We engage in discussions everyday with one another, and yet many times, issues don't seem to get resolved. here I aims to identify this problem and explain how a simple truth can make life easier during discussion. It worked for me and is working always, Effective talk is needed in workplaces, during heavy negotiations, and even in your family living room. The importance of understanding needs is a subject that is misunderstood many times. Hearing is one thing, and listening is another. Demonstrating empathy leads to understanding. By successfully understanding needs, the person feels fully heard. At this level of understanding, the relationship strengthens and positive results manifest.
As I mentioned above, hearing is one thing, and listening is another. To find out the other persons' needs, you really have show genuine interest. Its essential to search for the key issue that needs to be resolved. By educating yourself about this, you learn to figure out how to serve an unfulfilled desire. When focussing your attention on the need, there is much rapport and the conversation moves in a positive direction. Hence the door is open for honest dialogue.
You really have to dig in. You have to try to sense the same feelings. This is a skill that develops over time. There are ways to practice this. If you suspect the other person is feeling a certain way, ask them! Confirm your intuition and see if its correct. By doing this regularly, and getting in to the habit, you'll start to truly understand people like you never have before! Ask people around you regularly, and clarify their needs. What is it that keeps them up at night, and drives them to their goals. When doing this often, you become more inline with those around you. Objectives are achieved in harmony, simply because you understand their needs & how we can address these..
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Sunday, 27 June 2010
You Can't Really Multi-task- I can't , Can you Drive & eat at same time ???? Think...I think I can't can you if not read it..
You Can't Really Multi-task
I used to be a major fan of multi-tasking, perhaps out of necessity. Lately, I've become a convert to "chunking". The name isn't as exciting, but the results are impressive. The article Use Chunking Instead of Multi-tasking will get you started toward a more productive day.
People who multi-task usually perform less well on the multiple tasks together than they would separately. The more complex the task, the more likely it is to suffer from multi-tasking. The most basic multi-tasking, the ability to walk and talk at the same time, is pretty easy for most of us after about age three. It's a little harder, however, to balance a checkbook while delivering a keynote speech at a conference. So remember to Use Chunking Instead of Multi-tasking.
Don't Multi-task When You Can Use Chunking
We spend too much of our day trying to cram more into it. We adopted the computer term multi-tasking and tried to apply it to our own daily activities as another step in our quest to get more done. The problem is that multi-tasking doesn't work.
Multi-tasking Doesn't Work
As you brush your teeth in the morning, you think about the agenda for big meeting later in the day. It doesn't take much of your brain's processing power anymore to brush your teeth, so your agenda planning isn't suffering too much from having to share. But what about two tasks that require more of your brain's capacity? You might be talking on the phone while you're preparing breakfast. You may get both tasks done correctly, but you would have gotten both of them done better, and in less total time, if you had done them one after the other instead of at the same time.
Chunking Works Better
"Chunking" describes how human memory utilization works. It is important to remember this concept as we look at doing several tasks "simultaneously". We are in fact switching between them rather than doing them at the same time (although in the case of brushing your teeth it may seem like they are simultaneous).
You are on the phone when someone walks into your office. They ask for your advice or a decision. You stop listening to the person on the phone briefly, scan the note in front of you, scribble a response and go back to the phone call. You did not do the two activities (phone call and in-person conversation) at the same time. You actually did three tasks in sequence; started the phone call, had the in-person conversation, and then resumed the phone call. Just as in the breakfast example above, you could have gotten both of them done better, and in less total time, if you had done them one after the other instead at the same time. The reason is that as you begin each task you have to focus on it and get started.
Start-up Time Kills Multi-tasking
When you started the phone call, you had to think about it, find the phone number, and make the call. When you were interrupted, you had to figure out what the person wanted from you in order to be able to give them a decision. Finally, when you resumed the phone call, you had to remember where you left off. You might even have had to say, "Oops, sorry, someone walked in. What were you saying?"
