High Low Matrix Coaching Model: Coaching Techniques for Will and Skill Issues

[extracted from 

http://coach4growth.com/coaching-skills/high-low-matrix-coaching-model-coaching-techniques-for-will-and-skill-issues ]

The High Low Matrix can help managers overcome one of the more challenging aspects of their role which is understanding what motivates their employees. It's easy to assume that because you are motivated by knowing you did a good job or by making an impact on your environment, that others feel this enthusiasm as well. In the real world, people have many different motivations.

In turn, people also have different levels of skill sets for particular tasks. Their level of skill can often depend on their experience, the level of training they have received, or the type of task itself.

Since most coaching techniques rely on the employees skills and their will to accomplish a goal, it is important to understand how these two aspects work together. This knowledge will help you to better craft your approach with your employees and teams to get the best results possible from each individual.

Let's start by introducing the High Low Matrix.

As you can see, the High Low Matrixcoaching model is a punet square of an employee'swill vs. skilland contains some coaching techniques to utilize based on where the associate falls.

Let's get into further detail about how to use this coaching model and discuss each of the coaching techniques to use once we've identified where our employee falls on the High Low Matrix.

First, how do we identify if an employee is exhibiting or feeling a high degree of will? This should be somewhat obvious from how they approach their work. If tasks that are not skill related are still delivered in a less than stellar fashion or their attitude has taken a change recently, you can infer that the associate's motivation has slipped. Utilizing the IGROW Model will help you to determine the root causes for any changes in behavior.

Assessing their skill is typically a much simpler task as it is likely why you are here. You have no doubt seen results from your employee or team that do not meet your expectations and therefore have determined a change must be made. Again, to determine the exact skill that the associate is struggling with that has caused the poor performance, the IGROW Model is recommended.

Now that you have determined both the employee's skill level and their will level, it is time to discuss the coaching techniques that you should apply based on where the employee falls in the High Low Matrix coaching model.

High Low Matrix Coaching Model: Advise

Are you faced with an employee that is highly motivated, yet as much as they want it, they just can't seem to deliver the results needed? This is your low skilled, high willed employee. In order to effectively apply coaching techniques to this type of employee, the Advise phase of the High Low Matrix coaching model should be applied.

Advising is focused on providing the skills necessary to turn the employee's motivation into success. By focusing on teaching or training the skill, you will leverage the employee's desire and provide them with the necessary tools to improve. Throughout the learning process, it is key that you continually give the employee praise and endorsement for their improvements.

Remember, you may be expecting great leaps, but even baby steps deserve some positive reinforcement. Skipping this valuable step could result in a backslide in will and you'll then have a whole other set of challenges to deal with.

High Low Matrix Coaching Model: Motivate

At the other end of the spectrum, you may be faced with an employee who has the necessary skill set to deliver and perhaps has delivered great results in the past, but is experiencing a will issue that is apparent in their performance. 

Again, utilizing the IGROW Model will help you to identify what has occurred or changed and impacted their level of motivation. This coaching model will also help you determine if your approach should be one of Coaching vs. Counseling. When faced with an employee who lacks the will there are some key areas to focus on while trying to re-engage the employee. 

Start by determining what the employee's 'hot buttons' or motivators are. This can be done as simply as by asking what they take the most pride in at work or how they like to be recognized for a job well done. Once you have determined their hot buttons, focus on them. 

Whenever the employee does deliver, use your new found knowledge to show your appreciation. Next you should determine if there are any road blocks or constraints that the employee is experiencing. Often times removing these road blocks or providing options, can alleviate their challenges with motivation.

High Low Matrix Coaching Model: Direct

For situations that involve a low skilled and low willed employee, the Direct coaching technique should be utilized. Directing is focused on a combination of the previously discussed coaching techniques applied together. Since this employee is not very skilled and is not very motivated, the two key areas to focus on are training and praising. You will first need to provide the employee with the tools to develop their skills.

This does not mean that the tools you provide, such as training, have to be new information to them, but can offer reinforcement to information they have already been presented with. Because the employee is not delivering results there can often be a challenge with their confidence level that is inhibiting their ability to apply new or existing skills.

Giving the employee low risk opportunities to practice their skills and to succeed, will give you the ability to provide them with the positive feedback they need, and will result in a confidence building experience for them. This is one of the better coaching techniques to apply with this type of employee.

High Low Matrix Coaching Model: Delegate

The last type of employee is the high skilled, high willed employee. These are typically your top performers that consistently provide results and strive to do a good job. They are a motivating force for themselves and typically for your team. If they are succeeding, you may wonder why we are discussing their development? 

Many schools of thought tell us to always focus on bringing up our bottom performers, and this often times leaves a lack of focus on our top performers. Since these high skilled, high willed employees are likely your future leaders, utilizing the Delegate coaching technique can help them to develop to the next level. 

Delegating is often misused in the business world today. Many managers use this technique not for development but as a way to reduce their work load or stress by shoving the work onto their team. This is not always a bad thing, but what most managers don't do is follow up on the opportunities they've delegated to others or provide them with the tools or resources to succeed. 

Delegation, when used effectively, will often take more time than just doing the task yourself. You should not be using this technique as a means to reduce your workload as you will be working through the task with your high performer, helping them to learn and master it. This is how development through delegation works. 

