The soundtrack of my life

President Obama has posted his music playlist and proven himself to be a music fan.  Did you see him sing Al Greene’s song  “Let’s StayTogether”?   President Obama recently asked his voters to create a soundtrack for his reelection campaign.  I think that’s a great idea.  I can’t wait to see the songs that make the final cut.

The President’s request got me thinking about my own playlist.  What songs would I add to my soundtrack? Here's a few songs that I would have to add to my playlist.

My Playlist

I believe I can fly R. Kelly

Eye of the Tiger Survivor

What a wonderful world Louis Armstrong

Man in the mirror Michael Jackson

The climb Miley Cyrus

Change Sam Cooke

Never say Never Justin Beiber

One moment Whitney Houston

Three Little Birds Bob Marley

Firework Katy Perry

What songs communicate how you feel? What songs motivate you during the day?  I would love to hear from you.

Speak up!

“Talkers have always ruled.  They will continue to rule. The smart thing is to join them.” Bruce Barton Congressman and Author

Have you regretted not saying something in a meeting?  I have to attend a lot of conference calls during the day. After introducing myself, it’s easy to go on mute and not say anything until the call ends.  I have made a conscious decision not to be a silent meeting participant.  To be honest, I have been the silent phone call member on some calls.  And sometimes that’s OK too. You do need to understand the conference call dynamics (office politics).  I believe that’s called Emotional Intelligence. 

If office politics is not the issue, I speak up.  To prepare for a meeting, I always check my workplace calendar at the end of the day. This gives me some time to think about the meeting topic.  I also have stopped multitasking during calls. This has really been the best thing I could have done for myself.  Without the distractions, I can actively listen and take notes during the call.  I can’t begin to tell you how many questions or comments have been generated from reducing my distractions. 

I found three ways to speak up in a meeting on Harvard Business Review.  I thought the tips were helpful and things that I have said before reading the article!  Try these tips the next time you want to speak up in a meeting:

• Have we thought about… If you have an idea to add but aren't overly confident about it, phrase the suggestion as though you are contributing to the conversation, rather than putting a firm stake in the ground.
• To play devil's advocate… It can be hard to disagree without sounding like a jerk. Finesse your comments by explaining that you are playing a certain role.
• This may be a dumb question… You may hesitate to speak up when you don't know what's going on in a meeting. Don't stay lost — ask for clarification. You may help others who are in the same position.

Let me know if you try some of these tips. How did it go? When do you speak up in a meeting?

Never give Up...Help is on the way

Don't give Up!
Your Dreams May Be Closer
Than You Think!
There may be times when you feel
as if you have taken a million steps towards
your dreams, and acted on your plans, only to find
yourself in the same place that you began from.
At times like this, you must not give up.
You must continue on. Though you may feel
lost, bewildered, and alone, continue to believe
in yourself. Do not allow discouragement and
doubt to blur your vision and wash away
your dreams. Visualize your way beyond the
detours, standstills, and obstacles.

You will realize your dreams. You have
worked hard and taken so many productive
steps in a positive direction that you are bound
to succeed. Whatever the hurt of the moment
may be, it will pass. Tomorrow is always a
new dawn. Today, you must pause, rest, catch
your breath, and then look ahead. Each step
will bring you closer to your dreams. The
rainbows and the love that you deserve are in
sight. Happiness is just around the next turn.
~ Vicki Silvers ~

Plans

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not  to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Do not disturb

You are working on a project and you get a message that you have a new email. You stop working to look at the email.  You read 7 new emails. One of the emails is another request for information that you need to get together before 1pm.  You join a conference call and continue to work on the email request.  During the conference call, someone asks you a question and you have no idea what they just asked you.  You answer the question unsure if your response really added anything to the conversation.  You go back to working on your 1pm deadline only to realize that you have a text message on your cellphone.  In the middle of responding to the text messege, someone knocks on your door to ask you a question.  This is a classic example of multitasking.  You’re doing a lot of stuff at the same time, but you haven’t complete one of the things you have started.   

