Time to brush up

Secrets

• We recently ran a workshop at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce on motivating staff and teams
• I was in the mood to give away secrets and said that ‘communication’ is the key to motivating staff
• If you’re looking for that one thing (aren’t we all?!) that will make you stand out as an effective motivator, it all boils down to superior communication
• The workshop was full of practical and easy-to-use tools for managers to help them boost motivation in their people
• I’ll let you in on another secret: Even though all the practical and easy-to-use tools are in fact ‘practical’ and ‘easy-to-use’, the reason why there are so many unmotivated people within organizations today is not because motivation is hard or complicated, but because most managers don’t spend the time to build a good rapport with their people
• So although time management may not appear to directly relate to motivating staff, it actually does (A manager that is less stressed and has the time to sit down and build relationships will inherently end up with nicely motivated and engaged staff
• So that is how a section on time management found its way into our workshop
• What was interesting is that in the participant feedback, there was a huge demand for more time management tools and ideas

For the love of time management

• I love the topic of time management
• Some of the reasons I love it:
• Its fascinating how many people obliviously waste significant amounts of their time, especially while working
• We are all stuck with the exact same 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour (and regardless of how much money or clout you have, you cannot buy any more)
• Solutions to better time management are indeed easy-to-use and implement and don’t require much more than a bit of discipline and repetition
• The lack of time (or perception of it) impacts virtually every person; Few people can say they have lots of time and are at peace

Creeps in everywhere

• Here’s a recent quirky example of how our perception of time gets skewed
• We recently became the proud owners of a Philips Sonicare toothbrush
• Now the sonic cleaning action of the brush is great, however what I really love is the ‘Smartimer’ which counts down 2 minutes and alerts you every 30 seconds
• Its not so much the timer itself that I really like, but the fact that the timer points out a significant misperception of time on my part
• Let me elaborate:
• I’ve been brushing my teeth unassisted for over 30 years and am pretty happy with my brushing skills and style (and a for-the-most-part filling-free mouth)
• Now the timer has illuminated a serious flaw in my technique
• Its now clear that I tended to flit about my mouth with the brush, spending far more time in some areas and perilously little time in other critical areas
• So this secondary feature of the sonic toothbrush (the primary feature being its sonic cleaning speed of an incredible 31,000 brush strokes per minute; That’s over 500 strokes per second!) has demonstrated that even something that I would consider myself fairly experienced in (teeth brushing), I had been somewhat subpar in my abilities
• So, much improvement and innovation comes from awareness
• The average Joe (plumber or otherwise) goes through life unaware of many areas in their life that could be enhanced and improved upon, many with minimal effort
• There is great opportunity in the assessment of how one manages one’s time

Simply better

• At a number of time management workshops that I’ve facilitated, I’ve talked about ultra simple assessment tools, one being a ‘time log’ (A document where you simply record the tasks, actions, duties that you did over the course of a day
• Its often quite amazing the reactions people have to how they spend their own time when reviewing what they’ve actually done (or not done) for a period of a few days
• I’ve had people scowl at tools like this as being too simple, kindergarten in nature, and below them
• But regularly, one of the biggest obstacles to better time management is not accurately knowing where your time is spent
• Have you ever shut down your computer and walked out of the office after a particularly busy day and then wondered to yourself what you actually accomplished?
• It’s usually the people that take the time to assess where their time goes that end up being more successful, because they’re the only ones armed with the knowledge of where change can be made (Ignorance is only bliss sometimes)

Practically speaking

• The two step:
• Time yourself doing day-to-day tasks to see where you spend/waste your time
• Armed with the knowledge of where your time goes, adjust your behaviors to waste less time, be more productive, and do more of what you actually want to do
• If you want to stop feeling like you’re under the gun with no time to breath, get in touch with me
• I regularly work with individuals (in person or video conference) and groups (workshops and Lunch & Learns) on the effective implementation of many very practical and easy-to-use time management tools that will free you (and your organization) up to be more productive, focused, and definitely less frazzled

W.I.I.F.M.

“What’s in it for me?”

