Are your employees spending the majority of their time re-making decisions, waiting for others, managing email, and sitting in meetings? If you don’t think so, think again. On average, employees spend 34% of their time in meetings. Some spend far more.
From 37 floors up, Sarajevo is beautiful, nestled in the mountains with a river running through it. You can spot the quaint, almost Turkish, old town immediately adjacent to the grand palaces built while the city was a fashionable spot in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The diversity continues to impress with minarets, an Eastern Orthodox church, a Cathedral, and a Synagogue all within blocks of each other. Zoom in to street level and the evidence of fighting amongst those factions during the 1990s is obvious. Bullet scars still mar prominent buildings right downtown. Mortar blooms still mark the pavement. Ravaged buildings are still awaiting repair or demolition. But from the tower, only those who know where to look can spot the damage.
The assignment was to produce an agenda for a list of topics. I got a C. There were no discernible objectives and no way to mine for intentions. I broke all the traditional rules—format, timeslots, responsibility assignments—by responding only with questions. The instructor wanted me to recognize how generous she was to give me a C.
A colleague recently wrote a scathing review of Iceland after his first, and presumably last, visit there. I was stunned. Not because Iceland didn’t satisfy his expectations or interests. That wasn’t surprising. It is the way he assessed the country that shocked me.
I am frequently asked about goal setting and how to know if expectations are reasonable. The norm these days is long To Do lists and insufficient time. Managers push their employees hard, but don’t know what constitutes pushing too hard. Employees are proud and eager to be valuable and appreciated, but they feel stressed, are running full tilt, and often work late and on weekends. So how can anyone know what is realistic? There is only one way to be sure expectations are reasonable and that way usually fails.
Work should be challenging and satisfying. It should fire you up to accomplish as much as you can and give you that great feeling of having made a difference. Unfortunately, those feelings are too rare. Too many people feel overwhelmed and overloaded. They leave work each day feeling they didn’t accomplish enough. They suffer feelings of inadequacy and frustration. They question whether their employers are reasonable and fair. Some slip into victimhood, blame their employers, and abdicate responsibility for their own success and happiness. Persistent feelings of inadequacy and unreasonable pressure are both destructive. They eat away at a person’s confidence and determination. The goal should be to leave work each day feeling good about what you have accomplished and ready to make more progress the next day. There is simply no value in feeling overwhelmed or unhappy with your day at work. One question I hear frequently is, “How do we know what constitutes reasonable goals?”
“Do you want to start or should I? This is the worst possible way to open a meeting. And, yet, it is also among the most common. Epidemic, actually. I think it must be contagious. Why is it bad?
I just finished reading survey responses about strategic priorities from a senior management team. The lack of consistency in their responses reminded of an experience I had on the island of Kerkennah off the coast of Tunisia.
Through our live webcast training series, Ann over-delivered to our systemwide audience with her impactful presentation full of real-life scenarios and specific ways we can transform our less-effective patterns — the way we think, plan, work, and interact — to become “Ultra Productive.” Her unique and skillful way of breaking through ambiguity and confusion to create Radical Clarity was one of the big highlights of our training program this year. She has a special ability to craft and deliver presentations that facilitate awareness within each attendee about where they may have a gap in clarity, and then follows through with specific, easy to understand ways to bridge that gap, giving them tools and confidence to shine. The outstanding feedback we received from our participants has us asking Ann to come back again to deliver more of her powerful ideas! I would recommend Ann wholeheartedly for presentations and to work closely with teams to help them be more effective. Thank you, Ann, we look forward to working with you again soon. The surprising simplicity of Radical Clarity is of the utmost importance for empowering us to excel in our professional, and personal, lives. – Jennifer Wicks, Executive Producer, Systemwide Professional Development, California State University