Beat Boredom at Work
April 23, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Have you ever been bored at work? I can’t remember being bored for the past decade since I became psychologically unemployable and started my own company. But I do remember those days in my W-2 job where I would be chomping at the bit to do something meaningful, take action, talk to customers or just have some forward motion. I’m thrilled to be interviewed for a recent article in Vitality Magazine – www.Vitality.com on the topic of how to beat workplace boredom.
My article isn’t shown on their website, so if you want a copy send me an email with the subject of Vitality and I will send you a copy of the article to help you energize your workplace environment. I would also suggest my card deck 51 Winning Ways to Have Fun at Work. It’s a real card deck that has a fun tip on each card, so you can play Go Fish and select an idea to improve workplace morale. And if that falls through, then you can always win some cash by playing a rousing round of poker with the cards.
Here’s a tip to beat boredom – find work that is in alignment with your authentic self, your values, your beliefs and the big picture you envision for your world. What is your big picture and how do you fit your knowledge, skills, abilities and talents into that big picture? Where is that delicious intersection of what the world needs and wants and your special gifts? Find that intersection and you will never be bored, in fact, there won’t be enough time in the day to do everything you want to do to move your vision forward. You may even find it hard to sleep because your mind is racing with new ideas of expanding and growing your dreams and desires.
Check out my other articles on fun in the workplace and improving motivation, morale and meaning at work at: http://www.funcilitators.com/resources.htm. Let me know what else you are doing to beat boredom at your workplace. I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Energize Your Life Through Job Satisfaction
April 18, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
How happy are you in your job? What is your job satisfaction? Duke University’s study found that job satisfaction was listed as the #1 factor in living a long life. Job satisfaction beat out 788 other factors as the key to longevity – beating out good health habits and good genes. Now there’s more evidence. The 2006 General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago cites the most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits after interviewing over 27,000 workers.
Top 10 most gratifying jobs and the percentage of subjects who said they were very satisfied with the job:
Clergy—87 percent percent
Firefighters—80 percent percent
Physical therapists—78 percent percent
Authors—74 percent
Special education teachers—70 percent
Teachers—69 percent
Education administrators—68 percent
Painters and sculptors—67 percent
Psychologists—67 percent
Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent
Operating engineers—64 percent
Office supervisors—61 percent
10 least gratifying jobs, where few participants reported being very satisfied:
Laborers, except construction—21 percent
Apparel clothing salespersons—24 percent
Handpackers and packagers—24 percent
Food preparers—24 percent
Roofers—25 percent
Cashiers—25 percent
Furniture and home-furnishing salespersons—25 percent
Bartenders—26 percent
Freight, stock and material handlers—26 percent
Waiters and servers—27 percent
How satisfied are you with your job? What can you change if your current position if it’s not the most satisfying? What do you love to do and how can you incorporate that (appropriately) into your work? How about not having a job at all? How about making a living without a job? More on that topic later…..
Big Picture or Little Picture View of the World
April 12, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Do you have a big picture or a little picture view of the world? Are you stressing over the administrivia or are you focused on the big picture of your life and your career? Take a look at what types of things stress you out – are they the small details, the perfectionism, the imperfect people, the gray areas on the outskirts of the black and white? Sometimes we make our own stresses and create our own energy drains by focusing on things that have less impact than the power we are giving them.
It’s tax season and focusing on numbers is something we all need to do, but getting crazed if your account is 94 cents off isn’t such a big deal in the scheme of things. Of course waiting until the bitter end and not leaving yourself wiggle room can also make you crazed. Step back from some of the situations you find yourself in and see if you’re stressing out because you’re focusing on little picture stuff. Perhaps you need to take a look at the big picture and if the stressors that are affecting you now will really matter in the scheme of things a few weeks, months, or years from now.
The big picture sometimes can pull us through the little picture stuff when things get tough – keeping our eye on why we are doing what we are doing can keep us going. Are you focused on big picture stuff or little picture stuff most of the time? Are you drowning in details or do you have paralysis by analysis? Is it taking your eye off the main goal and draining your energy? You may want to hire out your little picture stuff and have someobody else who loves doing it do what they love and allow you to keep your energy focused on your big picture. It can sure help your sanity – especially at tax time. We can all use a little energy boost at this time of year.
Happy Herd or Mad Cows at Work
December 15, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
Happy Holidays!
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the wind-down of the season and the many festive office parties that are sure to abound. In appreciation for your support and adding light to my world, I wanted to share this pdf version of the new issue of Stephen Covey’s Sales and Service Excellence magazine that features Fun*cilitators and our article on Contented Cows – How to Create a Happy Herd at Work through mixing fun and effectiveness. It hits the bookshelves in January and I wanted you to have a sneak peek – I thought you might like to get a jump on your competition and be the first on your block to get the inside scoop on building a better team.
