Team Taskmaster

Want to make yourself indispensable at work? You can help bullet-proof your career (or get yourself noticed for a promotion) with five simple steps, says Ali Hale of Dumb Little Man. The first three:

1. Do your job and do it well. Sound obvious? Well, it’s not. How many of us coast through some (or all) of the day, turn in an “OK” rather than “stellar” report, or tell ourselves something isn’t worth putting effort into? To become a company hero, you need to not only do your job, but do it to a high standard, says Hale.
2. Mind your manners. You’d never be intentionally rude to your boss, but have you ever snapped at a colleague? Or been snotty with a receptionist? How you treat others, from the janitor to the CEO, gets noticed. Make sure it’s for the right reasons.
3. Get positive, even if you have to fake it. Sure, maybe you’re not completely engaged with a project or a challenge. But moaning and whining about it won’t win you any points. Be the “can do” person, the one with a smile even when the situation gets difficult. Focus on the things you enjoy about your job and take the time to praise or encourage colleagues, suggests Hale.

Hale has two more tricks and some other helpful ideas, so swing on by and read her full post, How to Make Yourself Indispensable at Work. And good luck in becoming the office superstar.

Ever find yourself struggling to complete a task because it seems so daunting? We’ve all been there. Envisioning all the steps that need to be taken to get to “done” can be overwhelming. But if you reduce the friction that’s holding you back, says Leo Babauta on Zen Habits, it’s easier to reach completion.

What’s friction? Things like procrastinating, distractions, meetings, or even being intimidated by a big project. Focus on the friction and eliminate it, and you’ll find yourself moving forward.

Even better, think small. Start by getting the small things done to build momentum. For example, Barbauta explains how he launched a new minimalism blog (mnmlist.com) in just three days:

One day to buy the domain, set up Wordpress, and find a theme to start from. Another day to tweak the theme to what I wanted and write a few posts. A third day to write more posts and announce it on Twitter and here on Zen Habits. Three days, and I was at Done.

Starting a new blog might seem like a big challenge, but it’s not so bad when you break it down into bite-sized pieces.

So think “small” to get your project rolling, reduce friction points where you can, and enjoy the fruits of your labors a lot more quickly and easily than you might think.

Have you been paying attention to the saga of the Great Oudini? No, that’s not a typo, as you fellow tennis aficianados know. It’s a reference to 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, a young tennis player from Georgia who is making waves with her extraordinarily successful effort at the U.S. Open.

Unseeded and unheralded, Oudin — or Oudini, as commentator Mary Carrillo has dubbed her — has pulled off three amazing upsets in a row. After a strong first-round win, she bested the fourth seed (Elena Dementieva), the 29th seed (Maria Sharapova), and the 13th seed (Nadia Petrova). She’s now the youngest American tennis player to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Serena Williams did it in 1999.

Why am I writing about sports in a business blog? Aside from the fact that I’m completely entranced with her story and efforts, there’s a lesson here. Emblazoned on Oudin’s self-proclaimed “lucky shoes” (customized pink and yellow Adidas Barricade sneakers) is the word “believe”. And it’s that mantra that has helped the plucky teen find success.

In the business world, as in sports, belief can take you places that hard work alone cannot. If you believe in your product, you’ll be a better evangelizer. If you believe in your team’s potential, you’ll be a better motivator. And if you believe in your company, you’ll be a better and more engaged leader.

The same goes for the challenges you face: If you aren’t convinced that success is within reach, it might not be.

The Cinderella run continues today, weather permitting, when Oudin faces ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki (7 p.m. EDT). Even if (and I fervently hope this doesn’t happen) Oudin loses, her belief has already blown her expectations out of the water. She began this season hoping to crack the top 100 in women’s tennis. Following her U.S. Open run, she’ll rise to at least No. 45. Now she’s ready to set her sights even higher.

As Oudin told Mary Jo Fernandez in one post-match interview, “I have belief (on) my shoes…hopefully, I can get as high as anything.”

So take a cue from a rising tennis star and start believing. You might be surprised at what you can accomplish.

(photo courtesy examiner.com, “Melanie Oudin ‘Believe’ tennis shoes (Gallery)“)

Fill in the blank: When the going gets tough, your boss gets _____.

What word or phrase did you choose — cranky? Stressed? Unavailable? More demanding?

