This quote from the late Jim Rohn has always resonated with me – it’s about giving your full, undivided attention to what you are doing. So often, you can hear people on the other end of the ‘phone tapping away on their blackberry or iphone – I even see people checking emails in meetings! As far as I’m concerned, that’s plain bad manners.
I’m working with a client who is CEO of a major FM consortium, and she constantly demonstrates what Jim Rohn means by ‘being there’. As soon as she comes into a meeting room, or stops to talk to a colleague, employee or client, in a corridor, the coffee lounge or on site, she puts her ‘phone away, closes her notebook and gives that person her full attention.
Why don’t we see more of this? Are we really too busy to give people 100% of our attention? Think honestly about yourself and whether you do this or not? What’s one small action you can take right now, to focus on the person you are with, or the job in hand?
Coaching can help you focus. Find out more - talk to Liz Kentish The FM Coach on 01778 561326 / 07717 787077 or email coach@lizkentishcoaching.co.uk
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Sunday 15 August 2010
The man who took our bins away - creating the bin less office
I recently facilitated a course for FMs and afterwards we got involved in a fascinating conversation about the realities of creating a bin less office. One FM had just started trialling the removal of all office bins and introducing ‘central recycling stations’ which in his own words was creating ‘anarchy’. He asked the group what they’d tried to help convince colleagues to go this way. Here’s the top tips offered by the rest of the group:
1. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate, it’s essential if the project is to succeed. Promote the reasons you are doing it, and use as many methods as possible, e.g. email, articles in the company newsletter, posters on notice boards, etc.
2. Get senior management buy-in and make sure they understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, are advocates for the project and above-all set a good example.
3. Provide real facts such as landfill taxes, corporate responsibility, environmental benefits, etc. If you contact the recycling companies, most will be happy to send you posters and information/facts that will support your campaign.
4. Put posters above each bin giving examples of what packaging and products go into the different bins, e.g. plastic food cartons, cans, paper. Even consider colour coding them to match the bins. Expect that even the most intelligent of people will take time working out what should go where!
5. Some staff may protest by leaving their rubbish on their desks for the cleaners to pick up. One way around that is to inform the cleaners not to remove any such rubbish and people will soon get the message. Another is to provide small ‘personal desk-top recycling boxes’. They’re only for paper and it’s the responsibility of the staff to empty the contents into the main recycling point each day, but it helps with goodwill. They cost between £2-4 each.
6. Display recycling results for your building and/or business on notice boards or include them in your newsletter to help people see that the project has a purpose and show that it is being closely monitored.
7. Expect mayhem, at least for a while and some people may treat you like you’ve stolen their right arm and done it just for fun. But time is a healer and with this one, people will just have to accept it and get used to it.
8. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate. Did I say that already? Well it can’t be stressed enough. It’s the key to making it all work.
1. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate, it’s essential if the project is to succeed. Promote the reasons you are doing it, and use as many methods as possible, e.g. email, articles in the company newsletter, posters on notice boards, etc.
2. Get senior management buy-in and make sure they understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, are advocates for the project and above-all set a good example.
3. Provide real facts such as landfill taxes, corporate responsibility, environmental benefits, etc. If you contact the recycling companies, most will be happy to send you posters and information/facts that will support your campaign.
4. Put posters above each bin giving examples of what packaging and products go into the different bins, e.g. plastic food cartons, cans, paper. Even consider colour coding them to match the bins. Expect that even the most intelligent of people will take time working out what should go where!
5. Some staff may protest by leaving their rubbish on their desks for the cleaners to pick up. One way around that is to inform the cleaners not to remove any such rubbish and people will soon get the message. Another is to provide small ‘personal desk-top recycling boxes’. They’re only for paper and it’s the responsibility of the staff to empty the contents into the main recycling point each day, but it helps with goodwill. They cost between £2-4 each.
6. Display recycling results for your building and/or business on notice boards or include them in your newsletter to help people see that the project has a purpose and show that it is being closely monitored.
7. Expect mayhem, at least for a while and some people may treat you like you’ve stolen their right arm and done it just for fun. But time is a healer and with this one, people will just have to accept it and get used to it.
8. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate. Did I say that already? Well it can’t be stressed enough. It’s the key to making it all work.
Sunday 1 August 2010
Eleanor Rigby – ‘wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door’
This week I’ve been coaching a couple of clients about the perception people have of them in the workplace. Listening to the words of the Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ this morning made me realise that many of us have different ‘faces' that we wear, which could mean we present a different picture to the people around us: to our families, friends, the boss, our colleagues, clients, contractors...the list goes on.
Is it a bad thing to have different ‘faces'?
If you check out the Johari Window* you will see that the ‘window’ we often need to work on is the ‘open’ window, where we, and others, know more about the authentic person we are. Different people may need to know different things about us, but the key thing is, it must be part of the real person – not some made-up persona or characteristic that we don’t have.
Take some time to think about where you keep your ‘faces’ and who gets to see which.
Want to find out more about perception, and how to change the way you are viewed at work? Call Liz Kentish The FM Coach on 01778 561326 or email coach@lizkentishcoaching.co.uk
*A Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window)
Is it a bad thing to have different ‘faces'?
If you check out the Johari Window* you will see that the ‘window’ we often need to work on is the ‘open’ window, where we, and others, know more about the authentic person we are. Different people may need to know different things about us, but the key thing is, it must be part of the real person – not some made-up persona or characteristic that we don’t have.
Take some time to think about where you keep your ‘faces’ and who gets to see which.
Want to find out more about perception, and how to change the way you are viewed at work? Call Liz Kentish The FM Coach on 01778 561326 or email coach@lizkentishcoaching.co.uk
*A Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window)
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