TRIPLE III TIME: “Success-ing”
When was the last time someone asked you if you were “Success-ing”? Never…right? Because the answer to this “Success-ing” question is probably true for the majority, I decided we needed to take innovative advantage of the regular English language and make “Success-ing” the focal point for this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message.
First I want everyone to think about the basic word SUCCESS…and consider some of the thesaurus terms that relate to it. Terms like: Victorious, Prosperous, Triumphant, Flourishing, Thriving and Booming! Next consider whether any of these terms describe your personal or professional life situation? Have you ever used any of these “Success-ing” terms as potential measuring-sticks…OF YOU?
Sometimes when I work with individuals or groups I take them on a “Success-ing” mission. And unfortunately most have a very difficult time describing, explaining and/or offering real examples of how they are: Victorious, Prosperous, Triumphant, Flourishing, Thriving and Booming. Instead words like: continuous improvement, growing educationally, professional development, making a little extra money and/or being creative seem to be the more “safe” way to proclaim their positive growth.
Bottomline: I want everyone to step out of the norm and exceed what’s traditionally customary and challenge yourself to measure if and how you are “Success-ing”! Use the terms contained in this TRIPLE III TIME as you think through this process. HAVE FUN WITH IT!
I think you will learn a lot about YOU.
An ASPA Membership Address: What Would YOU Say?
Have you ever let your mind wander and thought about this question: ”If you were asked to get in front of a big crowd of friends/colleagues/coworkers and give a speech about your profession… What Would YOU Say?”
Well, my submission for this quarters American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) article is all about my approach to taking on this challenge. Specifically, the article: An ASPA Membership Address: What Would YOU Say? discusses four major areas I consider critical to realizing the potential educational role of public administrators.
Given the current state of American government and politics, The article was a personal privilege to write and share on a local, state, national and international level. I hope it is thought-generating.
TRIPLE III TIME: Personnel Policies & Benefits
Some of the biggest employee-employer challenges today are found in the area of Personnel Policies & Benefits. Each of these factors impact a company/organization’s greatest asset…their employees…everyday in some manner. Whether a union is present or the employer has a “family history” of relationships with its workers, dedicating appropriate time and development to building quality Personnel Policies & Benefits on a regular basis…is time well invested!
More specifically personnel policy and fringe benefit changes are often leaderships toughest responsibility. They are sometimes given more attention because it’s “necessary”…and not because it’s progressive. So for this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message, I want to just talk about four (4) special terms that are key to managing the world of Personnel Policies & Benefits.
- Morale: It is so important to employee morale to show REGULAR attention to Personnel Policies & Benefits. One will never be able to measure the value of job satisfaction among workers when they know you prioritize them on a REGULAR basis. Company changes/improvements can be small…but the benefit of everyone feeling cared about is huge!
- Stagnation: “Not moving, not active or developing”. This definition of stagnation is exact in its description of not being attentive to progressive Personnel Policies & Benefits. Business/organization workforces change almost daily…so applying the same level of change attention to personnel policies and benefits will help avoid employee/business stagnation.
- Expectancy: Worker expectancy is one of the biggest disrupters caused by not updating Personnel Policies & Benefits. “Charlie got a raise every year in the old days…why not me?” This example of expectancy is just one of many that can be brought forth if employees do not recognize that policies and benefits must change and flex with the economic times. Communication in this area is critical.
- Motivation: Did you ever notice the progressive energy that is felt when someone in a leadership role buys donuts/cookies for everyone…totally unexpectedly! Think of this example reaction when employees assume that Personnel Policies & Benefits are only considered/updated every two years? Giving the right kind of appropriate and consideration awareness time to personnel issues can in itself be a wonderful motivator.
Morale-Stagnation-Expectancy-Motivation are four critical factors to consider in the area of managing Personnel Policies & Benefits. Truly there will always be business/organization ups and downs, however maintaining an ALWAYS IMPORTANT approach to employee value will help them remain a true asset everyday…EVERYDAY!
LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast: Seeing ALL Sides
We have all heard the phrase, “There are always at least two sides to every story.”
