Tag Archives: transformation

Jack of all trades or an Expert in a few – which is better.

Posted on by

Hello, this is 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 efficiency coach that specializes in professional development, career management, time management, and work-life balance strategies.

Today’s question is : What’s more valuable to job force…..jack of all trade or expert in a few? Which is better to stay employed and get promoted.

Once again, it will greatly depend upon your career goals.  Let’s look at some career goals as an illustration.

  • Want to be valued and considered a MVP in my department at my next performance review
  • Want to be valued and considered a MVP in my division within 3 years
  • Want to eventually become a Director or VP in development and research within 8 years
  • Want to own my own consulting business within 10 years.

In all of the above, it’s beneficial to be an expert in your dominant field or role, and very good in adjacent areas and roles.  The degree in which you are proficient in each area depends on your current career path.

If your goal is to be considered a valuable contributor to your department, you need to be ready to step into other people’s positions on an as-needed basis.  The argument of “that’s not my job” is fine is but it also limits your value to your department.  You still want to be an expert in your assigned tasks, but being able to manage other adjacent tasks, functions and areas of your department increases your value.   You will not be able to be an expert in all areas, but if you can be an adequate temporary solution in some adjacent roles (jack of some skills AND an expert in one or two)  to help the team to conquer the current huddle, your value increases.

As you sale up the career mountain, business networking and collaboration becomes more important.

If you want to be the GoTo Person in your division, you need to be well-connected and knowledgeable across departments.  You don’t need to know everything about everything; merely seem that way.  This means you know how to gather the data or borrow the expertise from someone else.  By creating a entourage and support circle of co-workers, mentors, and other experts, you can provide the needed service to both sides of the equation.  You will have become an opportunity agent for both the requester and the supplier.

The higher the stakes, the wider the net of experience.

For instance, if you are interested in receiving an Average Performance Rating, then you only need to do excellent work in your assigned duties (expert in one or two areas).  But the higher the stakes and the higher you rise, the wider your experience net needs to be.  As you rise on your career ladder, you will be depending more on your business relationships, market trending and forecasting experience, business cycles and even human nature.  You will find that the higher the rung, the further away from the technical details you will be traveling.  You will be traveling more toward forecasting, predicting and designing long-term strategies.

 

You will still be knowledgeable in your primary technical skill, but that will no longer by your dominant attribute or value.

 

Conclusion:  If you have your Individual Development Plan (outlined in the IT Professional Development Toolkit program), it will be easy for you to determine which areas to focus on as an expert; which to gain secondary experience and knowledge; and which gaps to fill in with your network of experts, mentors and collaborators.

 

The IT Professional Development Toolkit is covers a comprehensive set of development tools and techniques in less than 10 minutes per practice.  It contains audios, videos, articles, webinars, presentations and practice exercises designed to be less than 5-8 minutes in length.  It can be used as a reference platform or a 12 week course program.

The IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the who, what, where, when, why and how to accomplish all of the above.  The toolkit comes in two forms:  DVD and online eLearning program.  For more information, click on the below version.

 

DVD version                                                 elearning version

 

For more information about the toolkit, click on the above buttons or please go to my website at www.lauraleerose.com

 

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

How to handle difficult clients

Posted on by

How best to manage relationships with clients who can be difficult or trying.

I am a business and professional development coach. My professional website is www.LauraLeeRose.com and my company is Rose Coaching.

Whether you work in the corporate staff environment or own you own business,  you will bump into a dissatisfied customer once and awhile.  Below are some quick tips to diffuse and handle the situation.

1) Understand what your client is trying to accomplish. Most focus on what the thing the client is reporting and not on what the client is trying to accomplish. If you achieve the essence of the client’s goal, he will be appeased – even if the thing he is reporting isn’t fixed.

2) Illustrate that you are on the client’s side. Paraphrase what the client is trying to accomplish and acknowledge that he is frustrated with the current situation. Most difficulties arise when you defend your position against a difficult client. It’s a tricky situation because you don’t want to ‘bad-mouth’ your company. But you do want to acknowledge that this is a frustrating situation.

3) Take responsibility for fixing the situation. Handing-off to a manager or someone else exudes a dismissive attitude. If you can not answer the question, include someone else but stay engaged in the solution. The client wants one point-person to see this crisis through with him. Handing-off to others shows that you don’t really care.

4) Ask the client how they would like it fixed. Since every client is a unique person, you may not be able to read his/her mind. Therefore, ask them how they want this situation to be fixed. If they are invited to be part of the solution, they will not be finding more problems. Some clients will get stuck with the “what is” problem. But guide them into “Although this is a regrettable situation, this is where we are now. What can I do from this point to help you get what you need.”