Giving your highly motivated top performers the opportunity to be challenged and to continue to learn will ensure they continue to be your highly motivated top performers. While delegating you should also focus on praising and endorsing what they do well as well as offering them opportunities to either make decisions or to collaborate on decisions being made. This will continue to instill a sense of ownership in them.

As we have discussed, each scenario you are faced with requires a different approach or coaching technique to achieve the desired results. To ensure you are successful in your approach, be sure to spend time prior to your coaching session thinking about where the associate falls, what motivates them, and what options you may want to offer. Being prepared for the discussion will make a great difference.

For greater details on how to build skill and motivation, see the article on the Motivational Chain of Events.

Effective Communication

It is not about what I said that matters, more importantly it is how "WORDS" landed on the person hearing it.

Focus on communicating from the receiver's perspective to encourage effective communication.

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Where Steve Jobs Ranks Among the Greats

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Where-Steve-Jobs-Ranks-Among-usnews-4169820090.html;_ylt=ApE6ykKVaUePxVRdKihMamq7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1amgzdGhpBHBvcwM3BHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawN3aGVyZXN0ZXZlam8-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=

Apple products are famous for their user-friendliness and their ability to enhance productivity, whether through third-party apps or ingenious features like the iMovie software that lets amateurs create videos with a professional look and feel. Perhaps more than anything, Apple customers simply enjoy using their products.

How People is MOTIVATED

1) Autonomy - given the chance to work by Yourself

2) Mastery - making a Contribution

3) Purpose - we are purpose Maximizer




.www.congitivemeadia.co.uk

How to Manage Remote Workers

Letting people work outside of the office – at home, at client sites or even in the local coffee shop – can improve productivity and morale. It can also help reduce office costs. Many businesses are reluctant to take advantage of these benefits for fear of giving up management control. If you're considering making the move, we've pulled together a list of best practices to consider when giving employees the option to work remotely: 1.        It's all about time. Set deadlines. Book phone calls and chats using instant messenger (IM) software. Set yourself a reminder.    2.        Know your team. Make sure you spend some face-to-face time with your team, both at work and informally.    3.        Share documents. Web services like Windows Live Skydrive make it easy to share documents over the Internet and for remote teams to collaborate. It's free for personal and small business use. For larger teams, an intranet tool such as Microsoft SharePoint may be more efficient.    4.        Measure. Find ways to monitor and track work that people are doing. This will build trust and replace more informal, face-to-face supervision.    5.        Delegate effectively. Set objectives that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.    6.        Respect people's personal time. Don't fall into the trap of treating remote workers as if they're on call 24/7 simply because you can contact them outside 'normal' office hours.    7.        Take pictures. Post pictures of your team members (or people on a conference call) on a website or pin board so that you can visualize people when you talk to them.    8.        Listen. In an office you can see when someone is upset, angry or bored. When they're on the end of a telephone, you need to listen actively and ask questions to find out how they're doing.    9.        Trust and be trusted. Trust builds when people do what they say they are going to do. As a boss, you need to set the highest standards of consistency and reliability. When you say you're going to do something, do it.    10.         Take turns. Let other people run meetings occasionally.    11.         Get objective feedback. Use 360-degree appraisals and customer or peer surveys to make sure your virtual team is working well.    12.         Keep a schedule. Use a shared calendar to book meetings and share your schedule with your team (and vice versa).    13.         Be a role model. Set an example with your own punctuality, commitment, reliability and availability. 14.         Give recognition. It costs nothing to write a thank you note or to give praise where it is due. Recognition is a powerful motivator.    15.         Change your management style. Switch from managing by input (time in the office) to managing by output (goals met).    16.         Avoid second-class citizens. Once you've proven the concept, everybody should get a chance to work flexibly (unless their job prevents it). Don't give one person a notebook while chaining a colleague to their desk.    17.         Training. Train managers and employees about the challenges and techniques of flexible working. Don't assume that everyone knows how to do it well – they don't. Individuals may need extra help with, say, writing reports or using IT.    18.         Don't isolate people. Encourage regular visits to the main workplace and include flexible workers in company social events. Put procedures in place to monitor for stress and counteract it.    19.         Over-communicate. Many remote and home workers use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol, or using the Internet as a telephone connection). Many notebooks include a built-in webcam that makes it easier to do video conferencing.    20.         Share applications in real time. Services like Virtual Rooms can help teams in different places share their desktop applications and documents in real time. It's a great companion to conference calls.    21.         Get the right technology. It goes without saying that you need technology to make virtual and remote teams work effectively. But there is a big difference between 'good enough' and 'best practice.' It can be very frustrating when people try to video conference and their PC isn't fast enough to cope with HD graphics and desktop sharing at the same time, or if you don't have a fast enough mobile broadband connection so that people can't log in and download files quickly.    .

(Food for Thoughts) A baby step towards the real stuff.....

Often we are caught up in our daily work that we have forgotten our ability to question and imagine....      

always start with a question to challenge the status-quo....    

a good start would be to ask a What-If question....        

Always be prepare to ask and challenge yourself to workout a better solution.

