Tag: self development

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Is work life balance really attainable?

Work life balance seems to be a buzz phrase in corporate culture. Ever since the economic downturn began in earnest many companies, organizations and institutions have been running very lean. Cut backs in staffing have increased and the expectations are now that we as workers are supposed to produce more with less headcount with which to distribute the labor. In many places there are expectations for overtime quotas, working on the odd weekend, extended work days all designed to mitigate the ever growing workload. With all of these factors it is no surprise that work life balance is a topic of great discussion.

Employees the world over have been pushing the limits of time spent on the clock while sacrificing their personal lives. From my experience I have seen certain individuals give there all to their companies and wound up disappointed because their efforts were not recognized by the management that they work for. I have also seen employers set unreasonable expectations, which pretty much set up whoever dares to try for failure. With that in mind, it is a flawed expectation by employees that the responsibility of implementing of a favorable work life balance lies squarely in the shoulders of their employer. Allow me to explain; it is not absurd that an employer asks an employee to put in some extra time to get some tasks completed, but having an employee work an inordinate amount of hours with no end in sight and to imply that continued employment maybe in jeopardy by refusing to do so, is totally unacceptable.

Work life balance is different for every individual, for example when I was fresh out of school, I would work long hours; primarily because it was requested of me. However interestingly enough, I developed a habit of working late whether or not I was asked to do so. I decided that as long as I was trying to pay my dues, I was going to put in the extra time and effort. At that time I was also single, had no children and no real commitments outside of my work life so the only thing I had to manage was my social life. For me it was fine because I was there to learn and trying to impress. However this would not be true for others that I worked with. Many had huge problems with the constant 60+ hour work weeks because it infringed on their family time and other commitments. As you can also imagine, in a highly competitive work environment you really strive to avoid the perception of contributing less than everyone else. This fact causes many to reluctantly sacrifice their non-work lives in order to keep up with the status quo.

There are many books, blogs, websites, YouTube clips and innumerable other resources that talk about work life balance and they all offer some sort of advice with varying levels of effectiveness. If you so desire you can avail yourself as I did. I must admit that some material was really outstanding. Today however I am going to close with a few pointers from my experience.

The first and most important rule:

If you are going to work extra-long hours it must be worth it! If you need to spend a host of extra time because you are not the expert at something, become the expert so that you can complete tasks in a faster and more efficient manner. Wherever I think I lack in a certain skillset I spend time trying to improve in that area.

Do not waste time:

There are many things that can eat your time at work like small talk, online shopping, Facebook, long bathroom breaks, long lunch breaks, errands and appointments during the work day. The first time I reviewed this a few years ago I was able to reclaim an extra 5+ hours a week and it made a huge difference in what I can accomplish in a work week.

Do not waste time too:

I mention this a second time because those mentioned before were non-work related. It is possible to waste time under the guise of doing our jobs. How is this fact possible wondering? The answer, in meetings! I only just learnt this within the last year or two; I was spending an inordinate amount of time in meetings. Am I implying that all meetings are a waste of time, no! But when every meeting I was attending was starting 15 minutes late and finished 25 minutes later than the scheduled end time then I found myself having to make up time at the end of the day. I had meetings with no agendas, where the interested parties were unprepared and what should have been a 15 minute discussion lasted an hour. My solution, decline all meetings that had no agenda, structure or purpose. Also, I capped the grace period for meetings to 10 minutes, if decisions were to be made, I made them. If the interested parties came late we just have abbreviated meetings which end at the original scheduled end time and if all else failed, schedule another meeting. The result another 5+ hours of time I was able to recoup.

Start early:

You would be amazed of how much things you can get done if you start your day early. Come in 1 hour before your scheduled start time before most of your coworkers have arrived, you will find that there are little to no distractions. Phones don’t ring as much, there is no one walking up to your desk looking for small talk and you are able to concentrate better. This makes a considerable difference to your productivity, plus it looks good.

