Hazelbranch

Whats the economic reality?

2011-01-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

The UK's economy suffered a slight contraction of 0.5% in the last three months of 2010, figures have shown.

This was reported by the BBC Website as a “shock contraction” and the BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders said “people were right to worry about where the UK's growth would come from in 2011, especially as higher-than-expected inflation had dealt a further blow to household budgets.”

Is this true?

I coach and advise a diverse number of organisations and have found that generally confidence has been returning and most people in those organisations were feeling that 2011 would be a steady growth year. So maybe the contraction would be more of a mild surprise to these organisations.

Reality is created by perception as confidence leads to organisations spending on services and also projects to customers who also spend, leading to growth in confidence and GDP.

Figures such as today’s are likely to dent some people’s confidence and as such may in fact lead to a drop in confidence, this is largely dependent on how they are reported and focused on.

Whilst we are recovering economically it is important to remain optimistic and realistic. The recovery is likely to take a while and is unlikely to be a straight upwards but may have peaks and troughs. A balanced view doesn’t make headlines though and neither does good news so we are likely to register more of the bad news than the good. This is an important factor to bear in mind when assessing are we going to have a good year.

My advice is to keep a realistic eye on costs, work ‘smart’ as well as hard in order to spot opportunities for growth and invest in your people. If you do these things you are more likely to have a successful 2011, no matter what the headlines say.

Slow motion running and a fake tash.

2010-11-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

So why was I doing slow motion running wearing a fake moustache at 9am on a Monday morning in #Brighton town centre?
One on the charities I coach had organised a flash mob to promote its fun run www.tashdash.com as part of Brighton's "manliest month ever" campaign.

I must admit I was a tad dubious about how effective this would be, and also it was out of my comfort zone to be making a fool of myself quite so early on in the week.

I was wrong though, at least on the effectiveness part. The event got coverage live on BBC Radio and featured on South East Today TV news.
There will also be an article in the local newspaper
All this for a handful of people giving up their time, and some stick on moustaches. Oh and creativity and experience in how to create a newsworthy story from organiser Glen Poole.

So what did I learn from this event?

That sometimes you have to be a bit brave and get yourself out there in order to get noticed and that if you have a good enough message people will be interested.

Organisations that have a good sense of what they want achieve and who are prepared to think outside the box to get people involved are going to be successful.

It also pays to be properly networked, i.e. into people who are aligned to what you do and those for who the relationship will have reciprocal benefits.

So, is your organisation just doing the usual things to get noticed, or is it being a bit brave, innovative and having some fun?

Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.

2010-08-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

I spent four days on my own over the previous weekend looking after my two girls Olivia age one and Georgia aged two. It really opened my eyes to what my partner has to do most days.

Although I do spend a lot of time helping with the kids I have never had to do so on my own for that long. I came away with a real appreciation of what looking after them entails, the good side and bad side and also came up with ideas on how to make it easier.

It got me thinking again about how useful getting a real experience of what others have to do is. In work there are very few examples of the management doing this.

Bigger companies such as Tesco actively encourage the senior managers to spend a few weeks a year in their stores doing all the different jobs, and there are TV programs such as Undercover Boss that follow the MDs of companies as they really do put themselves in their employees shoes.

These though tend to be exceptions to the rule, and in most businesses the managers are not given the time to step away from their own jobs to really get a sense of what the people working for them have to do, and indeed what the customers also experience. Even if you have risen through the ranks it is surprising how quickly you forget exactly what it is like to do a job.

It would make a huge difference to the ability of leaders to engage with employees if every leader committed to spending one week a year doing the various jobs in the company and really getting to know what issues the people on the front line are facing.

There is also a shortcut to getting a different perspective. It comes from NLP and is called the Perceptual Positions.
It is particularly useful to use when a situation is troubling us or we believe we have become static in our thinking. Being able to step out of how you perceive things and into someone else’s world is very powerful. Being able to combine this with having an impartial non emotional take on the situation can pay dividends.

Perceptual positions were developed by John Grinder and Judith DeLozia (1987) from earlier work looking at how therapists Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls used roles work to enable clients to have a better understanding of others.

The process involves using different spaces in the room or chairs to represent a) your own perspective B) the other persons perspective and c) an impartial point of view.

By moving through the different positions insights are gained. By regularly using the technique as a manager you can get more of a sense of what you need to do to be able to communicate, influence and understand those working for you.

