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Become more productive and

successful at work

by Rough Guider




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This is the third book in the Rough Guide to Success series in which the author
shares from first-hand experience ways to be productive and successful at work.
Tried and tested techniques are explained and can be readily implemented in the
workplace. As always this is a personal view on how to be productive and you
should ensure that the practical no-nonsense suggestions and recommendations
make sense in your particular work environment.


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Part 1: How to be more productive at work
Contents

1. Know your job
2. Learn from your peers (boss)
3. Make sure that your output is used
4. Know the value of your tasks
5. Invest time in learning the skills
6. Plan
7. Prioritize
8. Clear and timely communications
9. Automate
10. Identify road-blocks
11. Challenge the status quo
12. Let things hit your desk once only
13. Do things right the first time
14. Seek the paperless office
15. Think laterally
16. Take breaks
17. Use a second pair of eyes
18. Liaise with the experts
19. Avoid time stealers
20. Identify incrementalists
21. Be content with short meetings
22. Streamline
23. Check that youre on track
24. Be healthy
25. Learn to say no
26. Make use of a mentor
27. Run meetings effectively
28. Set deadlines
29. Do not be a perfectionist
30. Follow up on requests
31. Work as a team the sum is greater than the parts
32. Use your gadgets intelligently
33. Re-allocate tasks to suit the strengths of team members
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Contents (continued)

34. Use Intranet Q & A sites
35. Develop process/system notes for staff
36. Join external groups and networks
37. Manage information received
38. Identify your focus time
39. Avoid interruptions
40. Identify duplicate work
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Introduction
In this book, I have put a list of ways to become more productive together.
The list reflects the experiences I have gained in the work environment over
the last 25 years.

You should of course feel free to learn, ignore and challenge the wide range
of suggestions that I have put before you. Every work environment is
different, and every person has a different set of pressures exerted upon
them at work and by themselves. As a result, I ask you to think carefully
about which recommendations would be most impactful for you. I desire
positive outcomes for each and every one of you!



Efficiency versus effectiveness
It is important that you understand the difference between these two terms.
In my mind efficiency is doing something as fast as possible without making
mistakes. For instance, you build a quality ladder as fast as possible, using
the right tools, right materials and right workforce. Effectiveness is doing
the right thing, also as fast as possible, without making mistakes. Lets take
the example further. Once you have completed the ladder you remember
that you need to use it in the garden to pick apples. However, you have
assembled it in your upstairs bedroom. As a result, you will now have to
dismantle it and start again outside. You can see that you may have been
efficient in terms of the speed by which you put the ladder together, but
because you didnt plan the activity properly, you were ineffective in
achieving your ultimate goal of having the ladder completed in the right
place at the right time.
This is a very simple example, but when applied to the workplace, it is
surprisingly common how often individuals are being efficient but to one
extent or another ineffective.
Therefore, the first and most important learning is to understand why you
are doing what you have been asked to do. Once you have completed your
task ask yourself whether you have achieved the goal that was set. Indeed,
is there a more effective way of achieving your goal? Challenge yourself to
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visualize the final product of your task and double check that the outcome is
the desired one.
Below you will find the list. Everyone will have their own view on the relative order
(and of productivity ideas Ive missed altogether) so please accept this as my
humble and personal view.

1. Know your job
Without doubt, there is no substitute for learning your role inside out.
Therefore you should invest time to ensure you fully understand your role,
the key tasks, how your performance is measured, how your work impacts
others and how your output is used by others. Once you know your role
really well, you will command respect and be seen as the expert in that area
of the business. The expertise you have gained may relate to the processing
of expenses, sales calls, facilities management, recruitment or any other
area of your companys undertakings. This concept applies to every type of
role, throughout your career.


2. Learn from your peers (boss)
In many jobs your peers will already have the answers to a lot of your
questions. Your boss may have all the answers as well, but asking your boss
for help is the most obvious step for each of us to take. Also, nobody likes
to inundate their boss with questions.

Therefore, depending upon the structure of your department and/or
business, you could dramatically increase your productivity by leveraging the
skills and knowledge of those around you. Particularly in the early days of
your role your peers may be able to point out various potential pitfalls.



3. Make sure that your output is used
Before we even get to planning you should think about how your output is
going to be used. At work we are often asked to complete tasks and
assignments, but we infrequently question why we have been asked to
perform them.
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One thing I strongly suggest that you do is reach out to those that receive
your reports, data and/or other information and obtain their confirmation
that the output is being used in a way that adds value to the business. You
should do this regularly, perhaps on a quarterly basis.

My team at work has taken this approach very seriously and as a
consequence has cut out a significant number of unproductive tasks and
procedures. Perhaps to their surprise, recipients of information are happy to
acknowledge that, on occasion, what they produce ends up in the recycle
bin. A large percentage of people complain about information overload, so if
you can cut that down they will surely be appreciative.


4. Know the value of your tasks
Take time to understand what tasks and procedures are essential (for
compliance, statutory and other must do purposes), those that add some
value to the business and those that are performed as a matter of routine,
with no obvious value. You should question (diplomatically) why you are
undertaking the tasks that do not add value, to understand better how they
help you achieve your annual objectives, your departments objectives and
those of the business as a whole. It may be that you are not aware of the
value of the task that has been assigned to you, or you do not have sight of
how it fits into the overall scheme of things. If after this questioning it is
clear that the task does not add value to the business, you should discuss it
further with your boss. The bottom line is that you should understand the
relative value of all the tasks within your remit.


5. Invest time in learning the skills
I have included below some examples of how individuals can become far
more productive by having the necessary skills:
1. Do not add up figures manually but use spreadsheets. Be trained on
how to use them properly. The usefulness of spreadsheets will depend
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upon the role you have at work, but it is amazing how such software
can be used to save you a significant amount of time.

2. The next stage is to use (by way of example) Pivot Tables, Look-Up
Tables and ultimately, where appropriate, macros. One example I
have is a finance team that produced manual bank reconciliations,
checking that cash book amounts agreed to what was recorded on the
bank statements on a manual basis. Given there were hundreds of
transactions each month, and seven bank accounts, this took about 21
hours of elapsed time each month. The team introduced a macro that
automatically matched the relevant items to reduce processing time to
less than 15 minutes. What a saving! The key here is to learn the
tools of the trade and become proficient at those that allow you to
become more productive. If you are searching for data, summarizing
data, organizing data or merging data (and so on!) rest assure that
there is a simple cost effective way of doing these.
Spreadsheets are a prime example given how many people use them as a
tool at work. However, the same methodology applies to word processing
software, presentation software and indeed bespoke software. Learn the
tools of the trade inside out and the payback should be meaningful.


6. Plan
You cannot get away from it. Planning is so very important and is
something that we are taught about at school but many still fail to plan
adequately when at work. From junior to senior staff we so often see the
impact of poor planning on the productiveness of individuals.
Before undertaking any significant tasks spend time planning out what you
want to achieve and determine the best effective way of achieving it.
Through planning and the sharing of your plan with others, while also asking
for feedback, you will no doubt find that you are better placed to achieve the
desired results.

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7. Prioritize
You were no doubt expecting this to be near the top of the list, and hopefully
you are not disappointed. Once you know what you should be doing, and
you know what you are doing adds value and is being used by others, you
can prioritize in order to get to those higher value tasks first.

There is a whole host of time management courses you can go on in order to
hone those time management skills (and so much on the web as well).
What I ask is that you ensure that every task you work on creates value
(someone really needs it to be done) and that those that are most important
are done first. By this I do not mean that you should continually ignore
what you perceive as less valuable tasks, but rather ensure that the
timelines for completing them are properly communicated to those that need
to know, so that you can manage their expectations. In fact, the reason
why many managers feel let down in this regard is not the fact that they
doubt that you are working on the most important stuff but that they were
not aware that some of the other tasks, perhaps lower priority ones, had
been put on the back burner. By managing their expectations you are
solidifying and supporting your list of priorities.



8. Clear and timely communications
Projects, assignment and tasks often fail to deliver the required outcome or
do so after much noise, disturbance and correction due to poor
communication from the project manager or task setter.
If you are responsible for setting tasks/projects for other staff remember to
communicate early, clearly, concisely and buy them into the process.
The worst run projects are often those where the objectives and expected
outputs are altered mid-term, as the person managing the process has not
been clear about the requirements from the outset, or has failed to
communicate them in a timely manner. The result is mayhem, often leading
to the imposition of all hands to the pump, with significant additional
pressure exerted on team members as well as the general disillusionment
that accompanies such pressure.
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I cant emphasize enough how important it is to consider those around you
as early as possible in the process, to ensure that, at the end of the day,
they work effectively for you.
Put another way, have you ever wondered why some people manage
projects that appear to run smoothly, to time and on budget whereas others
seem to be playing catch-up continually, changing the goal-posts and
absorbing more and more time of those on the team?


9. Automate
There are so many ways to automate workflow. This varies widely, industry
by industry, department by department and role by role.
The general rule is that if there is a task or procedure that you undertake
regularly and which takes up a fair proportion of your time, then think about
automation.
Examples of automation are clearly visible within manufacturing companies.
Many service companies have also automated many of their routines,
eliminating mundane activities. However, my challenge to you is to review
the tasks and procedures that you undertake day in day out and produce a
short-list of those that potentially can be automated. You may need to seek
assistance from your team members and staff with the IT department. If
the cost of automation is less than the savings made through automation
you may be on to a winner.


10. Identify road-blocks
Productivity can be hampered by road-blocks. There may be people you rely
on who are not fulfilling their part of the bargain or inputs you require that
are not available or forthcoming. There may also be people that you rely on
to distribute your output to the relevant stakeholders that are not
performing to the required standard.
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If you come across a person or group of people that are creating a road-
block (this can often be unintentional so please tread carefully), you should
discuss this with your boss in order to resolve. Alternatively you may want
to discuss the issue in a diplomatic fashion with those that are causing the
blockage. Be careful not to damage any relationships but do pursue as it is
your productivity at stake.

11. Challenge the status quo
Do not immediately accept things as they are as there may be a better,
more effective way of completing a task or procedure. When you inherit the
role of your boss or peer, if you assume that there are a number of
inefficiencies and ineffective aspects to the role, your mind will be open to
making the job more productive. Too often we assume that the predecessor
knew exactly what they were doing and had ironed out unnecessary tasks
and procedures, stream-lining work to ensure productivity was maximized.
When we move on to new pastures, we should endeavor to check that
workflow has been left in the best possible order, with the most effective set
up.

12. Let things hit your desk once only
Perhaps it would be great if tasks came across your desk one by one with
you having sufficient time to complete each before the next arrives.
However, that is not realistic. However, it is realistic to deal with very small
but essential tasks in the moment. If the job to be done is very small, and it
would take twice as long to drop it and pick it up later, then my advice is
to proceed with it immediately. This also prevents paperwork building up on
your desk, documents being mislaid and confusion arising.

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13. Do things right the first time
If you do something wrong, the chances are that you will have to do it
again. So my recommendation is to think carefully about what you are
doing before you take action. We are not talking about efficiency or
effectiveness per se but rather doing the right thing the first time. More
speed and less haste.

14. Seek the paperless office
In my book, as a general rule, less paper means greater efficiency. You
cannot avoid retaining documents for legal and compliance purposes, but,
beyond that, there are not that many good reasons for storing and filing
hard copy paperwork.
I recommend that you eliminate paperwork and store information
electronically where possible. By making sure that your electronic records
are stored in a logical and methodical fashion you can have ready and
speedy access as the need arises.
If you are in doubt about the requirement to retain hard-copy documents,
contact the relevant expert within your company who should have the
answer.

15. Think laterally
Before you undertake a task, it is worthwhile spending some time working
out how it can be completed in the most productive fashion. The most
obvious route for resolving an issue or completing a task may not be the
most effective or efficient.
Therefore, I recommend that you take time to think laterally in order to
establish whether there is a much better way of achieving your objective.
Perhaps you can re-purpose a document you had put together previously,
one that was constructed for a similar purpose. Perhaps there is an easier
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and more efficient way of pulling the data you require from the data
warehouse, or perhaps there is a smarter and more effective way to put the
presentation together.
One thing is for sure. If you have completed the same tasks year in year
out, there is probably a better way to re-engineer the workflow to make
productivity improvements. That has been my experience!

16. Take breaks
Simply put, when you are tired you are less productive. For that reason,
you should make sure that you build appropriate breaks into your daily
working life. A break may be defined as taking the time to grab a coffee
from the kitchen, or it may be you leaving the office for a few minutes to
breathe in some fresh air. Intuitively we all know that when we are tired we
perform at a sub-standard level. We do not always have the opportunity to
take breaks as and when we feel that they are necessary. However, for
most people there is normally scope to ensure that you have sufficient
down-time during the day, so that productivity is maximized during up-time.

17. Use a second pair of eyes
Why not ask a team member or peer to review the work you have done to
establish whether there is any scope for you to act more effectively or
efficiently. A second pair of eyes cast upon the procedures and tasks you
carry out every day can be a great investment of time. No-one is perfect, so
it is fair to say that a fresh look at your area of work could be to your
advantage. If the reviewer is able to stream-line or re-engineer one or more
of your daily tasks, productivity will increase. If that person has some
special skills (for instance spreadsheet skills) they may be able to make
significant enhancements to your speed of work.