Research suggest that multitasking actually reduces our productivity as much as 40%.  A study in cognitive control in media multitaskers (http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/21/0903620106.abstract) suggest that the more you multitask the worse you are at getting work done.  With this new information, we need to change our behavior.  Here’s what I have done to reduce the distractions and get things done.

1. Create a to do list.   I not only created a to do list. I used technology (apps or software programs) to help me organize the things that I needed to get done.  I also prioritize the to do list and added deadlines to make sure I understand all of my deadlines.
2. Check email every 2 or 3 hours. I no longer check email as soon as I get an email notification.  I check mail first thing in the morning, an hour before lunch and one hour before the end of my work day.  
3. Listen during conference calls. If I don’t need my laptop during a conference call, I leave it in the office.  I’m focused during the conference call and not distracted by emails or instant messaging chat windows.  When I need my laptop, I do not check emails or send/respond to instant messaging chats.
4. Learned how to say “No”.  Things start to pile up when you don’t say no.  I’ve started asking about assignments and the deadlines.  If I have a conflict, I’ve worked with management to understand the priority.
5. Managed cellphone use.  I’ve asked friends and family not to call me during my working hours unless there’s an emergency. 

Are you a good multitasker?  Have you changed the way you work to get things done? I would love to hear from you.

Workplace laughs

Working smarter

 The amount of projects that we all have at work has increased.  Let’s face it. We’re working with fewer people in our department, but the demand or expectations of our assignments has not changed.  We have to think about how we work and balance our time because this is our reality.

I’m often asked what could I have done differently to resolve this problem?  Sometimes I have an answer right away. Other times I think my plan was solid and I can’t think of another way to handle the situation.  It’s critical that teams have time to reflect or debrief  after projects.  During this time, teams are able to review the lessons learned, recognize what didn’t work, and decide how to improve their situation. 

There’s an art to debriefing that’s just as important as taking the time to debrief.  You have to remove the supervisors, managers, or anyone that influences pay, raises, or employment.  If you want honest feedback, your team has to be comfortable talking about the issues.  All of the feedback gathered must be anonymous.  Again it’s about honest feedback and improving the process. Gather all of the feedback and allow the team to talk through the feedback. During the debriefing, you will be surprised on some of the creative ideas or improvements the team can come up with to resolve projects.  The information you obtain can be used an applied to the next project.  It’s very important to apply debriefing suggestions to the next project.  When your team sees you implementing ideas, they will be more vested in creating a work environment that no only just gets their work done, but works smarter. 

Do you allow time for your team to debrief?  How do you handle debriefing meeting?  Are willing to start debriefing?

Get connected and doing it right

Growing up I was taught you just don’t tell everything and if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything.  Well, social media has blown a hole right in the middle of  those sayings. 

When I first heard about Facebook in 2005, the website was viewed as a college website.  At that time, I had been working for a few years and knew immediately that I was not the target market for Facebook. Fast forward a few years and Facebook is one of the world’s most popular social media websites. Facebook recently revealed they have 901 million active users.

Twitter is such a part of our lives now that most current news events are being shared on Twitter.  I personally learned about the death of Michael Jackson and Osama Bin Laden on Twitter.  With over 225 million estimated users, no wonder information is reaching the masses before traditional news outlets can broadcast the news.

In my professional life, I work with customers and need their feedback to successfully do my job.  My team is using Twitter and Facebook to gather feedback and get customers involved and invested in the services we offer. We share information about conferences, new products, updates, and special pricing offers on our Twitter and Facebook page. Our product social media membership pages are growing as word gets out that we have a presence on these sites. 

My company encourages its employees to create social media product profiles to promote our products.  We have learned a lot these last few months. We have made a few mistakes and learned what to do to ensure we are being effective and following social media guidelines for our business. 

1.      Post effective and meaningful messages. With a limited amount of characters, you need to word your message just right. This is the time when your writing needs to be clear and concise. 

2.      Be active.  Determine how often you plan on posting to your site.  A weekly or daily posting schedule encourages members to visit your site often.