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7 good computer habits to have

You've always been taught to cultivate good habits and avoid bad ones. The same applies to your computer use, where habits are good, bad or ugly. Good habits can maximise your IT investment and optimise your operational efficiency, while bad ones can cost you money and slow you down. The ugly ones can lead to disaster and an ugly mess. Here's a list of computer habits you should kick start into your regular routine to keep you going – in the right direction! 1.        Save frequently To avoid any data loss in case of software or system freezing, regularly save your changes to documents. Doing so only takes a second and won't interrupt your productivity groove. Use the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + S", or click on the "Save" icon – the old floppy disk in the toolbar. Don't rely on "AutoSave", as it's not a feature on every program.    2.        Backup Don't risk losing your files by not having them backed up. With damage, loss and theft all possible, no hard drive is guaranteed to be functional forever. Recovering data is often impossible and more costly and time consuming than people think. Tireless efforts on work-related documents can be preserved by simply copying files to a few DVDs, USB drive or portable hard drive, at regular intervals.   3.        Think before you print A hard copy is required sometimes, but not every time. So before clicking "Print", determine if you really need to hold a copy of the document in your hand. And if you do, do you really need the entire thing? Use "Print Preview" and the option of selecting a "Page range" to print only the pages you actually need. And use the double-sided printing feature where available – to print multiple pages onto only one sheet of paper. It would also be helpful to set your printer to print in black and white by default, manually choosing colour prints only when necessary. All of these printing habits will have a positive impact on your environmental initiatives and can save you money by using less ink and paper.    4.        Structure folders Where do you save your files? Is everything scattered all over the desktop or stuffed into the "My Documents" folder? Maintain some order by creating folders and subfolders while giving your files appropriate names. It will only take a few extra seconds to do so, but will save you much more time in the future by being able to easily find and sort through files.    5.        Store software keys Make a note of software licence keys and store them safely. In the event of your needing to re-install or activate a program, having its corresponding licence key handy can be the difference between completing a simple re-installation and having to go out and purchase a new one.    6.        Invest in security software Protect your IT investment, your hard work and yourself! Viruses, spyware, adware and other malicious software are topics in the news for a reason. These threats can infect your computer without your even realising it. But do you know what kind of damage they can cause? They can delete or damage files, track your online activity, steal personal information and just outright annoy you by having a poorly performing computer. Take action before they do by investing in sufficient security software. When you do, keep the software up to date and scan your computer regularly to maintain optimum performance and productivity.    7.        Blink. Yes, with your eyes Staring at a computer screen for extended periods of time can have a negative effect on your precious eyesight. Computer users tend to blink less frequently, so make it a habit to blink more often. Why? Blinking produces tears that coat the eyes, keeping them lubricated and moist. Other habits to preserve and protect your eyesight include focusing on distant objects every 15 minutes to relax your eye muscles, and to just take a break every hour or two to reduce eyestrain. Your eyes will thank you. Where each of these habits ranks on a scale of importance is up for debate. However, it's essential that you incorporate them into your daily routine, to prolong the life of your computer, save time, hassles and money, and free yourself to focus on the business that really matters.  .

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Are your e-mails falling into a black hole? Here's why...

It's so frustrating: you regularly send out emails and then sit staring at your computer, waiting for some sort of response. Don't you sometimes get the feeling that you're just sending words out into a black hole? Of course, you can never "ensure" that emails are going to be read or acted upon. It's a sad result of the information overload we suffer from. People who sit working at their computers for hours every day might have the time, energy and interest to open the numerous messages which fill their inboxes – or they might not. So what is it exactly that tips them over the delicate, crucial line between "read" and "leave for later/delete"? The answer is that most recipients of emails often decide whether or not to read them because of two things: the "subject" line and the "from" line. They must recognise who the email is coming from They must see a benefit or reason to open it So consider these useful tips before you send your next mail:   1. Keep it short Would you immediately open and read an email with this subject line? "When you get the chance, it would be great if you could possibly get in ..." When an email arrives in an inbox, only about 70 characters are displayed in single byte characters. If you use double byte characters, only about 35 characters (70 bytes) are displayed. The rest usually gets cut off. That's why the crucial information contained at the end of this subject line ("get in touch with Paul to set up a meeting before he goes on holiday") will not be seen by most recipients.   2. You want action If busy people receive an email that says "When you get the chance", then obviously they are going to deal with other, more urgent-sounding emails before yours. By the time yours gets read, Paul will be lying on the beach. You need to write a subject line that gives the crucial information at the beginning – and, if possible, starts with an action word. For example, in this case you could write, "Set up final meeting before holiday". Other examples could be, "Advice for next steps required", "Want to see first draft in 15 mins?", "Server down – save documents now", "Is this right? Quick confirmation", "Next paper delivery – July". Try to grab the recipient's attention with just a few words.   3. Don't sound spammy What typifies spam subject lines and might trigger Outlook to send an important mail to your junk mailbox? Choice of words; punctuation; and the use of capital letters (in languages which use them). Certain words have the unmistakable flavour of spam and will condemn your email straight to junk. Examples are "cheap", "promise", "order now", "opportunity",  "guarantee", "compare", "amazing", "explode" and "apply", but there are hundreds more. Of course, you can't always avoid them, but just bear the point in mind. Be careful when you use words which have more than one meaning. For example, in English try not to use the word "free", because it looks like those emails which contain trial offers of exotic products. If you want to ask someone if they are "free" to meet you for an appointment, our advice is not to write it at the beginning of your subject line, in capital letters or in combination with lots of exclamation marks. So instead of writing, "FREE this Tuesday for a meeting?!!?" try: "Meeting this Tuesday – are you free?" or, "Tuesday meeting – do you have time?"   4. Be intriguing Asking a question seldom fails to grab attention, so instead of writing, "First draft of my analysis ready in half an hour", try: "Time to read first draft?" or, "Report – could you read first draft?"  5. The "from" line The decision to open an email is not only based on curiosity but also on trust and recognition – this is crucial. Your subject line must be punchy and attention grabbing; the "from" line should therefore include a name your reader will recognise, proving your email comes from a trustworthy source.   6. Time it right There are better and worse times to send out emails. The first and last days of the working week are not good, as people are either drowning in their inboxes or trying to leave early for the weekend. Otherwise, there are no set rules: you just need to try it out and see what works for your type of communication. The combination of recognition and good subject line copy will help your emails have a better chance of getting read. If you manage to instil in your recipients the magic combination of "trust and curiosity", it will be your mails which get read – first.

