Please sign up for the
newsletter to be
delivered to your inbox
The knock-on effect of the WHO declaring COVID-19 as a pandemic is significant.
While many businesses are telling staff to work from home, the reality is everyone doesn’t do it well. For instance, research from Cardiff University report 39% or remote workers work longer hours to complete their work!!!
“The reality of open-plan offices is quite different to how they were intended to function” - Bruce Daisley
For years we’ve been told how open plan offices were good for reducing silos, creating collaborative cultures, increasing productivity and so on.
Yet, a significant number of those using the spaces haven’t particularly liked them due to the level of noise and interruptions that destroy productivity or how hard it is to have private conversations.
“Just saying yes because you can't bear the short-term pain of saying no is not going to help you do the work” – Seth Godin
Justin (not his real name) was a great guy who got along well with his colleagues.
What was undermining Justin though was he had the dangerous combination of being super conscientious and a people pleaser…
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing” - Henry Ford
Steven (not his real name) was 1 of the better performers in his business unit.
Steven’s performance earned him a promotion and greater responsibilities. Steven continued to perform at a high level until he got so busy he became overwhelmed.
“It isn’t how much time you spend somewhere that makes it memorable: it’s how you spend the time.” - David Brenner
How frustrating is it being contacted by your work during a holiday?
A minority welcome the contact; It strokes their ego as they tell their partner “they can’t do without me.” However, logic like this is simply “fool’s gold.”
“The quotes are simple. The execution is hard.” - Gary Vaynerchuk
My mum who is 80 years old, didn’t have a computer until she was 70. She does amazingly well finding information on the web, keeping up with the latest of what family and friends are posting on Facebook, streaming my sons games basketball games from the USA and so much more. She even just started using Instagram. Yet something far simpler has bamboozled her….
“The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities” – Stephen Covey
At some point any parent will undoubtedly have been asked:
Are we there yet?
When will dinner be ready?
It’s apparent from an early age we want clarity. Young children often struggle to comprehend when there isn’t alignment between their expectations and the response. Whereas, adults are better at understanding this.
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” - Aristotle
In the workplace, hard skills are qualifications and specific occupation technical skills that determine our degree of fit to particular job roles. Whereas, soft skills are what we use to function, interact, connect and communicate. While it’s necessary to have specific hard and soft skills, it’s the soft skills that are more important to our life skills.
“We can change culture if we change behaviour” - Dr. Aubrey Daniels
Recently, my second eldest (Jake) left home to travel to the other side of the world (or in his mother’s words 12,656 kilometres away!!!) to join Menlo College to begin his dream as a student/athlete to play college basketball. Despite not knowing anyone prior to arriving at Menlo, Jakes’s loved the experience from Day 1 and by all reports has fitted in like a hand to a glove. My observation is culture is the single biggest reason why Jake found the transition so smooth.
