Archives for "Personal Skills"

In each company, different departments with different functions tend to develop their own “tribal” cultures. In order to get these “tribes” working together effectively, you must know what each tribe thinks of itself and what it thinks of other tribes. Thus:

1. What Finance may think of themselves: “…. custodians of the company’s money… costs and protect the profits…. stop the company from making costly mistake..”
2. What Finance may think of others: If Production had their way… ever more expensive machinery eating up profits… “Sales… would pour far too much into unprofitable advertising.”
3. What others may think of Finance: “… routine-minded plodders who lack vision …. too cautious and obsessed with.. measurement.. good at controlling cost s, but they don’t make the profit.”
4. What Production may think of themselves: “… getting our hands dirty, making it happen… constantly being dictated to by Sales and Finance, who don’t appreciate the problems we have… We work hard uncomplainingly but without recognition… we actually come up with the goods; without us there would be no business.
5. What others may think of Production: “… obstructive and obstreperous… in their own self-centred world… ignorant of the real needs of our customers… myopic… obsessed with deadlines, schedules, raw materials, quality control and goodness knows what else!”
6. What Marketing may think of themselves: “We are the business… look at the direction it’s taking and make the decisions to steer it on course for prosperity… have the necessary vision to cope with the ever changing environment and plan for future success.”
7. What Marketing may think of  others: “We have to fight against the entrenched, obstructive attitudes of Finances, Sales and Production who can’t see beyond today.”
8. What others may think of Marketing: “… so busy looking at the stars that they don’t see the pot holes ahead… out of touch with the day-to-day reality of the business… could do with rolling their shirtsleeves up and getting down to some honest work.”

So there – now try to make them work together!

Continue Reading

1. List five to ten actions from your past that you truly regret.
Ask of each regret, “Is there anything I can do now to undo the damage?” If there is, write down exactly what you’ll do to it. If you’ve done all you can, let your regret go. Tear up the paper. Scatter the pieces.

2. List five to ten things you used to worry about.
Take a slow stroll through your list, asking yourself these questions about each entry;

1. Am I still worried about this?
2. How was the problem resolved?
3. Did my worry help in any way?
4. Which of my specific actions or decisions helped resolve the problem?
5. Did it simply resolve itself?
6. Did I just have to learn to live with it?

Review your answers. Do you see a pattern? You’ll probably discover that worry did little to help, but specific action and the healing power of time may have helped a lot.

3. List five to ten things you’re worried about right now. They can be big or small. Ask of each item;

1. Will worry help in any way?
2. Which actions can I take to resolve the problem?
3. Will the problem resolve itself?
4. Will I just have to learn to live with it?

Keep the papers that contain specific actions you’ve decide to take. Put the others in the shredder. If you can honestly tell yourself that worrying- not deciding, not planning, not acting- has helped you in the past or can help you now, go right on worrying. If you can’t find any use in worrying, let the worry go and start using all that energy to live instead.

Continue Reading

A reputation as an expert, and the influence that it provides, is attained only after a person becomes adept at conveying expertise to others. Thus, an expert must master both the substance of the subject and the communication skills needed to relate that knowledge to an audience. To further your own reputations as an expert, enhance your speaking, writing, and presentation skills.

Continue Reading

An instruction that confuses, angers, or otherwise fails to motivate the recipient isn’t doing its job. Follow these tips for more effective instruction:

1. Explains why you want something done. A good instruction defines a specific goal and the reason why it is worth pursuing.
2. Specifies how you want the task done. It not only gets people started, but tells them when to stop.
3. how you want the task done. It contains step-by-step procedures, which most people  required to do a job right.
4. Provides a time frame. It has a deadline.
5. Defines success and failure. A good instruction lets you know when you’ve gone too far and when you haven’t gone far enough.

Do you have additional tips of your own?

Continue Reading

In making decisions, consider these rules from “The Morals of Chess” written in 1779 by Benjamin Franklin:
1.  Foresight: Look into the future and consider the consequences. Think about the real advantages to yourself, then wonder about the impact on others and how that might then reflect back on your life.
2. Circumspection: Examine the bigger pictures, the dangers, the possibilities. Be more brave about actions that scare you.
3. Caution: Don’t make moves in haste or in passion. Keep to the rules of etiquette, law, and commandments.

Continue Reading

Interruptions are the bane of any manager. To effectively handle them, follow these tips:
1. Interruptions by colleagues – Set “boundaried time” for tasks that requires stretches of uninterrupted concentration. Tell your colleagues you are unavailabale.
2. Interruptions by E-Mail – Set spesific times during the day to check your e-mail, so you don’t constantly interrupt your work.
3. Interruptions by visitors – Don’t say, “Let’s meet for 30 minutes.” Instead, pick a time your visitor is not used to hearing: “Let’s meet for 28 minutes.” This creates a greater sense of urgency.

Continue Reading

Want to break those bad habits? Substitute good ones! The key is to remember that the average habits takes from five to 21 days to break. You must consistently be aware of the habit to develop a new habit of not doing it.

It would be useful to consciously replace the habit with one you would prefer. For example, when you catch yourself in a nervous habit – such as nail-biting or head-scratching – substitute taking a deep breath and smiling instead. It’s important to keep at it for at least three weeks.

Continue Reading