peace with time”  and “The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations.”  I also have an online Professional Development Toolkit program that goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how of all of the above.  If you are interested in the online program, please follow https://www.udemy.com/it-professional-development-toolkit/