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18. Liaise with the experts
There are often people in the business that have specialized skills to help
you be efficient and effective. For instance, if your computer breaks down
then you should probably contact IT rather than resolve yourself. This may
sound obvious, but there are also less clear examples of where experts can
help. For instance, if you have a human resources issue you should
probably seek guidance from the HR/Talent department before taking action
yourself to ensure that you do not take inappropriate action. The wrong
action may be disruptive, eating into your time schedule, that of your boss
and that of HR, reducing the level of productivity all round. When you do
not have the expertise, find someone who does and let them guide or
resolve for you, so that you can spend more time on the day job.

19. Avoid time stealers
Time stealers is a well known phrase. It refers to an uninvited person
coming over to talk to you about non-business matters when you are trying
to get on with your work and remain productive.
Be firm (not rude) with time stealers and develop some techniques for
closing the conversation down so that you can continue with the job at hand.

20. Identify incrementalists
As you embark upon your career, you will no doubt come across those that
are less organized and productive than yourself. On occasion, you may be
asked to complete a task (say you are producing a sales report about sales
persons in the US) only to be asked to run through the same exercise again
(you are now running the same report for the UK). You may then be asked
to run the report again for another country. By the end of the day, you have
run (perhaps) 5 or so reports which could have been generated at the same
time had you in fact known the full scope of the request at the outset.
The key is to identify incrementalists, those that come back to you time and
time again placing similar requests in a drip feed fashion, and make sure
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that you fully thrash out their requirements from the start. Confirm with
them the nature and scope of their request before undertaking it to ensure
that you have teased out exactly what they require. This can be a great
time saver.

21. Be content with short meetings
How often is it that you have set up a meeting for (say) and hour and you
realize part way through that you do not need all the time set aside to
discuss the issues at hand? This can happen more frequently with regular
catch-ups or check-ins where the agenda may be a little looser and time in
the diary fixed weeks or months in advance.
My advice to you is to be ruthless with your time management, and if the
meeting looks like finishing early be confident about returning the remaining
time back to the meeting participants. They will probably thank you for it.


22. Streamline
Streamlining is about cutting unnecessary steps out of a process. If you can
get from A to C without having to pass through B then you have saved
yourself some time. Take a look at your tasks and processes and establish
whether they are in fact as efficient and effective as possible. If you find
that you are spending significant amounts of time on parts of the process
that add little or no value, then you have probably identified a prime
candidate for streamlining.

23. Check that youre on track
One way to maintain high productivity levels is to track your progress on a
regular basis. If you are falling behind in a task, procedure or project you
should find ways to speed things up or, if necessary, speak to your boss or
the project sponsor about the potential push back of the target date.
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Regular checking allows you to have ongoing, clear and precise
conversations about your ability to meet the various objectives that have
been set for you. If you do not have a feel for how you are progressing,
then you wont be able to raise issues and discuss them in a timely manner.

24. Be healthy
By eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly you can certainly impact
your cognitive powers of awareness and ensure that you remain more alert
in the workplace. Indeed, having sufficient uninterrupted sleep is without
doubt very important too. Where you can control these factors you should
work hard to ensure that they benefit your performance when at work. If
you feel that these factors are out of your control, step back and see what
you can do about it. Often you have more power than you realize to alter
your daily routines in order to benefit from a healthier and fitter existence.

25. Learn to say no
If you earn a reputation of being the point person for each and every new
task, you may sink very quickly in your role. Clearly you wish to add value,
undertake exciting tasks and demonstrate to your boss (and beyond) that
youre a key player within the team. However, make sure that you manage
your workload effectively and where appropriate make it clear that by taking
on additional tasks other work may be delayed. Saying no sounds very
abrupt. I recommend that you prioritize your tasks and demonstrate that
you either have time for the additional work or that it will impact on other
important tasks that you are undertaking for your boss. Transparency,
honesty and openness are normally the best way forward.
The danger of course of never saying no is that you become overloaded with
work. Your boss may not even be aware of the issue and hence may not be
able to empathize or work with you to resolve the issue.

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26. Make use of a mentor
As well as learning from your boss, peers and team members you may be
able to gain valuable knowledge and experience from other senior staff
throughout the organization. These senior players have often been through
it before and have learnt the skills of the trade to succeed in business. They
are also removed from your daily tasks and as such can see the wood
through the trees, being able to help you with issues and resolve problems
using lateral thinking skills. Also, they can stop you from making some of
the mistakes they may have made when rising through the ranks.

27. Run meetings effectively
Think hard before the meeting about the specific agenda items and the
length of time each topic requires. Ensure that the time set aside for
discussion is sufficient. From my experience meetings often overrun and if
they do not you still find that there was insufficient time to discuss some of
the agenda items. It is your job to ensure that this does not happen. After
all, others may have prepared thoroughly about a topic that is very
important to them. They will be disappointed and may not see you in a
good light. So what are the tips to ensure a meeting runs on time?
1. Be clear about the rules on timing. If a discussion looks as if it will be
blown out of all proportion then it is probably best to take it off-line
and have the relevant individuals (perhaps a sub-group) look into it
further. If you are tight on timings those involved in your meetings
become better with their own conciseness.

2. Allow enough time for a topic to be discussed. Do not tag on an extra
item at the base of the agenda with a 10 minute slot if it is clearly
going to last longer. In fact, spend some time making sure that the
time slot available for each agenda item is sufficient and where
possible make sure that you get buy-in from those presenting.

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28. Set deadlines
Without deadlines, you wont be able to judge how you are progressing
against the target completion date and, as a result, you will not have a
definitive measure of productivity. My recommendation is to set deadlines
(even if self-imposed) for all tasks of a reasonable size. That way you will
be able to assess how often you manage to achieve your objectives within
the time given. If you continually fail to achieve your deadlines, you should
decide whether it was due to ineffectiveness or inefficiencies or whether the
timeline set was unrealistic in the first place. Naturally, there may have
been other unexpected distractions, jobs or tasks pushing you off track.
However, by setting target dates you should be able to push back on
unexpected work gifted to you as you have the ammunition you need to
demonstrate the impact on deadlines associated with work already set. That
allows you to have a full and frank discussion with your boss, which may
result in a re-prioritization of tasks or indeed elimination or deferral of some
work. Alternatively, the new tasks may pass to someone else with more
capacity. Whatever the result, as long as you have been fair and clear in
your communications there wont be an impact on your true level of
productivity.

29. Do not be a perfectionist
For some roles, there is no doubt in my mind that you have to be 100%
correct all of the time. For instance, you do not want to pay someone the
wrong amount through payroll. However, for all roles there is a difference
between doing the role well and being a perfectionist. For example, if you
are delivering some feedback to your boss about the viability of a product in
the marketplace he may rather have 95% accuracy after two months of
investigation than 97% accuracy after four months of research. The point is,
being 100% correct is not always required and may be a false economy.
Perhaps a competitor launched a similar new product at the three month
mark and, as a result, stole your thunder.
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Some bosss like to get their hands on information as soon as possible, and
as long as your confidence in the accuracy of the knowledge gained is high,
that may be good enough for them.

30. Follow up on requests
Where other people are not organized they may appear to be slack in
coming back to you with the information you have requested. For you to
remain productive you have to stay on top of your requests, chasing up on
others so that you can complete your work on time.
When following up on requests you should be firm, fair and empathetic to
the pressures on the other person. You should always agree timelines with
them in advance in order to avoid any potential misunderstanding. In fact, if
you have not agreed a deadline with them how can you say that they have
let you down time wise?

31. Work as a team
A fully functioning and supportive team, with a strong and effective
manager, will deliver superior results than a team that does not work
together to achieve the overall aims of the department. By fostering a
strong team sense of worth, the individuals are more likely to cover each
others work when one is out of the office or help out when another member
is overloaded. There is no doubt that productivity is vastly improved in an
environment that allows for and promotes support and team spirit. The
whole is indeed more than the sum of the parts.


32. Use your gadgets intelligently
There are so many great gadgets around that can assist you in work; smart-
phones, tablets, laptops and so on. My one word of caution is not to fall into
the trap of believing that you are more productive simply because you have
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access to these gadgets. Gadgets can lead to more regular and often
unwanted interruptions to your work. Manage the use of them wisely.

33. Re-allocate tasks to suit the strengths
of team members
It is clear that we all have different skills and abilities as well as knowledge
and experience. Therefore, when allocating tasks and procedures to team
members we should consider this in order to maximize overall productivity.

The counter to this is that we wish to develop the skills and capabilities of all
our team members, so a dip in short-term productivity, as a result of cross-
training and staff development, is acceptable, as long as we anticipate
longer terms gains.


34. Use Intranet Q & A sites
If you or your department is being asked the same questions on a regular
basis consider establishing a question and answer page on your firms
intranet site. Include all the common questions asked along with
comprehensive and clearly laid out answers. If your organization doesnt
have an intranet, then develop a summary document of questions and
answers that you can send out to individuals upon request - one that
includes the most frequently asked questions.


35. Develop process/system notes for staff

It is worthwhile investing time developing system notes and procedures for
the most commonly performed tasks within your remit. Not only do you
have an excellent source of reference, particularly if some of the processes
are complex and relatively difficult to follow, but you also have a great
training aid for new staff that take on similar roles and responsibilities. The
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document is part of your legacy and can be used by the individual that takes
on your role when you move up the career ladder. This is certainly a
productive use of your time.


36. Join external groups and networks
Make use of external groups and networks as these can be a valuable source
of information and can also provide guidance on problems that you
encounter for the first time. These networks can be internal or external to
your company and may be tied to professional bodies or loosely formed
associations set up on social and work-related internet sites.


37. Manage information received
Many of us are inundated with the information that flows into our everyday
working lives. There are many suppliers (both warranted and unwarranted)
that deliver their information in a variety of formats including; hard copy
documentation, emails, text, messages, Internet downloads, verbal
communications and so on. It is up to us to determine which pieces of
information are of value and how to use them for the benefit of the business.
To remain in control of the information flow, you need to be ruthless with its
use, switched on about its value and fully understand your role and what
drivers inflect your effectiveness and efficiency.


38. Identify your focus time
We all have times of the day when our natural level of concentration is
higher. Set out to identify these times so that you can maximize your
productivity. Some members of staff will find that they work more
effectively in the morning than in the afternoons and vice versa. If you have
a complex task to perform or perhaps a difficult report to write then, where
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possible, undertake these actions at a time when your cognitive powers are
at their greatest.

39. Avoid interruptions
On occasion, you may have a particularly difficult task or assignment to deal
with that requires very high levels of concentration. Interruptions that take
place while undertaking this work could potentially set you back far more
time than the interruption itself. For instance, you may be working on a
report using a complex line of thought. If that line of thinking is broken, it
will take a while to get back into the zone and continue forward. Putting up
a no entry sign is not something that should be taken lightly or indeed
undertaken regularly, but there may be scope to introduce time into your
day that is uninterrupted, improving your level of productivity.

40. Identify duplicate work
If you are a member of a team, it would be worthwhile determining whether
there is duplication of any of the tasks or procedures you perform by your
team members. In large teams, the risk of two people undertaking the
same task is greater. Furthermore, the work you undertake could be
duplicated by someone in another team, department or office. For instance,
you may work in a satellite office producing reports for local management
that are, in fact, a duplicate of or very similar in terms of content to those
produced by staff at Head Office. If you have thoughts or concerns about
your work being duplicated, then it is worth investigating, as you may be
able to eliminate some non-productive time.



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Part 2: How to be more successful at work


Contents

1. Introduction
2. Making a good impression and working happily ever after
3. Managing Staff
4. Leading
5. Building joy into your work
6. Actively managing your career
7. How to write
8. Presentation Skills
9. Negotiation skills
10. Down time
11. Body language
12. Chairing (running) Meetings
13. Networking
14. Politics
15. Your brand
16. Random tips (and some fun)

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Introduction

For a while now I have been wondering why I cant locate a book that sets
out in a clear no nonsense manner how to be successful at work. Im talking
about practical steps that are easily digestible and simple to put into practice
in the workplace. So, what with having gained over 20 years of
management experience across six companies, all within different industries,
I thought it was time that someone (me!) put this right.
All the things I write about are from first-hand experience and have worked
ever so well for me. You wont find any name dropping, famous or
contemporary theoretical models, complicated flow-charts or difficult to
understand diagrams. You will find simple words, simple vocabulary, simple
paragraphs and simple chapters including ideas and advice that are very
easy to implement in your day to day lives at work.
So my promise to you is to include advice and ideas that:
are easy to follow
are easy to try out
actually work in practice (they are all tried and tested)
can be remembered easily
Easy really!

By the way I love bullet points. This is something that will become apparent
very quickly as you glide through this book.
25

Making a good impression and working
happily ever after
OK, so lets start at the beginning. Its your first day at work and you want
to make a good impression. Thats done by impressing those around you,
but who do you really need to do to impress on that first day in the office
and forever after?

Your boss?