3.      Listen to the conversation. Respond and interact with your members. Provide the expertise on your page to resolve problems that may come up. 

4.      Remove or block spam.  Invest in software that removes offensive language and unwanted advertisement.  You may have to manual scan your account hourly or daily to ensure your page remains free of spam and offensive language. Sharing this responsibility with others helps when software is not available to do it for you.

5.      Track you stats. Make your efforts count for something. Monitor membership growth, product sales, the most active users, and positive and negative feedback.

These are just a few of the social media guidelines that we follow. I’m sure there are others.  Metric trends in social media will determine if this new trend is going to be around for awhile .  The goal of having a social media presence for your business is to generate sells. I would love to hear some of your team's social media guidelines. How do you determine if your social media presence is making a difference?

Reading anything good

I love to read! I’m still an old school hard copy page turner with the cute book marker kind of girl.  I have an iPad, but I don’t read books on it.  I’m not able to read as much as I would like because of work, graduate school, and Mom duties. Reading is the one thing I’m looking forward to adding back into my life when my graduate program is over. 

As I have matured, so has my reading list.  I find myself reading more work/business and political books.  I have found the information in these books to be helpful and informing.  Many of the issues that I’m dealing with as a professional woman are not new.  It’s refreshing and reassuring to read how others handle similar situations.  I make it a point to incorporate the tips I read into my life.  I have noticed a difference and seen the results pay off for me. 

I would like to share with you books that I have enjoyed and books I plan to read when I have a minute.

My recommendations

 It’s not a glass ceiling, it’s a sticky floor: free yourself from the hidden behaviors sabotaging your career success by Rebecca Shambaugh

 

Who moved my cheese by Spencer Johnson 

The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey 

What got you here won’t get you there:  how successful people become even more successful by Marshall Goldsmith

My wish list

 

It’s always personal: Emotions in the new workplace by Anne Kramer

Climbing the ladder in stilettos by Lynette Lewis

The strategist: Be the leader your business need by Cynthia Montgomery

 What are reading?

 

Can everyone go on mute

Running a successful meeting is key to communicating with your team.  Meetings are a good way for everyone on your team to hear status, updates, and to connect with each other.  When you get team members in a room together, you can resolve an issue or a least start talking through the issues.  The non-verbal cues (smiling, crossing arms, smirks) help you to interpret how your peers are responding to the information. 

Meetings can also be time consuming and a big waste of time if the meeting moderator is not prepared.  If you have people calling into the meeting to participate, you are now dealing with another major distraction during your call.  Multi-tasking!  Without the face-to-face contact, meeting participants can easily start focusing on other things.  As the meeting moderator you need to know how to run an effective virtual meeting. 

I participate and moderate a lot of virtual meetings.  Here are a few of the things I do during my meetings.

1.  Use a web conference tool.  Web conference tools help to keep everyone connected.  Many web conference tools have polling options, chat rooms, and sharing features that help teams communicate.

2.  Be prepared and be aware of time.    Determine your meeting agenda and send the agenda out to your team before the meeting.  Determine how much time should be devoted to each agenda item.  Allow time to summarize the meeting and  action items.  End the meeting on time.

3. Record the call or take minutes.  Record the call for coworkers who may not be able to attend the meeting.  Send out meeting minutes after the meeting.

4. Create a place to store meeting collateral.  Put meeting agendas, minutes, and presentations in a shared space for future reference.  Team members should be able to refer to meeting information at a later date. 

5. Allow time for small talk.  Give the team time to talk to each other.  If members are a little shy, have questions to break the ice.  Allow your team to post pictures or videos of things they want to share about themselves or their family.

6. Get everyone involved.  Let’s face it. It’s easy to zone out in a virtual meeting. Make sure you give everyone time to talk and participate in the call.  If everyone is quiet and unwilling to talk, call people by name to answer questions and to get their feedback.