5) Go above and beyond to make amends. When you make a mistake, go above and beyond to make amends. This may include additional products, services or gifts.

An example that ties all this together. Client is there to purchase an advertized a 2-piece product. You have the first piece but ran out of the second piece (which isn’t supposed to happen). This was your store’s inventory mistake. You ask how the client wants you to fix this, and they state, “I want you to honor your advertizing.” You locate another sibling store that carries both pieces. That store is an hour travel time away. You want to keep the commission so you tell the client to pay for the product here, and pickup the 2nd piece at the other store. (Not taking responsibility for fixing the problem).

Understand what the client is trying to accomplish: Client wants the full product but doesn’t want to add the time and travel to receive it. If the client has to travel another hour to pick up the 2-piece product, they are more inclined to give the commission to the 2nd store. They don’t want to pay you for passing them off to someone else. Offer to ship the product to their home with no shipping charge. Put a rush (next day) delivery from the 2nd store directly to their home – with no charge to the client.  You should also include an additional gift for the inconvenience and shipping delay.

Beating the winter time office-blues.

Posted on by
wintertimebluesWinter is coming, and it often brings about a negative mood swing.  Doctors have officially recognized the winter blues as a named, medical condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.  Couple that with the increasing number of disengaged employee base, and we have a SAD office place.

A recent Gallup Poll disclosed startling statistics about the state of disengaged employee base. The survey found 54.7 percent of workers are “not engaged” and another 17.5 percent are “actively disengaged” with their jobs. That means that less than 30% are considered to be engaged with their work. The majority of those less engaged tend to be baby boomers and Gen Xers and tend to be with employees who have been at their company between 3 and 10 years.
There may be several reasons for the disengagement.

1) Employees are not taking full responsibility for their own career and professional development

2) Their current position is not aligned with their professional passions and goals; but are afraid to leave the job.  They are convinced that they can not get the job of their dreams.  Therefore, they disengage.

3) They listen to the news about the job market and feel that they need to stay where they are and not rock the boat.

Disengagement is directly associated with the feeling (or lack of feeling) of autonomy and empowerment.    Most people have more power then they recognize.  Most people have more options than they realize.  But if you don’t believe that you have these choices available to you – then you feel trapped and then you disengage.
Partnering with a mentor(s) or success coach unlocks those limiting thinking.   Look around the office to witness who, in your organization, seem energized and excited.  Ask them “Why, What, Where, When and How”.  Find local heroes and those you admire.  Start up a mentor program of your own (both mentor someone and ask someone to mentor you).   Designing an accountability partner (someone in your corner) is a good defense against winter time blues.

How to deal with difficult clients without losing business.

Posted on by

How to deal with difficult clients without losing business.

For your business to thrive, you need the right client (not just any client). Often times the difficult clients means it’s a poor match. It could mean that you don’t have the right product; the right price; or the right service level for them. In these cases, they are not the right client for you. If you continue to try to provide for the wrong clients, you will loose business for a few reasons:
1) customerserviceThey will never be happy with your service.
2) You will loose money trying to make them happy (which you will never be
able to do).
3) They will tell everyone that they know – not to go to your place
(loosing you more clients).

So – sometimes, trying to keep a client actually loses you business.

Some ways to deal with difficult clients without losing business:

1) Understand the reason the client is asking for this particular item. Sometimes what the client really needs is different from what they are actually asking for. If you take the time to understand the client’s perspective, goal and reason for the purchase (of service or product), then even if you don’t have the exact product they are asking for, you may have a different solution for them. Sometimes people get fixated on one way to fix the problem, when there are multiple solutions. You may have a different product that solves their problem – just not the one they are fixated on right now.

2) Be prepared with a list of affiliated or referred partners. If you don’t have the right solution, be prepared to hand-off to someone in your referral or affiliated program. This way the client stays happy and you get the referral fee.

3) Apologize for the situation and ask the client how he/she would like this situation handled. Try to accommodate as best as you can within the goal of your company. If you are not able to accommodate the client and you have caused them some inconvenience, provide them an in-store coupon or gift certificate that requires them to come back to redeem.

How to keep that new employee

Posted on by

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

I received the following questions about why new employees leave a job:

  • Why do new employees leave?
  • How can a company on-board them immediately and create an environment that makes new employees want to invest in their future with the company?