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Useful presentation online tools

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http://cooltext.com/

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Useful online tools

1. http://www.quickmockup.com/webapp/QMockup.html#
2. https://www.dropbox.com
3. http://www.sliderocket.com
4. https://www.proposable.com
5. http://www.freshbooks.com/
6. http://www.box.net
7. http://cacoo.com

1. http://speckyboy.com/2010/01/11/10-completely-free-wireframe-and-mockup-applications/

Five Ways to Re-Energize Sales

[ extracted from yahoo - Scott Gerber, On Thursday 31 March 2011, 19:36 SGT ]




I'm a firm believer that businesses must always grow or face extinction. So, early last year when my business -- which specializes in producing short promotional videos known as "sizzle reels" -- was seeing high levels of return business but not much in the way of new customer acquisition, I immediately set out to make some big changes.

Over the next 30 days, my sales team and I conducted a full assessment of the sales operation -- everything from lead generation through the point of sale -- with the goal of improving new client acquisition. After careful analysis, we came up with a five-point game plan that helped to significantly improve revenues in less than six months.

 

Here are the five steps we came up with, as well as some of the lessons we learned along the way.





1. Instruct the sales team to operate with a 2-for-1 mindset.  

Whenever we sold a new client we encouraged our team to turn that one client into two. We created a program that gave free gift cards and catered breakfasts to clients who gave us referrals. Not long after, our business's bottom lined surged without having to spend a dime on lead generation.

Today, most of our clients have morphed into as many as four new clients. For every $250 we've spent on referrals, we've received an average of $4,000 in gross sales.
 
Related: Get More Referrals by Asking 



2. Adjust our keyword strategy based on client feedback.

Over many lunches, conference calls and email exchanges, we asked our clients to tell us what they thought about our service, where they heard about us and why they hired us. The most telling thing we learned was that most of our clients found us online but rarely by using any of our traditional keywords. Some were minor differences (while we were already using the phrase "sizzle reels," we found that "sizzle reel," the singular form, generated 10 to 15 times more interest). In other instances, our clients were using keywords we hadn't even considered.

This led us to the conclusion that how we defined our product and how our clients defined our product were on two separate wavelengths. Adjusting our pay per click and organic search engine optimization strategies increased our online traffic by nearly 100% in a single month.

It also helped fortify our market position online. Based on the keywords our clients suggested to us, we bought up several keyword-rich URLs, for anywhere from $100 to $4,000 per URL. After reviewing a year's worth of Google analytics, we realized that buying these "hot ticket" URLs and turning them into highly-optimized landing pages was helping us to build our search engine rankings while also locking out the competition.

Related: Google's Keyword Tool Can Point You Toward Profits 

3. Simplify the information-gathering process. 

Client feedback also taught us that they didn't want to call us or send an email through our general inquiry address because they didn't know what to ask in order to get a quote. In response, we added a "request a quote" page which asks customers to answer questions we think they might ask us in order to get a quote. This way, we can collect everything we need to provide them with an accurate quote without needing to have an actual conversation. The page cost $100 to build and helped us book $15,000 in new business in just the first week it went live on our site.



 

4. Compute in the cloud.

Moving our company's operations online not only helped us provide information to customers quicker and close deals faster, it also slashed our overhead expenses by $2,500 a month on average. 

We were able to develop a much leaner, more efficient selling system by using online tools such as SlideRocket.com and Proposable.com -- both of which offered us instant access to our most updated documents and real-time viewing analytics for our proposals and presentations -- and others such as Freshbooks.com, Box.net and Google Docs.

Related: How to Move Your Business to Cloud Computing 

5. Use testimonials to build our reputation.

We were fortunate to have a roster packed with name-recognizable clients including Old Spice, Pampers and Gap. We needed to reach out to several of our clients for testimonials, which we could then use to sell new clients. We collected those testimonials and display them on all sales materials and online. While we can't put an exact dollar amount on what this tactic generated revenue-wise, it is clear that it has made it much easier for our sales people to close sales. Big names equal instant credibility.





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The Best Presentation of the Year

[extracted from a email by Carmine Gallo - communications coach to the world’s most admired brands as well as a best-selling author of books on communication and innovation]

I recently had the honor of judging the World’s Best Presentation Contest for a very popular site called Slideshare.  Judges included entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki, digital marketing expert David Armano, along with social media experts Beth Kanter and Jane Hart. Together we reviewed dozens of impressive presentations. I can assure you that one look at the winners and you won’t view your own presentations the same way again.

