The holidays can be a very stressful time for a lot of people. So much so, in fact, the symptoms of stress for some can easily spiral into moderate to severe depression. There’s something about the season, the shopping, and the pressure that makes dealing with the holidays a little less than pleasant.

Even our best and nicest clients tend to become more demanding during the holiday season, as they make their best attempts to cram as much last minute work as possible before the New Year. Your job as a manager is to remain aware of these changes and do what you can to make the holiday season as palatable as possible as your employees struggle to juggle their growing and changing work and personal obligations each day.

So what are some of the things we can do to help?

• Lighten up on the personal business rules. Allowing your employees an hour or two to shop online might help alleviate a bit of stress. You should, of course, make sure the exception for the holiday season is not abused, but your employees are probably going to attempt shopping during work hours anyway, so why not let them know it’s ok at certain times of the day?

• Flex those work schedules. With the holiday season comes a myriad of school functions, family gatherings, and work parties. Each of these involves a significant amount of prep and travel time, and trying to figure out how to get to each place on time can be a hassle. Allow employees to flex their schedules a little bit during the holiday season, if necessary. You don’t have to give away extra hours, but allowing someone to come in early or work through lunch so that he can leave early won’t hurt production.

• Review your dress code. Do you really need to be in business professional or business casual dress every day during the holiday season? Could you add a couple of less formal days to the schedule? Your employees will feel more comfortable, less stressed, and possibly end up being a bit more productive than usual.

The holiday season lasts from Thanksgiving straight through New Year’s Day, so you still have time to make some exceptions, especially if you’ll have a few employees working in the office over the next week while the rest of the office is on holiday.

Remember, happy employees are productive and loyal employees. Learn how to manage stress, not only for yourself, but for your employees as well, and you’ll be pleased with the results.

Enjoy your holidays!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Developed by Robert Dilts, the concept known as Dilts Logical Levels was actually adapted by a series of neurological tests and concepts designed by an anthropologist known as Gregory Bateson.

Robert Dilts took that research and applied it to what is now considered to be a map of the logical levels of change a person goes through when analyzing a problem or process. These levels can be applied on many levels, including personal, professional, and even in social situations.

The six logical levels include:

• Spirituality/Purpose,
• Identity/Mission,
• Beliefs and Values,
• Capabilities/Strategies,
• Behaviours, and
• Environment.

The away an individual feels about himself on each of these levels has a huge impact on the action he takes on a daily basis.

For example, let’s assume you must attend a holiday function at the home of your boss sometime this week but you’d rather go home and spend time with your family. You aren’t necessarily thrilled about the event, but you must choose how to react.

If you’re smart you’ll consider your behaviour before you walk out the door. The way you act will determine how successful you are at work in the New Year. Will you walk in the door visibly disgruntled, or will you put a smile on your face and act happy to be at the party?

Each of these six levels impacts the end result of any situation. The capability/strategy you choose will be a result of your beliefs and values. Your beliefs and values will be a result of how you identify with yourself as a person. How you view yourself as a person is directly impacted by what you feel your purpose in life should be.

Take a few minutes this week to sit back and reflect upon these six levels and where you feel you fit into the grand scheme of things. Look at yourself on both a personal and professional level. I think you’ll be surprised at what you are able to learn about yourself!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

If I had to guess I’d bet you really hate public speaking and making presentations. It doesn’t matter if you’re speaking to a small group of coworkers or a large group of strangers. For many, the thought of making a public presentation causes sweaty palms, stomach butterflies, and a general feeling of fear.

Giving a presentation doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Working hard to make the presentation itself perfect is more important than focusing on your fear. The more prepared you are, the easier it will be to make your presentation, and the sooner you can get off of that stage. Here are 5 simple tips you should incorporate into your presentation planning process:

• Entertain your audience. It’s ok to tell a joke, smile, and act a little silly at points throughout the course of your presentation. If your presentation is too boring you’ll lose the attention of your audience.

• Speak slowly. It’s natural to speak too fast when nervous, but your presentation will fly by and won’t be nearly as effective as it would be if you had taken a deep breath and slowed down. Put some reminders on your personal notes, such as “pause,” “breathe,” and “slow down,” to remind yourself to tone down during your presentation.

