Motivation
How to motivate students to perform better in school
I am always looking for new tricks to help motivate kids to perform better in school and I recently read an interesting report from some researchers from the University of Chicago. They performed tests on children in under-performing schools to determine if money or a trophy could motivate a student to better grades. The researchers wanted to know if the money would motivate the students, how much money it would take to motivate them and how quickly the money would have to be paid out for it to be a motivator.
Should you keep your goals private?
My last article about goal setting can be found here. A researcher has an interesting proposition... KEEP YOUR GOALS SECRET.... What? this goes against everything we have heard in management theory for the last 20 years. Watch the above video and let me know what YOU think
To to handle interruptions at work
With the economic realities we have been living with since 2008, companies are forcing employees to do more with less. Not only are companies asking employees to be more creative and use less resources, they are also asking less employees to do more work. An interruption is anything that distracts you from the primary task at hand. Common workplace distractions are emails, phone calls, drop-in meetings, etc This means that most people you talk to, working in a corporate environment, have too much to do and not enough time.
Research shows that Nice Guys DO Finish Last
If you have read any self-help books, you have undoubtedly read the adage “Nice guys finish last”. Now research from Notre Dame and Cornell Universities show how being too agreeable negatively impacts your earnings. More recent research from Stanford, Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon) continued on the same path showing that people who are overly caring, for overs, generally tend to make bad leaders. In particular, being overly nice generally means that you will likely fail in 2 important leadership domains: prestige and dominance.
How human needs influence motivation
Human needs psychology teaches us that all human motivation can be explained by the need to meet one or more of these primary needs: Certainty Variety Significance Connection and love Growth Contribution Anytime you are in an interpersonal relationship whether to close a sale or coach an employee, it is important to understand which of the needs (one or many) are motivating the other person. Each need is met differently so take the time to think about it.
How to set personal goals
I will use this entry to talk about setting personal goals. Yes.. Yes… I know it is June and that most people set their personal goals in January but how are those coming along? Do a cleanup Before building a new house, the contractor will clear the ground to ensure he is starting with a solid footing. The same concept applies to your personal life. Before even thinking about your goals, make sure you “clean your house” (both physically and mentally) to ensure you start with as clean of a slate as possible.
Consumerization is here and you have to deal with it
What is consumerization Consumerization is a term used to describe the trend where manufacturers release new innovative technologies in the consumer market before the corporate one. Interestingly these same technologies then find their way into the corporate world through the employees. “Consumer IT will affect every enterprise" said David Mitchell Smith, vice president and Gartner Fellow. "Attempts by enterprises to deny this are doomed to failure, just as previous attempts to deny Wi-Fi, 'smart' mobile phones, the Internet and even the PC itself failed.
5S is an easy Japanese philosophy to improve your work environment
My current employer is committed to achieving excellence and empowers its employees with simple yet powerful work strategies. One of the tools we use is called the 5S. It comes from the management practice of the Japanese giant Toyota and each of the 5 guiding principles start with the letter S: Seiri – Means to sort. It mandates that you get rid of anything that is underused or not used. It allows your employees to work in a clean environment with less distraction.
How to handle a "crappy job"
One of my first articles was entitled “the YOU brand” and is still one of my favorite articles. I strongly recommend you read it as it has helped many people change their approach to career management. I will assume you read it and accept the premise that you are selling your services to your company in exchange for salary, benefits and working conditions. What happens if you are in a “crappy job”? Crappy can mean different things to different people. For some it means no work-life balance.
The steps to achieving greatness
Regardless of your chosen field of expertise, you most likely want to be great at it. When coaching individuals, I am often asked “What takes someone from average to good to great?”. Putting aside your field-specific characteristics, there are some immutable laws of success that I want to share with you. The first golden rule comes from Stephen Covey’s book “7 habits of highly effective people” and is “start with the end in mind”. Regardless of how YOU define great, spend some time to think about it.
Empower your people to perform
Over the last couple of month, I have written many articles extolling the benefits of empowering your employees. In case you have not read them, the Coles Notes version of the concept is that you are no longer a manager but a coach. Your job is to train and support your people. Your success is determined by their success. So what should you do to ensure their success? Growth Most of your employees should be knowledge workers and they want a clear path for growth.
An end to multitasking?
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]Image by John Ragai used under Creative Commons License [/caption] Many years ago, I got to the point where I felt overwhelmed by my jobs and all the tasks I had to perform. After a long search, I learned and implemented the concept of Getting Things Done promoted by David Allen. One of his beliefs is that a person cannot multi-task and he built his entire system around this one concept. He preaches undertaking tasks one at a time sequentially.
Build Rapport in 30 seconds or less
In my previous entry (What I Learned Selling Encyclopedias), I talked about overcoming objection. Quite a few of the readers of this blog wrote to me asking what techniques I use. The techniques of persuasion and overcoming objection cannot be explained in one entry and takes years to master. I have spent a lot of time and money learning various techniques and practicing them over and over to get them just right. I will share with you some of those techniques in upcoming entries.
Modern Science of Employee Motivation
As a manager, you are constantly adjusting your team for optimal performance. There are dozens of different factors that affect employee performance but one key element is motivation. Anecdotally you know that a motivated and enthused employee will outperform a sluggish indifferent one. There are plenty of so called experts selling their own blend of snake oil. Motivation can be as complicated or as simple as you make it. This entry will not be all encompassing and I will likely write future articles to complement this one.