Presentation design firm,  Empowered Presentations, created the first place winner: Smoke, a Convenient Truth.  The presentation itself is a call for more action to support global anti-smoking campaigns.  I spoke to the designers after the contest had ended to gain more insight into how they approached the topic.

Put your audience first. Designer and Empowered Presentations CEO, Corey Jim, said he is passionate about the topic because his father had passed away from lung cancer.  He wanted to create a story using presentation slides that would change people’s lives.  The best presentations put the audience first.  The fastest way to put your audience to sleep is to begin with an “About Us” slide and to spend the first five minutes talking about yourself, your company or your product.  Your audience members don’t care about you—they care about themselves.

Sketch the story. The most engaging presentations have a strong visual appeal and you can’t create visual PowerPoint slides by opening the software. You create visually interesting images by doing what a movie director would do—storyboarding, sketching, drawing.  Many experts use white boards or old fashioned pen and paper.  Jim uses Post-It notes he sticks to a wall.  One useful technique that Jim taught me—stick to one idea per note.  Next convert that point to a visual representation of that idea.  Finally, create one slide from that idea.

One idea per slide.  Many poorly designed presentations cram too much information on one slide, leaving the audience confused, frustrated and bored.  For example, in one sequence of slides, Jim delivers the statistic that 1.7 trillion cigarettes are consumed every year in China alone.  On one slide we learn that it is the equivalent of 3 million cigarettes a minute.  Instead of simply showing the data, Jim combined it with an image of a watch.  But the minute and second hands were made of cigarettes.  Arresting visuals take thought, and storyboarding.

Take your time. Jim’s colleague, Yancey Unequivocally, says it takes 60 to 90 hours to create a truly impactful presentation.  That means you should set aside about ten hours a week a full six weeks before your presentation.  This isn’t as overwhelming as it sounds.  In most cases, you can create a master presentation or template and re-use the slides with slight modifications for other audiences.

Your PowerPoint presentation is often the one chance you have to influence your audience to action. PowerPoint does not have to dull.

Great presentations can move people and truly inspire.

http://www.slideshare.net/mrcoryjim/smoke-the-convenient-truth-5602255

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Planning and Getting Ready for Re-Employment

Turning Managers into Leaders

PDF to JPG Converters for The Desktop

PDF-Xchange Viewer (Windows)

PDF-Xchange Viewer is a light feature-rich PDF document reader. The free version of the software is a capable document handler with most of the standard features expected. Add comments and annotations, mark-up pages with texts and objects, type within the PDF document along with plug-ins for both IE and Firefox are also included.

But the feature which interests us is the ability of the software to export a file or a page to the supported image formats like JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG and more.

Open the PDF file in the viewer, click on File – Export to Image and the dialog opens up where you can set the pages to convert, the image type to convert to and the destination folder. More importantly, the ‘Export Mode’ setting allows you to designate the number of image files for the subject PDF file. The ‘Page Zoom’, ‘Resolution’ and ‘Page Background’ also allow added finishing touches.

Salaries top out at age 40 ?

Whatever you earn at age 40 is likely to be the top of your earning potential. This is one of a gazillion things I’ve learned from talking with Al Lee, the director of quantitative analysis at PayScale.

Al's data, which is based on the careers of college graduates, is basically that the salary curve for most people in their 20s is very steep. Then it starts to flatten in the 30s, and then you get into the land of the 3% raise. In real dollars, those 3% raises are not actually raises, they are just keeping up with inflation.

The information is grim. But here are some things you can do with it:

1. Go where the men are. To be precise, pay tops out at age 38 for women ($61K) and age 45 for men ($95K). But the difference, according to PayScale data, is not due to unequal pay for equal work. Rather, the difference is that women choose lower paying careers, and women are more likely to take time out of the workforce for kids. So the first thing you can do to prevent your salary from flat-lining is choose a career that men dominate. But it’s not just about industry—it is also about influence. Stick to line-management positions rather than support roles. For example, skip human resources and go to supply chain management.

2. Rewrite your resume. If you’re at the beginning of your career, focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities. This makes you look like you’re in a higher pay bracket so you will get larger salary increases. If you’ve been in the workforce for a while, cut anything that is more than 15 years old, including the date of your college graduation. Al says that there is no premium paid for two decades of experience because jobs change so quickly that long-gone experience is not particularly relevant. And because age discrimination creates a sort of penalty for more than 15 years of experience. So just leave it off. (Good resume editing tips here, at Quint Careers.)

3. Be a lawyer. Have I ever given this advice before? I don’t think so. Even the American Bar Association reports that law school is a ripoff. But I’m open to counter-arguments—Al says that the only profession where your pay increases after 20 years is in law. Because laws change very slowly, especially procedural law, and so much of being a good lawyer is your on-the-job training.

4. Specialize. By your mid 30s, if you don’t have a specialty, it’s hard to get your salary into the next bracket. You earn more money if your talents are more scarce. (Here’s some information about how to specialize.) Also, don’t give up hope if you have no idea what you’re doing in your mid-20s. As long as you figure things out by the time you’re 30, you will get a premium for 15 years of experience before your salary stops rising.