Your bosss boss?

Your staff?

Your peers?

The CEO?

The receptionist?

The answer is of course all of them, BUT the ones you need to concentrate
on first are your boss (this chapter) and your staff (see Managing Staff). If
they undermine you, youre out of there whether you like it or not.

So how do you impress your boss? Well I could go down the theoretical
route of analyzing personality traits, determining where their personalities lie
on the well-known scales and charts, but I did say that I wasnt going to do
that.

So here is the REAL practical advice:

Like them and be liked. By this I dont mean all that brown nose
stuff or that you should try to become their friend (although becoming
your bosss friend can help a career) but try really hard to understand
them, work out what they like and what they dislike. So what I hear
you say (email or text), lets see the practical stuff that youre talking
about. Well, here it is:

o Find out what makes them laugh write down what things they
react positively to. Was it an outright joke, an interesting
anecdote or do they really prefer you to jump straight in there
and ignore the niceties? Sounds corny I know, but if you make
26

them laugh theyll think youre a good guy. By the way, if you
tell a joke or anecdote or other humorist comment and they
respond badly, move on and dont dwell on it, and certainly dont
repeat it. It could be a culture issue, language issue or simply a
lack of GSOH on their behalf. But, whatever you do, dont see it
as your fault or problem and dont lose any sleep over it, but do
try a different approach next time. Finding out what makes
them laugh doesnt need to be done over night. If you are a
cautious person you can monitor their approach to humor over a
few weeks before making your move.

o Find out their pet dislikes. In fact ask them outright.

o Do they dislike projects or tasks being delivered late, or do
they dislike poor communication skills (which, in reality, may
mean a lack of communication)? If your boss has to chase
you up on something, it probably means you should have
updated them already! So find out how often they chase up
on tasks and make sure you get in there first.

o Do they hate negativity? No-one likes the person around the
table that is negative and unconstructive. How do you know
if someone is a negative force? Simple. If after a
conversation with someone you feel energized, they are a
positive force. If after a conversation with someone you feel
tired and drawn, they are a negative force. If you ask me,
dont let anyone get you down, and more importantly, dont
be the person that gets everyone else down.

o Do they hate bad grammar? See the How to write chapter
to avoid these pitfalls.

Ask intelligent questions. This is a tough one, as sometimes you
may be in a meeting where you dont know very much about the topic
under discussion. My advice is to follow the rules below to maximize
your input and chances of being recognized as an effective contributor:

o Be confident. If you have an idea, express it. Its rare that a
group laughs or dismisses an idea outright, even if it isnt really
that good. Your ideas will get better and better over time as will
your confidence. Its a never ending cycle of improvement.

o Chat beforehand. If its an important meeting try to speak to one
or two people either inside or outside the meeting group, in
27

advance, to help gain ideas. I dont mean steal their ideas by
passing them off as your own, but if you agree with them, bring
them into the conversation in a structured way.

o Research. It sounds boring I know, but when you research the
topic beforehand, its amazing what good and highly relevant
questions come to mind.

o Ask the obvious. Its amazing how many times you have an
obvious question in mind that you dont ask it. Eventually
somebody else gets the plaudits for asking that question and you
leave the meeting wondering why you did not have the
confidence to ask it.

o Remember you core skills. If youre the finance guy then it is
fine for you to ask the pressing finance question. If youre the
sales guy its fine to ask the sales question. Playing to your
strengths is a good idea. It allows you to join the conversation
and add value. [Note: if the topic has absolutely nothing to do
with your area of work, revisit the points above.]

Help your boss be successful. Sure, I hear you say. Ill come up
with ideas for improving their department and they will take the credit.
Well, if thats what your boss is like are you working for the right
person or indeed company? Look, if your bosss life is made easier
and they look more impressive because of your help, 9 times out of 10
(I didnt have the confidence to say ninety-nine times out of a
hundred) your boss will reward you. This may be through verbal
recognition, juicy project work (if thats relevant) or letting others
know how well you are performing through informal channels and the
formal appraisal process. So how can you help your boss look good?

o Tell them what they are doing wrong (tactfully!) and make sure
that you have some recommendations for them. No-one likes
negativity remember!

o Find out what their goals are and make sure that your goals tie
in to some of theirs. If it is unclear to you how your goals fit in
with theirs, speak to your boss about this and listen carefully to
their guidance.

o Come up with ideas for them on how to improve the
performance of their department. If you have time, offer to help
them improve things, but be careful not to upset others in the
28

department if the matters you identify lie outside your
immediate area of responsibility. I dont mean tread on egg-
shells but make sure that tact remains the order of the day.

o Say good things about them to other senior management
leaders, if such praise is honest. Indeed there must be
something good about them? Are they good at communicating,
listening, recognizing valuable contributions, developing career
paths and/or being flexible over your working conditions?
Undoubtedly there is something good about them that you can
share. As a result, others will see you as a positive force within
the department. If I was a betting man I would put money on
your boss hearing about this through their network and mentally
logging that youre a good person to have in their team.

o Let them know when things are not getting done (again, avoid
negativity). They may have an important project or area of
work that is not progressing as it should. If you have clear and
substantiated facts to support this, then alert your boss. Avoid
rumors and hearsay as this comes across as immature and may
be considered as your attempt to discredit other people within
their department. At the end of the day your boss will thank you
for your transparency and tactfulness in bringing this issue to
their attention.

o Tell them when they have done well. If they have run a
department-wide or group-wide meeting or perhaps smaller
meeting for 2-3 people (if you work in a small team) dont feel
shy about telling them how good they were. Were not talking
brown-nose stuff here but rather constructive comments about
the time they have spent on something that has improved the
quality of the department. Hey boss, it was really great that
you took the time to speak to the team about the companys
strategy for the current year. They really enjoyed the visibility.
Your boss will certainly remember your support and will value it.

Is it too late to change? One thing to remember is that it is never
too late to change. I remember a situation where a member of staff
had lost their manager (a careless thing to do) and was eagerly
awaiting the arrival of their new one. The previous boss did not treat
them in an adult fashion and did not view them as a mature and
professional individual. Their concern was that the new manager
would immediately assume the same. My advice was to see this as an
29

opportunity and not a threat to their career. I asked the individual in
question to draw up a profile of how they would like to be viewed by
the incoming boss. This ended up being a simple exercise and the
staff member (also a manager, albeit at a more junior level) put
together a pretty cool document. Once I saw the document I realized
that they had a very clear view of how they would like to be perceived.
The key was for them not to simply act like that person but be the
person on the document, from Day 1 (first impressions last and all
that). So, I sat down with the person in question and we came up
with a plan on how to act, portray and in fact truly be that person,
from here on in. Given that the new manager had no pre-conceived
ideas (I certainly wasnt going to give them any) it was not that
difficult to continue work with this new persona, gravitas and maturity.
Their boss had left and a new one had joined (remember that they
hadnt been promoted into their managers role) but the impression
their new boss had of them was entirely different and far more
favorable. 2 years later, the new boss moved on and the individual
was promoted into their role, which would not have happened had
they not taken the steps to grow, mature and effectively show
themselves to be a more polished and complete person (from a work
point of view). Remember, if you inherit a new boss (under any
circumstances) it is your opportunity to reinvent yourself for the
better. Dont miss that opportunity or doubt how significant a timely
review of self can make to your career trajectory.

Toeing the party line. Generally speaking, people admire those that
defend the principles and support the objectives of their boss and
department respectively. You may disagree with your boss behind
closed doors but it is important that you tow the party line in the
public arena. Slating your boss is not a wise idea and is likely to be
destructive to your relationship with them.
30

Managing Staff

You see, by writing managing staff Im already sending you down the
wrong track. So between you and me Id rather call this chapter getting
the most out of your staff but in a way that also means that they get
the most out of their job. OK, managing staff it is.

The thing is, I cant believe how many of my friends and relatives tell me
that they have a serious issue with their manager. Dont get me wrong,
loads of people say that they are truly happy (yes, I admit that there are
undoubtedly better managers out there than me), but too many still seem to
go home very unhappy with the way they are used and abused by their
boss. So this chapter is for those who want to improve the way they work
with their staff.

So how should you manage staff? Its bullet point time:

Treat them with respect. Theyre not children, they have pride and
they have feelings. So speak to them as youd like to be treated. If
your boss does not treat you well dont let this affect the relationships
you have built up with your team. Its not fair to pass bad culture
down the line. If your boss shouts at you thats an issue for you and
your boss to resolve but dont let that affect your relationship with
your staff (peers and so on). In particular:

o Dont patronize

o Ask for input from staff at meetings

o Be clear to them when they dont meet your expectations
(seriously, theyll respect you for it)

o Recognize good performance (see below)

Give them time. Everyone has their own values in life and one of
those important to many is to spend time with loved ones. Well, lo
and behold, it is the same at work. Make sure that your staff know
that they can knock on your door to discuss something important to
them and, even more importantly, they have the confidence that you
will take their issue seriously.

Dont fob them off. Staff have feelings too. When they bring an
issue to your attention make sure that you agree on how you will help,
31

logging down any action points for yourself, and come back to them
with your feedback in a timely manner. If they ask for your help and
you offer to help, make sure that you actually help and it is visible to
them. Otherwise youll be worse off than if you hadnt offered to help
in the first place.

Listen. Ok, all good management books highlight the importance of
listening. But this is a different kind of listening. Why dont you ask
one of your key staff out for a coffee at break or lunch (or simply go to
a meeting room or your office) and ask them to speak about their life
at work; frustrations, likes, dislikes and so on. Agree not to interrupt
them for (say) 10 minutes. And, whatever you do, dont interrupt
them. They will feel totally refreshed after the 10 minutes and you
will feel really good too. (Weirdly) youll also feel so much closer to
them and that new bond will probably survive for a few months
without much further effort. So just think how strong it would be if
you repeated that exercise on a regular basis perhaps 2-3 times a
year. After they have finished, you should comment and of course
offer advice and guidance when this is required. Dont forget to follow
up on the things you have agreed to look into.

Listen. In case you skipped the paragraph above. Listening is so
very important and, by the way, this isnt the time to skim read.

Set clear objectives and goals. I know that this sounds so obvious,
and it looks like it has been taken directly out of a standard textbook,
but if they dont have clear objectives and goals (or whatever you
want to call them) you cant fairly judge their performance. How do
you set these? A concise bullet point summary is shown below:

o Set targets (its the same thing) that are achievable

o Set targets that are challenging (but the bullet point above still
holds)

o Set targets that, if achieved, make them look good

o Set targets that, if achieved, should certainly make you look
good

o Let them know how their goals fit into the overall goals of the
department and business. Where do they fit into the overall
picture?
32


If they achieve their targets they should know without doubt that
youre happy with them. This leads me on nicely to the next point.

Recognize their contributions. Staff wish to be recognized in
different ways so get to know them. How you recognize your staff is
very important and you should consider the following factors:

o Frequency of recognition. Dont overdo it or you will come
across as insincere, but do make sure that you regularly thank
your staff when it is merited by their performance.

o Formalness of recognition. Recognition varies from a pat on the
back to a verbal thank you, to a formal email, perhaps copying
of forwarding the communication to your boss as well.
Whichever route you take, and its good to mix these up, keep it
honest, regular and clear.

Profile sessions. One other thing that I have found very useful is to run
what I call profile sessions with staff on a one to one basis. I have the
weekly meetings where I run through all the tasks that should be complete,
the project stage gates that should be passed, and so on, but I also run
monthly (sometimes every other month) meetings where we talk about
nothing other than their brand within the company. What do I mean by this
(also see Your brand)?

How are they perceived by others within the company and how can we
improve that perception? Perhaps better writing or presentation skills.

How strong is their network within the company (see Networking)?
Lets come up with actual names of people within the company that
they should pro-actively contact and build relationships with.

What projects or tasks are they working on that have gone well and
could be recognized publicly? This is a double-whammy. If I email the
senior management team about how well one of my members of staff
have performed on (say) a project, they will not only email that
member of staff to congratulate them, which means that the member
of staff is happy with me, but they will also email me to say what a
great job I am doing in managing that member of staff. A win-win
situation, and it is so easy.

33

Agree what communications they could send out to raise their profile.
Rather than you sending around a communication about the office re-
fit, perhaps your number two could do this (come on, dont be a
control freak).

Review and agree whether their current profile within the company is
enhancing their career. Correct that course if needed. In other words,
if the things they are doing are not helping develop a good persona at
work, stop and think of some new ones. Now that you have the
general idea, feel free to add to my bullet point list!

The hard conversation. As a manager it is part and parcel of your job to
speak to staff to not only reward and recognize them for good work but to
speak to them when they are not performing to the levels expected of them.
Sometimes we can be tempted to shirk our responsibilities (particularly if we
are time pressured) avoiding that hard conversation which often starts with
the phrase Can I see you for a minute? However, top performance (or at
least the most significantly improved performance) often materializes
subsequent to such discussions. Their respect for you as a manager should
actually go up rather than down as long as you have been constructive,
realistic, fair, transparent and tactful. Lets take these in turn:

Constructive provide them with a clear picture of what needs to
improve along with a workable plan on how to do so.