7. Encourage the use of the mute button.  Ask team members to go on mute to cut down on distracting noises (barking dogs, construction banging, toilet flushing).  This could be a separate post! LOL

8. Cancel the meeting if needed.  Be aware of deadlines and cancel the meeting if team members need to focus on their project.  If you don’t have agenda items, cancel the meeting. Your team would appreciate having the time back in their day.

 

Do you have tips to share?

Global leadership

Whatever happened to the 9am – 5pm job? Do you still work those hours? I bet the answer is no if you have to work with a global team.  In the spirit of being accommodating, employees are working earlier hours or later hours to meet with their global peers.  I’ve installed and bookmarked an international clock on my laptop to help me with international time management. You would hate to call someone at 11pm (their time) to ask about a PC password. 

Globalization is here to stay.  Companies are developing teams in countries that are in emerging markets.  Wikipedia describes emerging markets as nations with social or business activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialization. The economies of China and India are considered to be the largest. The eight largest emerging and developing economies are China, Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, South Korea, Indonesia, and Turkey.

In this fast-paced global society, it’s important that leaders create an effective team to help their team succeed.  Leading a global team is all about partnership, trust, and communication. Typically, global employees will have a supervisor in their county that they report to. As the US leader of the team, it’s important that  communicate with their global employees.  It’s important that global leaders understand how their global team communicates. Depending on the culture, you could be working with global employees that are very direct or reluctant to share bad news.  Regardless of the cultural communication traits, it’s important that you communicate your specific goals, objectives, and expectations.

The best action you could take as a global leader is to visit or live in the country with your team.  You would benefit from the experience an learn more about the culture and the people you work with on your team.    Your international experience will help you improve on your soft skills too. I'm willing to bet that your relationship with your global team would improve after your visit.  You would no longer be the voice on the phone asking about deadlines or problems.  Your global team would see you as someone who was willing to try the unique cultural dish at dinner and the leader that attempted to speak the language during a meeting.  Try it and see what happens. 

How do you lead your global team?  Are you considering an international assignment?

A born leader

Are leaders born or can leadership be taught?  We’ve all heard the  saying “He/she is a born leader.” Can parents really sense that their sweet toddler is a leader?  What traits do these parents see in their toddler?  Toddler Timmy has all the toddlers in his playgroup following him around.  Toddler Timmy has all of the toddlers building him a block castle.  It’s silly right? 

I believe leaders are made. They grow into their position of power and authority based on circumstances preparation and training.  Leaders can be an unassuming individual in your group.  It’s the person in the room that’s willing to accept responsibility. It’s the person who listens to everyone and makes a decision based on the facts.  The leader in the room is well read on issues and can help make strategic decisions based on the future direction of the marketplace.  

What would your coworkers say about you?  Are you a born leader or a well read leader?

The measure of a man...

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’ve always liked this Dr. King quote.  It makes me think how I handle challenge and controversy.  Can my family and friends count on me?  Can I look at myself in the mirror after making a tough decision? 

Leaders have to make tough decisions all of the time.  As a leader of a group, organization, or company, you have to understand all of the options and how your decision impacts your company.  You have to know that everyone will not be able happy with your decision. However, if you are making a decision on facts and not feelings you can stand in times of challenge and controversy.

Your decision may cause you to speak honestly to your team. You may even have to explain a few of the scenarios or issues you had to consider. It’s also important that you communicate to your team as soon as possible. You want to handle the gossip or false information that may be circulating in your company.  Leading a group or company can be a rewarding experience.  Don’t let the tough times change the way handle a situation.

Back to the basics

Let’s face it. We are living in a Right Now world.  A Right Now world where finding information is a keystroke away on a Wikipedia site. A Right Now world where finding information is a one search click away on a Google site.  Do you really have time to stop, analyze, and reflect? I bet its hard to with an unrealistic deadline hovering over you as soon as you walk in the office.  When was the last time you talked to your officemate or walked over to a coworker's cubical space and said “You got a minute? I need your advise on something.”  I bet many of you reading this post can’t think of a time that you had time to freely exchange ideas. 