5. Buy a house assuming you won’t get a raise. Ever. When it comes to houses in the U.S., the average age of a first-time buyer is 33. So people go through their 20s gaining super-high raises, and then people buy a house in their mid-30s with the assumption that the raises will continue. In fact, though, you should buy a house preparing for your real income to remain unchanged until age 55, when it is likely to go down.

6. Recognize your limitations. People eventually start to realize that they are not going to get to the very top. They see that only one out of 100 web designers is the director, and only one out of 50 directors is a VP. Al calls this the funnel effect, and he says many people recognize this and start to trade time for money; people see that chasing the increasingly smaller raises is not as fulfilling as doing a wide range of other things with their time.

7. Focus on maintenance. Most people in their 40s have a lot going on. Taking care of aging parents, young kids, community organizations—all these jobs are falling on people in their 40s, which means it’s not a good time to be trying also to leverage one’s highest earning power. So instead of killing yourself trying to earn more and more, be realistic and go into maintenance mode.


One of the most common but least-talked about career moves is to get to a relatively high spot and then see how much you can cut back in terms of effort and still maintain that level of salary and/or prestige. This seems like a reasonable strategy for a wide range of people. So do small experiments with cutting back early in your career because creating enormous efficiencies takes practice. And a nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic is not the training you need for this type of change.

Generational differences at work

WHETHER we like it or not, the generation gap at work today is like a canyon. The chasm that exists is set to increase even further with the raising of the retirement age. In many workplaces, people under 30 and people over 40 often do not see eye to eye. 

Research shows that real conflict issues exist between the over-40 and under-30 groups. It seems that each camp makes some very strong points if we listen objectively.

But it is very difficult to be objective when you have preconceived notions and prejudices. The key to understanding the generational differences lies in recognising that people who grew up at different points in time have different experiences of the everyday environment and differing outlook towards life.

Psychological moulding

The generation that is under 30 now grew up in an environment where the teaching system and rewards for accomplishment were very different from those who are above 40.

For the current under-30 cohort, their teachers praised students along the way to the goals, not just when a task was completed. They stopped to celebrate along the way to success, creating motivation through little rewards rather than a big reward at the end.

The teachers also promoted self-esteem by making sure that every child knew that he or she was cared for regardless of accomplishments. Everyone had a reward or recognition, no matter how small. The over 40s had grown up in a dictatorial climate where children were seen but not heard or spoken to as individuals with emotions and feelings. It was an era of command and control.

More than just the educational process that shaped the under-30 group - they also grew up in the most affluent time that the world has ever known.

They were given everything, and in some countries - including Singapore - even told that they could have anything that they wanted in life. Family sizes were shrinking and often many children grew up as 'emperors' and 'princesses'.

The sky was the limit. The bottom line is that they never felt deprived, and they felt they could have anything. Unknowingly, some parents, teachers and members of society at large had inadvertently psychologically moulded many with the absolute belief that the world was at their feet.

Can you blame them for their supposed 'arrogance' at work or for demanding instant gratification through frequent and regular promotions or bonuses that are ever increasing every year?

Performance

But let's look at their performance at work. The under-30s generation, better educated and with imparted skills which the previous generation had to painstakingly learn, are clearly ahead of the 40-somethings when they were under 30.

The majority of employees in today's workforce who are under 30 are very capable and committed to each other. No generation has ever had the loyalty to each other that this group possesses. They work well in teams and achieve remarkable results in record time if managed effectively. The results produced and the performance achieved from today's under 30s - provided that they have been well-managed - are simply extraordinarily impressive.

The group of current under 30s is very different from all previous generations of under 30s, and the first to grow up exclusively in the digital age.

If you are a manager or senior executive - especially if you are over 40 and in charge of these people under 30 - you will have to take into account the new realities of their culture, values and what they want from work to retain them and align them with corporate goals.

Due to their numbers and weight of influence in business, they are destined to shake up current management practices and have a great effect on the corporate world. As a group, the under 30s mix creativity with the opportunity offered by new forms of digital media. When handled with care, organisations and companies can strategically orientate appropriately the newest entrants of the workforce as well as update the people management skills of the over-40s group so that both groups work harmoniously.

Something wrong?

So what's wrong with the over 40s? They may seem stressed but they grew up in an environment that believed in working hard as a show of commitment. For them, working late and leaving after the boss went home was proof that they worked hard.

Talk to the under 30s of today and they will tell you that if you work till 8 pm each evening, you are simply a bad time manager and cannot cope with your work. It is often unsaid but this is why some under 30s leave their jobs prematurely in search of work-life balance.

As many over 40s are in leadership, supervisory or managerial positions, there will inevitably be conflict at work due to such differences - especially if the under 30s form the bulk of your workforce.


Strategies for over 40s leader

If you are a manager or supervisor in today's workforce and if you are over 40 and your workforce under 30, you need to be much more skilful in people management.

For example, the under 30s have to be motivated the way they grew up being motivated. They need to be praised along the way to the goal. Celebrate the small victories on the road to success. Give them short, tight deadlines and make sure that low-tech tools do not hinder their objectives or goals.

If their computer at home is twice as fast as the one at work, they will probably tell you that the computer at work is antique and you are from the Stone Age. And most important, they want to do a good job and get a reward in the first quarter.