Realistic make sure that they can achieve the goals set for improved
performance.

Be fair, taking into account any mitigating factors. It is not surprising
that (say) a bereavement can dramatically affect short term
performance.

Be transparent have a two-way dialogue in which you should be
clear that you are disappointed. Remind them of their strengths and
why you believe in them. Ask them if there is more you should be
doing to help them.

Above all, be tactful. Stay patient with them but make it clear that
you expect to see some significant improvement now that you have
put a framework in place to assist them.

34

Speak to your Human Resources department to make sure that you
follow company protocol (dont slip up on any disciplinary processes if
they are relevant).

My first two weeks as a manager. This is one of the best things I have
ever done at work. I became the new manager of an office of 180 staff.
Now, to be fair, I had 6 reportees who all had about 30 staff each, so I only
really had to manage 6 staff.

I had been told that this was a well run office where staff were satisfactorily
motivated. There was an attrition issue (staff leaving the company) but
apparently that was due to the fact that their jobs were inherently mundane.
There was nothing that could be done about that, or so I was told.

So, on my first day I decided to do something a bit different. I decided to
stop, look and listen. I looked around the office and saw a drab,
unmotivated work environment and staff that had drawn and tired faces. I
realized that it was time for some investment so I had a schedule drawn up
to allow me to meet 10% of the staff each day for the next 10 working days.
I asked them to meet me on a one to one basis (at agreed times that
worked for them) and to bring along with them a list of their current
frustrations plus their proposals on how to eliminate those frustrations. The
former without the latter would have made my life far too difficult and they
wouldnt have felt an integral part of the process.

Anyway, after collating their comments, eliminating duplication and
separating out purely negative comments from those that added real value,
I came up with a 10 point plan. Each of those points was followed by the
suggestions and recommendations that had been forthcoming. I had also
added my own for good order. To be fair, they had come up with 95% of
the content and I made it clear to them that this was the case. Im half
tempted to list out the 127 suggestions they came up with, but they were
largely specific to those teams in that office, so it would only really be a
filler.

However, their comments ranged from we need a new drinks machine on
the 1
st
floor as the current one is broken to we should introduce a new role
of deputy supervisor for each team so that when the supervisor is away
there is a second in command. That also helped solve part of the career
progression issue as 6 staff (you do the maths) could be promoted almost
instantaneously, subject to budget approval of course.

I communicated this plan (with deliverables and deadlines) to the senior
management team and received approval for what was not such a significant
35

financial investment (many things were quick fixes). The action points were
delivered on time and within budget. The sun shone on all of us that day
(both on my staff and on me). Its amazing what a little bit of listening can
do. This was without doubt the single best investment of my time across my
working career. In fact, it was the start of a great career with that
company.

I ran that department for about 3 years before being promoted to another
larger more significant role (based on the fact that I now had a reputation
for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the departments within the
company). Those talented guys made me look good and I can never thank
them enough for it. Lots of them did well out of our relationship too with a
series of promotions, pay reviews and internal moves to, arguably, more
exciting parts of the business. Its a 2-way process remember!

The annual offsite (Awayday). These can be very effective in bringing
the team together, building bonds, training and educating them, and
allowing them to hone their presentation skills, writing skills, negotiation
skills and the like. As long as you take the day seriously, ask the team in
advance what they would like to achieve and ensure that the day is varied,
fun and interactive, it should be a roaring success. Sound easy? Well it is!
In fact, half the work can be completed by outside speakers (ask the CEO if
they can spend 15 minutes with your team or the global head of your
function or the head of finance, sales or marketing for your business unit).

If your team is small, think about combining it with some other teams. At
one work place we combined Finance, Facilities Management and IT. It
astonishes me how many shared issues different functions want to discuss
and resolve. My favorite exercise for this combined group was to ask them
to break into teams (each team had a few staff from each function) and put
together a plan for our company to move premises (something we were
thinking of doing). They had to put 3 sections in their plan. One for
Finance, one for IT and one for (wait for it) Facilities Management. I gave
them some information on a couple of sheets of paper so that they could
establish the company requirements and available budget and they put
together some pretty impressive plans. Later on, they presented the plans -
so presentation skills were finely honed as well. It was a cracking day.

There are two sides to every story - part 1 (for Part 2 see Chairing
(running) meetings). It is really important to educate staff that others
within the business, particularly those in other departments, have different
personalities, different goals, objects and priorities along with different day-
to-day pressures. For example, someone in the finance department may
feel frustrated that a salesperson delivers their expense claim form one day
36

late. They are also irritated by the fact that the salespersons boss will not
take steps to reprimand them. When you look at the situation from the
salespersons lens things can be very different. They wonder why the
finance person is being so hard on them when they are the top performer in
their department (smashing through their quarterly sales goals), when they
are always courteous and polite to the guys in Finance, and when they have
been on the road for 2 weeks in back-to-back sales meetings so have not
had time to complete the travel and entertaining expenses claim form.
Would the Finance person rather they put in the claim on time but missed
out on a high value sale (perhaps yes?). The thing to remember here is that
different factors drive the day-to-day actions of individuals throughout the
organization. If your staff can get their heads around this, it can take away
a whole load of internal stress. It doesnt necessarily make things easier for
them from a process point of view (although perhaps when they understand
the issues they may look to change the process in order to buy in the Sales
department) but it will ensure that they can manage their frustrations by
understanding the issue from the culprits point of view.

Dont forget to listen to new ideas. You are the chief of your team,
department or business, which means you should know that most great
ideas (although not all) come from the front-line. Ignore your staff at your
peril. One analogy that remains firmly rooted in my mind is the situation
where a Captain in the army is fighting off the enemy one by one using his
sword. As they run towards him he is just about able to fight them off.
However, at the same time, one of his men is tapping him on the shoulder
trying to get his attention. Get off me he keeps saying, Cant you see
that Im really tied up at the moment. The Private groans and tries to grab
his superiors attention a few minutes later, but to no avail. The Captain
worked really hard that day and, along with his men, just about managed to
keep the enemy at bay. At the end of the day the Captain turned around to
the Private and asked So what was so important that you kept trying to
interrupt me when you could see that I had my hands full? The Private
turned round to his Captain and showed him a box that had arrived that day.
On the outside of the package was written the words Sub-machine gun. If
only the Captain had taken the time to listen to his team he would have
performed far more effectively for the army that day.

Crossing the divide. Some advice I received very early on in my
managerial career related to the us and them syndrome. Once I had made
the jump from the front line to a management position my boss called me in
and explained that I was now part of the management team and shouldnt
fraternize with the troops. Now, to be clear, he was not suggesting anything
other than a new approach to managing my relationships with staff. My
boss stated that I should treat staff with respect, dignity, fairness and so on
37

(he was explicit that this was extremely important) but I should become
slightly more remote or aloof so that I didnt get in a tangle with my
priorities or create conflicts of interest. If I was to spend a couple of
evenings a week down the pub with my staff and perhaps include myself in
conversations that were in conflict with the views that were expressed by
the management team I would lose their respect when it came to dealing
with disciplinary situations, annual appraisals, pay reviews and so on. The
take-away is to jump across the divide and become a strong, supportive
and effective manager and recognize that to be one you may need to create
some distance between you and your staff.

Be the boss you want your boss to be. Were all pretty good at
identifying the areas where our bosses could improve in terms of their
management style and capabilities. Does that mean we are ourselves
perfect managers? Id like to say yes, but when I write down all the
characteristics I expect my boss to possess, and all the skills I am sure
he should have acquired, Im left with quite a formidable list. When I use
this list to assess my own performance and qualities (perhaps rate each
out of 10) I dont score anywhere near maximum points. Hmm, Ive still
got a lot to learn and am now aware of the improvements I need to
make. Why not try this for yourself. It is a great way of prioritizing
some of your management capability objectives for the following year.
38

Leading
There is much debate on the differences between leading and managing or
on how one progresses from a manager to a leader. From my point of view
great managers are also greater leaders. They may not set the strategy for
the firm but they certainly lead their staff making them into more polished,
experienced and developed staff.

Therefore, this chapter highlights a number of leadership qualities that all
managers should aspire to. Hopefully you will find that you have many of
these qualities already.

Practise what you preach. As a manager (or leader) you should
ensure that conduct yourself in the same manner as you would expect
your staff to do so. If you want the team to arrive on time in the
mornings, not to take extended lunch hours and show respect for one
another, you should do the same. If you dont follow the values and
principles that you set out for your team, they wont take them
seriously and almost certainly wont adhere to them and incorporate
them into their daily working lives. In other words, be a great role
model.

Integrity. A good leader will possess a high level of integrity and will
be a trusted advisor to their teams and peers. Ensure that this quality
is apparent in your ways of working.

Gain and retain trust. Be honest with your staff, gain and then
retain their trust. Dont bluff. Dont lie. If you break the trust of your
staff you will lose their respect. This may not manifest itself in day to
day conversations and catch-ups but the relationships you have will be
weakened and your ability to lead the team when times are tough will
be that much harder. Why should they work late that night or give up
a weekend for you if they dont trust that you have their best
intentions at heart?

Trust them. You will benefit as a leader if you can clearly
demonstrate that you trust your staff. When you set a task or project
trust them to complete it correctly and on time. Give them the space
to grow as individuals by allowing them to mature in the workplace.

Communicate effectively. When communication lines break down
or where directions given are unclear or incoherent staff will lose both
39

trust and respect for you. Dont let all the good work of developing
relationships go to waste by sitting in your ivory tower and assuming
all is well on the front-line. The best communicators are often the best
leaders and in many cases they progress high up the career ladder.
Use this skill regularly and check in with staff that the frequency of
communications along with the clarity and content within them is right
to meet their needs as a team within the business.

Show interest in front-line work. Great leaders ensure that they
take time out of their hectic daily schedules to experience and learn
about (in some detail) the pressures, issues and concerns of their
teams. By shadowing a team member for a few hours or by reviewing
with them one or two of the processes that they see as most
ineffective you will very quickly begin to understand some of the
issues facing them. By the virtue of the fact that you have a
helicopter view of their area, and how their role and the function
interrelates to other areas of the business, you are more than likely
able to propose some solutions to their problems. At the very least
you should be able to demonstrate understanding and empathy. So
get out there, spend some time with your team and show an interest
in their everyday working lives. They are sure to respond well.
[Caution: if you are going to review some of their tasks and processes
communicate clearly the reason for doing so. Without an upfront
briefing staff may misinterpret your actions as being a review of their
personal effectiveness and capabilities or they may even think that
whole or part of their role is at risk of redundancy.]

Use your emotional intelligence. Different people need to be led in
different ways and the same person needs to be led different ways at
different times. If you can determine how to effectively lead your
staff, taking into account the personalities of the individuals you are
leading, the mood of the office, and the current business environment,
you will perform to a much higher level than someone who treats
everyone the same way all of the time.
40

Building joy into your work
I love my job. I cant wait to get up in the morning, get on the train and sit
at my desk all day adding value and consciously acknowledging (and being
acknowledged for) the terrific contribution I make to the business. My job is
really my hobby which I love with a passion and Im so fortunate to be paid
for what I enjoy doing.

Does this sound like your job? No? Well it doesnt sound like mine either.
Its not that I dont enjoy my role. I do, very much. Its just that 99% of us
are not in jobs that are all about fun, adventure or about using some
amazing inherent talent that we possess and get to exercise every day.

This is why I am a great believer in thinking through the aspects of my role
that I really enjoy and focus at least some attention on how I can introduce
things I like doing.

Examples of what you may (or may not) enjoy are as follows:

Developing your team and seeing them prosper and progress through
the organization (with all the acknowledgments that come your way)

Specifically, running your own bespoke short training sessions and
encouraging your team members to get actively involved, enjoying the
thankful and supportive feedback they provided

Building great relationships both within and outside your organization
(see Networking).

Applying the skills you learn to support voluntary work you perform
outside business hours. Perhaps you provide management support,
finance training or support, mentoring or something else from your
talent base.

Improving productivity within your team and also assisting other
teams with your process re-engineering experience

Managing large scale assignments making use of your project
management and diplomatic skills.

Learning more about the marketplace. Perhaps understanding more
about the cultures across different geographical regions.
41


Traveling and seeing the sites, beyond airport lounges and hotel
lobbies. If you organize things correctly can you perhaps see more of
the world at no cost to the company?

Would you enjoy playing with the 5-a-side team at lunchtimes or
perhaps taking your team for a coffee more often?

Would you enjoy introducing more out of work activities for the team?

My advice to you, particularly if you are not happy in your current role but
have no intention of moving on to another role or career, is to build as many
of these (the ones that you like) into your role. Some will lend themselves
much more easily than others but I challenge you not to find at least 2 to 3
things that can help lighten up your day.

When one of your team members moves to another organization and thanks
you for being such an amazing mentor (perhaps saying youre the best
manager they have ever had) what would that mean to you? If perhaps a
charity writes to you to thank you for all the skills you have brought to their
business and how it has benefited those in need, how valuable would that
make you feel?