The more starts and stops you make during the day, the more of these start-up moments you have. These moments are non-productive time. If you have a daily report to prepare, the start-up moment is probably pretty short compared to that for the report you only do quarterly. Still, if you are preparing that report and you get interrupted, you have almost the same length of time for start-up each time.
I can write my weekly report in about 30 minutes without any interruptions. I have had it take several hours to complete simply because my job is operational and requires that I deal with unplanned tasks a lot. The culprit was not the people who interrupted me. The culprit was the time required for start-up moments each time I re-started the report.
Some Times You Have to Multi-task
Okay, sometimes you have to multi-task. Your job may be operational . So what is better than multi-tasking? Chunking is better.
Chunking is the concept of breaking up your day into larger chunks instead of reacting to each "emergency". The more chunks of time you can devote to specific tasks, the fewer start-up moments you will have. Since you won't be spending as much time in start-up moments, you will have more time and you will get more done. As a bonus, since you will be able to focus on the single task at hand, you will do it better.
Chunking
So how can you start chunking? Start small until you get the feel of it. Pick a single task, perhaps your weekly report. Set aside the 30 minutes you know it will take. Close your door. Put up a sign that reads "Genius at work" or something like that and then concentrate on the report and nothing but the report. Ignore the phone. Don't check email. Just write the report. After about two weeks you'll notice how much more quickly you are able to get your report done.
When you're ready for the next phase, set aside a chunk of time for another activity. For example, instead of interrupting whatever you are working on to read each email as it comes in, set aside a specific time to tackle a chunk of emails. One manager I know reads all her email at the beginning of each hour and then ignores it until the beginning of the next hour.
Bottom Line
Don't waste so much of your time trying to multi-task. Instead, make yourself more efficient and more productive by chunking.
• Set aside chunks of time for specific tasks
• Reduce the time spent in start-up moments
• Don't allow interruptions
• Increase the number and size of chunks during your day and week
• Recognize that there will still be interruptions no matter how well you chunk.
Use chunking to make yourself more focused and ultimately productive.
I used to be a major fan of multi-tasking, perhaps out of necessity. Lately, I've become a convert to "chunking". The name isn't as exciting, but the results are impressive. The article Use Chunking Instead of Multi-tasking will get you started toward a more productive day.
People who multi-task usually perform less well on the multiple tasks together than they would separately. The more complex the task, the more likely it is to suffer from multi-tasking. The most basic multi-tasking, the ability to walk and talk at the same time, is pretty easy for most of us after about age three. It's a little harder, however, to balance a checkbook while delivering a keynote speech at a conference. So remember to Use Chunking Instead of Multi-tasking.
Don't Multi-task When You Can Use Chunking
We spend too much of our day trying to cram more into it. We adopted the computer term multi-tasking and tried to apply it to our own daily activities as another step in our quest to get more done. The problem is that multi-tasking doesn't work.
Multi-tasking Doesn't Work
As you brush your teeth in the morning, you think about the agenda for big meeting later in the day. It doesn't take much of your brain's processing power anymore to brush your teeth, so your agenda planning isn't suffering too much from having to share. But what about two tasks that require more of your brain's capacity? You might be talking on the phone while you're preparing breakfast. You may get both tasks done correctly, but you would have gotten both of them done better, and in less total time, if you had done them one after the other instead of at the same time.
Chunking Works Better
"Chunking" describes how human memory utilization works. It is important to remember this concept as we look at doing several tasks "simultaneously". We are in fact switching between them rather than doing them at the same time (although in the case of brushing your teeth it may seem like they are simultaneous).
You are on the phone when someone walks into your office. They ask for your advice or a decision. You stop listening to the person on the phone briefly, scan the note in front of you, scribble a response and go back to the phone call. You did not do the two activities (phone call and in-person conversation) at the same time. You actually did three tasks in sequence; started the phone call, had the in-person conversation, and then resumed the phone call. Just as in the breakfast example above, you could have gotten both of them done better, and in less total time, if you had done them one after the other instead at the same time. The reason is that as you begin each task you have to focus on it and get started.