Doing all these things in conjunction with speaking with management is pivotal to driving your work life balance to a favorable measure. The main point I want you to understand is that no one else can do it for you and you can’t achieve it without the corporation of management. So you must work together to make this a reality.

Please leave some comments and share your thoughts on this article and on work life balance.

Until next time remember, as long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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How to recognize an opportunity

Building a career is a tricky business. Gone are the days where once out of school you start working and remain in the same job for your entire career and then retire. It is still possible, but definitely not as common place as it used to be. This means that there is some level of mobility and flexibility required if you are truly going to maximize your potential and further your career. For this to happen you must be capable of recognizing an opportunity when you see one.

There are many factors that go into recognizing an opportunity, they are definitely contextual and dependent on your perspective. For example, if you are making $100 a week and you have been desiring a salary increase and you have an offer for a promotion, but for less or the same salary, your immediate response might be to reject that offer. On the other hand if you have a job offer for $1000 a week and working less hours you will probably jump at that opportunity immediately. You see, your deepest desire is not for a promotion, it is for a salary increase, so it is reasonable to ignore such and offer. And when one shows up that is exactly what you want then it is equally as reasonable to accept. However, your analysis should go deeper.

It is important to properly assess what an opportunity has to offer. It is far too easy to reach for the obvious while neglecting the long term implications on your career. As such to effectively determine whether something is for you, review the following two perspectives:

Where does this opportunity leads to?

Always consider where your career will be when considering an opportunity. Career advancement is extremely important and should be always in the foremost of your mind. If you are going to be exposed to new training and experiences that will make you more marketable and well rounded as a professional, then you cannot lose. This is irrespective of whether or not you make less money in the short term.

What is this opportunity rescuing me from?

OK, some opportunities are far from the ideal and we sometimes look at them void of context and overlook how important it can be in giving you a way out of your current situation. Have you ever come across someone who was unemployed, under-employed or totally hated their job? We all have at some point. In some cases they may overlook an excellent opportunity because it does not measure up to the ideal situation that they were looking for. In such cases it is important for them to consider the fact that any opportunity that is an improvement to the one that you currently have is one worth seriously considering. Sometimes to our dismay, we watch then spurn a chance for advancement in exchange to staying in the same old position, some even have the audacity to keep complaining. Do not let this be you!

Anything that smells like progress is an opportunity worth considering. Don't be enamored by only the big breaks in life. They don't always come when we want them and frankly they may never come the way we envision them. Grow your career steadily by making most of every opportunity that comes your way, regardless of how small or unexpected it may be. By doing so you will be in the right position to make the most of the big break when it does come.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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Is it ok to tell my boss no?

Here is a very interesting question that I have been challenged to answer, is it ok to tell my boss no? The answer is not that straight forward and logically you may be thinking, what is the question being asked? The responses then must be contextual to the questions being asked.

Let us establish this point first and foremost, if you are reading this and you are in the armed forces, an officer of the law or any similar profession please read this with much caution. It is highly inadvisable to defy a direct order from a commanding officer, unless it is unlawful or immoral in nature. Other than that I don't have much to offer in that space.

For those of us in civilian positions the rest of today's post is for you. The advice mentioned above applies to you as well. It does not matter your level of experience, or how much money you make, you are by no means obligated to break any laws, rules or set of moral beliefs simply because your boss has requested. This should be an absolute with no gray area on the matter.

In other instances you may feel slighted or ill treated by your boss and a particular request may have gone too far in your eyes, you have every right to voice your concern. You are compelled to take into consideration that your boss is your boss and if you must raise any concerns it must be done in a respectful manner. You must also be prepared for things to remain the same. You are still obliged to speak up even though you are sure that nothing good will come out of it.