So, if this is relevant to you, please take the time to look at your current
work situation and ensure that you look after yourself for a change. You
should of course discuss this with your manager to see whether they can
also help to introduce additional enjoyment to your work-life.
42

Actively managing your career
What often comes as a surprise to many people is that in many situations
you have great scope to manage your career. Waiting year after year for
your boss to give you that promotion (that never comes) with the saving
grace being your freedom to curse them in private and (in some cases, and
unadvisedly) in public, is not a great place to be. So if you feel that your
career is not being managed well by others (or even if it is) there is a lot
that you can do to better your cause. These are:

Take credit for the things you have done. Dont show off. Simply
be clear and transparent about your accomplishments and
communicate them.

Have a clear plan of where you want to be career-wise in (say)
5 years. Note down the steps, perhaps in 6 month tranches, that you
must take to get there and monitor that your career is tracking as
required.

Do your core job well. Remember that if you do your core job well
it is a great launch-pad for career advancement. However, if the
basics are not done well you will be continually pegged back and at
some point the phrase dont run before you can walk will be uttered
and you will feel demoralized.

Challenging your pay or status. This is a really tough one and
hence Im reluctant to provide advice as each situation is different as
is every boss. However, I believe that a good rule is not to challenge
your pay or status multiple times. I think that it is appropriate to
question your level of compensation and/or your status if it is clear to
you that you are punching well above your weight and that compared
to your peers you are not being treated fairly. A good manager will try
to pre-empt such conversations to ensure that you are fairly rewarded
throughout your career but that is not always possible as the purse
strings are often outside their control. If you make a play for (say) an
increased base salary make sure that you are confident in the value
you bring the business. If your boss says no you are left in an
awkward situation. Your boss knows that you may now be upset (and
may rightly or wrongly perceive that you are now less motivated than
before the request was made) which could affect your position going
forward. However, if it is clear that you add value and that you are
not being properly compensated for what you do a conversation may
be worthwhile. Make the conversation friendly, be tactful and make
43

sure you dont lose the respect of your manager. If you are fortunate
enough to receive a pay rise or promotion remember that your boss
may have gone out on a limb to get this for you so thank them as
appropriate. The thing to remember is that you cant and shouldnt
play this game too often. Your boss may not thank you for repeating
this exercise each year. However, my advice is to tread carefully,
show respect and assess the situation carefully. Perhaps lobby some
trustworthy confidants. Always remember that if your boss doesnt
think you merit a pay increase or change in status or already believes
that you are paid more than market rates, this could be the beginning
of the end for you in that business.

Dont over expose yourself. One piece of advice I received many
moons ago, which has proven to be of such value, is the notion that
you shouldnt take on too many things at one time. In other words it
is far better to be remembered for doing one thing really well than to
be remembered for doing five things really badly. The tip here is not
to become overly ambitious and take too many projects or tasks on if
there is a reasonable chance that you will sink under all the workload.
This doesnt of course mean that you shouldnt put yourself forward for
juicy project work or tasks of specific interest to you, but rather to
make wise choices and go for those that you either enjoy (if that is
more important to you) and/or those that help demonstrate the value
you add to the business. Take on too many and you could fail at all of
them, including the ones that you would otherwise succeed at hands
down.

Delegation. I was debating whether to place this topic under
Managing Staff or Actively managing your career as it fits equally
well under both categories. To be clear:

o By delegating work to your team they will learn new tasks and
procedures and grow faster as individuals from a career
development point of view. I have witnessed time and again
managers trying to take on the full work-load of their teams
(often individuals who have been appointed as managers for the
first time in their career). After all, they may have done the
work themselves beforehand and can certainly perform it faster
and more efficiently than their staff. Of course the issue here is
that by not delegating you are limiting the chances of your team
reaching their full potential. Perhaps you are worried about
losing your job, which leads me on to the next point.

44

o By delegating to your team, training them up on the necessary
tasks and ensuring that they develop the required skills, you are
not only doing whats right for them (so you have a clear
conscience) but you are also investing for the future. It
shouldnt be that long, if they are right for the role and you are
training them effectively, for them to be as good as you were, or
at least on a clear trajectory to get to that state. As their level
of competence and speed, increases you acquire more time to
dedicate your efforts to higher level tasks. As a result you can
go to your boss and ask for more interesting work to perform.
Not only should your boss recognize that you have done a good
job with staff development, they should also be able to pass on
to you some of their work, which should free up their time.
Everyones a winner! Going back a few years from now, a senior
colleague of mine summarized this approach with the phrase
You should always try to delegate yourself out of a job. That
is, once you land a new role, train up your team to take on your
workload so that you can move onto the next level, to some
extent underwriting your chances of promotion.

Consider the Politics game (see later).

Relative performance considerations. Have you ever wondered
why a glittering career within an organization suddenly falters without
your effort, output or achievements going off track? Well, this can
sometimes happen when you least expect it and it often appears to fall
outside your control. Like with a 100 meter sprint or some exams,
how good you are may not be as important as how good the
competition is. In the workplace you may have been destined for a
particular role, but then someone arrives who has more experience,
more gravitas and better political skills forcing themselves into prime
candidate position. To counter this, work hard at all the elements in
this book. By becoming stronger at all these rough guide skills I am
confident that the person who gains the competitive advantage will be
you.

Managing egos. There is a fine balance between speaking your mind
and damaging your career by upsetting one of the power bases within
the company. Being open, honest and frank may be your natural
approach and arguably lends itself far better to certain functions
(Finance, Facilities Management, Operations and IT). However,
whether you are within these departments or not it is very important
to understand how to approach someone in a position of power and
bring up what could be a sensitive or controversial issue. Its not hard
45

to raise an issue with someone senior, expecting them to see your
frankness as a positive skill, but if they dont take kindly to your
interference they may react in an adverse manner, either straight
away or over the fullness of time. One example I know about, is of a
peer (in a senior position) whose ideas were effectively railroaded in a
meeting by their boss. Perhaps they hadnt briefed their boss
appropriately beforehand or truly had ideas that didnt merit further
discussion. Whatever the realities, the individual in question went to
see their boss later and stated that they didnt appreciate being
bullied and that their confidence had been knocked as a result. Their
boss duly apologized but then went on to add that the individual
lacked gravitas for bringing the matter up and that they should try to
find some course to go on that would improve both their maturity and
credibility. That individual didnt last much longer at the company.
They had effectively been told that they didnt have what it took to rise
through the ranks of the organization. So tread carefully, think
through any sensitive or contentious issues before raising them. Make
sure that your actions dont backfire on you. Like yourself you boss
has an ego and wont want to be reprimanded.

Build a strong brand for yourself (see later)

Be treated as you want to be treated. There is a phrase that
behavior breeds behavior. If you are petulant, moody, immature and
unsupportive of your boss dont expect them to treat you with a high
level of respect and treat you as someone with credibility and gravitas.
You should act in the manner that you wish to be treated. If you
exude confidence (not arrogance of course), maturity and fair
judgment, your boss is likely to view you as a person that possesses
such qualities. So, before you complain about the way your boss
treats you, have an honest and diligent review of self and establish
whether there is anything you can do to rectify the situation on a
stand-alone basis. You may be surprised about how much you can
sway their opinion by changing your persona.
46

How to write
This is the easiest thing to get right but the most common thing to get
wrong. I see so many emails, letters and memos that have simple but yet
distracting errors in them. Yes, this is one of my pet dislikes and I regularly
remind my staff to do that one important thing - read through your
communication before you communicate it.

Its not that any of us are that unintelligent that we would deliberately write
glaring errors such as we have did very well on the project. Its just that
we originally wrote we have done very well on the project and then meant
to change it (for some reason) to we did very well on the project. But
guess what, one of our team came into the office, we were distracted and
couldnt be bothered to read through the email from the beginning again.
So we send it out. And so the risk is that our team, our boss and the senior
management team all form the impression that we dont know how to write
simple communications. Yes, REMEMBER TO READ THROUGH YOUR WORK
BEFORE YOU SEND IT OUT. I remember one of my teachers telling me this
when I got an E for an essay assignment (he didnt give any Fs) as I had
clearly failed to read through my work. Perhaps I was fortunate that this
event happened so early on in my life. But hey, if this is an issue for you,
its the simplest one to correct. Whoopee!

So now that we all read through our work before distributing it lets move on
to the all important bullet point list:

Read through your work (couldnt resist it!)

Write in paragraphs

Spell-check your work. Oh, and by the way, spell-checking your
work doesnt mean that it has now been 100% auto-corrected. Wow,
the amount of times I see things like what have we leant form this
rather than what have we learnt from this. The guy ran it through
spell-check but didnt read through before sending. [By the way, this
book has been proof-read by the publisher along with most of my
friends and family so if you find any typos or grammatical errors
please write to them directly. If I remember Ill include their names
and addresses in the reference section].

Get someone else to read it. If its that important send it to a
colleague, work pal or even to your boss (marked draft) so that they
47

can use fresh eyes to pick up on the errors that your brain no longer
has the capacity to identify.

Know your audience. Is it the end of the story once you have
developed your effective writing style? Well, no. It is important to
remember that the style and content of your communication will
change depending upon the audience. One example I came across
was as follows: You are one day late in submitting your expense
claim and as such you have breached company policy. Please note
that if the claim is not submitted within the next 3 working days or a
valid reason provided for why that is not possible it will not be
processed for re-imbursement. OK, this is a pretty strict email and
the wording may be effective in making people jump and following
protocol. However, in this particular case the email had been sent
directly to the CEO of the company who had been on business travel
for 3 weeks. Rightly or wrongly (you decide) the CEO did not take
kindly to such an instruction and within one hour the standard
communication had been reviewed and updated. That is not to say
that one rule should apply for more junior staff and one for more
senior staff (thats simply unfair) but when you communicate with an
individual think about their level of seniority and question yourself on
whether the wording you use will generate the desired reaction from
the recipient. So when writing a communication please think about
the following:

o How senior is the person (or people) receiving the
communication?

o Is the tone of the email reasonable? Is it perhaps too harsh or
indeed soft?

o What is the likely reaction from the communication? Will it
perhaps kick-off some type of email war?

o If there are deadlines set are they reasonable? It may not be
wise to corner senior members of staff or show them up in a bad
light. Some of your senior colleagues can certainly influence
your career and reputation.

o How would you react to the email? If your reaction is likely to
be adverse then so is theirs.

48

o Is the title clear, concise and eye-catching? If it is truly
important that all staff read the email (rather than them sending
it direct to their email bins) then make sure the title includes
Important or PLEASE READ or ***ACTION REQUIRED*** or
whatever is necessary but reasonable to grab their attention.

Send the email to yourself for review first (if it is an email). Do
you know, it is amazing how often I spot spelling, grammar and other
errors in one of my communications by sending it to myself to read
first. As my brain becomes tired since I have drafted and amended an
email multiple times, I send it to myself and then take a short break
before reading it again, normally grabbing a coffee. I then typically
spot all the things I should have detected earlier as my word blindness
has disappeared. Try it and see whether it works for you.

Imagine you are your own boss. Another trick of the trade is to
imagine that you are your boss and read the email from their
perspective. If you are the ultimate boss of your company thanks for
buying this book, but I feel that you should be reading one about
strategy that incorporates impressive diagrams and flow-charts along
with incompressible buzzwords and complicated diction. Seriously, if
you look at your communication from your bosss point of view theres
a great chance that youll spot all the things that they would.

Is the written word the most appropriate format? Remember
that it is sometimes better to pick up the phone or speak face-to-face.
The written word is not always the best route to take, irrespective of
how well the communication is put together.

Jargon. Where possible written communications should avoid jargon.
This helps to ensure that the message is not only clear and concise but
can be easily digested by the recipient.


49

Presentation Skills
This is a biggy! So many people present poorly. Its not that they cant be
good presenters. Its just that they have never been taught how to present,
or even worse, no-one can be bothered to tell them that they need to
improve.

So you know, it doesnt really matter whether there are 4 of you in a
meeting or you are presenting to five hundred people (Ive done both). The
same rules apply. These are:

Have fun. If you go up there to have fun this will rub off on the
audience and, to be frank, they will thank you for it. Even if you are
nervous put on a big friendly smile and feel good about yourself.
Everyone has to listen to you for a change and you have their full and
undivided attention.

Rehearse. Even the best speakers rehearse multiple times. Im
talking in front of a mirror or in front of your friends, family (unless
confidential!) or a work colleague. Not quietly in your mind but aloud.
Be vocal.

Slides. If you use slides or other visuals please ensure that:

o They are not crowded. People gasp when the slides are crowded
with words, figures, diagrams etc. Keep content down to a
minimum.

o They match to what you are saying. Dont have a slide that
shows a diagram of how to put a wheel on a car while talking
about the exhaust pipe. This is something I often witness. So
please dont talk about something that isnt on the slide to avoid
confusing the audience.

o They are fun (if possible and appropriate). Avoid immature
jokey slides but do include visuals that will grab the audiences
attention and will wake them up.