Start-up Time Kills Multi-tasking
When you started the phone call, you had to think about it, find the phone number, and make the call. When you were interrupted, you had to figure out what the person wanted from you in order to be able to give them a decision. Finally, when you resumed the phone call, you had to remember where you left off. You might even have had to say, "Oops, sorry, someone walked in. What were you saying?"
The more starts and stops you make during the day, the more of these start-up moments you have. These moments are non-productive time. If you have a daily report to prepare, the start-up moment is probably pretty short compared to that for the report you only do quarterly. Still, if you are preparing that report and you get interrupted, you have almost the same length of time for start-up each time.
I can write my weekly report in about 30 minutes without any interruptions. I have had it take several hours to complete simply because my job is operational and requires that I deal with unplanned tasks a lot. The culprit was not the people who interrupted me. The culprit was the time required for start-up moments each time I re-started the report.
Some Times You Have to Multi-task
Okay, sometimes you have to multi-task. Your job may be operational . So what is better than multi-tasking? Chunking is better.
Chunking is the concept of breaking up your day into larger chunks instead of reacting to each "emergency". The more chunks of time you can devote to specific tasks, the fewer start-up moments you will have. Since you won't be spending as much time in start-up moments, you will have more time and you will get more done. As a bonus, since you will be able to focus on the single task at hand, you will do it better.
Chunking
So how can you start chunking? Start small until you get the feel of it. Pick a single task, perhaps your weekly report. Set aside the 30 minutes you know it will take. Close your door. Put up a sign that reads "Genius at work" or something like that and then concentrate on the report and nothing but the report. Ignore the phone. Don't check email. Just write the report. After about two weeks you'll notice how much more quickly you are able to get your report done.
When you're ready for the next phase, set aside a chunk of time for another activity. For example, instead of interrupting whatever you are working on to read each email as it comes in, set aside a specific time to tackle a chunk of emails. One manager I know reads all her email at the beginning of each hour and then ignores it until the beginning of the next hour.
Bottom Line
Don't waste so much of your time trying to multi-task. Instead, make yourself more efficient and more productive by chunking.
• Set aside chunks of time for specific tasks
• Reduce the time spent in start-up moments
• Don't allow interruptions
• Increase the number and size of chunks during your day and week
• Recognize that there will still be interruptions no matter how well you chunk.
Use chunking to make yourself more focused and ultimately productive.
You Are Not Smarter Than Everybody.
You may be smarter than anyone, but you are not smarter than everyone. Seek input from the group, and LISTEN to it. You will be surprised at what you can learn.
The Essentials of Great Teamwork
T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves More
Like most other things Teamwork is a huge subject. There are whole books published on it and various theories and opinions. In this article I will attempt to provide some of the basics. A team differs from a group of people in that it has a clearly defined common purpose and goals with everyone working together to achieve them. Good teamwork can help your self-improvement. Here are some of the reasons we form people into teams:
1.
*
They achieve better results than people working alone.
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They get more done in less time than people working alone.
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They work to the strengths of individuals, while compensating for the weaknesses of others.
*
They split the work up among members of the team and make the task seem less daunting.
Teams are made up of people and people have certain needs when working together in teams. These have been called The Keys To Effective Teamwork. They include:
1.
Communication. This is the essence of effective Teamwork. Effective communication provides understanding, interpretation and action. Ineffective communication leads to misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and either inaction or inappropriate action.
2.
Active listening. There are two responsibilities here: That of the sender and that of the receiver. The sender must ensure that the message is clear and understood and the receiver must ensure that if the message is not clear that they ask for clarification.
3.
Resolving conflict. People are different and inevitably clashes of personality or other conflicts may arise. The conflict must be resolved and people should use an effective, consistent approach to resolve it.
4.
Team diversity. People come from different backgrounds and this can present challenges and opportunities. People have to recognise and understand their own uniqueness and that of others and make allowances.
5.
