Blog Entries for People Problems

What to do when you feel angry and obligated

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:09:20 +0100

Imagine this – you’re on your way to work, running late because the kids were slow to get moving, or you slept in, or you simply lost your keys. You have a hectic day ahead and an urgent message from your boss or client comes through which has shifted your priorities around in a way you couldn’t have imagined.

Then you [...]

How do you get staff enthused?

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

An unmotivated team member is usually also a team member that has lost sight of the bigger picture and has been ground down by constant pressure to the point where they no longer enjoy their work.

Focus on the big picture with stories, ideas and actions

A demotivated team member has usually lost the urge to c [...]

Making assumptions about anything and anyone

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

Making assumptions in business can have drastic effects. Take the job interview situation as an example – so many assumptions are made as a result of a very brief interaction.

Some interviewers go even further and say they 'knew' as soon as the candidate walked in that they were right or wrong for the job. These as [...]

Are you a drama queen or do you work with one? Seven tell-tale behaviours

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0100

The office is a hotbed for producing drama queens – people who have a tendency to cause and magnify the seriousness and gravity of any given situation.

What I find interesting is that most drama queens would never define themselves as such, and in some cases will even accuse other people of it! Here is a list that will help [...]

The ups and downs of giving 'negative' feedback

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0100

As important as it is to create a culture of feedback in an organisation, the problem of how difficult it can be to receive feedback still exists.

Unfortunately, the tendency is to think of feedback as a negative thing – telling people they have done something wrong, or that something needs to be improved. Feedback is also [...]

Speak to the person, not to the title

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:10:29 +0100

Last year I ran a presentation skills workshop and one of the things I began to notice was that a serious cause of anxiety in the workplace is the issue of 'status'. Status presents through many channels in society, but in the workplace the existence of an organisational hierarchy makes status an explicit thing.

And [...]

Five ways to beat the 3.30pm slump

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:19:41 +0100

We all know the feeling – we have been ploughing through work all day and we feel a yawn emerge. All of a sudden we find it a lot harder to concentrate and to work quickly.

It is so predictable that advertisers are now using "3.30-itis" in their campaigns, and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook see a surge of tr [...]

Does your team know what is really important?

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:57:03 +0100

It is very common to talk about aligning people to a vision, aligning priorities and ensuring everyone is agreed on the focus. Despite countless metaphors such as "making sure we're on the same page", "singing from the same song book", "dancing to the same tune", there is a real lack of consensus in most teams about this all-important shared direction.

What would the answer be if you asked everyone in your team what the number one priority was?

It is very easy for a manager [...]

Drowning in overload: Four common responses

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:15:38 +0100

Overload is something we invariably feel at some stage or another, or maybe we see it in our team, or our management group, or maybe it has become a constant for us, and everyone around us.

Anyone who has been through a university degree will attest to the fact that workload is not a constant stream, but an intermittent shift from ‘a lot to do’ to ‘too much to do’. Things are a little bit different in the workplace, and as our careers progress our roles shift into these limitless res [...]

Speaking out – how do you feel later?

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:53:39 +0100

How do you feel when you see or know something that is wrong and you do decide to speak out about it – and then the public hears it? The focus can come down on you. So how do you cope?

When you choose to put the spotlight on a wrongdoing, or something questionable, it is often a choice that means this issue will be with you for weeks, months, years or even a lifetime.

It can become time consuming and emotionally draining, which is why so many people stop at simply talking t [...]

That big mental logjam

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:11:01 +0100

If you have ever had that feeling of massive mental relief after finally dealing with something that has been lurking in your mind for a long time then you'll be familiar with the theme of this blog.

Mental logjams are something we all face, and often don't even realise how much mental capacity they're taking up. For some people it's a tax return, for others it is a piece of work dragging and overdue, it may be something inter-personal that is blocking the way, or simply a fear of [...]

Disloyal honesty – ever been caught out?

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:13:08 +0100

There is a strong undercurrent in Australian culture not to be the person that 'dobs in'. That is, we actively discourage people from reporting illegal or dishonest behaviour.

We act as though it goes against the national psyche. It is a really strange phenomenon, and stems from a culture of resisting oppression and orders from the ruling class.

Do you describe yourself as an honest person?

The basic premise of honesty is so simple: tell the truth as you know it to [...]

The many problems with feeling 'trampled on'

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:33:48 +0100

There are a lot of forces at play in the office. The social element of working with people means simply being excellent at what you do is often not enough, you need to engage in the art of influence.

This is really tough for some people, who either aren't skilled, aren't confident enough or simply don't want to 'play games'. But let's take a look at what happens when you aren't assertive...

Your communication shuts down

If your response to someone overriding your op [...]

Seeing injustice – should we speak out?

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:45:21 +0100

Have you ever witnessed someone being bullied or being spoken down to? You may see the hurt and suffering, then see that person try to regain composure and carry on with their day. It is an awful feeling.

What about seeing someone steal from the office, or deceive a customer? Another common injustice that some people turn a blind eye to is hearing someone being blamed publicly when it was not entirely their fault or even being falsely accused.

We have all seen forms of inju [...]

Challenge, not money, drives most people

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:09:08 +0100

When you think about it, 'work' is a very strange thing to be motivated about. It requires a lot of effort, and can diminish our recreational time to about 5% of our waking lives – yet so many of us are driven by career and actually enjoy being consumed by work.

So what is it that motivates us at work?

SmartCompany ran a recent survey to ask readers to choose ONE of the following only, and here are the results:

1. Challenges and achievements (62%)

The idea o [...]

A 13-point checklist on how to choose a good mentor

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:56:18 +0100

Last week I wrote about being a successful mentor. But what if you are looking for a mentor – how do you choose the right one?

The first point is that this is not like a relationship or marriage where you need to be wonderfully compatible, or go for the long haul, long term.

It's a relationship that might be for a year, the duration of a project or perhaps even for a few years. The frequency may be a month apart or perhaps a catch up only two to four times a year. It may be [...]

Being a successful mentor is up to YOU!

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:34:46 +0100

A lot of really successful people put high value on having good mentors in their working lives. The help that a good mentor can provide will keep you on a straight path while the world is trying to pull you in other directions.

But looking at the other side of the coin – how do you become a good mentor? Is it simply a matter of being successful in business, or is there more to it than that?

Start by building a strong and trusting relationship

The most important thin [...]

Don't just sit there – LISTEN!

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 21:27:52 +0100

How many times have you felt like you are not being listened to? Someone stares back blankly as you try to cover an important issue, or tell a story, or explain something. It's especially annoying when someone doesn't make good quality eye contact with you.

But how good a listener are you?

What usually goes through your head when someone is talking to you at work? Are you thinking of what you will say next? Are you thinking of the message you can see flashing on yo [...]

What motivates your team at work? A quick pop quiz

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0100

There are few things more difficult in business than motivating a team of people of diverse personalities. Everyone seems to have different strengths, weaknesses, motivators and trigger points. And that’s before you consider personality clashes!

The start of the year is a good time to start thinking about motivation. It’s a time when most people are already feeling a lot more motivated than usual. It means you can experiment a little and harness that existing motivation. It also mea [...]

A fail-safe way to work through important decisions

eash@smartcompany.com.au — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:51:27 +0100

We make a lot of decisions every day, most of them are of little consequence. But when we get stuck on a big problem it can completely take over! Trying to work out how to tackle a really tricky problem, especially one that involves other people, can be paralysing.

The reason it is so tough is because, psychologically speaking, we want to avoid pain and discomfort wherever possible. At the start of a new year people are often considering their future. The holiday season so often ra [...]