Make them laugh. If you have the confidence, make the audience
laugh. Were not talking about being a stand-up comedian but some
amusing anecdote (short) or some dry wit can come across well. If in
doubt, then leave this out. Youll get the feeling after a few
50

presentations whether you can pull this off. But if you can make it fun
the audience is far more likely to remember your conversation. Do
you want a real life example? Yes? Well, I once worked for a
company that was expanding very rapidly in the following markets:
Tobacco, Drugs (not that sort), Beverages and Health. I wanted to
portray to the audience that we were doing well in these so called
recession-proof sectors (that is companies that do well even when we
dont have much money to spend during a recession). So I stated that
the results indicate that our customers are down-hearted and hence
drinking themselves to death, smoking themselves to death and taking
drugs (yes I used artistic license here) and then ending up in hospital.
Ok, I was joking, but two years later a colleague came up to me and
reminded me of the joke and said that their part of the business had
invested in those markets and become the fastest growing part of the
company. I just stated a fact in an amusing way. My colleague had
used that fact to improve the business. But the great thing is that my
presentation had been remembered by someone two years later. I
slept well that night.

Time your presentation. The length of time it takes to run through
your presentation is critical. Even a presentation that is full of
interesting content and is professionally delivered will not be received
well by the other presenters (or audience as a whole) if you
significantly (or in many cases even marginally) overrun. So, it is
important to rehearse it thoroughly ensuring you know how long it will
take to deliver. If, for example, you have a thirty minutes slot, make
sure that you allow a minute or so for the change-over from and to the
previous and subsequent presenters respectively. Allow sufficient time
for questions and answers (Q&A) where this is an essential part of the
education exercise. Also, remember that it generally takes a little
longer to present in practice than it does in rehearsal as you have to
allow for audience reaction and the fact that you generally slow down
your pace of speech in a public arena. Remember, that if there is a
series of presenters and there is also a hard stop (finite time) for the
overall presentation, you will be eating into someone elses time by
overrunning. Just make sure that it is not the CEO or head of
department following you in the line up!

Plant Q&A. Quite often I see really good presentations that seem to
be accompanied by a shy audience. When the one-way
communication is over the two-way or multi-way dialogue does not
always open up as wished. In other words, people dont ask
questions. Therefore, my recommendation is to plant some friendly
faces into the audience and arm them with pre-loaded questions. Not
51

only does this allow the two-way dialogue to open up but it encourages
others to join in the conversation as the barriers break down before
you. It also allows you to show off your Q&A skills as you can
rehearse the answer to their question in advance ensuring a pristine
delivery.

Check that the technical set up works. Its not that uncommon an
occurrence for there to be technical glitch. Perhaps your file
containing the presentation has become corrupt (always carry a back-
up) or perhaps the projector or laptop are not working correctly. The
best thing to do is to arrive in good time to check that the technical
aspects of the presentation work as required. If possible have an
Operations or IT guy on hand to sort out any problems. Better still,
get them to check the set up for you and confirm that everything is all
right. As I say, technical glitches are not that uncommon and the
more you rely on electronic visual and audio aids the worse things
seem to the audience when they dont work. Finally, as a back-up
perhaps have in mind what you will say/do if the technical aids fall
down part way through your presentation. Know your notes inside out
and practise staying calm in such situations. Although things may look
unprofessional to the audience they are unlikely to blame you for any
technical hiccups.

Arrive in good time. Your presentation may be in your office or in a
town hall somewhere across the globe, but in either event you should
ensure that you arrive in good time. This will allow you to check out
the technical facilities, get a feel for the surroundings and ensure that
your voice carries well (depending upon whether there are
microphones or not). Arriving late, under pressure with your nervous
system under attack, is not a great start. [BTW, if you are late,
certainly have a routine to keep yourself calm and at ease. Taking 3
deep breaths really does work.]

Liaise with the other presenters (where possible). It would
seem an injustice if you have spent hours honing your presentation
skills, hours putting together a lively, informative and engaging
presentation and hours rehearsing your speech in front of the mirror
only to find out on the day that part of your content has been covered
by another presenter in the overall line up or indeed that your
anecdote or witticism has already been communicated to the audience.
I would highly recommend that you cut these problems off at the pass.
Perhaps there is someone centrally coordinating all the presentations,
52

but if not it would definitely be worth checking that all that hard work
doesnt disappoint at the end of the day.

Nerves. I feel that I could write a book (and you would be bored
reading it) on how to steady your nerves before a presentation. But I
wont. Ill summarize this down to a few, hopefully very useful, bullet
points. First of all, what can you do to reduce the level of nerves? Try
some of the following techniques and see which work best for you:

o Follow all the steps listed above to optimize your level of
confidence.

o Take 3 deep breaths before you start (see above). It really
works.

o Rather than standing at the front of the room, perch on the side
of a desk (if there is one at the front) or adopt another stance or
position that naturally puts your body at ease. It is strange but
true, but where you stand and how you position yourself can
make a significant impact to the way you feel.

o Enjoy yourself. Practise shifting the nervous energy from fear to
enjoyment. This, I suppose, is more of a mental exercise, but I
guarantee that if you go out there with the intention of enjoying
yourself the nerves, at least partially, move to a place where
they are more constructive.

o Perform as many presentations as possible while you are going
through the learning curve. As with any skill, practice makes
perfect and the more presentations your deliver the more
relaxed and confident you will become.

There are also techniques to hide/shield nerves if you find it hard to
overcome them. These are as follows:

o Dont hold anything in your hands, such as a piece of paper with
notes on, as it will flap around due to the nervous energy within
you. Rather place it on a lectern or desk or better still have a
PowerPoint or other electronic presentation that negates the
requirement to hold anything.

53

o Dont have any change or keys in your pocket in case you start
jangling them. This can be done subconsciously and can prove
very annoying to the audience.

o Dont worry about pauses in your speech. They can be up to
several seconds long and if timed right (that is, not too long)
they actually come across really well in a live environment
adding to your sense of gravitas and credibility.

o Dont pace around the room or continuously step forwards and
backwards. This provides an indication that you are nervous.
You certainly dont have to be rooted to the spot, but if you
decide to move around the stage make sure that it is a
purposeful action (for instance, to point at something or to grab
someones attention) rather than a general aimless wander.

Quick reference guide. I often find it useful to refer to a quick
reference guide on how to present well. So here are some tips that I
hope you will find very useful:

o Provide an overview of what you are going to speak about to
provide context.

o Be passionate about the topic you are presenting.

o Be interactive; obtain audience engagement, perhaps through
asking questions.

o Use eye contact wisely. Dont just focus your attention on the
CEO! Keep everyone engaged and feeling a part of the
meeting/event.

o Use your footwork wisely. If you are going to walk around the
stage limit the number of walkabouts you undertake and make
them work for you. Use them to re-engage the audience (if it is
a large crowd). However, dont walk around too much as youll
tire them out.

o Use arm gestures, but again make these controlled and
infrequent. Continuous arm gestures make it look like you are
flapping (literally).

54

o Keep your hands out of your pockets (it looks untidy and you
may jingle the keys or change you have housed there).

o Dont hold anything in your hands if you are nervous (it will
shake)

o Dont be monotone. Change the pitch of your voice, otherwise
you may send the audience to sleep.

o Think about the speed of delivery. Theres no need to rush
through your presentation. If time is tight say fewer, more
important things.

o Dont be negative. Dont say I feel nervous or I dont feel
prepared. This puts you under pressure from the start.

o Speak clearly with a strong resonance (a strong voice).

o Remain natural when you speak. Dont force your voice or
manner.

o Introduce yourself if no-one else has.

o Smile. Everyone likes a smiley rather than grumpy individual.

o Be informative. Make the points as interesting as possible.

o Dont use acronyms or abbreviations that members of the
audience wont understand. You risk them getting lost on the
way.

o Have some clear takeaways for the audience to remember.

o Above all, be memorable (for the right reasons).


55

Negotiation skills
I suppose the alternative title for this chapter could have been Getting your
own way. Why on earth do some people end up with great deals (or get
their way) when others dont?

Well here are some tips you can follow:

Do your research. Understand who you are dealing with and what is
important to them. Anticipate the questions and/or objections that the
other party may have and ensure that you can deal with them.

Have clear thoughts (and document them) on what would be a good
deal for you.

Be stubborn. If you have a solid negotiation stance dont allow the
other party to ride roughshod over it. Stay firm, if it clearly makes
logical sense to do so, and be iterative in your discussion if the other
party is effectively ignoring your argument.

Turn the conversation around. Dont let the other party lead the
discussion. Make sure that you have an agenda and follow it.

Follow your logic not theirs. Dont fall for what appear to be clever
arguments or tactics that dont actually stack up in the cold light of
day. Stay true to what you believe in.

[However] Be fair and reasonable, or expect to lose.

If possible, reach an agreement that keeps everyone happy. If you
push too far, the other party will walk away perhaps not now but as
soon as they realize that there is no value in the deal for them.

Assess who has the balance of power. The more power you have the
stronger your negotiation position.

Where appropriate make sure that you have more than one bid or
tender. Even for relatively small contracts your position will be that
much more powerful if you can demonstrate that you have alternative
quotes that perhaps provide better value. From experience, unless at
least 3 quotes are obtained from reputable companies you dont have
even an initial feel (let alone an accurate one) for market prices. Also,
56

let all the parties know that you are seeking competitive bids from
other businesses to help focus their minds on the overall value for
money of their offering.

Dont be afraid to revisit the deal at any time before you sign on the
dotted line. If you feel that you havent done a good job on the
negotiation front and realize later that the deal wont yield an
acceptable to return for you (perhaps your planning wasnt a great as
it should have been) then be upfront and transparent to the other
party explaining that you cant sign until the deal hits a certain
threshold in terms of financial return.

Good cop, bad cop. One useful technique to try, particularly where
you find it difficult in a face-to face situation to push hard on (say)
price, is to leverage the fact that your boss has set some firm financial
targets for you with respect to the deal. In other words they wont
buy the goods or service for more than X or they wont sell your
services for less that Y. In practice, I have found this process
extremely useful and it allows you not only to defer discussion at any
given point in time by stating that you will have to run the proposal
past your boss as it does not fulfill the requisite financial criteria, but
also it allows you to be seen as the person trying hard to make the
deal work in what are clearly difficult circumstances. You should
ensure that you obtain your bosss permission to cast them in the role
as bad cop, as the tough, perhaps inflexible manager, in case they
are somehow contacted directly or otherwise uncomfortable with the
approach.

If you are unable to reach agreement during the process of negotiation
here are some ideas to consider:

o Would a longer term deal allow either party to be more flexible
on price?

o Would an exclusive relationship seal the deal?

o Would the introduction of enhanced service levels better your
cause (or a fall back to more basic/standard service levels if
price remains the absolute sticking point)?

o Would a dedicated account manager provide the added
ingredient to allow you to finalize proceedings?

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o Would either a discount for prompt payment or a discount for
signing before the month is out add the incentive required?

o Would the advertisement of your relationship (Public Relations
exercise) make the deal appear more interesting?

o Would future price caps be of interest?

o Would enhanced data analysis be of importance?

Build good relationships. It is all very well squeezing every last penny
out of your vendors, but this could lead to them providing a sub-
standard service, given they are making little or no money out of the
deal. At the other end of the extreme, it is important not to let
inducements (also remember the Bribery Act) to cloud your view of a
relationship. You owe it to your business to secure a value for money
deal.




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Down time
Down time isnt great. Youre bored, your boss thinks that youre not doing
much and everyone seems to be losing.

I sometimes see people surfing the net or having pointless conversations
(and hence stealing the time of others) as they havent got enough to do.

Well, without doubt it can be very hard to self-motivate yourself when you
havent got much to do. Each request or task starts becoming a chore or at
the very least a distraction from watching sport live on the web or perhaps
doing your shopping on line.

So what should you really do?

Remember that one of the most effective ways to get on in business is
to impress your boss. So tell them the situation as it is. Hey, what if
they decide to make you redundant? Well, to be fair I cant legislate
for that but what I can say is that all the managers I have worked for
have held me in high esteem for my honesty and transparency. This
has culminated in them having the trust to send more, normally juicy,
work down my way. Now lets make this clear. If you are being lazy
and simply not doing the work you are meant to be doing that is bad.
However, if you have completed all your work to an acceptable
standard (or higher) then thats good. I cant give guarantees here,
but if I was a betting man I would expect your boss to see such
honesty and openness as a good rather than bad attribute.

However, before you go running to your boss you should really make
sure that you have done all you can from an added value point of
view. Like what? Well, like this:

o Review your weekly (or other frequency) task list to ensure all
the jobs have been done. Complete the ones that you have
pushed to the bottom of the list time and time again. If they are
of no value then discuss this with your boss and get permission
to eliminate them; they may not agree with your point of view
but it is certainly worth a try.

o Review the way you work to see whether you can come up with
any ideas to help you do your job better (your boss should
admire you for this).

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o Review your work area to see whether there are any other added
value tasks you could perform.

o See whether you can assist other team members if they are
struggling. Do this in a transparent manner so you receive the
credit where this is due.