If you want a copy of the magazine article in a pdf version, send me an email at Gaia@gaiahart.com to get your own copy and share it with others who may be just chewing their cud at work.
We’ve stocked up on our 52 Ways to Have Fun at Work card deck to prepare for the upcoming publication date. If you want 52 more ways to have more fun at work in addition to the article, send me an email or give me a call to order your own card deck chalked full of ideas, tips and tidbits to practice safe stress at work. 866.Fun.at.Work or Gaia@gaiahart.com.
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
Fearless Selling: Tips to Building Your Business
September 30, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
The last segment in the series of Fearless Selling: How to Energize Your Marketing Strategies and Build Business Relationships.
When I launch a new product such as a card deck of 52 Ways to Have Fun at Work, then I send my clients a sample of my new product as a thank you gift for choosing to partner with me in business. When I see an article in a trade magazine that I think would be valuable to a client, I will send them a copy whether it is about my, written by me, or just on a topic that would be of interest that is sent along with a note that I’m thinking about them.
I always send a thank you gift to a client along with a hand-written note after every presentation in appreciation for collaborating on a program for their members or employees. I keep a stock of a variety of items on hand that represent the image I want to project for my business. I have had items customized for me, I’ve found items in catalogs and malls that had just the right flair and I pick up a bulk order of them, or I have made ceramic plaques with the phrases I use in my programs to give as gifts. I change items every year or two to keep it fresh and I keep track of what I have sent to whom so I don’t give a repeat gift.
Another way I’ve found to keep in touch by adding value is to offer clients or their customers a free tele-class as a premium. Clients can either offer the tele-class to their team members or they can offer it to their customers and use me as their thank-you to their customers. Bridge lines are inexpensive to rent and it gives me a chance to offer more information and services to my customers.
The best way I have found to keep in touch and to keep building on relationships is to add value to people’s lives and to save them time, money, effort, or energy, or at least give them information or products that will do the same for them. When I make contact, I make sure it will be welcomed.
What kinds of things are you doing to energize your marketing strategies and build better business relationships. Remember, you don’t necessarily do business with another business. You do business with people. I can’t say enough about the neatest product I’ve found to build business and personal relationships through www.BizBuilderCards.com. Kody Batemen and his team have developed the slickest way yet to keep in touch with people using a click of a mouse to send real-life paper cards that are customized by you and that end up in their mailbox. The response from my clients and friends has been overwhelming to get something other than junk mail or from Ed McMahon in their mailbox. The coolest part about it is that the company is a pay-it-forward kind of company that promotes gratitude, acknowledgement, appreciation, and a celebration and honoring of somebody else’s life. I am happy to set up a free gift account for you to try it on for size and see how easy it is to touch somebody’s life through a customized greeting card. I will even pay for the postage. Give me a call to set up a 10-15-minute session so you can start sending out cards.
To Your FUNomenal Success!
Gail
Fearless Selling Tips to Follow Up and Follow Through
September 13, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
I often get lots of questions about how I build my businesses when I work from home. I’ve created a list if ideas of things I do to attract and energize my business and create great relationships with my clients, audience members and members of the community. It’s all about people and serving them to the best of your ability and making the time to keep in touch with them as well as bringing them more value to their lives. Nobody likes spam. Here is the first in a series of posts that will have you building relationships and building your business, and energizing your sales and marketing strategies no matter what kind of business it is.
As an entrepreneur, professional speaker, and writer working alone; it’s critical to build strong relationships amongst clients as well as colleagues in order to grow your business and help others in the growth of their potential as well. Genuinely keeping in touch with your advocates and those you hope will become your advocates keeps business streaming through your door and keeps you connected with peers and prospects alike.
I’ve found that having a system for most things makes it easier to accomplish more in less time. When I keep to my schedule and system, then keeping connected to the outside world becomes a good habit. I have always been one to be leery of bugging people and not wanting to seem to shameless in my sales pitch, but rather to be of service and to bring value and needed benefits to my clients and potential clients. I use the theory of giving to get when I make business contacts through email, snail mail, voice mail, or in person. When I send something out of the office it is usually filled with valuable information, a fun new product, a notice of something of benefit to them in the future, or something tasty to eat.
Putting surprises in packages for my clients as a token of appreciation gives me great pleasure. I have found through experience that people love to get treats, especially chocolate. For client appreciation, I often send my customized gourmet chocolate bar that has my trademark tagline printed on the front “You’re Funominal! ™” along with a notecard thanking them for their business. ….
Stay tuned for more tips to add success and significance to your life and the lives of others….
Your Chief Energizing Officer –
Gail
Last Words on Creating an Unmotivating Work Environment
September 8, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Here you go, the final installment of how to torment your team members. Be sure you read this in the mirror so you know that if you do everything backwards that this article says, then you should be successful at creating a motivating and meaningful environment for yourself and your team.
41. Have all the answers ready for them so they don’t waste their time and brain power figuring it out themselves. They can be more efficient if they aren’t testing new solutions and just do it the way you said it should be done and trust that your answer is the only right answer.