Make sure you have a reward, recognition and remuneration system that will allow that to happen. And finally, if thinking about these tips is causing you to lose sleep, remember that our society created these people so now we have to rein them in and get the job done at work.

Moving forward

Some of the conflicts at work often arise from the generational differences. Learn to understand that people growing up at different times of history have different experiences and expectations. Understand this, act wisely to resolve them and a third of your difficulties and challenges at work will evaporate.

Realise that what may have worked for you may not work for later generations. With technological change, globalisation, living in a digital world with the ubiquitous Internet and an increasing shift to customer centricity, you need new strategies to harness the strength of the under 30s to produce higher productivity and more innovation.

Another third of your worries and concerns will then evaporate. The rest of your headaches will disappear if you apply good general management and effective employment relationship practices.




[ Wed, Feb 09, 2011 | The Business Times | Kamal Kant ]
The writer is a lecturer on career matters at a local university

How to Set Yourself Up for Promotion

When are you next up for promotion?

LinkedIn released interesting data recently about the best months of the year to get a promotion. In the United States, the most popular months are January, June, and July. Since June and July are right around the corner, now's a good time to think about how to set yourself up for good news.

Of course, a promotion isn't automatic. You have to prove that you're a problem-solver who is ready to take on more responsibilities, and that you've worked hard to deserve that next step.

Here are a few areas to focus on that will help you climb the corporate ladder this year:


1. Build relationships.

Just like most job opportunities occur through referrals, your next promotion is likely to be influenced by how well your colleagues perceive you and your work. In addition to your smarts, problem-solving abilities, and an accomplished track record, your relationships within the company will help pave your way to the next level.

[See How Perfectionism Hurts Your Career.]


2. Demonstrate your value to the company.

In as much detail a possible, keep a record of how your efforts have helped the company. Take note of all of your accomplishments as they happen and quantify them. Show how you saved your company $100,000 or reduced spending by a certain percentage, and record these accomplishments regularly. If not, you risk forgetting them. These notes will not only help you build a better case for a promotion, they'll also set you up for a solid transition to a new company when it comes time to take that route.



3. Ask for it.

Don't sit around waiting for your manager to offer you new opportunities. Your career progression isn't his top priority; it's only your top priority. Make an effort to ask for more responsibility and show your company that you're ready and interested to learn new skills. And when you ask for what you want, be prepared with to make a strong case for yourself by showing your value to the company and having co-workers who support you.

[For more career advice, visit U.S. News Careers, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.]


4. Keep score online.

Use online tools to stay in front of your boss, mentors, and colleagues who will help you move along your career path. Experts at LinkedIn suggest one way of doing this is to document the milestones in your career by requesting quality recommendations. If a client praises you for your work on a specific project, ask if they feel comfortable writing you a recommendation on LinkedIn. Not only does it look good on your profile, but your network will be notified of your recent recommendation, which reminds them what a great job you're doing.

 
[ Lindsay Olson is a founding partner and public relations recruiter with Paradigm Staffing and Hoojobs, a niche job board for public relations, communications and social media jobs. She blogs at LindsayOlson.com, where she discusses recruiting and job search issues. ]



[ Lindsay Olson, On Friday 28 January 2011, 0:25 SGT ]

18 Common Work Email Mistakes

Most of us rely on e-mail as one of our primary communication tools. And given the number of messages we send and receive, we do it with remarkable success.

But as with anything, the more e-mails we send, the more likely we are to screw one up. And simple e-mail mistakes can be disastrous. They can cost us a raise, promotion--even a job.

With a new year upon us, this is the perfect time to go through some of the worst e-mail mistakes employees make and how to avoid them.

1. Sending before you mean to. Enter the recipient's e-mail address only when your e-mail is ready to be sent. This helps reduce the risk of an embarrassing misfire, such as sending an important e-mail to the wrong person or e-mailing a half-written note.

[See 9 Little-Known Ways to Damage Your Reputation at Work.]

2. Forgetting the attachment. If your e-mail includes an attachment, upload the file to the e-mail before composing it. This eliminates the embarrassing mistake of forgetting it before hitting "send," and having to send another e-mail saying you forgot to attach the document.

3. Expecting an instant response. Don't send an e-mail and show up at the recipient's desk 30 seconds later asking if they've received it. They did, and they'll answer at their convenience. That's the point of e-mail.

4. Forwarding useless e-mails. I've never seen a single e-mail forward at work that was beneficial. Whether it's a silly joke or a heartwarming charity, there's never a time to share an e-mail forward using your work e-mail.

5. Not reviewing all new messages before replying. When you return to the office after a week or more away, review all new e-mails before firing off responses. It might be hard to accept, but odds are, things did march on without you. Replying to something that was already handled by a co-worker creates extra communication, which can lead to confusion, errors, and at the very least, wasted time for everyone involved.

6. Omitting recipients when you "reply all." Unless there's an important reason to omit someone, don't arbitrarily leave people off the response if they were included on the original message.

7. Including your e-mail signature again and again. Nor do you need to include it at the end of an e-mail you send to your long-time co-worker who sits six feet away. If you have your e-mail program set to automatically generate a signature with each new message, take a second to delete it when communicating with someone who knows who you are. It's always wise to include your phone number, but the entire blurb with your title and mailing address is often nothing but clutter.