Well not only is the “two-sides” part of this phrase very true… but this month’s Inspiring Innovations LEARNING MOMENTS podcast will talk about the importance of Seeing ALL Sides of an issue.
Professionally working to improve your Seeing ALL Sides skills and learning how to strategically apply this critical high value ability are all part of the discussion. Perfecting Seeing ALL Sides is not possible, but I believe we all can improve our efforts.
Enjoy the listen.
DEMOCRACY=Continuous Innovation & Change
“Democracy is essential in organizations that rely on the creativity of all workers to produce continuous innovation. Innovation requires democratic processes: the sharing of information across departments, functions and organizational levels; team decision making; conflict resolution; and deference to the person with the best idea rather than the most senior title. Also, democracy is inevitable in environments that must accommodate rapid and endless change. Democracy in industry is not an idealistic conception but a hard necessity in those areas where change is ever present and creative scientific enterprise must be nourished. For democracy is the only system of organization that is compatible with perpetual change.”
These words taken from Charles Garfield’s book: Second To None…The Productive Power of Putting People First are so SO important when strategizing on how your business or organization should function and go forward.
As you think about all of the very important factors included in those quotations, take a minute or two and apply them to your world of work. Does your entity have:
- An open design for soliciting ideas and improvement suggestions from anywhere within the organization?
- An ongoing succession process for moving the right people into the right positions to facilitate progressive change and innovation?
- A time/structure/system for quality, thorough, communication up and down and across your business/organization to ensure productivity/service understanding and competency is always the priority?
It is a pleasure to use the term “Democracy” in this TRIPLE III TIME message as a positive element in the area of Continuous Innovation & Change! I recommend re-reading the quotes and consider even more high-value applications of it’s meaning.
TRIPLE III TIME: YOUR Words Matter!
During this time of low supply of available, qualified new employee candidates, it has become more challenging to misfortunately retain your current workforce. What do I mean by “misfortunately retain” in the previous sentence? I mean that in many cases poor work habits, excess absenteeism and less than appropriate employee attitudes are silently overlooked in today’s workplace. In a unique, unplanned, unforeseen way…employers have sometimes assumed a position that “a poor employee is better than no employee”!
How does this scenario apply to this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message” YOUR Words Matter?
I believe that today it is critical for leaders and managers to be more direct and honest in their product development assignments and quality of service expectations. “Sugar coating and softening” messages in these areas should make you question yourself…how much do YOUR WORDS MATTER! Whether your directives, instructions and /or positive action words are delivered in written, online or in-person fashion; the need for simple, specific, timely expectations should be totally clear. In addition, it may be more unfortunately appropriate during these employee supply-demand challenge times to also include verbiage on negative consequences for non-action. Today including consequences information in personnel communications as a necessary standard will increase the likelihood the fact that YOUR Words Matter!
Is this an example of progressive professional discomfort…Yes. Is it an easy personnel action…No. If applied correctly and consistently will it make a positive personnel difference…Yes.
Are there other questions?
TRIPLE III TIME: Rules Versus Risk-Taking…What’s The Balance?
Throughout history I know there has always been the challenge: Rules Versus Risk–Taking…What’s The Balance? What side do YOU come down on? Are you someone who is strong with following the rules at work or at play? Or do you look at the rules…identify the “gray” areas…and proceed to bend the rules to see what else can happen? As you can guess there are no right or wrong answers to the Rules Versus Risk-Taking…What’s The Balance situation! However, it is professional development appropriate to offer a recommendation about the “Balance” issue.
First let me say that I admire and respect those who help us all by identifying and enforcing rules. Their role helps maintain order in our society and workplace operations. However, as everyone reading this knows…I am a calculated risk taker in all aspects of my life. Change is an every day natural action…so taking appropriate risks only seems like a logical progressive proactive step to better determine your work/life future! It has never been my intent to totally “break” established rules. Rather my purpose/goal was/still is to offer responsible risk-taking alternatives to products/services/policies/programs that just might be better.
So, are most of you thinking that I am ignoring the “Balance” part of this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message?
