Empowering employees

It's a year since I returned from an amazing one-week management retreat at Ashridge Business School. As a second group of colleagues also returned just a week or two ago, several of us have been reflecting on what we've achieved a year on.

The week I spent at Ashridge was intense, on many levels. One aspect was the challenging hours - straight into work from 8 in the morning or earlier through to 10.30 or 11 at night (working, not socialising, which is rare in my industry!). 

Another was the sheer level of immersion in business theory, from considering the global business environment and challenging assumptions we held about our industry, to change management and finance. 

Then there were the real hands on exercises, including a full business simulation, running a pretend company over a period of seven years (where each year lasted only a few hours). Having no experience previously outside my own area, this was thrilling, and fully absorbing.

Lastly there was the personal journey that we all experienced. From watching ourselves on camera, to engaging in detailed feedback from our colleagues, and a self assessment scoring, I came away with a much clearer understanding of my work style, how I am perceived by colleagues, and how to be more effective both with my team and within my organisation more broadly. I came back brimming with confidence in my abilities, with drive and motivation to be a better manager, leader, colleague.

It was timely that econsultancy posted this article a few days ago, looking at employee motivation. Amongst the great suggestions were having a clear career path, having flexible working, having time to pursue personal projects, and ensuring people found their work meaningful. I wonder why some of the following didn't come up:

- Fostering a keen sense of self
One key takeaway from Business school was how much more effectively we work when we understand our colleagues better. Investment in culture is important. Find out how each team member likes to work- either through psychological profiling or other means. Having this knowledge empowers individuals to communicate better - for example as an introvert I am most effective if I have had time to digest information ahead of a meeting).  Knowing how my peers like to work enables me to respond appropriately to their needs, building a stronger relationship and better work. Inevitably, that makes me happier!

- Building strong teams
Motivation,  I'd say, is closely tied to how able a team is to rely on each other. 
The stronger the bonds between a team, and the more honest they can be with each other, the more effective the workplace. 

- Training and development
While the article pointed to career paths, what can often be missing is the tools and guidance to navigate the route. Investment in training, as I've been fortunate to have in both my current and previous workplace, can be hugely motivating.

Big rocks or hammer?

Today Dan introduced me to the concept of Covey's "big rocks" approach to organisation. To fill your time, or your jar, if you don't start with the big rocks and instead fill it with the pebbles and sand, the big rocks just won't fit in. More on this from the great zenhabits blog here http://zenhabits.net/big-rocks-first-double-your-productivity-this-week/.

I get this as a goal-oriented approach. In fact, I like to think I do this already, blocking out periods of time when I want to tackle projects.

However the thing that struck me was where is the hammer in this approach? You need the hammer to chip up those big rocks into manageable chunks, allowing you to fit more in the jar.

I once had a language teacher at school who took exactly this approach, and was in fact one of the first people to get me interested in linguistics as a subject. To tackle a translation, you don't look at the whole sentence. You break it down into tiny portions, based on the syntax of the words and phrases in front of you. As she put it, you don't tackle the Marsbar: you break it into mini Marsbar portions.

In terms of the rocks analysis, I wonder what acts as the hammer? For me it comes in not just assigning time to a big project, but identifying the project scope and tackling a manageable hit of it in one session. Definitely requires planning, but as an introvert that is the best approach that enables me to still see the big picture but to approach it in an achievable way.

Listen up? To audiobook or to not audiobook

My husband bought me a subscription to Audible for Christmas. I'll confess I have - despite my many years in publishing - until now never listened to an audiobook. I have to also confess that I am not sure I like it!

I selected a title on a historical palace which we are visiting on vacation in a couple of months. I figured it would be a good way to engage with a subject that was likely to be pretty dry.

I was wrong. Rather than be more engaging than the printed version, I find myself missing large chunks of the content when my mind wanders ('hmm I wonder of that guy knows he's snoring really loudly...oh that is a nice coat...etc etc'). Not very good when you're trying to digest lots of facts about a location!

My plan for my next title (the sub gets me one free book a month) is to try a language book. I am thinking that an audiobook geared to learning a language should be better suited to my short attention span on the train. I also think it is the kind of thing I might find easier to listen to than read in print. The benefits of hearing the language spoken are pretty obvious.

I also have plans for book no. three: There are a huge number of titles by celebrity authors reading out their own books. Now that might be well worth a listen...

Any audiobook recommendations?

Fired up

So I recently succumbed to the temptation of an iPad. I had a sense it would improve my productivity at work, and make my home Internet use easier too. Two months on, how is that going?

Work:
- I have used the iPad regularly meetings, taking electronic notes and emailing them immediately back to myself to add to my to dos - time saved, and actions logged more effectively.
- I have been able to print less and review more whilst in meetings through having the documents on my iPad instead.
- I have been able to email someone a file while in a meeting to aid discussion (obviously this only worked because they had an iPad as well; potentially a downside).
- I have been able to review website content for discussion as part of meetings - easy to share and view.

Home
- i-player in the kitchen/bedroom/wherever is like having tv in every room in the house - amazing
- Internet browsing is now immediate and mobile. No more lugging a laptop around, or waiting for it to turn on.
- It has also found itself useful as a kitchen aid. With a portable stand it now doubles up as an extension of our recipe books. A great beef bourgininon was achieved this weekend :)
- We now also have Apple tv, so can stream music and video through the tv.

However, was I too hasty in my purchase? Having just read a lengthy review on Mashable of the Amazon Fire, I'm feeling that creeping sense of doubt. Will I be lusting after that soon too?

Hello January

Welcome 2012. In the end, 2011 was a mixed year for me. The highs were moving into a wonderful new house, some great learning experiences at work, and some great times with friends. The lows were spending three months at the end of the year with a neurological condition that was unpleasant and is still not fully gone, but thankfully was not life threatening.

I have two goals for 2012: to be well, and to be happy. Broad brush, but I intend to do a lot within those two chief statements.

Firstly, that means learning and maintaining a healthy work life balance. On the whole I push myself hard which I know I can no longer do without it affecting my health. Learning my limits and making time to rest is going to be a tough one for me!

Secondly, on the happy front, I'm going to be looking out for some great new books to read: it's been a while since I last devoured a great story. Recommendations are welcome.

More monthly goals and missions will be set. A happy New Year!

For keeps

There is a post in Mashable (http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/PJ6SLhGIhHg/) about retaining talent in start ups, but are those pointers genuinely unique to start ups? It advises that buying a team into your vision is crucial. Well, I work for a middle-sized organisation, and that conversation is as current for me as for any start up. I'd say actually it is probably tougher, because the vision and values have had time to morph or be defused, which wouldn't happen in the early days of an organisation.

Secondly it talks about the need for recognition. Maybe this is more relevant for a start up, but I'd maintain that really, every good organisation should do this. It doesn't take much to say "thanks".

Finally it emphasises how important feedback is. I spent a week this summer learning about being a leader, where a big emphasis was placed on feedback. So, really, what is unique about this list to start ups?

A test from my iPad

It's always a strange thing when presented with a new toy. With the strong belief that I can improve my productivity I went put an bought an iPad today. My belief is that I can spend less time writing up meeting notes, and potentially more time writing on the move. First blog post in a while, let's see if that changes!