If you believe multi-tasking is possible you haven’t driven through a congested Irish town on the “wrong” side of the road watching for signs while listening to the history of “the Troubles.” Cars and people get your full attention. If you are lucky you see enough of the right road signs to get where you want to go. You hear nothing of the narrative. Multi-tasking works only when your brain is required for exactly one task.
Spending too much of your week in meetings? Tired of meetings that just lead to more meetings? Want to take back those meeting hours so you can do something else with your day or maybe even go home at a more reasonable hour? Then get this audio seminar, Meeting Mastery – How to Slash Meeting Times in Half and Get Better Results by master facilitator and performance improvement expert Ann Latham today! In this 45 minute audio seminar, you will learn: The six secrets to slashing meeting times in half and getting better results The three critical criteria for holding a meeting How to recognize meetings that should be eliminated Techniques that will make you a better meeting leader today How to recognize trouble on an agenda and intervene to minimize wasted time Available in both CD and MP3 download. Buy it today and start saving time and getting better results!
I was in a meeting this week that accomplished very little and left all parties feeling frustrated. It is sad because the only reasons to have a meeting are to get better results, save time, and build better relationships. No one was really to blame. The organizer knew what she wanted to accomplish and the attendees were genuinely trying to be helpful. So what went wrong? In short, the roadmap to the desired destination was fundamentally flawed. The meeting began with the identification of a problem – low attendance at the organization’s events. After introducing the problem, the meeting organizer wanted feedback on a proposed solution.
When I get an idea for an article, I jot it down, one per page, on one of the many 5×7 tablets strewn about my office, house, and car before it gets squeezed out of my brain by the next thought. Thus, I have a large stack of 5×7 papers in my file cabinet ready to peruse when I have time to write. Today’s pick: a one-word sheet. A powerful word. One-wordsheets are rare and usually met with “huh?” and the recycling bin. Not today.“Focus” needs no supporting cast. Focus lets us: See clearly Clarify our thoughts, objectives, and questions Tune out distractions
We have a soap dispenser built into our kitchen sink and it never runs out of soap. Of course it is my husband who fills it along with a myriad other things that are his wont. Have I have ever acknowledged this and thanked him? Do you think I should make a point of doing so? I hope you said ‘yes’ to the latter, and now that I have written about it, I will likely mention it and thank him this evening. It is one of many things he does that keeps things running smoothly. And while he knows I appreciate him in general, the point is that there is still value in expressing appreciation for specific little things that make my life easier.
The local hospital has recently implemented some new procedures to “make things easier for customers,” or at least that is what they told me when I asked what was going on. I can’t imagine what problem they thought they were solving for my sake. And if their focus was on error proofing or internal efficiency, I think they missed the mark. They certainly never looked at the final process from a customer’s point of view. Here is what I encountered: I called to schedule an annual mammogram and got an appointment for the following Tuesday. So far, so good. On Friday evening, I returned home to a phone message asking me to call and pre-register. I had to listen to it 3 times to get the phone number, extension, and name of the person I was supposed to ask for. Since the office was closed for the weekend, I also had to add a note to my calendar to call them on Monday. Why are they creating work for me? What did I do wrong? Why didn’t they take this information when I was on the phone with them making the appointment?
PRESS RELEASE April 30, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ann Latham 603-784-5727 Uncommon Clarity®, Inc. Ann Latham and the Northampton Chamber Offer Meeting Slasher Workshop Northampton, Massachusetts – The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce is offering a free, one-hour workshop by master facilitator and author Ann Latham of Uncommon Clarity, Inc. on May 19th at 8:00 AM entitled, “The UnMeeting – How to Cut Meetings in Half AND Get Better Results.” This highly interactive workshop is geared for anyone who suffers from too many meetings, is tired of meetings that just lead to more meetings, and wants to take back significant hours every week. Space is limited, so don’t delay. For more information, contact Ann Latham at 603-784-5727 or info@uncommonclarity.com. Ann Latham, a.k.a., The Meeting Slasher, is a performance improvement expert, consultant, and president of Uncommon Clarity, Inc., a firm that helps companies get better results faster. She is also the author of Clear Thoughts – Pragmatic Gems of Better Business Thinking. For more information about her workshops and services or to sign up for her free newsletter, visit www.uncommonclarity.com. # # #
Almost 60 years after the last bayonet charge in Korea, the Army has removed bayonets from the rifles in basic training. They have replaced long distance runs and marches with wind sprints, eliminated training on .50 caliber heavy machine guns used by few, and added 30 hours of marksmanship. They are stressing core body strength so soldiers can vault 4 feet into an open Humvee with 65 pounds of gear. And they have added training on culture and how to reduce hearing loss. (“As battlefield changes, so does Army’s basic training,” Kansas City Star) In short, they are revamping the entire basic training program to reflect: Current warfare realities and The condition of their average recruit The Army’s training regimen rooted in WWI filled a different gap, preparing a different type of recruit for a different kind of war.
When someone reacts with emotion, especially at work, people often get weird. Not the emotional people, it’s all the people around them who get weird. They start tiptoeing around the issue so as to prevent provoking something other than a plain vanilla reaction. Or perhaps they become manipulative and devious. After all, if someone has an emotional reaction, they are beyond logic, right? So that leaves only three choices: trick the emotional person into agreement, hope they don’t notice when you slip something past them, or drop the issue entirely along with any hope of progress on whatever front is involved. This set of options is pitiful, pointless, and painful, though not uncommon. Fear of emotion in the workplace drives bizarre and counter-productive behaviors.
Time management is a perpetual rage. It conjures up images of calendars, personal planners, and smart phones. When we still have too little time, we flail about for a new system that will suddenly lasso the hands of the clock and give us control. But time can not be managed. It is ourselves that we must manage. Tools like calendars and planners are helpful, but for the best results, we must consider a variety of obstacles that prevent us from focusing on and completing the important tasks while dismissing everything else. Are you clear about your top priorities? It is better to move a few things forward a mile than to nudge the multitude forward an inch, or worse, shuffle them side to side without any measurable progress. Decide what most needs doing. If there are too many priorities, nothing is a priority. Are you so overwhelmed that you don’t know where to start?