There are two general points that I would like to leave you with:

You cannot just say no because you feel like saying no. The right way is to ensure you have a valid reason or an alternative idea or recommendation to what is being requested. The assertion here is that it is possible that you have your own ideas to contribute and a good manager would be open to ideas that did not originate with him. It does not give you license to be combative and if you are in a position where you have to disagree with every request that comes in then you are probably working in the wrong place.

The second is that after reading this you can feel liberated in knowing that you don't have to say yes to every single request that comes in. It is OK for you to ask questions for clarification purposes and to speak up in disagreement if things are not clear or favorable.

Speaking up takes courage. If done effectively it should not be received as an act of defiance and hence the desired effect can be attained. Needless to say, working in an environment where the manager is not accustomed to individuals speaking up can lead to issues. There is no need to feel discouraged, this simply serves as a warning against being naive, because change does not come easy for every one.

So what is today's lesson? You have every right to speak up if needed. There is no law written or implied that states you are compelled in every situation to comply with your manager's request. If you find your self always in agreement and your manager's requests are legal, morally right and fall within the bounds of your company policies then you have nothing to be overly concerned about.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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Should I feel bad about getting someone fired

Today we discuss a very serious topic: Should you as a worker feel bad for getting someone fired? Before starting let me add some context; we are talking here about someone who works in your same office or company. I also want to steer clear of purely vindictive mindsets who are looking for justification for their mean ways. Let us begin.

As a worker there are some basic expectations placed on you by your employer. For example, you are expected to be at work on pre-arranged days and work for the agreed upon hours (and overtime where applicable). It does not matter if you are on a roster or shifts, attendance when you are expected is a must. Additionally, when given a set of tasks and responsibilities, you are expected to deliver in the time frame that has been stipulated. And if no time limit was given you are expected to work diligently until the tasks are complete. Routinely slacking off is totally unacceptable. The last dynamic worth mentioning is working with others. If the setting is one where team work is required, then you are expected to deal with whatever inter-personal issues outside of the office and get the job done.

With that foundation laid, it is safe to say that if a coworker is not meeting the expectations that have been set for him or her by management then their continued employment should be evaluated. If improvements need to be made, then it is only fair that they have an opportunity to improve in a reasonable timeframe. If they fail to do so, then the end may be inevitable. But the first question I want to address is: Should you be the one to bring these short comings to management's attention? I honestly do not have a problem with this. It does not mean that we have to be a 'snitch' and run to management every time we see a breach of expectation. However you must be mindful that this person is your competition for positions and promotions. I personally will not sit idly by and watch someone usurp me for a promotion while being fully aware that they are falling way short of what is expected of them, especially when compared to myself.

The first question however is very subjective, because if you were the manager you would have to take necessary actions to address the situation. If the person is not in your department or does not infringe on your progress then you are likely to not care as much. What if reporting someone was due to a moral issue? For example, you witnessed and have evidence that your coworker has been stealing money or merchandise. Or they have been habitually violating company policies and these transgressions have gone unnoticed. What would you do? The right answer could be to talk to the coworker and get them to either stop and or confess their guilt to management. However depending on the gravity of the issue, you need to make a report. In doing so make sure you follow your company protocols and be above board with everything.

What if someone messes up and blames you? Would you take the fall and risk your standing in the company? We should also add this question: If working in a team and your coworker is constantly unreliable and it results in extra workload on you (without any credit for stepping up), will you be gracious? In my eyes, this is probably the easiest scenario of this discourse. You should go directly to management and file reports to ensure that they see the trend develop in order that they can take the appropriate action. In cases like these, if it does result in a firing you should not even think twice about feeling bad, it is all on them.

Despite these examples there are a whole slew of factors that can impact your decision. Is this person a close friend? Do you know for a fact that losing their job would be totally devastating to them or their family (i.e. are they the sole bread winner)? Can you deal with the situation and correct the behavior without management's involvement? These are just a few but there are many more. Can you think of others?