If you can really try out others jobs for a few days a year do so. If not aim to really get a sense of where others are coming from and also what an impartial observer would think by using different perceptual positions. Oh and if you get the chance to look after kids for a few days, take it!

Washed Out Service

2010-07-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

One of my main bug bears is poor customer service. It is absolutely vital to customer service right, particularly handling customer complaints.

If you don't handle complaints well then not only are you likely to lose the customer who is dissatisfied, but they are more likely to tell others about bad service than they are good service, so you stand to lose many more customers by getting it wrong.

I popped down to my local hand car wash in Hove recently and was unfortunate enough to experience the worst car wash I have ever had. The guys doing it barely passed the jet wash over my car, they refused to do the roof simply saying “we don’t do roofs” and they missed so many bits of dirt it seriously missed my expectation level of what a car wash should do.

It was embarrassing to have to point all the missed bits to the next guy on the production line who was to dry the van off. This guy had the opportunity to sort the situation out. He did do the bits I pointed out, having first tried to make out they were scratches, but made no effort to apologise for the poor service.

To top it all I was then charged me more than the advertised rate – the guys saying “it says prices from” and getting quite aggressive about it. It’s sad to see a complete lack of pride in the job and such poor customer service.

A manager really needed to take control upon hearing my complaint and deal with it with empathy. The next job would be train up staff to take a pride in both the work and how they deal with customers.

A good leader should always be asking, 1.how is the customer service? 2.Do staff know how to handle complaints? 3.Do they have pride in the product?

Clear The Static

2010-06-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

I am a firm believer in the use of the urgent important grid by Stephen R.Covey, https://www.stephencovey.com/ It helps me to make sure I am prioritising my things to do.

Unfortunately there are things that never seem to get done. They are personal admin tasks and usually not urgent. When I’ve got my business head on they are like static distortion buzzing away in the back ground. Sometimes it is good to get rid of this static by setting aside some time to blitz this non urgent and personal stuff.

I took a couple of days out of running the business last week to do exactly this. I focused on stuff like getting my car a service, using my ISA allowance and fixing up odd jobs around the home as well as going to see the dentist and doctors for checkups. These were things I had been meaning to do for ages. I still did some urgent / important work tasks but mentally work was a secondary priority on those days.

It is important to do this every now and again as not only does it clear the static but allows you space to think about what you are doing and check you are in balance. Make sure you pay attention to health, home and relationships and if you feel they haven’t had attention recently blitz them. It doesn’t need to be whole days, just an hour or two could do it.

It is all too easy to be sucked into being busy all the time and forget about what else is really important.

Who is leading?

2010-05-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

I went to a great seminar in Brighton last week. It was run by an associate of mine Glen Poole. Glen specialises in working on not‐for‐profit projects and campaigns that are designed to make a BIG difference by getting more people, to take more action, more often.

Glen got David Cameron to back the campaign to say NO to a third runway at Heathrow airport, developed the Bounce your Balls for cancer campaign and was behind the publicity for the Fathers 4 Justice campaign.
One of the most important things that Glens campaigns need is people who are prepared to take a lead and make things happen. These people are often not formally recognised as leaders but they are the ones who take it upon themselves to take the lead.

Without this campaigns to make a difference fail, as often there isn’t someone to take responsibility for an issue in government and councils or the other authorities that we tend to look to take a lead.
There is a need now for grass roots leaders both in business, and society.

Leading isn’t about having a title, it’s about making a difference. The next time you catch yourself thinking “someone should do something about that” just think, maybe that someone could be you?

2010-04-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life throws you a few curve balls that knock your routine and plans completely out. Suddenly you find yourself running around like a headless chicken just to find out you are still behind.

Unfortunately my eldest daughter has been in and out of hospital with pneumonia since February. This has meant not only am I stressed, but also large chunks of my time are being spent in hospital or helping out in other ways.

Work has therefore often been on a back burner and the backlog of things to do just kept getting bigger. I missed my VAT return, haven’t been able to call some people and have struggled to arrange appointments as I don’t know my availability.

I’m sure I’m not alone in facing these challenges every now and again. We all have “stuff” which we have to deal with and also keep on top of everything.

Things are finally settling down a bit so I thought I’d share what I learnt last week.

1.Taking a step back.

Objectively putting all the things that need doing (work and otherwise) into an Urgent/Important grid and then actively prioritising really helps to

• Be realistic about what won’t get done, and make sure I spend my time on the important/urgent things.
• Plan for when I will be able to do the important/not urgent things.
• Gives the all important perspective on what really matters and accept the situation and that means I can be calm and feel in control and be of use.