8. Composing the note too quickly. Don't be careless; write every e-mail as if it will be read at Saint Peter's Square during the blessing of a new Pope. Be respectful with your words and take pride in every communication.

9. Violating your company's e-mail policy. Many companies have aggressive spam filters in place that monitor "blue" language. From that famous four-letter word to simple terms, such as "job search," don't end up tripping the system by letting your guard down.

10. Failing to include basic greetings. Simple pleasantries do the trick. Say "hi" at the start of the message and "thanks" at the end. Be sure to use the recipient's name. Be polite yet brief with your courtesy.

11. E-mailing when you're angry. Don't do it. Ever. Recall buttons are far from a perfect science, and sending a business e-mail tainted by emotion is often a catastrophic mistake. It sounds cliche, but sleep on it. Save the message as a draft and see if you still want to send it the next morning.

[See Don't Make These Interview Mistakes.]

12. Underestimating the importance of the subject line. The subject line is your headline. Make it interesting, and you'll increase the odds of getting the recipient's attention. Our inboxes are cluttered; you need to be creative and direct to help the recipient cut through the noise. You should consistently use meaningful and descriptive subject lines. This will help your colleagues determine what you're writing about and build your "inbox street cred," which means important messages are more likely to be read.

13. Using incorrect subject lines. Change the subject line if you're changing the topic of conversation. Better yet, start a new e-mail thread.

14. Sending the wrong attachment. If you double-check an attachment immediately before sending and decide that you need to make changes, don't forget to update the source file. Making corrections to the version that's attached to the e-mail does not often work, and it can lead to different versions of the same doc floating around.

15. Not putting an e-mail in context. Even if you were talking to someone an hour ago about something, remind them in the e-mail why you're writing. In this multi-tasking world of ours, it's easy for even the sharpest minds to forget what's going on.

16. Using BCC too often. Use BCC (blind carbon copy) sparingly. Even though it's supposed to be a secret, it rarely is. Burn someone once, and they'll never trust you again. Likewise, forwarding e-mail is a great way to destroy your credibility. When people send you something, they aren't expecting you to pass it on to your co-workers. The e-mail might make its way back to the sender, who will see that their original message was shared. They might not call you out on it, but they'll make a mental note that you can't be trusted.

[For more career advice, visit U.S. News Careers, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.]

17. Relying too much on e-mail. News flash! No one is sitting around staring at their inbox waiting for your e-mail. If something is urgent, use another means of communication. A red "rush" exclamation point doesn't compare to getting up from your desk and conducting business in person.

18. Hitting "reply all" unintentionally. This is a biggie. And it's not just embarrassing; depending on what you wrote in that e-mail, it can ruin your relationship with a co-worker or even your boss. Take extra care whenever you respond so you don't hit this fatal button.

Now it's time to fess up: Are you guilty of any of these common work e-mail mistakes? Any you'd like to add to the list?

 

[  Andrew G. Rosen, On Wednesday 19 January 2011, 3:10 SGT ]

[ Andrew G. Rosen is the founder and editor of Jobacle.com, a career advice blog. He is also the author of How to Quit Your Job. ]

How to Help Your Boss Have More Confidence in You

There's no better feeling in a job than when you know the boss has full confidence in you. You enter a zone where you can really be yourself, where you move beyond worrying about what others think or feeling concerned about being constantly monitored and evaluated.

So how do you get to that zone? How do you show your bosses and co-workers that they can rely on you? By showing that you're disciplined, both in the work you create and in the way you work. Employees who show they have things under control--employees who are disciplined at work--are more likely to be handed greater responsibilities. And that means they tend to move up in their company faster than others. Somewhere along the way, they've won the confidence of the boss and likely, of the boss's boss.

To help your boss have confidence in you, focus on establishing these work habits:

Never miss a deadline. If the report is due on Tuesday afternoon, plan to deliver it on Tuesday morning. Always aim to exceed your boss's expectations. And while you're at it, exceed the expectations of your colleagues, too.

[See How to Beat 8 Job-Search Time-Wasters.]

Be predictable. Commit to a set schedule, and don't deviate from it. This includes when you show up at work and when you're available. If you need to change that schedule, over-communicate these changes so no one who relies on you is left hanging or surprised.

Get organized. From the cleanliness of your workspace to your ability to digest obscure concepts, show how well you can manage information and data. What many of us fail to recognize is that every now and then someone looks over your shoulder to see how many e-mails are in your inbox. Remember, a full e-mail inbox is no different than an overflowing paper inbox of yesterday. Besides, being organized will not only make you look good, it will make you feel good, too.

Walk strong. Carry yourself with an attitude that says, "I've got my stuff together." You may not feel like the most well-dressed or fashionable person, but if you give off a sense of organization and control, others will perceive you that way. That confidence is likely to rub off on the quality of your work, too.

[For more career advice, visit U.S. News Careers, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.]

Being disciplined doesn't mean you can't also be fun, creative, and sociable. Many disciplined employees have all of those qualities, and they're far from being thought of as sticks in the mud. So add a dose of discipline to your work day, let the confidence build, and see where it takes you.

Rusty Rueff, director and career expert for jobs and career website Glassdoor.com has been a CEO, led HR in global companies and is co-author of Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business.

[by Rusty Rueff, On Saturday 11 December 2010, 4:17 SGT]