Posts from — February 2008

Think of the people you work with. Consider someone who works alone, isolates themselves from the team. How do you perceive them as a worker? Effective or ineffective? Hardworking or lazy? Now think of someone who talks to you several times a day about work (not idle banter). How do you perceive them?

Chances are the person who engages you comes across as a more effective worker, even if the isolated colleague works alone because they don’t have time to come up for air because they are working so hard!

As technology creates more and more ways to communicate and the many ways condense into fewer devices as our cell phones become pocket sized computers, communication has never been more important. With the apparent ease with which we all communicate, and the almost ubiquitous aversion to meetings amongst workers, we have become more and more isolated in our jobs.

It is interesting indeed that many firms are instituting e-mail free days or times. Sure, one might expect an improvement in productivity if we were not slaves to our email, but more importantly we encourage face-to-face communication.

Believe me, you will be noticed more, seen as a more effective person, when people can engage you one on one more often. The folks who engage in endless volumes of water cooler chat are seen as unproductive for certain - but if you can find a middle ground where you spend time with others on a professional level you are sure to see your stock rise.

Quite simply, if you are beavering away in solitude, firing off emails, writing reports and so on, you are relying on people to “notice” you based on your work alone. You are asking them to “trust” that you are hard at work when they rarely see you. Unfortunately, that is against human nature.

It is sad, but when someone isolates themselves, as productive as they may be, the typically cynical office will rarely notice what they do, or worse, assume that they are doing “nothing”. Don’t let this come off as communication as personal marketing either. No matter how intelligent you think you are you will be more effective with the support of your colleagues. You may step out of your shell for appearances, but you will soon grow from the effort you make as well and your work will improve.

For a leader this is even more important to recognize. In fact, you may be a great communicator with your superiors but be precisely the opposite with your team. You may really have no need to report to anyone as a leader - or at least you can get away without reporting. But today’s worker is different and effective leaders include their teams in the process. In fact, research out of the Harvard Business School suggests that leaders who include members of their team by asking for opinions and input are perceived as more effective.

So, set a goal for yourself this week. Find a way to include others in what you do at least once a day. Go see a colleague, or better yet as a leader in a team meeting, ask for input and opinions about something you are working on.

You will be seen in a better light, and even better, others will begin to open up with you more.

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Are you an introvert? Is it hard for you to make connections and lead a team? Practice! I’m by nature an introvert but I make a point of working on being more outgoing - including in situations far from work.

If someone you never met strolls up to the hotel hot tub you are in - make conversation- you have a captive audience! Sharing an elevator? Say hello. If it feels uncomfortable you know the door will open soon! The cleaning lady has just come into your hotel room? Ask her how her day has been. The point is that sometimes it’s easier to flex your smalltalk muscles in less threatening sitations - when it’s someone you’ll never meet again, or when you have an easy excuse to walk away, for example.

Set a goal for yourself to exchange a few words with a total stranger once a day or once a week, whatever you are comfortable with, and I guarantee it will get easier and pay dividends in your working life.

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It is important to maintain a record of the work you do and key situations that you have been in for many reasons.

Artists aren’t the only ones who benefit from having a portfolio. Always keep a file of examples, if not your entire body of work. Keep copies of reports that you have prepared, publications that you have created, your own personnel files, and more. Whether you want to review your work with a superior, or need a portfolio to show a prospective employer (careful - much of your work may be proprietary), or just want to review where you’ve come from there is no end to the usefulness of such a file.

What about when you are not there to do your job? An extended illness, an unexpected family issue keeps you away, or even transferring to another position, are all reasons to leave a strong trail of breadcrumbs explaining how you did your job. Believe me it is far better to leave a clear instruction on how to accomplish your major roles in your absence. When you return it will be clear to everyone that you are organized and on top of your job. Leave a mess or disaster in your wake and people might get the idea that only you can do your job - but you’ll also be seen as disorganized and unable to manage yourself - let alone a team.

For major projects and events I take this to another level and produce a “how to” manual that gives timelines, contacts, budgets etc. This can be referred to the next year as a real time saver, and it can be added to and modified as you modify your approach. Sometimes this is a printed document, in other cases I will do this completely electronically. Either way, you are saved from recreating the wheel in the future.

Of course, you have probably thought of this - but what have you done about it? If a new opportunity suddenly came up - how quickly could you produce your portfolio?

Get started this week. In fact, get out a piece of paper, or open that file in your word processor, nd start scribbling down what you would include today in a portfolio of your work. I’ll wager the list is longer than you anticipated and in some cases finding a way to present it is a challenge.

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How do you bring yourself to the attention of your superiors without taking on the “look at me” personality at work each day? That person isn’t you - in fact you find her really annoying. Yet, time and again, they seem to get the perks and are the favorite of many around the office. Meanwhile you are working your tail off, and probably doing more than Ms. “Look At ME!”If you want to advance your career you need to be noticed. “But, if I am a loyal hardworking person peple will notice. I’ll get my just rewards” you say? OK…you may be right. I like to think you are - but are you wiling to wait as long as it takes for people to put two and two together?

Is there a better way? Absolutely! If you don’t work in one of those tightly run corporate entities - perhaps even if you do, but I have never been there before - take control of your own personnel review. Once a year I polish off my resume and present it to my boss. In my case he’s on top of things and it is really just a gentle reminder of how I have helped him in the past year. In other cases people who do this are actually bringing to the attention of a busy executive what they’ve been up to.

Now, don’t just take a plain old resume template from MS-Word and throw it together like you’re looking for a job. Like any job search you need to tailor your resume. What is your goal? Are you ready for a move up the ladder? Do you have a target position? Structure your resume as if you are ready for the role that you want. For a supervisory role, make it clear what projects you have had similar responsibility in and how you have succeeded. If you are happy in your current role and are looking simply for recognition then make it clear what you have accomplished for your firm. What sales have been generated by you directly or the team you lead? What new things are happening that would not be there without you. Are you looking for a raise or a bonus? Make it clear how much money you have brought in, or how much money your work has saved the firm. Want him to see you as key to his own success? Well, how much time have you saved him? What situation might you have handled that would normally go to him?

Whatever you do, remember this might be a rare occasion where you have his undivided attention - whether it is face to face or just by him looking over the resume you left. Swing for the fences! Make it top notch and professional. Keep it simple and short! At the very lest include a one page “executive summary” because there is little chance he will read any more.

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