The final word on the matter is that if it comes down to them or you, it is going to be them. I strongly advocate against executing a vindictive witch hunt and falsely accusing someone simply to get them fired. But beyond that if you do it according to company policies there is no reason for you to feel like a 'monster'.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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How to remain engaged at work

We all face it. That period just after the initial phase of starting a new job or new position or project where the excitement wanes and the struggle to stay focused begins. Some call it the end of the "honeymoon" period. If we are all destined to such a predicament, then we all must be equipped with the mindset of out lasting this hurdle. How then do we remain engaged at work?

There have been a few interesting polls done recently, (a few of which I have read but would not quote) that reveals that large swaths of working professionals are either not or under engaged at their current jobs. Many cite that as a result of the trickle down effects of the economic downturn, employees are expected to take on more responsibility and work longer hours, with less resources and expected to deliver on time. Many complain of feeling like drones: part of a big "machine" with little or no hope of getting promoted. It seems as though the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against us professionals.

My advice to those who find themselves internally identifying with the previous statements is really simple, BE PRAGMATIC! You are probably thinking that if the advice was simple, then maybe I should have used a word that was simple, however no other word had the desired effect. But what does it mean? If you find yourself in a rut where you are; over-worked, always at the office, unchallenged, bored, under-promoted, underpaid and most importantly with no room for growth and or development, then I would advise that you move on. However, I would dare to say that if even one of these were positive then you have something to work with.

Here is how:

As long as there is room to grow then there is a reason to stay. Think strategically and long term. You may not have a shot of being promoted or climbing the ranks at your current job, but as long as you are still learning and being challenged it means that you are still developing as a professional. Look at it this way, you are being trained and prepared for the next job!

As long as you are being paid well there is a reason to stay. Unless you are a philanthropist, you are probably working for some form of compensation. If your company is generous enough to pay you and not ensure that they are getting a solid return on their investment, then it is too bad for them. Make it count in your favor. In the mean time, do what you can to prepare for your next station in your professional career. For example, do another degree, certification etc. Let your company finance your preparation and leave only when everything is in place.

Last but not least, always be on the lookout for opportunities to keep you interested. It may cost you some free time, but helping out on a project from another department might help advertise your skills to the company at large. It shows dedication and commitment to a broader vision. It will also allow you to build expertise and relationships outside of your domain. These intangibles are supremely important to display when trying to get the recognition of others.

In closing, there is so much more that can be said but I will leave it there for now. Be ever mindful that engagement is a two way street. It implies that for you to be fully engaged at work there must be something there working in your favor. Find it and then the rest is up to you.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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Help me! I got a bad job review

For the majority of the corporate world there are some sort of review process whether official or unofficial. This is the time when you are supposed to be given specific feedback on your performance and details of what you did well and need to improve on. For many of us, this happens at the end of the calendar year, however it varies depending on the company.

Today we are going to address reviews that did not go as well as you may have expected. We will start with this, if you DO NOT have a review scheduled or you are not aware of the concept then there is an action point for you to execute on. The responsibility is yours to ensure that you have at least a discussion about your progress, particularly if it is not part of your company's operational structure. We will deal with how to do so in another blog post, let us focus on the matter at hand.

What should you do if you get a bad review? By definition: a bad review is one where your perception of your performance is far better than that delivered during the review discussion. Let me add some context because as individuals we tend to have a bias that may cloud our perception and a review that brings a much needed reality check should not be considered entirely bad. That said the original definition of a bad review needs to be augmented: a bad review is one where your perception of your performance (with credible evidence, dates, projects, achievements, etc.) is far better than that delivered during the review discussion (a disparaging review void of evidence, overlooking your achievements, vindictive, etc).

In instances like these there is a clear disconnect between yourself and your manager. You are always free to query the validity of a review and it is prudent for you to track your performance and growth during the year and to always be prepared to partake in the review discussion. Regardless of the quality of the review a thorough and honest self-assessment should be done prior to the discussion which includes achievements, areas of weakness and strengths are highlighted.