Team motivation. Motivation inspires commitment, innovation and teamwork. Team leaders and members need to be aware of the factors affecting motivation and techniques they can use to enhance and maintain motivation levels.
"With teamwork we can build towards excellence". Stew Leonard.
A team is a feeling of togetherness, involvement and commitment. Like an orchestra everyone has to be playing the same tune even if roles and tasks are different everyone must be working for the same outcome. The more you can do to make people feel good about themselves the better they will perform. So if you work in a team don't just work to your own self-improvement but help others to work towards their self-improvement as well and soon everyone will be:
Totally Excited And Motivated!!!
"If you take good care of your people they will take good care of your customers. If my people are happy my customers will be happy". Stew Leonard.
Friday, 11 June 2010
Kill the ANTs! ("Automated Negative Thoughts") Before They Infest Your Brain
Your every thought matters. It has be proven in research that negative thoughts have a tendency to create inflation in areas of the brain often related to anxiety and depression
. Whereas a positive thoughts have an overall calming effects on the the brain.
These negative thought are referred to as by Dr. Amen as "Automated Negative Thoughts". These ANTs are automatic, and they just happen, and if you don't pay attention to them they can ruin your day or even your life. One clear example of an ANT is you quitting your business because you think "it's not possible to make a living working from home" This type of thought happens when you are not attaining the results you are working for.
As per Dr. Amen, there are 4 ANT species.
1. Mind Reading - this is when you try to predict that another person is is thinking something negative about you without them even telling you. Just because someone looked at you in a weird way doesn't necessarily mean mean they are thinking negative about you, for all you know they may be constipated! Don't try to read peoples mind, it's impossible. It'll save you a huge head ache.
2. Fortune Telling - This is when you attempt to predict a bad outcome of specific situation before it has even happened. For example "no one is going to like my new marketing video". By doing so you are unconsciously predicting failure which in essence will cause you to fail. This will cause you perhaps not to create another marketing video for your business and you quit and never live the life you were dreaming about.
3. Always or Never Thinking - This where you actively think in absolutes like "always, never, every time or every one" By you thinking this way you are overgeneralizing and this can alter your behavior. For example : No one responded to your email marketing campaign, and you say to yourself "i'll NEVER" send out another email. This ANT will prevent you from sending any future emails campaigns which will cause your business to suffer, you quitting and never attaining your goals that you set out for yourself.
4. Guilt Beatings - This is when your brain overruns you with thoughts like "I should of.... I'm bad because.....I must do better" These type of guilt has a powerful affect at making you feel bad. It's a lousy motivator of behavior. For example : Just because people in your organization aren't having the same results as you does not mean you're doing something wrong, therefore you shouldn't make yourself feel guilty for their lack of success. There could be MANY other reasons, why blame yourself?
Your brain will always have ANTs, but the secret is that you do not have to believe every thought in your head. It's very important to be able to identify if the current thought is damaging or beneficial to you. If you never "challenge" your thoughts you simply tend to "believe them" as if they were true.
ANTs can take over and infest your brain. Develop an internal anteater to hunt down and devour the negative thoughts that are ruining your life.
Being able to identify these thoughts will help you choose to think better and positive thoughts which will make you feel AMAZING or you can choose to let the negative thoughts infest your brain and feel LOUSY. It's really up to you! When you think a negative thought without challenging it, your mind believes it and your brain reacts to it!
The Meaning and Definition of Integrity
"Integrity is one of the most important and oft-cited of virtue terms. It is also perhaps the most puzzling. For example, while it is sometimes used virtually synonymously with 'moral,' we also at times distinguish acting morally from acting with integrity. Persons of integrity may in fact act immorally-though they would usually not know they are acting immorally. Thus one may acknowledge a person to have integrity even though that person may hold importantly mistaken moral views.
