Slacker Manager

June 22nd, 2008

Sunday Link Love

I typically don’t post anything on Sunday’s because most people don’t read Slacker Manager on Sundays, but today I thought I’d mix it up a bit and see what happens. I’m calling this Sunday Link Love, and I’ll give it a try the next few weeks to see if it’s worth doing. Like any good manager, I’m open to new ideas and new ways of doing business, all in the sake of science of course.

HRM Today - This is a new site for HR professionals and managers that aggregates a lot of great content. There are sections on Talent Management, Recruiting, and Training and Development. I’ve subscribed, and I look forward to sharing some of the articles with you here along with my thoughts on them. Lots of articles to learn from here.

Be 10 Times More Productive - ProBlogger Darren Rowse wrote quite an article on how to be 10 times more productive, by batch processing. While this idea wasn’t new information, it was concise and offers a great starting point to a more productivie life.

Free book on Execution - OK, so it’s not execution book like 34 Ways to Hang Your Neighbor Without Hardly Trying. Instead, it’s a “how to get more done in your business by starting an Execution Revolution” book! Click the link, enter the code START in the coupon box and you can get a free copy of the latest book by Gary Harpst called Execution Revolution. I got a galley of this book and though I haven’t yet finished it, what I read thus far has been nothing short of outstanding. Thanks to Skip Reardon for not giving up on me! Limited to the first 5000 requestors.

Top secret tech help -If you are looking to tune your computer up before summer kicks into full swing, head over and get you some top secret tech help. Just read and follow the directions, and you’ll be more productive with your home computer than ever before!

What are you doing on this Sunday? Is this worthwhile for you, or was this just a waste of my time? Leave me a comment below and help me figure out if I should do this again. Thanks!

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 4 comments

June 21st, 2008

Business Book Zingers: Know Can Do!

5 Zingers - Know Can Do: Put Your Know-How Into Action.

by David Zinger

1. Know Can Do!was written by Ken Blanchard, Paul J. Meyer, and Dick Ruhe. The book answers the question why don’t we do what we know we can and should do?
2. Because of information overload we don’t put our know-how into action.
3. Let me repeat this: repetition is the key to overcoming each of the reasons people don’t do what they know (p. 10)…repetition is the key to overcoming each of the reasons people don’t do what they know (p. 10).
4. A good quote more or less: People should learn less more and not more less (p. 21).
5. Read this book to overcome your 3 potential learning hurdles: information overload, negative filtering, and lack of follow up.

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By David Zinger -- 0 comments

June 20th, 2008

Be Specific When Praising: Fast Feedback Tip

Wondering why your praise isn’t getting results? Take this quick quiz.

Quick quiz:

Does your feedback sound like this:

You’re doing a great job Joe! Keep it up!

Or this:

Thanks for working an extra hour the last 3 nights to finish up that tough project. Now that it’s out on time, our customers will be 31% more efficient, which will make the firm as a whole more profitable.

When someone on your team does something well, instead of a generic attaboy or attagirl, or look for the specific quality that was done well and thank them for that, along with it’s impact to the bottom line. Focus on the behavior exhibited instead of the person as a whole, and you’ll be much more successful with your praise. Specific feedback leads to specific results.

Thanks to Eric Eggerston for reminding me about this important management tip.

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 4 comments

June 19th, 2008

The Sport of Management: You Make the Call!

If management was a sport what sport would it be?

by David Zinger

Do you ever compare management or the workplace to a sport?

Management is like rugby. My son and daughter play rugby. This is not as popular a sport in Canada as hockey, football, or soccer. I thought rugby had a lot in common with management and work. It is very fluid and changing, for a beginner or fan it is a challenge to understand, as you watch more or play more you appreciate some of the intricacies of the game, and at times you never know what will come out of the scrum.

Is management like: baseball, darts, hockey, football, bowling, mountain climbing, soccer, marathons, track and field, ringette, biathlon, volleyball, golf, basketball, luge, cricket, triathlon, boxing, polo, stock car racing, or some other sport?

Click here or on the button question image below to complete this one question one minute management survey:

Compare management to a sport.

Explain why you chose your specific sport.

For example: management is like running a marathon - you need to be in good shape, it seems to go on forever, and you feel so good after you do it well.

I encourage you to be playful and have some fun with this.

Go ahead, be a sport, what sport do you think is like management and why?

