The Enlightened Manager

Holiday Break

Hello everyone.

I'll be resuming my writing for the Enlightened Manager after the New Year.  Whatever holiday traditions you celebrate - I hope you enjoy them!

Cheri Baker
Emergence Consulting

The LEAN Office: Organize Yourself to Save Time

This post is a continuation on tips for transitioning to a LEAN office.  Last week, I posted some suggestions for streamlining prep for meetings and trainings.  Today I'll offer some tips for reducing time waste:

1) Create Mini-Work Stations

Save time by creating small areas where you can complete a task in it's entirety.  For example, I have an area near my printer where I manage paper.  My 3 hole punch, scissors, paper clips, and stapler are all neatly lined up. 

My work station for paper.

I also have a "cubby" near my desk that contains all of my mailing supplies (labels, stamps, envelopes) for mailing projects.

2) Speed up Archiving

Paper takes time.  It must be shuffled, organized, filed, stored, and retrieved.  To save time, I've gone electronic for almost all my documents.

When I bring home papers of any kind, most of them get recycled as soon as I sit down.  Items I want to keep get put through my desktop scanner, which instantly converts them to PDF.  I picked up the Fujitsu S300 for this purpose - it is fast, scans both sides of the page, and can handle stacks of paper.  It runs about $300, which is pricey, but far less than comparable models.

A desktop scanner for one-button archiving. 

3)  Keep it Easy!

The biggest time savers for me have simply been moving the things I need most often within easy reach.  For example, my desk always has a variety of pens and a stack of sticky notes at the ready, because I use these tools all the time.  Think about "What do I use?"  "What items do I use together?" and put frequently used items nearby, and lesser used items neatly organized but further away.

Three tips to organize your LEAN office.  What suggestions do you have to add?

The LEAN Office: Tips for Facilitators, Trainers, and Presenters

I'll be sending out three posts with tips for transitioning to a LEAN office. You can read more about the LEAN philosophy here - but to put it simply, these are tips to reduce waste (time, money, stuff) and improve your productivity.

Tips for Facilitators, Trainers, and Presenters

If you need to present to groups, facilitate or train, there is some value in reducing the time it takes you to prepare for those events. 

#1: Keep your "Facilitator Box" Packed at all times.

I used to spend an hour or more assembling supplies for each teambuilding session or facilitation, and it drove me crazy.  Now I have a wheeled crate that contains all of my facilitation supplies.  It includes three multi-level plastic organizers that contain my supplies. (I picked these up at Target.) One of those organizers is left empty, and it's large enough to hold hand-outs for up to 80 people. 

Now I simply pick up any printed materials I need, place them in the right organizer, and wheel my crate to the meeting.  Easy as pie.  Here are some photos:

PS: Helpful "extras" include a clipboard, masking tape, memory stick, stopwatch, sticky notes, and bottle of water.

#2: Find and Use a Convenient Online Printer.

It is generally cheaper and more efficient to log into an online printer (Officemax, Staples, and Kinkos all offer this) and upload your print order than to spend an hour in the copy room.

If you are travelling, you can even have your materials delivered to your destination. 

#3: Keep your Supplies in Good Repair

A few times a year, I test all my markers and throw out the ones that are fading and check my box contents. 

Following these tips has reduced my prep time from over an hour to about ten minutes. (I upload my files to the printer, roll out my crate, and I'm ready to rock.)  What are your time saving tips?

Link: Employee Recognition During the Holidays

For today's post, I wanted to direct you to Teresa Chamber's blog for some insightful thoughts on "The Grinch Who Stole Recognition"

"It’s December and commonplace for companies to express their GIANT and sometimes perfunctory thank you to employees for their hard work throughout the year. It often comes in the form of an end of year recognition event or party.

Word on the street is that employees are empathetic if...." Read More

A Holiday Video from Cheri

I thought sending out a short holiday video might be a nice alternative to sending out cards this year.  It's a little silly. Hope you enjoy it!  :)

Leadership: Skills and Values that Make a Difference

What distinguishes good leaders from bad?  It's a question that many people have tried to answer, with varying degrees of success.  It's a question I spend a lot of time thinking about while I'm on the treadmill or sitting in my office.

Here is the result of all those hours of contemplation:  I think there are two big categories that come to mind when it comes to great leadership - skills and values.

Great leaders have the skills and the values to lead others effectively. 

These skills include things like Modeling, Negotiating, Planning, Listening, Delegating, Clarifying, Challenging, and more. 

Values are inner belief structures that cannot easily be taught - and they include things like Integrity, Fairness, Compassion, Excellence, Courage and so on.

Good leadership development consists of helping people develop the skills of leadership, while supporting them as they learn to apply their values consistently in complex environments.

Skills and Values.  Mind and Heart.  How and Why.  We need both pieces - don't you agree.

Every week, I send out a concise leadership development e-lesson to the subscribers of my Leadership Workout. Between now and the end of December, I'm offering a free eBook (Advice for New Managers) to new workout subscribers. more info

Business Etiquette: Accepting Compliments Gracefully

I met a manager recently, and he told me the story of how one of his company executives had come to visit his department, and said "I've never seen this department look so good."

The manager's response?  "It's not hard to improve things when you're starting with a mess."

While I know that this manager said those words because he is uncomfortable with compliments, it can be easy to see how a listener might find those words insulting or negative.

For many of us, compliments can be difficult to accept.  It might be because we have low self esteem, because we don't want to be arrogant, or that we simply feel uncomfortable when praised.   But turning away or discounting a compliment is bad for a few reasons:

* It sends the message that we choose not to "hear" what the other person said.
* It makes us seem ungracious, unappreciative, negative.
* It causes us to miss out on the good feelings that come with a compliment.
* It prevents us from accepting the learning/feedback hidden in the compliment.

In short, it is simply bad etiquette to reject a compliment. 

The simplest answer?  A genuine "Thank You" in response.  You don't need to flutter, swoon, or expound upon your secrets to success.  Just say thanks.

It's the gracious thing to do!