When used as a virtue term, 'integrity' refers to a quality of a person's character; however, there are other uses of the term. One may speak of the integrity of a wilderness region or an ecosystem, a computerized database, a defense system, a work of art, and so on. When it is applied to objects, integrity refers to the wholeness, intactness or purity of a thing-meanings that are sometimes carried over when it is applied to people. A wilderness region has integrity when it has not been corrupted by development or by the side-effects of development, when it remains intact as wilderness. A database maintains its integrity as long as it remains uncorrupted by error; a defense system as long as it is not breached. A musical work might be said to have integrity when its musical structure has a certain completeness that is not intruded upon by uncoordinated, unrelated musical ideas; that is, when it possesses a kind of musical wholeness, intactness and purity.
Integrity is also attributed to various parts or aspects of a person's life. We speak of attributes such as professional, intellectual and artistic integrity. However, the most philosophically important sense of the term 'integrity' relates to general character. Philosophers have been particularly concerned to understand what it is for a person to exhibit integrity throughout life. Acting with integrity on some particularly important occasion will, philosophically speaking, always be explained in terms of broader features of a person's character and life.
What is it to be a person of integrity? Ordinary discourse about integrity involves two fundamental intuitions: first, that integrity is primarily a formal relation one has to oneself, or between parts or aspects of one's self; and second, that integrity is connected in an important way to acting morally, in other words, there are some substantive or normative constraints on what it is to act with integrity. How these two intuitions can be incorporated into a consistent theory of integrity is not obvious, and most accounts of integrity tend to focus on one of these intuitions to the detriment of the other.
A number of accounts have been advanced, the most important of them being: (i) integrity as the integration of self; (ii) integrity as maintenance of identity; (iii) integrity as standing for something; (iv) integrity as moral purpose; and (v) integrity as a virtue. These accounts are reviewed below. We then examine several issues that have been of central concern to philosophers exploring the concept of integrity: the relations between types of integrity, integrity and moral theory, and integrity and social and political conditions."
I am still looking for a perfect meaning of Integrity
Improving Employee Performance
Organizations continually search for ways to improve workplace performance and increase efficiencies, for several reasons. It's a domino effect...the better the employee performance, the better the customer service. This leads to a better reputation which can result in better sales. Improving workplace performance features changing behaviors which is no easy task. The best way to start is from the top, down. Managers and supervisors who follow certain tactics as it relates to communication, listening and understanding themselves and others can make a huge impact.
Communicate Effectively
Effective communication can be the key to employee performance, efficiencies and eventually, employee morale. A few steps to follow, no matter what the project, are as follows:
1. Speak in Terms of the End Result.
With an end result effectively communicated, all involved will understand what it means to be successful. Just by naming the end result, employees will immediately begin reviewing the steps in their minds to achieve that end result and unnecessary questions will be eliminated.
2. Clarify Expectations.
Many times, expectations are not communicated clearly. Even in cases where communication is frequent, there is misunderstanding involved. Once the end result is stated, other expectations should be covered... both obvious and subtle. Examples might be what the priorities are in a list of tasks, how long a project should take, and what resources to consider. The more specific the expectations, the less time is wasted gathering too much information or going in a different direction.
3. Touch Base Again... and Again.
Once you are sure that your expectations and goals are clear, be sure to touch base with your employees often. This is not the same as micro-managing. By simply making yourself available to your employees, efforts towards various projects can stay on-course.
Listen Carefully
We've heard this time and time again but there's a reason for that! Many people don't take in all the facts they need to because their minds drift, they are preparing a rebuttal or they are processing one statement while several other statements are being made. Pay attention by keeping your eyes on the speaker and try to drown out other conversations or noises. Be prepared to relay back to the speaker what you heard so that you are sure you got it covered.
Know Who You're Dealing With
Getting an understanding of why people act and react the way they do is very helpful when you are working closely together. For that matter, knowing your own strengths and weaknesses when dealing with others is even more important! There are a variety of related assessments including Emotional Intelligence (measures a person's ability to work with others) and Social Style. Determining a person's Social Style gives you insight into what motivates that person and what they feel comfortable with. The main idea behind Emotional Intelligence is being aware of your emotions and your coworkers so that you can communicate effectively.
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