 

Most new employees leave because of just a few reasons:
  • they are frustrated with the work that they are assigned;
  • they are offered a better job;
  • they are the wrong fit for this company/job.

To avoid some of these issues, do your homework:

1) Make sure you do your due-diligence in the interview process.  Understand their motives and career goals.  As best as you can, make sure their career goals, personalities and work ethic meets and matches your needs.

      This reduces incidents of  “they are the wrong fit for the job”

2) Have copies of your company policies, orientation materials and task procedures (that they will be responsible for) for them.  Make sure your training and procedures are well documented with steps, the reason for doing it this way, and your success criteria (how they know it’s completed correctly).

     This reduces the incidents of “they are frustrated with the tasks they are assigned”

3) Provide career support.  Partner the new employee with a buddy and a mentor.  The buddy system gives the new employee someone to go-to to ask daily questions.  The mentor (which is a different, higher-level person) helps them stay future career focused.  Also, setup regular one-on-one meetings with the manager.  The meetings can be as frequent as once a week but no less than once every two weeks.  The meetings can be as short as 15 minutes but schedule at least 30 minutes in the calendar.  This gives them a known and regular time to meet with their manager.  This support encourages transparency and open communication.

This reduces the incidents of “they are frustrated with the tasks they are assigned”.  Also – by building a good working relationship with their managers and co-workers, they will see this as “the better job” – reducing the ” they are offered a better job”.

In the Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations, I have 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“, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Recognition programs on a budget

Posted on by

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

Depositphotos_10281388_xsMore and more small businesses are popping up.  Either you or your spouse is working at a small business or you know someone that is involved in a small business.  In a small company or business, discretionary funds are very restrained.  Even so, the need for employee recognition and appreciation is still important.  Your company’s success lay on your employees shoulders (especially when your resources are limited).   You and your employees are wearing multiple hats and are responsible for significant tasks that can make or break the company.

So — How can a small business reward and recognize outstanding performance without breaking the bank?

The best way to recognize employees on a budget is to create a 2-fer. By this I mean to think a little out of the box to discover and create rewards that also support your business success.

Some examples could include (but not limited to):

1) Use your client’s restaurants or facilities to hold recognition lunches.
2) Use your client’s print shop or merchandize to reward with plaques or gift certificates.
3) Make it an honor to be selected to escort clients to games, dinners theater, or other interesting entertainment etc (only select people that this is fun for — you want this to be a treat, not seen as a punishment).
4) Your company needs to be represented at certain luxury events, have your high-performing employees enjoy those evenings as your representative instead of you.
5) Work with a local Gym or Fitness Center to purchase group memberships in exchange for them placing your marketing/advertizing banner in their hall.
6) Sponsor a local technical conference in exchange for employee seats in certain certification, training or sessions.  Your marketing logo will be strategically displayed throughout the conference as well as getting your high-performers a lead into the next generation skill set.
7) Your company needs to periodically travel to high-profile client sites.  Prepare your high-performing employees to do these important client retention visits.  While they are during these travels, add an additional vacation day to their itinerary. Picking up the extra night hotel stay is a minimum expense, but it gives them a nice retreat.

So the idea is to make the effort to add value to what you are doing. Combine the recognition program with your client retention/referral/loyalty program or marketing/advertising dollars.  Since you need to spend money on your marketing and client retention programs (as well as your employee recognition program) – find a way to get more bang for your bucks.

In the Professional Toolkit, I provide worksheet, templates and guidance on how to accomplish these things.    In my Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations, I have 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“, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

Excelling in a group interview setting

Posted on by

groupinterviewInterviews are nerve wracking enough when done one-on-one, but add in a group dynamic, and it can be enough to scare away candidates.
  • How can job seekers excel in a group setting, when their competition is interviewing alongside them?
  • How can job seekers remain calm, appear knowledgeable, and prove they are the best fit for the job?
Some recommendations:

1) Focus on the attributes that you want to illustrate:  Professionalism, Team Player, Work well with others, Adds Value to the conversation; and can understand and adapt to the changing dynamics of the workforce.  After all, this group interview is no different than a regular staff meeting.  This is a good way to see how you will conduct yourself in a meeting environment.

2) By keeping the things you want to illustrate in “real-time”, you will avoid interrupting, one-upping, and even competing.  Approach the group interview as regular staff meeting.  Find ways to differentiate yourself through active listening and even asking open-ended questions.

3) Pay attending and listen to everyone’s answers and incorporate what they are saying into your answers.  Acknowledge what both the interviewer and other interviewees are saying (instead of just tuning out to figure out what you are going to say when your turn does come).