2.Making time for exercise and eating regularly and healthily is important.

These are two of the things that I often find often go and I end up rushing around grabbing fast food and thinking I don’t have 20 minutes to spare. However they both help reduce stress, give energy and help to think clearly and therefore the return on time investment is great.

3.Let people know.

If people know the situation they can make allowances, help and also support. You don’t have to be a bleeding heart, but just a quick email to those you are putting back a bit, or a quick update where you are at when having a chat is better than pretending you are all on top of things when you are not.
I have found people relate to honesty and the human condition and it takes the pressure off.

When you find yourself overstretched give these three things a try.

Socially acceptable.

2010-01-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

I was interviewed today by an academic group from Yonsei University in Korea who are working on a project for the Work Together Foundation. They are researching social enterprise in the UK in order to report back to Korea and help better establish a third sector.

I coach a number of social entrepreneurs and so gave my views on the issues and successes that social enterprise is having from that perspective.
I was asked how I thought social enterprise would develop further in this country. My answer was that I hoped it would come to be the norm as opposed to being a niche separate sector of the economy.

Is this a pipe dream?

It depends on your definition of social enterprise. Is it ‘social good creation and profit’ or ‘profit with social good creation?’

If you use the second definition then Social enterprises do not always need to start from scratch. It is entirely feasible that many private sector organisations can move towards a model of working that allows a good proportion of profit, energy or expertise to contribute to the development of communities, society and the environment we all live in.

Many organisations already have very active CSR policies and are developing fair trade policies.
The advantages are that many people (particularly in generation x and y) now actively want to be working for organisations that have in their heart more than simply making a profit for their shareholders. Talent therefore flows and stays with organisations that are able to demonstrate a broader meaning to the work they do.

Customers are also making buying decisions on the ethical make up of companies.
Unfortunately CSR or fair trade policies are sometimes seen as being not at the core of a business, more of a nice add on or a marketing ploy.

The question is ‘in order to make social enterprise mainstream what more can leaders of organisations do?’

Fend off a winter of discontent.

2009-12-15T05:41:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when people make and take decisions about their future.

Often this leads to people deciding they need to change their jobs or get more out of their current one.

At the same time management teams are looking to set company performance goals and individual targets for the new year.

This makes it more important than ever to make time to evaluate how you and your staff are doing, decide what your goals and aims really are and how they fit with your key values. It is also important to set some time dated milestones, to give the feeling of early momentum in the coming year.

Unfortunately conventional appraisals often do not fulfil this desire to develop or how to make the job rewarding if people are thinking of leaving.

Solutions to this are:

1) Train the management team on how to effectively coach people and ask truly open questions in a way which moves people to a positive action which matches their beliefs and values.

Coaching helps do this, however often people believe they are coaching others when they are actually simply selling them the ideas and goals they want met.

Also it is sometimes difficult for someone to be completely honest and feel free to explore what they want with their immediate manager. Key tips for coaching therefore are:

a) Create rapport. Match the person’s level of energy and only when they are comfortable begin to lead it up if necessary. For example if someone has complaints they need to feel they are listened to and acknowledged in some way, before moving on to asking them for what a solution might be.

b) It is also important to always explain what is involved in the process and that the onus is on the person being coached to come up with the answers. This is especially important if the one doing the coaching is a direct line manager.

c) The person doing the coaching must have the mindset that the person being coached has all the resources they need to come to good decisions. Otherwise they will often give away the fact they want a particular answer to a question through body language and voice tone.

2) Get outside help.

This can be a matter of letting key staff have mentors from outside their team or unit, using professional coaches, or making the coaching and developing of staff a key part of someone’s job in the same way that training often is.

Giving people a hand to help resolve issues, focus on the positive and make good resolutions that are actually kept goes a long way to having staff that are confident they are in the right job and therefore have a strong desire to do well.

The coach also often gets a wider perspective on company issues which prove to be valuable.

Authentic Coaching

2009-09-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

I have recently been asking myself if it is possible to be an authentic coach.

The CIPD defines coaching as "developing a person’s skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, leading to the achievement of organisational objectives. It targets high performance and improvement at work, although it may also have an impact on an individual’s private life." http://bit.ly/ei0PI

I agree with the CIPD definition but would add the worlds of business and life are never separate, they always overlap and coaching will have an overlapping impact. Coaching should not become counselling but you have to take the persons life as a whole life into account.