• Your Power Point presentation is not your queue card. Simply put, don’t try to cram all of your ideas onto your Power Point presentation and then read it out loud. Can you say boring? The bullet points on your presentation should be short and you should have enough information to expand on each one.

• Avoid space fillers. If you don’t know what to say, take a deep breathe and pause. If you’re inhaling, you can’t say “um” or “ahh,” which just sound silly and uneducated. The pause you take to breathe may feel awkward, but it isn’t nearly as long as you think and your audience won’t know the difference.

• Arrive early. Get to the conference room or meeting hall early enough to set up and test your equipment. It’s better to be ridiculously early than it is to end up starting late because something malfunctioned.

These presentation tips apply whether you’re a manager speaking to your employees, a manager making a presentation to corporate, or anyone conveying information to any group of people. Looking for a bonus tip? Just have FUN. After a few public presentations you’ll be a pro and those feelings of anxiety will be a thing of the past!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

While conflict is generally viewed as a negative term, there are some types of conflict that should be welcome within the workplace. Conflict is a natural reaction, especially in work groups where there are differing personalities, but conflict isn’t always bad.

In some cases, conflict can be friendly. For example, a conflict may occur when one employee feels he has a better idea or plan than another, or if he feels the other person’s idea is flawed. They must then challenge each other in order to come to a final resolution. Without this type of conflict, a business might suffer.

Believe it or not, I implore you to try encouraging conflict, at least on a low level. With that in mind, here are three things you should keep in mind as conflicts arise in your workplace.

Recognize those who are brave enough to take a stand. A while back we talked about something known as the spiral of silence, in which employees are afraid to take a stand and voice their opinions. This is a method of conflict avoidance, but in some cases this type of conflict should NOT be avoided. Make sure you thank people who make contributions to discussions, especially if they are supporting a specific cause or position and regardless of the outcome. Professional courage and dedication is an appropriate form of conflict.

Make it OK to disagree. As a manager, are you asking your employees for their opinions or are you asking them to validate your ideas. Sometimes managers tend to formulate plans, ask for opinions, and then ignore the responses they receive. Their actions and attitudes tell their team members that’s it’s really not OK to disagree and, therefore, no one does so. Make sure you are supporting your words with your actions and attitudes. Don’t look down on the criticism you receive, positive or negative.

Support differing opinions. It’s OK to have differing opinions within a workgroup, but the way to prevent those opinions from turning into a negative form of conflict is to ask your employees to back them up with cold hard facts. Being forced to collect data will encourage your employees to remain competitive with teach other without letting their personal opinions drive their arguments. If they have the facts to support their opinions you’ll be able to work through the conflict at hand.
A little conflict in the workplace never hurt anyone, but it’s most productive when it’s friendly and controlled, thus enabling you to find the best ways for dealing with complaints. Are you fostering positive conflict within your work environment?

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

According to a man named Berenschot, there are seven key forces that drive things to occur within the universe. Without these seven things, the human race would not be motivated to move forward.

These seven things are:

• Necessity. Necessity creates a sense of urgency and forces people to complete tasks within a specified time frame.

• Vision. Individuals must be able to visualize exactly how they want the outcome of any situation or project to look.

• Success. One must feel successful after completing a task. If not, he or she won’t be motivated to move on to the next one.

• Spirit. Spirit incorporates an individual or group’s level of strength and initiative; or, how committed he is to completing a task.

• Structure. Individuals usually seek structure, whether in the form of a support system or a mapped out plan. Structure is just a base point from which individuals can make changes or challenge authority.

• Capabilities. Capabilities include an individual’s personal educational level, knowledge, experience, and specific skills. These capabilities make it possible for him or her to complete a given task.

• Systems. Most employees are trained to follow a system in which they are given information, complete a task, have the task reviewed, and are then rewarded. Rewards include salary, praise, or even bonuses.

Take a look at your employees and the tasks they are assigned regularly. Can you tell whether or not your team members exhibit all seven of these essential traits? If not, is there something you can do to change the way they feel?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”