4) When you are answering your question, make eye contact to everyone on the panel (and not just the person that asked the question).

5) Avoid elevating yourself by putting someone else down.  If you want to illustrate leadership, you want to go out of your way to uplift everyone in the room.

 

 

Different Types of Managers and How to Work With Them

Posted on by

As you have already experienced, there are different types of managers and the different styles of management workers might encounter.  A good manager actually transitions and flows between the different roles as the environment or situation dictate.  But some managers naturally gravitate toward their dominate style and stays there – regardless of their surroundings.   The best advice for working successfully with many of the types is to take full control of your own performance, professional development and career management.

You do this by:

There are 8 text book management styles  ( summary at end of note, posted by Touchpoint in General Business on Jan 9, 2012 9:02:00 AM); but a new type has cropped up recently.  It’s the BUSY Manager.

yesmanSome managers mistaken a “hands-off” approach to mean disengaged.  Most companies are understaffed and overworked.  Therefore, managers often have more work than their employees can handle and more stakeholders/clients to report to and appease.   This often puts the manager in a tailspin – which often tempts them to disengage from their employees.  The Global Workforce environment adds additional complications when individuals are remote and on different time zones.  This also contributes to the manager losing touch in what’s actually going on in his ranks.  In such an environment, most managers are focusing on don-time delivery of current projects.

These busy managers are often impatient with items not directly associated with today’s goal.   There is very little time spent on career management and individual development plans for their employees.  There is little focus on the training on next generation technology to reduce the learning curve to get ahead of the market.  Because of their heavy schedule and budget constraints, managers are often just present focus. They are only focused on what is needed to get them to the next hurdle — but not necessary over it.   They are working to keep their heads above water and not necessarily focused on getting out of the water.   If employees depend upon managers like that – staying only present focus will eventually drown you.

If you recognize that your manager is has a “present-focus” mindset (because he has so much to do, it’s the only thing he can focus on right now) – you need to take control of your own career and professional development.  If you are thinking like the owner or manager (discussed in the Professional Development Toolkit DVD) , you can both appreciate and anticipate need.  In “Knowing How You Boss’ Mind Works video (included in the Professional Development Toolkit DVD), you can better position yourself for that excellent performance rating and promotion.

8 Types of Conventional Managers:

Posted by Touchpoint in General Business on Jan 9, 2012 9:02:00 AM

  • Active leadership: Active leaders tend to lead by example and set a high standard for themselves and their employees. They wouldn’t ask an employee to take on a task they’d be unwilling to do themselves. They are highly involved in the day-to-day work and fully aware of what’s taking place in the office.

 

 

  • Directive leadership: Although less authoritative than autocratic managers, directive leaders do not typically solicit employee input. They often cite a short timeframe, an unpredictable client or an emergency situation as the reason for acting unilaterally. Often this may be true. Other times, they may just have a bit more difficulty letting go of control.

 

 

  • Participatory leadership: Based on a coaching philosophy, this style focuses on empowering employees to seek their own knowledge and make their own decisions when appropriate. It can be very effective in fluid work environments with shifting priorities. A more advanced version of this style is the flat management style, where different managers take the lead on projects, depending on their expertise.

 

  • Servant leadership: Based on a “people-come-first” philosophy, this style has been made famous by writer Robert Greenleaf. The style is based on finding the most talented people to run your organization and then empowering them to do what they do best. The leader sees him or herself as a “servant” to the customer and encourages employees to adopt the same attitude.

 

  • Task-oriented leadership: Leaders who use this style may have once been project managers. They are experts in planning projects, allocating resources, assigning roles, setting benchmarks and keeping to strict deadlines.

 

The  IT Professional Development Toolkit, goes into the: who, what, where, when and how to accomplish all of the above. I also have a transferable skill worksheet.  For more information about the toolkit,

Blue-StartHere

When it comes time to quit your job, do it without burning bridges.

Posted on by

The IT Professional Development Toolkit DVD goes into further details on the who, what, where, when, and why of these topics.

When it comes time to quit your job, how can you do it without burning bridges.

Of course this depends upon how you have conducted yourself throughout your career; but if you have been professional and a valued contributor all along – here are a few tips:

1)  Highlight all the positive things that this company has allowed you to accomplish.  Show appreciation for your manager and all the opportunities provided on your behalf.

2) Share your individual career goals and plans.  You should have been sharing this all along with your manager in your regular one-on-one managers meetings (detailed in the Professional Development Toolkit).  Therefore, this will not be the first time your organization hears about your career goals.