42. Don’t compliment their work. It can only lead to over-inflated egos and you certainly don’t want another peacock strutting around fluffing their feathers thinking they’re better than anybody else. That’s why you’re there- to show them that none of them are heads above the rest.
43. Take care of your own career and reputation before those of your colleagues. Be the one to kiss up to all those above you, emulate them and talk trash about your teammates so you look better in the eyes of your boss.
44. Act more privileged than your employees, after all, you’re a manager that is above them- you’ve earned it. Come in late, leave early and take your fair share of longer lunch breaks. Show them your importance by letting them know you’ve got other things to do and people to see.
45. Let it be known just how busy you are by constantly checking your cell phone or Blackberry during meetings, interviews or over lunch. Show others that you can multi-task with the best of them- there’s no need to lose productivity by focusing on just one person at a time.
46. Hire insecure people so you can easily manage by intimidation and through your tone of voice and snide comments. They will just be grateful to have a job at all- remind them that their paycheck is their reward.
47. Just for fun, use all the industry acronyms you can think of during the first days of orientation. Play practical jokes on the new hire for your version of disorientation just to see how their sense of humor will fare in your work environment.
48. Proceed to tell the new recruits the background stories, gossip and history of everybody on your team to get them up to speed on their co-workers. You will save them the hassle of getting to know people and making their own informed decisions.
49. If you need to discipline a co-worker, do it in front of the whole team. That way, it will give everybody an idea of what you don’t want and will save you the effort of disciplining others who may have been thinking of doing the same thing. Getting everything in the open shows a sense of family.
50. Have a suggestion box, use comment cards, solicit input and feedback, then do nothing to carry out the comments and pay no attention to complaints.
51. Employ the one strike and you’re out mentality. It lets them know you mean business. No second chances for first impressions. Do it right the first time or don’t do it at all. No sense in encouraging experimentation, we’ve been doing it one way for years and it hasn’t been half bad.
So there you have it: fifty-one ways to ditch your X (or your Y) generations in the workplace. Fifty-one because you should always give a little more than expected and over-deliver what you promised you would provide. If you implement these fiftyone items, you will certainly be dubbed a tormentor who infects the workplace rather than a mentor who affects the workplace.
Being mindful of how not to manage can be just as affective as being aware of how to manage. If you should hear the words “micromanager” being uttered as you walk by, know that it is not a term of endearment and take heed. Read through this list again and see if any of these nifty fifty (one) items sound familiar. Then do what you must to turn it around, or else you will watch your new recruits turn around and head out the door. One last sobering thought, if you think you can just replace those who do walk… it costs one to three times an average salary to replace an employee, not to mention the downtime, stress and team development curve. Pay attention to your people and it will pay off.
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
How to Drive Your Team Out the Door
September 7, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Here you go, yet another installment of how to irritae, aggitate and finally drive mad, or at least drive away your Generation X and Y employees. Heck, this behavior may even drive away the Baby Boomers or the Traditionalists to boot. Employ these tactics and don’t be shocked if you have no employees after a while.
31. Only approve in-house professional development if absolutely necessary. Choose all courses for them. No need to worry them about all those choices. Don’t bother them with the hassles of packing and traveling to training or conferences in desirable locations.
32. Develop a serious all-business work environment. There’s no room at work for a sense of humor or fun when people are trying to be productive.
33. Ensure employees work in isolation with very little personal contact. Working as a team creates too much trust, open communication and understanding. After all, they may discuss what’s really going on in your organization and gang up on you with quality suggestions after a collaboration session.
34. Avoid getting personal with colleagues at all costs. Draw a thick line between personal and professional and don’t allow anybody to cross that delicate line.
35. Demonstrate strictness and strong disciplinarian tendencies. Avoid any pretense of being relaxed, approachable, casual and people-oriented.
36. Keep employees in the dark about how they contribute and make a difference. They needn’t be bothered with such distracting details.
37. Offer only one benefit plan for all staff regardless of their personal situations. A menu of options can be too time consuming and confusing.
38. Only promote externally to keep new blood flowing into the system with a continuous flow of new ideas and methodologies. Demonstrate to your team that if they want to move up, they’ve got to move out.
39. Don’t tell your team what you expect from them. Keep them on their toes by keeping them guessing. They will be exercising their imaginations and creative thinking by trying to figure out what is expected of them.
40. Eliminate anybody who isn’t 100% behind you. Show them you reward blind loyalty by not even entertaining a hint of conflict or confrontation with your ideas. They will enjoy only needing to learn one company policy: “My way or the highway.” They needn’t jumble their minds with ambiguity…..
To be continued with the last segment of 50 Ways to Ditch Your X (and Y) Employees by being a tormentor rather than a mentor to them.
What are you doing to create a meaningful workplace filled with empowered employees?
Gail