In an ideal scenario, you should be getting regular feedback all year and the review should just be an official summary and goal setting exercise. However you can always take the extra precaution of writing your self-assessment and set up some time before review season to discuss with your manager so that they have all the information that you think they need to properly assess your performance.

Why is all of this important? The answer is in the form of another question. What is the result of a bad review? Missed promotions, little or no salary increases, little or no bonus, decreased opportunities for expansion/development, decreased responsibility, etc. The truth is that you cannot afford to be surprised at the end of the year because it can be a major setback to your career progress.

If the review is complete already, at least you should put in a request to discuss specifics again and this time come armed with your self-assessment, with dates and specifics. If it has not happened as yet, prepare a self- assessment and be prepared to share with your manager. If it is too late to do anything, start early for next year. Compile your notes and try to have as many regular discussions as possible and religiously seek feedback so that the review is not a total surprise. For more info on feedback, check out my book: HOW TO MAKE IT FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE CUBICLE.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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The truth about workplace conflict

In my book HOW TO MAKE IT FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE CUBICLE, I discussed the importance of dealing with the people you work with. I alluded to the fact that coming out of school many students have a gross misconception that in the professional world everyone is going to be friendly and care about the professional welfare and development of others as much as they themselves do. I went on further to state that a new professional can be very naive, because throughout their academic life no one may have taken the time to tell them that jealousy, envy, sabotage and workplace conflict exists. In all honestly nothing anyone ever told me came close to what I have experienced.

That said, it is safe to say that many if not all professionals at some point in time will encounter some sort of workplace conflict. Please understand that this is not an attempt to paint a gloomy picture of the corporate world, but it is not always the hug fest that it is purported to be on the job description. The fact is that dealing with other people can be a very difficult challenge and it does require considerable effort to manage.

How you deal with conflict when it does arise determines whether you win or lose. You are definitely a loser if you are the antagonist: you should never willingly set out to put someone under, because it is just not right. You a loser if you are naive and allow people to continually step on and over you without any pushback. There are common cases where some people just continually take abuse and never stand up for themselves until have reached their limit and end up blowing up and making a fool of themselves. So while they maybe justifiably upset, they leave a black mark on their record and bring on shame and embarrassment by having an emotional breakdown.

You are a winner when in the midst of conflict you seek for a resolution irrespective of what side of the indecent you are on. You are a winner when you stand up for yourself (without breaking any rules of the workplace course). For example if you are a victim of an incident that is too much for you to let go, make an official complaint. After doing so, try to make peace or seek arbitration with a senior colleague whom both of you respect. You may be wondering why make the official complaint? If the majority of conflicts that I have encountered were in isolation there would be no big deal and would be very easy to overcome. However, when incidents become habitual and begin repeating themselves, they may lead to anxiety, stress and could even lead to an emotional meltdown. Making an official complaint brings awareness to management and Human Resources and in the event that it recurs it is easy to prove whether there is a trend of negative behavior developing on your colleague's part with specific details and dates recorded.

Let's face it people are people. Your colleagues are fighting for the same promotions, raises and recognition that you are. You cannot assume that everyone will celebrate you if you get a promotion at their expense. Suffice it to say that, conflict is part of corporate life, deal with it correctly and you are sure to thrive in any environment.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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There is no I in team

One of the first things that I had to learn when I entered the corporate ranks was that working as a team is essential to your progress and development as a professional. It was not something that necessarily came naturally for a recently graduated student. I pondered on this recently and realized that in my field of study, Computer Science and Mathematics we were conditioned NOT to share and collaborate when doing assignments, the same can be said for other technical disciplines like Engineering. Grant it there was the odd course here or there that had group projects, those instances for me were more about doing what I need to do to get the best grade for me as opposed to doing so for the general good of the group.