If none of the above yield more work then consider the following:

o Read more widely (trade press, relevant articles etc). Let your
boss know that you are doing this as they will enjoy seeing the
initiative you are demonstrating.

o Offer to assist others outside your department if that is possible.
This could also be good for your profile, but take care not to
become a general dogsbody. Im talking about stuff that will
help you gain knowledge and experience, not introducing tasks
into your job that do not make use of your skills and/or
experience.

o Write up notes on your tasks and procedures (if this is not
already done). That will help focus the mind and will also help
the next person to do your job when you move on to better
things.

o Consider applying to other jobs within (or outside) the company
if you believe that the situation will not improve in the longer
term.

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Body language
In my humble view advice on this is overrated and perhaps great if youre on
a date but not when you are in the workplace. People like people who are
friendly, kind, receptive, open, energetic and fun. If you put as many of
these into your work-life (even if you dont feel like it) everyone around you
will feel better and as a result you will too.

Look, the first thing I do when I am feeling miserable at work is go up to the
first person I see (there are only one or two maximum that I would avoid)
and start a light hearted or even jovial conversation. Their face lights up,
they feel good and the next thing I know I am trotting to my office feeling so
much better. It works. Im not talking about a major disaster in your life of
course, I wouldnt pretend that a two minute conversation by the water
cooler makes everything seem better, but when youve had a pretty hard
session at work and you need cheering up, you can actually kick-start the
process yourself.

Now heres the thing. If you feel good about yourself, and hence friendly
and cheerful, what are the chances that you will sit there in a meeting with
your arms crossed with a glum face on? Pretty unlikely eh?

Sure, a firm rather than wet handshake can make a small difference and
sitting up straight rather than slouching will give a better impression. But
what rank much higher than all these are energy, fun and amiability. The
last one comes with the first two. How often do you hear I didnt give that
person the job because they had their arms crossed? Or, Im not meeting
with them again because they slouched in their chairs? Hey, but what
about that person didnt smile at all, had no energy and made the meeting
flat.

Yup, its energy and enthusiasm that you need. If you have no energy and
enthusiasm then make out that you have as the real stuff will surely follow.

But for those who still want some body language tips here you go:

Shake hands firmly

Sit up straight

Look at people when they are talking to you (rocket science stuff). I
must admit that it is indeed annoying when you are speaking and the
other person is looking anywhere but at you. In fact, it you want to
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play a good game when you suspect someone is not listening to you,
make sure you ask for their input, opinion or agreement at that time.
I guarantee you will get one of the following responses:

o Sorry, could you repeat the question

o Im not sure where you were coming from

o Run that past me again

o Yes


o Could you add some colour (detail)?

So what you have to do is make sure that you have been very clear,
have given them all the colours of the rainbow and have not left them
any excuse for not understanding. If you want to make a point, close
the conversation down (end it) and let them suffer in silence. I dislike
rudeness both inside and outside the office and dont see why we
should tolerate some superiority complex. Of course, if you have gone
on and on about a single issue until the end of time it may be that
they are too polite to leave so above all be fair to both them and you.

Smile. Clearly if you disagree with something you shouldnt be sitting
their smiling and nodding away, but if one of your objectives is to put
the other people at ease and to support them during a meeting, then
remember to look positive (smile) and react positively to the contributions
they make.
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Chairing (running) Meetings
This can be one of the most rewarding experiences at work and as such I
strongly recommend that you Chair (or run) as many meetings as possible.
There are a number of benefits in chairing meetings as follows:
You mature fast. Yes, this is pretty much an automatic process. The
first time you chair a meeting (just like the first time you present) you
may feel quite nervous. But as long as you prepare for meetings
beforehand, dont bluff your way out of difficult situations and treat the
participants with respect, things should be fine.

You learn to make decisions and direct people. The Chair will
often be looked upon as the person who makes the final decisions
(even if this isnt the real purpose of their role). But perhaps even
more importantly the Chair should direct the conversation, ensure that
all the relevant arguments are heard and that air-time is properly
distributed amongst the group.

You become better at time-keeping. Although as Chair you could
always appoint someone as timekeeper it is your responsibility to
ensure that the meeting runs to the allotted time and that all the items
on the agenda are discussed. You should think hard before the
meeting about the length of time each topic requires and ensure that
the time set aside for discussion is sufficient. From my experience
meetings often overrun and if they dont you still find that there was
insufficient time to discuss some of the agenda items. Its your job to
ensure that this does not happen. After all, others may have prepared
thoroughly about a topic that is very important to them. Theyll be
disappointed and may not see you in a good light. So what are the
tips to ensure a meeting runs on time:

o Be clear about the rules on timing. No overruns. If a discussion
looks like it will blow out of all proportion then its probably best
to take it off-line and have the relevant individuals (perhaps a
sub-group of the original meeting) look into it further. If you are
tight on the timings those involved in your meetings will be
forced to get better with their own conciseness.
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o Allow enough time for a topic to be discussed. Dont tag on an
extra item at the base of the agenda with a 10 minute slot if it is
clearly going to last longer. In fact, spend some time making
sure that the time slot available for each agenda item is
sufficient (and whatever you do make sure you get buy-in on the
length of the time slot from the individual).

You learn to set action points. One of the joys of being a Chair is
that you can summarize all the action points at the end of the meeting
and ensure that each point has:

o A clear and concise note of the action to be taken.

o The name of the person responsible to get the job done.

o A deadline for completion and where, when and how progress
and completion is communicated to the group.

You learn to be inclusive. As the Chair you should ensure that all
the relevant points of view are taken on board. If you have one or two
individuals in the meeting that hog the limelight during open
discussion this could prove to be destructive as other points of view
are not brought up for consideration. With that in mind, you should
prompt the quieter members of the group to add their thoughts. If it
is obvious that certain members literally have nothing of value to add
then they are probably at their limit in terms of intellectual capacity or
(more likely) do not have experience in that particular field. So my
advice is to be inclusive, but apply fairness to ensure that discussion
continues to flow and that nobody feels that they have been shut out
of the conversation.

There are two sides to every story - part 2 (for Part 1 see
Managing staff). This principle doesnt only relate to the chairing of
meetings. Any complaint, argument or issue raised should be
considered with an open, balanced and fair approach. On many
occasions an issue or complaint is raised that at face value
demonstrates, or at least implies, that a wrong has been performed or
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that an injustice has taken place. However, a fair Chair (or indeed any
fair individual) will seek out all the facts from all the relevant parties
and only draw a conclusion once they have sufficient evidence to do so
(just like being in a Court of Law). The process may or may not be
lengthy, depending upon the issue at hand, but all parties should feel
that their opinions and evidence have been taken into account and
that the decision made is both just and fair. Im sure we can all think
of situations where we have shot from the hip and then lived to regret
our initial decision which was taken without knowing the full
circumstances. Remember, there are two sides to every story, so hear
both first before taking action.

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Networking
You have 250 Facebook contacts and 300 LinkedIn contacts. Is that a great
network? Well, having the details of friends, family, colleagues and
acquaintances can be useful (you never know, one of them could pass a job
opportunity your way) but much more important is the building up of
networks with those that can positively influence your career both within
your organization and beyond it.

Internal network

Its all very well and good to have regular catch-ups with senior members of
staff dotted around the company. Indeed its great to hear and learn more
about whats going on. However, for a relationship to become stronger,
more fruitful and easier to maintain there are certain aspects of the
relationship which you should focus your attention on:

Is it a symbiotic relationship? Are you simply obtaining a down-load of
information from your colleague or are you ensuring that the catch-
ups you have are beneficial to them as well? If relationships appear to
die, and the other party does not appear to make an effort to propose
or find time for the two of you to meet, its unlikely to be a personal
issue but may reflect the fact that the meeting is not perceived as
added value by the other party. However, if you wish to continue the
relationship, as it is added value from your career advancement point
of view, consider the following:

o Prepare an agenda before each time you meet (even if you are
meeting informally over a coffee). You dont have to send
through the agenda in advance but rather make sure that there
are items listed on it which will be of interest to the other party.

o Think about the frequency of your catch-ups. If you meet up
very regularly you may run out of interesting things to say and
debate. Make the meetings less frequent but more powerful.

o Follow-up on action points raised by your contact. If they see
you as someone who can get things done theyll be more willing
to meet up again. But there is a balance. Dont become a
gofer; that is where you end up with a list of action points after
each meeting that suits their agenda but adds little to yours.
The relationship should be balanced.

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o Follow up and thank them for their time setting out why the
catch-up was useful and what issues, ideas or points you are
going to take on, along with what you believe they have agreed
to think through or act upon.

Water cooler moments. Ive placed this under the section Internal
Networks but water cooler moments in reality serve a number of uses
(beyond getting refreshed). But lets deal with the networking issue.
When you are grabbing that glass of water of coffee and there is
someone else there (who you dont directly work with) make the most
of the opportunity by asking them what they do (if you dont know),
what major initiatives their department is up to and think through
what else from a business perspective they can impart to you. Most
people enjoy being asked about the job they perform and are flattered
to be asked about it in more detail. This is of course a fairly quick
conversation (dont time steal) but its extremely simple to learn one
or two important facts or facets which you can bring back to your
team, peers or manager. Of course, one should avoid rumor and
gossip and as such discussion should be mature and focus on learning
about their operation and thinking through how your department could
help them in some way, if that is relevant, or allow you to better
understand the inter-relationship between your two departments.
Having fun Water Cooler moments remains essential in my mind
(dont become a bore) but do use these short passages of time to help
you add value to the business and potentially impress those around
you. By showing interest in their work they form a more favorable
impression of you, your team and your boss.

External network

The importance of an external network, and indeed its size and content,
clearly depends upon how far up the career ladder you are. The more senior
you are, the more important such networks often become (but this is
certainly not always the case). However, there are some distinct benefits of
having a well structured and effective external network. These are as
follows:

New job opportunities. One of your contacts may be able to help
you out with finding a new job opportunity if that proves necessary or
desirable. In fact, with a wide network, or at least one where you
have stayed in contact with colleagues from prior employments, you
may well benefit from the occasional cold-call (or email) asking
whether you would consider jumping ship to join them. For this to
take place they would either be keen to have you on board as they
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value you skills and experience or they get some kick-back from their
recruitment department for introducing new staff given that no agency
fees apply. Believe me when I say that the latter can be a very strong
factor for someone contacting you. But remember that it is almost
certain that you will still have to go through the standard recruitment
process so dont count your chickens before they hatch (if you chose
to go for the job) and certainly dont resign until you have a written
job offer.

Job references. Staying in touch with your previous managers is
certainly a smart thing to do as they may well be involved with one of
your future jobs. On a number of occasions my former boss has been
asked to provide a reference to my potential new employer. Many
companies now only provide standard responses to reference requests
but I assure you that verbal conversations could take place in the
background or other communications could be made in the implied
form which could affect your chances of grabbing that new role. The
golden rule is to ensure that you dont burn your bridges.

Sharing ideas. If you have kept in touch with colleagues that have
had similar roles to you in the past then you should be able to benefit
from the sharing of ideas and technical updates (not to the extent that
you breach any of your companys policies!). In reality, some
(particularly) senior people may rely more on a trusted ex-colleague
than a professional or trade body or other type of network. So, for
instance, if you had a really great boss make sure you keep in touch
when you leave. If you valued your staff and trust their judgment
then thats a really good reason for staying in touch too.

Business opportunities. Another great reason for building a solid
network and staying in touch with former colleagues and contacts is
that they may be more willing to work with you on future projects or
tenders (as a partner) or more likely to take you on as a vendor. Ive
certainly brought on vendors from previous companies I have worked
with; focusing on those that provided great levels of service and
demonstrated value for money. You may be tempted to get into bed
with a sub-standard or average vendor because they are a former
colleague or contact (and/or perhaps a friend). Clearly, this isnt
something I would recommend. If you are going to engage with a
company that you have used in the past make sure that any contract
arrangements are at arms length and that you can demonstrate that
there is commercial advantage to your business.

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Perks. This certainly should not be a prime reason for staying in
touch with someone, but you may find that a fringe benefit of a strong
working relationship is the existence of certain perks and benefits.
Where possible make sure that this is a two-way process. Perhaps one
has a holiday cottage that they are happy for you to use or you can
offer some advice for a charity that they are involved with. Mutual
benefits could also include sharing investment advice and tips (but not
insider trading!), recommending places to travel etc. Sure, you have
you own friends and family, but a good network (perhaps without the
emotional ties) can sometimes offer you something a little different.

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Politics
This is certainly the hardest topic to provide guidance on, partly because
people often dont want to hear about or understand the nature of politics
and how to play the game. I have learnt the following over the course of my
career:

Those that dont want to play politics lose out. Its very noble to say, I
dont want to play those games, but at the end of the day if you want
to get on you have to be prepared to play the politics game. However,
there should also be a health warning which states that playing
politics can seriously damage your career. You should tread very
carefully.

Competence versus confidence. As a very rough guide I would say
that where you get top in your career depends upon equal measures of
competence and confidence. If you are really competent but not
confident you will under-achieve but be damn good at your job. If you
are confident but not competent you will be over-promoted and
eventually found out. Sales figures will be low, IT developments badly
managed, research poor and so on. On a number of occasions I have
seen people shoot through the ranks on the back of confidence, with
many others around them seduced by the confident air shown at
meetings, presentations and the like. However, once it becomes
apparent that they are not actually competent their world starts to fall
apart. The thing to learn from this is that you should ensure that you
are both competent and confident. Pick up the tools of the trade
outlined in this book to build up your levels of confidence. Work on
and be honest in your self-analysis to ensure that you remain
competent throughout your career. One great year can seemingly
make you, but one bad year will certainly hurt you.