Any one of those adjectives could apply to the lion’s share of bosses I’ve had. But there was one boss (yes, Mr. H-S, I’m talking about you) I’d have to describe with a different adjective:

Nicer.

Seriously. We were working insane hours getting ready for a site launch? He’d take the whole team out to an afternoon movie. Company going through a tricky merger? Surprise: free pizza in the lunchroom. Everyone freaking out about layoffs? He’d drop by with a joke, a compliment, a kind word.

Don’t get me wrong, he was also great when it was smooth sailing. It’s just that when work life gave us lemons, he didn’t get sour along with the circumstances. Not only did he make lemonade, but he served it to us in lovely mugs topped with decorative parasols.

Yes, I’m speaking figuratively, but that kind of inverse reaction is something that good managers work hard to create. They know that how bosses react under stress has a huge impact on a team. If a manager is feeling the heat and in turns sends flames toward the rank and file, employees become resentful, more detached, and less productive. This makes his job harder — and voila, more stress. What a vicious circle.

But if a manager practices counterintuitive generosity — that is, the worse things get, the better he treats his staff — he gets rewarded with employees who are loyal, engaged, and willing to slog through the mud with him.

So think about how you act on those tough days. And make sure it’s not as tough for your team.

What does your office look like? If you’re in corporate America, it’s probably some combination of cubicles, offices, and conference rooms. But that trend may soon give way to more open floor plans with fewer walls and partitions — and fewer barriers to collaboration.

According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett at the Harvard Business Review, companies are realizing that cubicle cultures just don’t work. Why? Because the impersonal “cube farms” discourage collaboration, stifle employee engagement, and strangle innovation.

Creative fields have long embraced open floor plans or, at least, minimal barriers between workers. When I worked as a newspaper reporter, the only offices belonged to the bigwigs; the rest of us worked in close proximity — usually, with open desks — and enjoyed the ability to tap our co-workers for ideas, input, or just a quick dose of humor. That sparked our inspiration, made our stories better, and created a collegial environment.

Contrast that to being segmented into a Dilbert-like space. Sure, you might have somewhere to hang your Demotivators calendar, and you might be able to play hearts on your computer without your boss noticing. But it also shuts you away from your colleagues.

According to a study called Bookend Generations, both Generation Y workers and Baby Boomers prize interacting with high-quality colleagues — ranking it equal to or even higher than financial compensation. Speaking as a Gen X-er, I agree. My engagement and excitement about my work usually comes from exciting and interesting collaborations with smart people, rather than from my paycheck.

So think about tearing down some of those cubicle walls and, as Hewlett says, share the intellectual wealth.

(image by Tim Patterson via Flickr, CC 2.0)

I write pretty regularly in this blog about how to get things done better, faster, and more effectively. I’m a big fan of tips and techniques that boost productivity, and I’m constantly looking for ways to hack my own workday to get more done in less time.

But maybe I am neglecting the other side of the coin: getting less done — deliberately.

Leo Babauta writes on Zen Habits about the beauty of relaxing. He says,

There’s too much emphasis these days on productivity, on hyperefficiency, on squeezing the most production out of every last minute. People have forgotten how to relax. How to be lazy. How to enjoy life.

Babauta thinks we should occasionally stop being productive and enjoy ourselves. Doing less and loving it is a great option when you’re battling a non-productive day: take a nap, read a book, listen to some music, enjoy a long lunch.

If you have trouble learning to relax, here are three tips:

• At work, give yourself an hour off. Don’t try to be productive — just have fun.
• Take 5 minutes to go outside for a walk and breathe the fresh air.
• Take evenings off (no working!).

For more on Babauta’s thoughts, including more tips on relaxing, read his full post. Now, I’m off to a long lunch (and maybe a nap). I’m done being productive for this week.

(image by pawpaw67 via Flickr, CC 2.0)

The folks at Pear Analytics have determined that a whopping 41 percent of postings on Twitter are “pointless babble” (their words). And to this I say:

What’s wrong with pointless babble?

Yes, I know that overuse of social media can be a huge time waster and productivity killer. But tweeting a bit during the workday, even if it’s about something mundane like where you’re going for lunch, is a pretty decent way to give yourself a mental break or blow off some stress.

You’re not sharing any earth-shattering observations with the Twitterati. So what?

