Be a fixer, not a complainer
Problems are a natural offspring of change, and plenty of them are seen in the workplace every day. Becoming a fixer of problems, as opposed to just pointing them out or complaining, will make you an invaluable person to have around.
Too may people seem to think complaining is a constructive act and once the complaint is noted, no further action is required by the individuals. They’re keen on identifying all of the problems - often in an accusing fashion - but contribute little towards improving things. Both in and out of work, people become experts at dodging personal responsibility and using their energy to criticize instead. I guess we've all done it at some time or other, but as we search wider for solutions, we are dis empowering ourselves.
Perhaps we've come to expect too much of the company we work for and too little of ourselves as individuals. In the long run, the constant finger pointing approach simply does not work - the organisation’s values grow out of individual employees’ values.
So instead of being a finger pointer, and rather than trying to single out somebody to blame, assume ownership of problems and let the solutions start with you. You’ll have a major impact on the organisation’s future success, and by doing so you’ll also dramatically increase your own chances of career success.
Don’t lose your cool
Conflicts with co-workers, constant technical issues, problems at home that follow you to work - these are just a few of the things that can cause you to feel like everything is out of control. You, too, can spiral out of control and approach situations that way, or you can stay calm and collected, taking everything in your stride.
Staying calm allows you to take positive steps to address any situation, regardless of how stressful. Doing so can only make things better as you’ll be able to deal with problems constructively instead of destructively. These suggestions should help:
n Put the situation in perspective. Tell yourself that it will pass, however tricky things are at the time. Address it and move forward.
n Take a deep breath and make a confident, positive statement. Make a conscious decision to take control of both yourself and the situation.
n Be sure you understand the situation completely before making a judgment. Be willing to listen to the other point of view and determine what merits it may have. Keep in mind each person sees things differently - what’s important to you may not be as important to the others involved.
n Don’t get too bogged down with the small stuff. Ask yourself if the situation is really worth getting worked up about. If not, forget it. Conserve your energy and move on to the things that really do need your attention.
n Defuse the situation with humor. Have a good laugh at your predicament.
n Tackle the situation in a way that empowers you. Don’t label it a “problem”, but instead think of it as a challenge or opportunity. Approach the task as a learning experience, ensuring you use your acquired skills to maximum advantage.
Does your company practice “Kaizen”?
A strong organization invariably has strong, committed employees. The Japanese method of Kaizen - translated as continuous improvement - is the ongoing pursuit of better working practices, better trained staff, better quality: in fact, all things that will make an organization more successful.
The beauty of Kaizen is that no-one is ever allowed to rest on their laurels. As one challenge is met, new targets are set to take full advantage of the benefits gained. It does not guarantee job security or instant promotion, but the underlying principles should enable an individual to thrive on a solid work platform.
Each individual should assume personal responsibility for improving his or her job performance. Your priorities should center on productivity, quality of work, cost benefits and customer-focus, with all acquired skills assessed regularly.
No individual or organization can afford to rest on reputation anymore. Although these continuous improvements may only appear as small details, they will ultimately add up to a valuable competitive advantage. If all employees climb on board and become committed to the spirit of Kaizen, the opportunities for innovation and rapid growth are dramatically enhanced.
Is there such a thing as working perfection? Unless you try, you’ll never know…..
Strategic Planning
Are your achievements a result of the actions you take, or are your actions a result of the achievements you want?
One way to plan ahead and produce targets is to take what you have been doing and extend it into the future, capitalizing on good work practices, amending or perhaps discontinuing any areas not doing so well. By adding up the anticipated results from this, you will have a target to work towards for the following time period. If it’s not what you’re looking for, then you go back and tweak things in order to get closer to the overall objectives.
Perhaps more recently, another form of strategic planning has begun to take over. In its purest form, it’s simply deciding what it is you want to achieve and then figuring out how to make it happen.Using the latter method, the actions are a result of the achievements you want, as opposed to the achievements being the result of the actions you take. A significant and important difference.
Using the first method, you seldom make dramatic changes to your actions but keep on doing the things you do best, improving wherever possible. There’s nothing wrong with this - most successful companies have a strong underpinning of this type of planning. However, it’s invariably the latter method that enables companies to expand rapidly and have the flexibility to keep ahead of the field. By setting seemingly impossible goals, it ensures all energies are focused on the tasks ahead, constantly looking to new ways to achieve the results. Even if these difficult targets are not always met, they are still likely to be far ahead of those set using the initial approach.
Like most things, it comes at a price. Rapidly expanding companies encounter many teething problems as they enter new areas of operation - heavy demands are placed on all employees, with new challenges appearing all the time. Smaller, incrementally planned growth is generally a more comfortable method, but may lack the excitement of being at the cutting edge of your particular industry sector.
But at the end of the day, either method is better than no planning at all……
No comments:
Post a Comment