Getting your way. To be successful in business it is essential to get
your way a lot of the time. Certainly not all the time but for the
majority of it. So, with this in mind, ensure that you work hard on
your persuasive and negotiation skills to maximize the chance of
decisions going the way that works for you.

Know which battles to fight. A very wise boss of mine once taught
me to only fight the battles that I can win. This sounds so obvious
when laid out before you but we all know how easy it is to take on
someone or something and get beaten up in the process. If its likely
that you will lose the fight pick another battle. Dont feel shy about
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asking other people what they believe your chances are. [Tip: think
about where the ultimate responsibility lies. You may beat your
opponent, but then their boss or bosss boss may beat you.]

When you disagree say you agree. This is an amazing facet of the
politically aware that astounds me, but it really does work. When
someone comes up with an idea or recommendation that is in conflict
with your own agenda or idea, rather than at the outset say I whole
heartedly disagree try saying Thats an excellent point. Then, little
by little run through the argument the other party has put forward and
explain in a clear but tactful manner why it is not correct. I know that
it sounds counter-intuitive to do this (and remember that internal
politics is not the same as public (party political) politics. Did you
want an example? Well, heres how it works. You have said I think
that we should build a square. I want to build a circle as firstly I have
already been lobbying for it and secondly I feel it is a battle I can win
(see above). So my retort is Yes, I think the idea of a square is an
excellent one. Then I go on to explain that I would add extra value to
the square by cutting away the sharp corners and smoothing around
the edges. A square was such an excellent platform to start off with.
The trouble for the competition is that you have been really positive
about their idea, and they are nodding away happily, and before they
know it you have turned everything around to get your own way. Now
Im not suggesting that this will always be a successful tool but I
would wager a bet that it will win some arguments that you would
otherwise have lost.

The overlay. This is a subtle point where someone has performed
some excellent work and even communicated that fact. Your job (and
you are not specifically taking the credit for what they have done here)
is to reply all to their communication and overlay it with a message
that takes a broader perspective. Again, dont be seen to be taking
the credit for what others have done but rather add an Executive
overlay that reads well, makes sense and invites people to respond
saying exactly or my thoughts exactly. This is one of the most
common tools in the armory of a modern internal politician. Try it and
benefit from it.

Act like their boss. If you want to be their boss (perhaps moving
from a manager of one team to a manager of five teams) then start
acting like their boss now. Use techniques such as The overlay to
show that you are in charge and have the higher level view. Also,
offer to review the work of others in your team and ensure you critique
it thoroughly. You will need both the confidence and competence to do
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this of course (or at least the confidence in the short term see
earlier). Avoid arrogance. That is definitely not the way forward.
Rather, use good judgment along with a measured but determined
approach. Above all, act with GRAVI TAS. Also, be very careful not
to upset your peers.

Stealth mode. It could be argued that the best political players act in
stealth mode. It will not always be visible to others. If you play
politics, make sure you dont rub people up the wrong way.
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Your brand
Once you have read through most if not all of the chapters above you will
automatically work out which tips work for you and which (quite frankly)
dont. When putting together your thoughts on how to succeed, and I
believe that each chapter can be taken in isolation, you may also want to
think some more about your brand within your workplace. How do people
perceive you? Organized? A good time-keeper? Honest? Open? One of
my recommendations is for you to write down the four to five things that
you want to be associated with in terms of brand image. Ive listed some
ideas below, but you may of course add to these and/or substitute them
with your own:

Are you seen as trustworthy?

Are you seen as an ideas person?

Are you perceived as a fair judge?

Are you seen as generous with your time?

Are you seen as a good developer of staff?

Are you seen as a technical wizard?

Are you seen as a good politician?

Are you perceived as putting the businesss goals before your own?

Do people associate you with energy and drive?

Do people associate you with good time-keeping?

Are you perceived as someone that gets the job done?

Are you viewed as pro-active?

Are you seen as someone that adds value?

Do people see you as someone that supports the business culture?

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Are you perceived as someone that supports the party line?

Think about the questions above and then prioritize what is important to you
and what you believe to be important for the business you work for. You
may feel that you are already perceived in a good light for many of the
questions and that youd rather concentrate on the one of two that present
the most running room for further development. Being circumspect is a
really good thing and I recommend that you review your brand on a regular
basis (at least annually). If you have some close colleagues that you trust
sincerely by all means ask them to critique your brand and then work on the
aspects that they feel you can improve upon. If you have a thorough and
robust annual or six monthly appraisals process the results of that exercise
should also give you some clues on how to improve. If not, and if you feel
that it is appropriate within your business culture, ask your boss to comment
on your brand. This is a question that if answered well can deliver to you
some concrete action points outside the normal skills discussed at such
review sessions. By all means ask your boss to set up regular profile
sessions (See Managing staff) to allow you and them to monitor the
enhancement of your brand image over time.

You could certainly combine this analysis with a broader self-review
incorporating your strength and development areas (in a similar fashion to
the annual self-appraisal) if you wish to produce a wider more expansive,
and perhaps holistic view of ones persona and capabilities.
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Random tips (and some fun)
There are a lot of tips and loads of advice that Ive picked up during my
career, some more fun than others, but all very useful when introduced into
our day-to-day working lives. I think that this would be best presented in
bullet point format:

Get them out of my office or away from my desk. If someone is
in your office or by your desk and you need to get rid of them you can
do so without even saying anything. This is a tried and trusted
method which I was taught by the Chairman of a company I used to
work for. He used to do this regularly to me! So this colleague is by
your desk and the conversation (which may not even be work related)
has clearly come to an end from your perspective. Take the bull by
the horns and stand up and walk towards your door (if you have an
office) or start walking towards to kitchen, toilets or reception (or
wherever) as they are still talking. If you manage to take control of
the conversation even better. My experience (were talking a 100%
record here) is that your colleague will stand up when you do (a bit
like when someone copies your movements on a date, that is, if they
like you) and will walk with you to the door, or wherever you are
going. You then simply let them carry on walking away. You
meanwhile return to your desk or office as they continue towards the
horizon. It does work. Please try it and perfect it.

Organize your work space and have it looking great. The thing
is, you may think you know (or you may convince yourself that you
actually know) where all your important documents are, but anyone
looking at your desk will sub-consciously, or indeed consciously, place
you in a box (not literally, unless you are unlucky) as the type of
person who cant organize a you know the rest. Having a smart
workplace is often translated in the minds of others as being smart.
Go on, put aside that hour and make the desk look terrifically
organized.

Dont get confused between hours and output. As a manager I
would much rather my staff complete their daily routine within the
standard office hours than burn the mid-night oil. In my mind it
indicates that the person is either inefficient, or is deliberately staying
late to impress me and others or truly has too much work to do. But
guess what, a thirty minute conversation gets to the bottom of this
very quickly. A good manager should sort this out pronto. Just
remember, if the previous incumbent finished their work properly and
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accurately between 9 am and 5 pm why is someone else taking that
much longer? Why should I pat you on the back or reward you with
large pay rises? Id rather reward the member of staff who introduces
a more effective process, meaning that they can now take more work
off my plate, freeing up my time to take higher level tasks and giving
them the opportunity to take on more interesting work.

Nothing is ever as bad as it seems and nothing is ever as good
as it seems. This is a fabulous concept to keep in mind. When the
chips are down and you want to resign or simply feel awful then take a
deep breath and see things through. Things rarely turn out as badly
as you originally expected. On the other hand, if a project or
implementation appears to be progressing without a hitch, well within
budget, beating all the deadlines, then you should be prepared for an
unexpected hurdle to suddenly appear. A good gut check would be to
check your thoughts and/or concerns with someone more objective
than you (friend, partner or colleague from outside your domain etc).
No doubt they will be able to put things into perspective, helping you
build back your confidence when things go badly and making sure you
dont become too arrogant when things go well.

Yes, you can grow into a role. At times people may not accept
offers for promotion or fail to apply for a more senior role because in
their mind (only) they do not have the relevant technical or
management skills. I clearly remember my first larger scale
managerial role. My inner-self had significant doubts about taking the
role on as I was very worried about falling flat on my face. However,
by taking a day-by-day approach (thus limiting stress and uncertainty)
and putting in clear and measurable targets for myself (Ill learn this
function by that date and Ill meet that group of employees by that
date and Ill come out with my recommendations by that date) it is
amazing how well things turned out. That is, a homosapien has a
natural propensity to grow into the role that is put before them. Most
of us cope with becoming a team captain or a parent or an owner of a
pet. We grow and mature as our responsibilities broaden. Hence, I
would say, on balance, go for the job with the steep learning curve.
Youll look back a few months later and wonder what all the fuss was
about. [Note: if a new role requires extensive travel that could
significantly disrupt your family life, or content that you would simply
not enjoy, then think again. Im not talking about a job that would
reduce your quality of life, simply one that would be a big step up for
you.]

76

Bluff at your peril. I dont recommend bluffing in any situation. You
are likely to get caught out when the conversation gets deeper and,
even if you think you have got away with bluffing, the other party may
actually see through the sham. Dont bluff, rather be prepared to say
I need to look into that and get back to you by the end of play today
(or whatever is appropriate!).

Remembering impressive facts. By this I dont mean that you
should be able to recall the 50 States of America or the names of the
seven dwarfs but rather one or two facts about a client or other key
contact that demonstrates your interest in them beyond the pure
commercial. By way of example, imagine that the son of an important
client has just gone to University on a 3 year course to study
economics and accounting. Doesnt it sound great if the next time you
meet up (perhaps 6 months later) you can ask how John (the son) is
doing now that hes six months into that course? I have often seen
very capable and forward thinking managers noting down in their
diaries the names or children, pets, other halves, football teams and
so on within their electronic communication devices. They dont have
to remember all this information (they probably wont be able to) but
they are more than capable of running through the contact details 15
minutes before the client meeting and making sure that they have the
facts at the top of mind. Not only will the client be impressed with the
fact that you remembered something very personal and important to
them (they probably will have forgotten that they told you about John
in the first place) but they will also be flattered. What a great start to
a meeting.

Standing out. Here are some ways to stand out. Im not
recommending that you should try to stand out each and every day
(that would be exhausting) but there are ways of raising your profile
on a visible and regular basis. These are fun things not to be taken
too seriously:

o Dress up on a dress down day.

o Wear a tie for a day in your office if no-one else does.

77

o Get in early, if thats something you rarely do (as long as you
are seen to be in early).

o Stay late, if thats something you rarely do (as long as you are
seen to be working late).

o Sit outside in a workspace for a day if you have an office.

o Introduce yourself to some entirely new people at work.

o Buy your team or colleagues a tea or coffee.

o Walk past the CEOs door. In fact, pop your head in and say
hello. [Make sure you have something of interest to say beyond
that!]

o Wear a suit for a day if everyone else typically wears casual
clothes (but only if you want everyone to think that you have an
interview lined up).

Leaving your worries behind. You have been under a lot of
pressure over the last few days and there are a number of issues that
you need to think through and resolve before the week is out.
However, it is Tuesday morning and you have a 3 hour meetings to
attend where your thoughts and opinions are going to be important.
The risk here of course is that you are unable to switch off. You may
spend most of those 3 hours with your eyes glazed over thinking about
the problems at your desk. Why are you thinking about them so
much? Well, the reason is that you have not brought them to a close,
or had an effective mechanism for parking the issues for the time
being. Perhaps then, one of the following could help your cause:

o Write down the issues in enough detail so that when you get
back to your desk you dont have to either locate the relevant
emails and documents or begin the cognitive process from
scratch. The act of placing the concerns and issues on a piece of
paper (or email to self) may help you forget about them for the
interim period. You know that you have recorded them and
78

hence they wont be forgotten. You are free to let them go for
the time being.

o Time permitting and if appropriate, identify a trusted member of
staff that can gather some useful background information or
relevant details (perhaps copies of agreements, contracts or
policy documents) allowing you the freedom to add value at your
meeting in the knowledge that the ground work is being done on
the issues that sit in your in-tray.

o Assess whether it would be appropriate and acceptable to
request that the deadline for completion be pushed back if that
would alleviate the underlying pressure and stress and allow you
to regain comfort over your workload over the next few days.

Buzzwords and phrases. To be clear I dont recommend using the
following but for completeness and for the sake of good humor I have
included them within the book:

o Ill take that on board translates as Ill consider that when
putting together my plan of action but in reality it may translate
to Ill forget about your comment as soon as I leave the room
so tread carefully.

o Get ahead of the curve translates as do something early on or
get a job or task done before the agreed deadline.

o Got it (usually by email) means I finally understand what you
are saying

o Good catch means that you have spotted something, often a
hard to see mistake.

o My bad means that I made the error.

o Continuous improvement means we will look to make things
better every second of every day. With no target dates or
specific action points this phrase is not particularly helpful.
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