Why then is working well in teams such an important requirement in a corporate setting? For starters, I am the first to admit that I am not a "know it all". Having others around means that I don’t have to have the answer for every single problem I encounter as someone else may already have the solution. Sometimes it is just good to have people to discuss ideas with. It is not uncommon when both my colleague and myself analyze the same problem, come up with two entire different solutions and in a number of those case my solution turned out to be the lesser of the two. There were other instances when I mulled over a problem for days and a quick 5 minute discussion with a colleague leads me to the solution.

My examples can go on and on, however I hope by now you get the point. There are definite advantages of working in a team environment that would help you develop and share knowledge with others. This ensures that the team as a whole is productive and gets the job done. The burning question is then: if the advantages are so wonderful, how can team dynamics can be so fractious at times? The reality is that the other members of that team are competing for the same promotions, projects and pool of compensation as you are! Which means that competition can unearth the unsavory side of the corporate world. Jealousy, sabotage and envy are real and they are a major reason why people try not to over extend themselves helping their team members, lest someone else gets the glory and attention at their expense.

When working with teams there must be a common understanding.

Firstly, respect for people’s time: Co-workers should help you of they can, however don’t expect that every single time you need help someone is going to stop what they are doing to help you complete your task while theirs are still undone.

Work independently: In the beginning you may need more assistance than you would after you have settled in. However, there is a problem when you are unable to complete any task without assistance.

Improve all the time: Don’t ask the same question multiple times. You are expected to retain and build on any assistance you receive so that the next time around you are able to execute on your own.

Simply put, there is no I in team. If handled correctly, you can work well together with your team mates and still achieve your personal goals as a professional.

Until next time remember, As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.

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Time waits for no one

I woke up last Saturday morning pondering on the whirlwind week I had and wondered how quickly time went by: by the time this weekend is over I travelled about 7500 miles by air and road combined. I thought about the fact that it was already October and that the year was coming to a close, this is when the idea for today’s blog, “Time waits for no one”, came to mind.

For my friends who are in university, you may be thinking the same thing that came to my mind when I thought of this topic. The fact that as a student there are different courses and social activities grabbing for your attention and you always seem to be playing catch up. For others it is procrastination; putting off what you can do today, until tomorrow. The problem with that approach is that tomorrow, something else pops up with the same or higher priority, which is then added to the list. Before you realize, the list compounds and you are faced with multiple due dates and little or no time to get things done.

It is out of this today’s advice is borne:

Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do for today.

It is an important ideal that transcends all aspects of life, but particularly in school, there is a greater context that needs to be focused on.

Making proper use of your time is also extremely important when thinking about building a career. Allow me to explain. What you do today has a direct bearing on what you will achieve years from now. How many times have you said to yourself, “This year I will apply to university or graduate school”? Or, “I am going to get that certification that will make me more marketable employee”? Or, “I am going to look for a new job”. Maybe it has been applying for that manager role that you keep psyching yourself out of going after.

With goals that have a longer term, like those mentioned above, it does not seem that big of a deal to defer a task to the next week or month at that actual moment, however as time goes by you find yourself with a decreasing desire to take action. As a result you would have to make double the effort to do what would have been much easier had you done so earlier. I myself have been guilty of such offences. I recall when I was writing my book, HOW TO MAKE IT FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE CUBICLE, there were many stops and starts and with every restart it seemed harder than the time before. However, at one stage when I was not content with the progress that I had made, I challenged myself to finish. From that point onward, I became super focused and structured all my free time to get the job done. For those of you who have read the book can attest to the pride that I feel knowing that I am now an author.

As you read this blog today, think about goals that you have set years ago and that for some reason got de-prioritized because you deferred and deferred until you lost any desire to revive. Today is a good day to start a fresh and to make a concerted effort to finish. Do not be like the many, who due to their idleness ended up missing out on crucial opportunities to advance their personal and professional lives. Take up the challenge today, I guarantee it, you will be happy you did.

Until next time remember: As long as you have life, you should live it to your fullest potential.