• I’m definitely not a fan of acronyms, but I love this question!
• Partly because pondering it can help you better understand other people and what they are looking for, as well as the fact that its asked by most people on a daily basis in their subconscious mind

Don’t ask, don’t sell

• The WIIFM question should be the default question explored every day by marketers, entrepreneurs, large corporations, and virtually everyone who interacts with other human beings
• Its not complicated; Its just a matter of hearing your own message, pitch, or comment using your audience’s ears and determining if you are clearly defining what they will get out of it (i.e. a better quality product (even if the price is higher), more clients, a firmer butt, more time/less work, etc)
• The question proves very effective if you market your products or services in such a way that not only appeals to a person’s interests, but actually addresses a person’s pain (Upon hearing your pitch, it ‘hits them in the stomach’ and they don’t think twice about buying from you because they desperately need whatever you’re offering)
• However, the power of this question is frequently overlooked by many business people (and even those that have been introduced to the concept continue to ignore its value)

Experience, please

• I’ve had a number of clients who came to me when they were fresh out of their professional training and excited to start their own business, however had little or no business or marketing experience
• Some common initial marketing missteps were to make their marketing verbiage too wordy, too broad, and too ‘professional’ (not spoken or written in words a lay person can understand)
• Easy mistakes to make, yes, but costly and frustrating at the same time
• The WIIFM question becomes even more important in today’s culture where everyone is inundated with literally thousands of marketing messages a day and this information overload means that people rarely have an attention span that lasts longer than 30 seconds
• In addition, today’s western culture unfortunately permits itself a level of selfishness and sense of entitlement that most would argue didn’t exist to this degree 15 years ago; All the more reason the WIIFM question must be explored
• Nevertheless, cultures evolve (both positively and negatively) and the successful are those who can adapt most effectively

People are it, man

• In leadership training programs I facilitate (a combination of group workshops and one-on-one coaching), the underlying theme, regardless of the workshop topic (be it time management, mentoring, communication, motivation, etc) is always people
• This makes sense since virtually any business and group (from big multi-national banks to your local book club) is built around people
• Understanding people and their desires and needs is key to success in business, as well as in relationships, happiness, development, progress, etc

Emotional resonance

• To ask yourself the WIIFM question on behalf of your client or friend or stranger promotes a sense of empathy within you
• The phrase ‘Walk a mile in their shoes’ is simple, yet nearly perfectly defines empathy in action
• Another question that I love and use regularly is “What are your challenges?”
• It builds rapport, shows you actually care, and opens a dialogue that can take a relationship to another level, professional or personal
• To me, life becomes infinitely more interesting when you allow yourself to shift perspectives, to permit yourself some leeway in letting the ideas of others (the more preposterous the better; talk to me about this if you don’t agree) invade our ‘selfish’ minds and possibly throw us from our well-entrenched perspective for a moment; From this often comes the spark of genius and the spark that draws something out from your ‘brilliant’ mind

Note

• There are detractors to the WIIFM approach (saying it can make people cynical or question the persuader’s motives), however maintaining sincerity when seeking to see things from the other person’s perspective will ensure you remain genuine in serving others

Practically speaking

1. Slow yourself down (A skill I’m still very much working on, but buy into it more and more)
• Schedule ‘me’ time and schedule ‘client time’
• Don’t rush to appointments
• Listen, really listen, to your clients (and your staff's) complaints, desires, and dreams (And then when they stop talking, ask them more questions!)
  
• Build a suggestion box and take the time to work it
  
• Read (books, magazines, industry blogs, newspapers, your daughter’s favorite books)
• Take more walks (without an iPod)
• Light more candles
• Meditate (even if its just an informal audio-free, dim lights, quiet sit at home or in the office)

2. Narrow your focus
• Reflect on a relationship with one person (Family member, best client, friend, etc)
• Reminisce about your relationship with them (Both good times and challenges (positive and negative))
• Then schedule time with them
• By phone or in person
• Go deeper than small talk (Dreams, goals, visions, challenges, victories, etc)

3. Practice
• Like anything new, it takes practice to become proficient at this, so don't give up if the approach doesn't come easy to you at first