We are missing out if we don’t share and brainstorm with our co-workers.  Communication is key to completing a project.  We have to be able to exchange ideas with our colleagues in a matter that is respectful, effective, and truthful.  Dana Larson, a OnePlace Marketing Manager blogger, posted 7 tips for improving workplace communication.  I found them to be helpful and wanted to share.

1. Think before you speak

 Sometimes the best form of communication is thinking about what you are going to say - or not say.

2. Listen carefully

Communication is a two-way street. It’s always best to actively listen to the people with whom you are communicating.

3. Increase communication channels

Today, there are many ways of staying in touch with those around you. In a workplace, we have meetings, emails, phone calls and memos.

4. Don’t get defensive

In an instance where a conflict is present in a conversation, try not to become defensive. It’s easy to do, but very unproductive.

5. Ask for help

It’s not always the words you speak - sometimes nonverbal communication can come through and impact a situation.

6. Speak slowly

You don’t want to lose audience members by talking too fast, and if someone misunderstands you, they may not complete an assignment on time or they may take the wrong action for themselves.

7. Take action

When engaging in a conversation, make sure it’s as productive as it can be.

 Each one of us can improve our communication skills. Pick one of Dana’s 7 tips and work on improving that skill for two weeks.  Walk over to your co-worker's desk and ask if they have a minute to brainstorm with you.  I bet it will make a difference.  How do you communicate at work?  Are you being an effective communicator? 

I've lost a glove, misplaced tickets to a concert, and temporarily lost my ATM card. As frustrating as this may seem, there's nothing worse than losing all of your information on your computer. I'm a pack rat when it comes to saving files on my computer.  If I think I might need it again, I save it.  I am a digital hoarder! The first step is to admit you have a problem. Right?

When you are a digital hoarder, you create well descriptive directory folders on your computer to help you manage your files.  I pride myself on the way I have organized my personal pictures, presentations, and charts. If I have saved it on my computer, it will not take me long to find it. 

As a digital hoarder, you depend on technology mainly your hard drive to work. Recently, I had a hard  drive failure that really stop me in dead in my tracks.  I didn't have a good backup and recovery plan.  I didn't have a scheduled backup plan and when I remembered to backup my system I often put it off telling myself I would get to it later.  Well, I've learned my lesson. I have found a few backup options for my files that I would like to share.

Backup Maker

DropBox


Do you have a backup plan?

I'm a list person. I like writing out my things to do list and marking off the list as I complete my task. I have a problem with my list technique. If I'm not careful, I can have two or three lists going at the same time. I have even lost my list! (TMI) Lost is such a harsh word. Let's just say I have placed my list in a very secure location.

I feel like my “get it done” technique may be failing me based on my new level of responsibilites at work and at home. I recently started looking online for organizational tips that could improve my situation. In the tradition of sharing, here's what I've found...

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

http://www.toodledo.com/

GoogleTasks (mail.google.com/tasks)

What do you use to keep yourself on task? I would love to hear your ideas.

Yikes! You've been asked to present to senior management or write a research paper.  You know what message you want to share, but you have no idea how to organize your thoughts. 

Writers can brainstorm and expand on their idea using a mind map.  Mind maps provide a visual diagram to organize ideas and tasks.  You can think of mind maps as a digital brainstorming session.  Users start with one subject and create branches that connect or relate to the subject. 

You can find several free or open source mind map software to use to start organizing their thoughts.


http://www.xmind.net/
freemind.sourceforge.net
https://bubbl.us/

I plan on using this space to share resources that I have found to be helpful in my professional and personal life. I randomly found a few of these sites (Thanks Google!) and others come highly recommended by friends, family, and co-workers (Thanks Facebook and LinkedIn!). The year of "keep it to yourself" is over. Let's strive to be better so we can do better.

Introducing....(insert drum roll here)
GingerSoftware.com  is a free online grammar and spelling checker. 
Grammarly.com is a subscription based grammar, spelling, and plagiarism checker.

They are worth checking out.

Hi World

Well, I finally did it. I have entered the blogsphere! I'm excited and nervous about adding my voice to the conversation.  I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts and hearing from you.