When you are facing the Rules Versus Risk-Taking…What’s The Balance dilemma, I want you to remember the 3-R’s: RESPECT-RESPONSBILITY-RETURN. I believe following these words will always keep you in the “right” when balancing rules versus risk-taking. Because applying the balance must be something taken very peronally, RESPECT for the rules and those who guard them is critical. Next, along with RESPECT one must always appreciate those carrying RESPONSIBILITY for applying and enforcing the rules. The order and discipline they must maintain is vital when considering risk-taking change and growth. Finally think about RETURN. RETURN for your support of quality rules will produce consistency, understandability, reliability…all positive business and organization operational factors…AND typically make way for cool risk-taking possibilities!
Balancing is hard but necessary…can you do it?
TRIPLE III TIME: Problem Employees & Time Management
One of the more “traditional” challenging leadership issues is dealing with Problem Employees & Time Management. Too often leaders spend way too much of their time exclusively dealing with one or a couple of employees who always seem to be adverse to the benefits of teamwork and setting a positive, progressive workplace example.
You know what I mean.
During my role as a Director, I would make it a major priority to share my time with co-workers on the most equal level as possible. Understandably there were times when problem employees required more time than was appropriate and truly, I felt the twinges of unfairness of attention to the rest of the gang who were on the job and doing their best everyday…EVERYDAY! And it was only by making time management a priority in this area that I believe I attained a pretty good balance of attention to all personnel.
The bottom-line for this TRIPLE III TIME: Problem Employees & Time Management message is to encourage all leaders/managers in all companies or organizations to prioritize time management among staff. This means: (1) avoiding allowing problem employees to maximize your time, (2) not enabling problem employees to draw your energy away from cool, new ideas and only focusing on negative issues and, (3) consistently “short-changing” the majority of your workers of your supportive and creative time
Quality time management on its own is an everyday challenge in all work/life situations. Is it easy to accomplish…no? But by making it a major priority in your role as a leader…you will attain the support and appreciation of those most important.
LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast: Reaching Back… To Grow Forward
It is always wonderful to get a request from a TRIPLE III TIME Blog reader or Inspiring Innovations LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast listener. Well this month’s podcast Reaching Back… To Grow Forward is really a combination of both.
Back in December 2016, I penned a TRIPLE III TIME Blog message that included a TOP 10 list of ideas that asked everyone to look back in their pasts… gather up all the “bests”… and strategically utilize them for their future. The requester asked me to offer a special podcast that provided a “live” discussion of each TOP 10 item.
Well listen closely and plan to spend a few more minutes hearing the extended message. It was fun, and in a way the TOP 10 feels timeless.
TRIPLE III TIME: The Battle Against “Slowness”
As effective managers…supervisors…leaders it is always a major responsibility to keep everyone productive and working at a full-employment pace. Some leaders strive to keep everyone challenged…maybe beyond regular capacities, while others in leadership positions remain satisfied with a pattern of maintenance speed.
But today’s TRIPLE III TIME message is how to deal with: The Battle Against “Slowness” in the workplace.
The Battle Against “Slowness” appears when the product or service you are involved in loses value and the demand goes down. Or when your special business niche is no longer special and worker activities slow to an unprecedented level. The impacts of “Slowness” on workers having too much undriven time are numerous. Consider this TOP 10 list of challenging negative impacts:
- Inability to prioritize.
- Gossip/rumor mills increase.
- Lost sense of production urgency.
- Minutia becomes a daily principle.
- People become involved in other people’s job/business.
- The “addiction” to non-work computer time goes way up.
- The quality of task completion goes down.
- Arriving to work early and staying a little late evaporates.
- The appeal to work somewhere else becomes more regular.
- The value of and priority of having a GREAT WORKPLACE CULTURE becomes an overbearing business/organizational issue.
Do I have several great suggestions? My single suggestion is innovation. But just discussing and collaboratively addressing The Battle Against “Slowness” is very important. This Battle is EVERYONE’s job and anyone who ignores it becomes part of the problem. The solutions are a constant work in progress with innovation as a motivator.
Inspiring Innovations, Inc. 