Think about the person-to-person conversations you have every day at work. Aren’t many of them equally trivial? Yesterday alone, I had discussions about the best flavors of gelato, why Microsoft makes computers that take forever to boot, and whether snakeskin or patent is a better choice for strappy sandals. (Snakeskin, hands-down.)

Nothing there that’s going to establish me as a genius, but these little exchanges connected me with my co-workers, gave my brain a change of topic, and increased my engagement by reinforcing the fact that there are fun (and funny) people in my workplace. After a few moments of idle chitchat, I’m refreshed and ready to get back to work.

So I think pointless babble has a place, whether it’s in your office or online.

What do you think?

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Ever feel like you just don’t have it in you to keep going? To lead a team that’s facing too many challenging obstacles?

Maybe this short clip, from the film Facing the Giants, can provide a little inspiration. I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t vouch for it; but this clip is worth watching even if you’re not a football fan.

Sure, the recessions stinks. But for employers, the silver lining has been that it’s created a deeper talent pool. More unemployment = more top-notch people looking to land at your company — often, at a significant discount.

But what will happen when recovery hits?

According to Jack Welch, many hiring managers are going to get acquainted with an unpleasant reality: They’ll be dealing with a newly wary workforce.

“Many people have come to the conclusion that they don’t want to work for ‘the man’ anymore. They want to work for themselves or someone they know and trust…From coast to coast—and through hundreds of e-mails to our Web site and conversations on Twitter—there’s a tidal wave of emotion. To be someone else’s employee, people are telling us, is to be at someone else’s whim. The impact of this growing attitude could be profound.  When the economy recovers, most companies might, for the first time, have to deal with a candidate pool that’s not particularly excited to work for them.”

That’s not good news, because last thing most employers want is an apathetic workforce. Real productivity and progress come from people who are engaged and who look forward to getting into the office and tackling new challenges — people who get positive reinforcement (other than a paycheck) from doing good work.

So brace yourself: Your days of picking from an endless array of skilled and supplicating labor are coming to an end.

How to adjust? Welch says employers need to make their people feel needed and valued. Bureaucracy needs to give way to innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset. Companies should mimic the upsides offered by small companies and embrace candor and informality. And they must realize that their top performers will no longer be content to toil away without reward.

“Perhaps most important, companies will need to understand that when the recovery arrives, stars will no longer wait around to be given the authority to make decisions or to be promoted. The alternative—running their own show—has too much appeal.”

I think Welch’s views dovetail neatly with what I’ve often written about engagement, management, and motivation. Treat your team like a valued asset. Make people matter. Care about what they think and feel, and if they’re not sharing that as a matter of course, ask them. Help foster work/life balance. Recognize both effort and achievement.

As Welch says, we know the recession will eventually be over.

And when it is, a brave new type of employee will rule the day. And only brave new companies will be able to entice them back.

Read the full post to get Welch’s complete take, and share your own opinions in the comments section.

Are you frustrated with your team’s performance? Do they seem to be just going through the motions, not putting out their best work, and actively resisting your efforts to improve their productivity?

Then maybe some advice doled out by Ron Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty Linsky of Cambridge Leadership Associates might help. Responding to a new manager seeking advice on how to handle a staff “addicted to complacency,” these experts offered spot-on suggestions for how to stop hating — and start motivating — your employees.

First, realize that if you mentally condemn them as a lazy pack of losers, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? If you approach them as if you’re managing a pack of slackers, no doubt they’ll respond in kind.

Instead, try to look at it from their perspective. They don’t think of themselves as complacency addicts. But maybe they feel you’re looking to trade off quality for check-box achievements. Or, if you’re a new manager, could be they think you don’t understand all the inherent conflicts and difficulties of their jobs. Or perhaps they think you’re treating them like a number on a spreadsheet rather than a member of an office family.

The point? Haranguing them from your moral high ground won’t work, because they think they have the moral high ground as well.

So take a different tack, say the experts:

“Start by engaging these folks where they are, not where you are. Be curious. Listen to their stories for clues as to what they really do care about, what their most noble values are, and what they are afraid of losing. I’m not suggesting that you buy into or accept their behavior, but you do need to understand the reasons behind their resistance to you.”

To read more about handling a culture of complacency, read the full post. And share your own ideas in the comments section.