Coaches are trained to be non judgemental and respectful of others models of the world. To enable this clean language is used and coaches keep their opinions and personal models out of the coaching session.

I define being an authentic coach by being true to who you think you should be coaching and why. It also means giving an opinion when asked, and that might be uncomfortable for the person being coached to hear. There is also an element of allowing your own life story to become part of the dynamic, within reason. After all storytelling and metaphor are powerful methods of enabling change when used respectfully.

I can't get no satisfaction

2009-08-06T00:56:00.000-07:00

I am looking to buy a house at the moment and it strikes me that despite the recession supposedly focusing everyone on best practice, the art of customer service seems to still be missing from a lot of organisations.

The housing market in the South East is going through a bit of a bubble at the moment where demand outstrips supply. Estate agents who a year ago would bite your hand off as a buyer are now seemingly unable to return calls, be accommodating with viewing times or keep you in the picture of what is happening.

Some of this will undoubtedly be down to a lot of agencies having cut staffing right back in the slump and those left simply can’t cope with the sudden peak in demand and are running around like headless chickens.

Some of it will also be about attitude. There is a human tendency to take anything readily available for granted. Also the high commission ration means that agents focus on the deals going through, not the whole process around them.

If you know buyers are going to be keen and motivated it’s easy to think “well if they are that keen they should chase me. “
I have seen the same thing happen in the recruitment market. Not long ago the candidate was king and consultants would fall over themselves to chase them to take jobs. Now there are few jobs clients are suddenly being the ones chased and candidates can feel a bit left out in the cold.
This is short term thinking and leaves us as a society bemoaning the standards we receive from many organisations.

True some companies get it right. We have had excellent service from the agents selling our house. And so did prospective buyers. So what is it that makes the difference?
Those managing should pay attention to the service all customers receive. If there is a group getting less than satisfactory service then urgently put in a method of correcting that. Training staff on the golden rules of customer service should be a priority.

Business that employ sales staff but have cut back on admin staff, training, bonuses and perks during the recession, should not automatically expect staff to remain motivated to provide good customer service. This motivation needs to be generated.

Leaders need to make it a priority to be finding out what customers think of the service they are getting as most will not complain to you, they simply won’t use you next time they want to sell or buy, they will not recommend you to others and at worst will actively recommend others don’t use you. Those companies that build long term loyalty are the ones most likely to survive long term.

Managing on autopilot

2009-07-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

Having taken a paternity break recently I came back to running my business with a fresh set of eyes.

Often having a break can do that. Its like driving with the sat nav off. You have to pay attention to signs and often you also find yourself enjoying the journey.

When I drive with the sat nav on I find myself rushing to beat the time it says it should take me on the journey and looking more at the sat nav than the road. Is this wise?

Also the sat nav takes me on a route that I know isn't the best as I have more local knowledge of congestion and effective shortcuts.

It can be similar when managing.

Systems and procedures and appraisal guidelines are all there to help the manager in the right direction, but sometimes it becomes too easy to just follow the rules and systems, even when they don't really make sence.

Sometimes it is worth switching the auto pilot off.

You may find a better way of getting to your goal and even enjoy the journey more. Just don't be too stubborn to go back to the sat nav if you happen to get lost along the way!

Toby

http://www.hazelbranch.co.uk/

Getting on with it.

2009-04-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting article today on people holding themselves back by not the fear of failure but the fear of success. http://www.women-unlimited.co.uk/whats-holding-you-back/

This is classic procrastination; actively deciding not to do something until a later time. However this later time is often unspecified, and so never seems to come.

Procrastination has many sources but can often be a result of feelings of anxiety, based on a perceived threat to your self esteem resulting from you doing a task.

Avoiding these possibilities by putting off doing the task works in the short term, but obviously leaves you with the longer term consequence of job dissatisfaction.

In order to tackle procrastination it is therefore important to look at both practical and psychological aspects.

Practical Steps

On the practical side it helps to have a well organised action plan, written down.
By breaking tasks down into bite sized chunks with short deadlines for completion of stepping stone tasks you can focus on these.

Key points:

· Ensure the tasks are made smaller and therefore less daunting and there is a pace to the completion of them to give momentum.
· The deadlines need to be tight as this creates urgency.
· There should be a consequence for not completing to give some motivation. For example, denying yourself the chance to go out Friday night if you haven’t done the task.
· Make a public commitment to your plan of action as well. Going through your planned actions with someone else and agreeing to meet up again to review how you got on is often a strong motivator.
· Celebrate when you have completed a task, even if it’s just by making yourself a nice cup of tea and patting yourself on the back.

