|
Work Tips
How to Work in a Group
When do you start your group interaction? When you meet its members. So keep in mind that your introduction is all-important. Learn people's names and get their contact information.
If you can find something that you have in common with other people in the group, it will make for smoother sailing as your projects go down the road. If you know that you have the same interest as someone else in a group, it usually acts as a galvanizing force.
If you're in charge of a meeting, try to ensure the comfort of the people who will attend. And when the meeting actually starts, let everyone who wants or needs to talk to do so. Not allowing people to express themselves is usually a bad idea. If someone is usurping the time, try to find gentle and effective ways to bring the meeting back to the subject in focus.
Try to praise people in the meetings you have. It will help relax others around you and make them feel like you care. Building feelings of camaraderie in the group will help morale and overall productivity.
Try and be honest, but avoid conflict. If you find yourself losing your temper, apologize and try to continue in a calm and rational way. Remember, you want everyone to work together, and you don't want the group splitting into factions.
Remember to ask questions, rather than to give orders.
-adapted from www.alice.org
Staying Flexible at Work
Staying flexible at work is the key to building good relationships in the workplace and often leads to more success. Here are some tips to help you maintain flexibility and avoid adopting rigid attitudes toward your co-workers, your boss or your work itself.
- Remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
- Whenever you make a decision try to keep in mind that developing an atmosphere in which the human spirit thrives is most beneficial to all.
- You have power over your attitude, and sometimes attitudes have to change in order to shift our way of seeing situations.
- Surrender to the things you have no control over and focus on the things you can do something about.
- When you feel tempted to try and control others, the best thing to do is to try and control yourself.
- Take action. It will make you feel better, and it is the only way to accomplish anything.
-adapted from the Flexibility at Work Web site
Tips for Meeting Office Deadlines or Goals
- Give yourself permission from the start to be flexible with your times and deadlines wherever possible.
- Always build in extra time where possible.
- Break your goals down into smaller, more manageable units.
- Keep a calendar.
- Do the things you hate first.
- Try to be neat.
- Give yourself a break now and then. It will relax and refresh you.
- Prioritize your goals.
- Make a to-do list every day.
- Once you have your to-do list and you have prioritized it, set a time to work on the things that you absolutely have to accomplish.
- Figure out your most productive time of the day, and use that to accomplish your priority tasks.
- Build in time to handle emergencies or other situations that will have to be dealt with.
- Every day, do one of the things you are procrastinating about.
- Even if you're stressed, don't try to control others.
|
--adapted from ideasandtraining.com
Doing What You Love
While most jobs will include tasks that you love, they will also include other tasks that are not quite so pleasant to accomplish. How does one go about accomplishing the work that needs to be done?
According to Napoleon Hill, you can accomplish almost any amount of work if you are doing work that you love or work for a person whom you love. Therefore it will probably pay off for you in your life if you seek out work that you are at least partially fond of. This will make you a much more productive person at work. And you will feel better about yourself and what you accomplish.
When you are selecting your work or place of work, make sure you ask yourself: Will I like this work? Do I like what this work is meant to accomplish? Do I like the person I will be working for?
Answering these questions will help you make a decision that will ultimately make you happier not only at work, but in your life in general.
-adapted from The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
Turn Others into 'Willing Listeners' and Get What You Want
It's probably happened to you a thousand times. Someone wants to talk to you or meet with you about something, and right away you start making plans so that that person cannot take away too much time from you. Most people start from that defensive mode, but when you are in a work environment, it is imperative that you disarm this type of reaction of others to your own requests. How do you do this? Well, it is a skill-really an art-that can be learned.
When you first approach another person with a request for his or her time it is essential that you know what it is that you want to accomplish before you begin. Once that is clear in your mind, then you should do some homework about that person. Find out about his or her work, if you need to. Pull all the facts together in your mind. When you finally meet with the person face to face, it is important that you start the meeting talking about that person's work. If you study the person's work, you will likely find many positive qualities about what she is doing with her life energy. Bring that information out into your conversation. All people like it when their work is appreciated- but here's the catch-what you say must be sincere, or the person you are trying to make a connection with will feel and know that you are a fraud.
Once you have spent some time doing this, then you will accomplish that which you have wanted to accomplish, you will have opened the door to that person's mind. He or she will be willing to listen to you and will think you have a great personality. When you have established all of this, lay out quickly what it is that you have come for. Be self-assured and sincere. Even if the person you have come to cannot do the thing for you that you are requesting, chances are he or she will make every effort to help you and get you to the person who can actually assist you in accomplishing your ends.
-- adapted from The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill
How to Revamp You’re To Do List
Most people feel overwhelmed by what it is that they need to accomplish each day. If you are feeling this way it is probably a good idea to try and work smarter-not harder. And how do you do this? Why not try to make your to-do list simpler-that means shorter.
Are you keeping lists of things to do that you are just never going to get done? If you are, now is the time to throw the old list out and start compiling one that is more realistic. This will help you get to the things that absolutely have to get done.
Having a to-do list is a great idea-as long as you don't let it deplete your energy and creativity because it is unrealistic.
Life used to be a little more straightforward. The division of work was clear. Women took care of certain things, and men took care of certain things for the most part. But now, it is more likely that a household shares duties both on the job and at home. And that makes it harder to keep track of everything that needs to be taken care of.
Here are a few tips on revamping your to-do list so that it doesn't drive you crazy:
- Combine all your lists into one list. That means you're going to have to combine the things on your calendar with the list stuck up on the fridge. Keep one notebook or calendar and that's it. Don't sap your energy by having to track down a million notes or lists.
- Be realistic. Let some things go. Set your priorities. Don't let the words "supposed to" rule you. Be tough. What is it that you absolutely have to accomplish? If you're never going to do something that you continually write on your list-take it off. You'll gain energy and peace of mind from by being real with yourself.
- Make a schedule. A list without a schedule could drain you of more energy. Try to figure out how much time your tasks will take, and don't forget to write in those repeat responsibilities, like picking up the dry cleaning or doing the grocery shopping.
- Make room in your schedule for the unplanned things that are bound to happen in life. Leave an hour or two each day to work in the interruptions that will undoubtedly occur.
- Go through your list and weed it out occasionally. If there's something on your list that doesn't need to be done anymore, take it off. It will lighten your load and mind to do this.
- Schedule in some breathing room. This is important. Don't leave it out. Otherwise you might end up too exhausted to accomplish anything on your list.
|
--adapted from Working Mother
Do You Work at a Computer All Day?
Are your joints cramped and stiff from working at your computer all day? If they are, you might want to stretch out a little. Here are some tips from Karen Jacobs, professor of occupational therapy at Boston University:
- To stretch your forearms, put your hands together in a prayer position. Then keeping your palms together, slowly push your hands down until you feel a stretch in your forearms. Hold each for 10 seconds.
- To stretch your wrists. Put your arms out in front of you with your elbows straight. Then bend your hands at the wrists so that your fingers are pointing toward the floor. Hold (15 seconds). Then bend your hands the other way so that your fingers are pointing toward the ceiling. Hold (15 seconds.)
- To stretch your fingers: Make a fist and squeeze for five seconds. Then stretch your fingers outward so that your fingers separate and reach. Hold for five seconds. Repeat three times.
-adapted from Parenting
|