3) If you have been sharing your career goals with your manager and mentors; and your current company can not provide your ‘next step’ – there will be no bridges burned.  You are simply continuing your career growth and following your IDP (Individual Development Plan detailed in the Professional Development Toolkit).

4) Stay in touch with your managers/mentors/co-workers.  After you leave, stay in contact with past managers, mentors and co-workers.  Everything changes.  It’s a 75% chance that those people will also move on (change their positions) within the next 5 years.  Continue to network with them to understand how their power of influence is growing.  Continue to share with them about your career plans (as well as understanding their goals).  Continue to help each other achieve those next steps.   Stay on their radar – such that when a great opportunity presents itself to them, you are on their minds.

5) You never know who other people know or what the future will bring.  Make sure you stay LinkedIn.com (or similar) connected so that you easily see who they are connected with.  This way you can more easily leverage your links or network.  Joe may not be in a direct position to help or mentor you; but you see that he knows Dr. Barklette that would be a great mentor for you.  If you had asked Joe if he had any recommendations for a mentor, he may not think of Dr. Barklette.  But because you can see Dr. Barklette in Joe’s circle, you can ask for the specific introduction.  You also know that Dr. Barklette might need a research assistant or project manager on his next program, etc.

Bottom line is that right way to quit your job doesn’t stop when you walk out of the door.  It’s really just the beginning.  Make it a point to continue the business network and build a working relationship with those past relationships.  The biggest mistake that people make is to close the door on those years of collaboration and professional network.

If you would like to know more details, please email LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info

5 Ways to Get That Raise

Posted on by

 

Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management book TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.  Steve Wynkoop and I talk a lot about designing and managing our professional careers on a weekly interview on SSWUG TV. This episode was about how to find a mentor.   This article goes into more detail.  And the IT Professional Development Toolkit DVD goes into further details on the who, what, where, when, and why of these topics.

Audio of this episode:

[codepeople-html5-media-player id=1]

Have this ever happened to you?  You get a great performance review; they are very pleased with your work; they say they would like to give you a raise — BUT, due to budget problems, it is not possible at this time.  What do you do to succeed?

The old adage of “hitting while the iron is hot” is significant here. First, congratulate yourself for recognizing and acknowledging that you have the power to make this situation better.

  1. Get the performance evaluation and desire to give you a raise in writing.
  2. If they cannot give you a raise at this time, it is reasonable to ask “when do they foresee that they will be able to give you the raise” .   How you conduct yourself at this point plays an important role into getting the raise.  From this point, act as if the raise is imminent; is going to happen (just not today).     Take them at their word that you deserve a raise.  Get that answer in writing.
  3. Request another salary review every 3 months or every quarter.  This is a way to keep this discussion on the table. If they don’t know when they will be able to give you a raise, follow-up and schedule those quarterly salary discussions. (Squeaky wheels get the grease). You should already be having frequent one-on-one manager meetings (outlined in the Professional Development Toolkit) – so you merely have to periodically bring this topic up in the already scheduled meetings.
  4. Discuss alternative compensations that your manager has discretion over (outlined in the Professional Development Toolkit). This allows him to give you what you want without having to go above his head :
    • 4 day work week schedule; flex time; working from home
    • Additional vacation days
    • Extra time off
    • Allowed to do some community service or volunteering a few hours a month to your favorite charity during work hours.
    • Reimbursement for professional association membership, industry related journals, subscriptions, magazines.
    • Reimbursement for higher certifications, licenses, additional degrees in the company’s industry.
    • Travel on the company’s dime via customer visits, speaking engagements at out-of-town trade-shows, user conferences, and technical seminars.
    • Reimburse for home internet fees because you sometimes work from home
    • If your company does donations or charity work – see if your charity is listed and/or ask it to be listed.
  5. Do your homework.
    • Continue to excel in your performance and career (outlined in the Professional Development Toolkit).  Continue to log, track and measure your own performance in regards to your individual development goals and business commitments.
    • Conduct industry salary investigation.  If you can show that you are currently underpaid in comparison to the industry standard in your region, you have additional ammunition on you side.  http://www.payscale.com is just one website that can help you with your investigation.

There are certainly things you can do now, to re-start the salary discussion. If you would like more information on that, please consider purchasing the IT Professional Development Toolkit or invest in a one-on-one Coaching package.

The Book of Answers: 150 Career Critical Situations also covers the above in more detail as well.

Once again – I go into the who, what, where, when and why in more detail in the Professional Development Toolkit now available at <HERE>.