Adjusting you attitude

It is as important to recognise how you create the feelings that lead to procrastination in the first place.

You subconsciously chose to give certain meanings to events and actions. For example:

“If I am turned down from this job it means I am no good for it.” Result = you don’t apply.

“ I have to make this application perfect” Result = you never compete it.

Key points

· Start noticing if you are thinking like this whilst procrastinating.
· Think about where these beliefs come from.
· Challenge the meanings you give to the events and actions and see if there could be a more useful belief.

Challenging meanings:

“If I am turned down for a job it means I am no good for it” – Ask yourself, “ How do you know this is true? What else cold it mean?”

“ I have to make this application perfect” Ask yourself “What is perfect? Is that realistic? Could it be better to do something 80% well and in good time rather than getting it in too late?”

Analysing and challenging how you create anxiety will help reduce it.

Also think about what attitude you want to have and what would be most useful.

An attitude like,

“I will enjoy the challenge of finding a new career and take pleasure from the fact it will involve some hard work, as the end result will even more rewarding”

can be a more useful frame of mind than say

“ I really want to change jobs but I didn’t realise it would be so hard.”

Acceptance that you need to forgo some more pleasurable short term activities to crack on with those jobs in hand can help stop you finding excuses for why you haven’t done anything about it.

What next?

If you find yourself in the situation where you have been putting things off, make sure you take some time out to talk the situation through with someone else, and work out how you can best avoid procrastinating in the future. That in itself is a very useful first step.
Just remember to sort that out now.

Please call me back.

2009-04-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

I was reminded this morning how I used to get frustrated by people not coming back to me if I emailed or left a message. Well that's an understatement. I used to see it as a personal offence and affront and get angry if it repeatedly happened.

I had emailed a client last week to get his objectives for the coaching session we are having this afternoon. I hadn't heard back so rather than get frustrated left a calm message again just checking he was up for the session and prepared.

Over the years though I have managed to reframe lack of response it and see it from another point of view.

There have been times when I have forgotten to get back to people as I was very busy. Also I guess when I was a busy director at a large organisation I presumed the onus was on others to get back to me or chase me up.

The fact that others do this to me is therefore not a slight but a simple fact of life.

Yes it would be preferable if we all managed to get back to others in a timely manner, but most people don't forget to get back to others out of spite, it just reflects the nature of life now.

People can receive so many emails/ phone calls / texts and now blogs and twitters that they simply couldn't get back to all of them.

Also if I am asking someone for business it is up to me to follow them up. I can't expect them to chase me!

By accepting that people forget or don't see it as their priority allows me to lead a less stressed out life and frame it as eustress, or positive stress http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress .

This allows me to be proactive in pursuing those relationships and contacts I value.

I just received a text from my client saying he did email back, and he is looking forward to our session. Better check my junk emails!

Learning to Innovate

2009-03-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

I deliver management training and coaching to a number of organisations and it has been interesting to see how differently organisations have reacted to the change in economic fortunes.

One approach has been to push those left in the organisation to work harder, picking up the slack of those made redundant and putting in more hours to drive up productivity. This often has a positive short term effect of getting more done with less cost, but arguably is not a sustainable over a longer period of time. Those of Generation Y will certainly kick hard against a newly imposed micro management and managers need to be thinking as much now of how to engage and inspire as they ever did. See more about Generation Y motivators at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640395,00.html

A move towards transactional rather than transformational style of management has also been apparent. A reliance on having people motivated by simply being scared they will lose their job and being ever more closely told what to do will surely be counterproductive if maintained for long. People still have a desire to develop and learn and expand on their roles and if companies want to retain their best people for when the upturn comes they will have to address these needs now.

Some organisations have been making the time to step back and look at how they might be innovative in terms of the services or products they offer, how they now need to sell them. This includes getting ideas from all parts of the organisation. People like to feel they can contribute.

I was reading on the news pages of the BBC how a garden center is blooming as it is now selling 300% more grow your own products than last year. Capitalising on trends is a good example of how innovation doesn't have to be revolutionary, but must be relevant. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7970639.stm

Those who are thinking the most creatively are the best placed to succeed. Having a structured way to think of ideas, plan the implementation and critique their effectiveness is a bonus at any time. Now it could be critical.

To find out more log on to http://www.hazelbranch.co.uk/