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By David Zinger -- 0 comments

June 18th, 2008

Don’t Quit and Stay: Train Your Team in Spite of Turnover

After 4 and a half years of nearly zero turnover on the team I manage, only 4 associates out of the 7 I started the year with are still working for me, with 1 leaving in 6 weeks and 1 splitting her time between my team and another team. Some managers I’ve talked to who also manage level 1 (some might call them entry level) associates told me I shouldn’t waste my time training my team, because the turnover I experienced this year is far more normal than the previous 4.5 years of stability.

I don’t care! I’m going to train them anyway, whether they turn over each year or not. As I see it, I have four options.

1. Train them and they leave – If I train someone and they leave, at least I’ve gotten some production out of them when they were at their best and when they had learned what they need to know about their position.
2. Train them and they stay – I call this the perfect situation, with someone who has learned the job and does it well, and sticks around to get promoted on my team, or to continue to challenge themselves by learning new things and sharing their knowledge with others.
3. Don’t train them and they leave – This is a tough one for me. If folks leave and they didn’t get training, why did they leave? Was it because they didn’t get training, or because they found something better somewhere else? Folks typically aren’t 100% honest on their exit interview, so this is the worst of all worlds, because the potential might have been there for a #2, where they might have stuck around.
4. Don’t train them and they stay – If #2 is the perfect situation, this is the WORST of all worlds. Someone you don’t train and that sticks around anyway is someone I don’t want on my team. These are the folks I call the “quit and stay” folks: They don’t really care what their job entails, and they don’t really want to learn it. They are just happy to have a job, and as long as you don’t challenge them too much, they’ll keep coming to work.

As I see it, I’ve got no choice but to train my folks and hope that they stick around long enough for me to get some amount of highly productive time for them.

What do you think?

What options do you have for training your folks?

What do you do for training as a manager if you’ve got high turnover?

Create your own Einstein photos at heteheel.com

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 3 comments

June 17th, 2008

Management: Are you ready for the Red Monkey?

Jef Staes wrote, My Organisation is a Jungle.

Jef outlines red monkey innovation management.

In a future post I will review the book but for now, here are some tidb its Jef sent to me about the Red Monkey:

1. A Red Monkey is an idea, not a person
2. A Red Monkey is  most of the time born out of a conversation  (open innovation) between different  ecosystems ( organizations, companies, ages, …)
3. A Red Monkey is controversial and is cause for conflict , if not then it was just an improvement. 
4. Not all Red Monkeys are good ideas by definition, but  real Red Monkeys ought to get a chance at survival
5. Red Monkeys are killed by Red Monkey Hunters, and created by Red Monkey Breeders
6. A Red Monkey that survives  a conflict results in innovation
7. Most of today’s organisations aren’t build to be sympathetic to Red Monkeys

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By David Zinger -- 0 comments

June 16th, 2008

Poaching Passive Job Seekers with a Business Card

The Unofficial Apple Weblog reports Apple’s newest way of hiring great employees is by poaching them from other companies. A business card Apple’s recruiters give out says simply:

You’re amazing. We should talk.

That’d get me to at least make a phone call to set up a lunch meeting to learn more about the opportunity.

I’m thinking in this down economy that many folks are feeling under-appreciated, undervalued, and probably even underpaid. This small gesture by someone you’ve just met who says “you’re amazing” might be just the ticket out of that dead end job…if you’re amazing.

OK, so it’s not just this cool business card that gets Apple great folks. It’s also a culture of innovation, and some really cool products.

How can you put this into your management briefcase to create the best possible team?

First, always be on the lookout for stars. If you’re a manager who values customer service skills, talk up your local coffee barista, grocery bagger, or waiter. See what they’d rather be doing, find out what their experience is, and determine if you can help them find something in that field, preferably on your team.

Second, always have your business cards handy just in case. You never know when someone might know someone who needs a job doing what you need them to do. A pocketful of business cards can come in handy to share with a potential candidate.

Third, attend events in your field and talk about your great team when you hand out your card. Passive job seekers might not come right out and tell you they’re looking for work, but when they do get unhappy with their current role, they’ll remember you as the manager with the great team and see if you have anything open. I’ve interviewed quite a few people this way, and if you have a great team, why not brag about them.

What do you think? Are there better ways to get great folks with your business cards?

Thanks to Brains on Fire for sharing this.

Flick photo credit to oooh.oooh

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 4 comments

June 14th, 2008

Go Far in Fargo: Jodee Bock and Bigger Small Talk

Find your Community and Genius in Fargo

by David Zinger 

Many have watched Fargo, the movie, but have you experienced the community of Fargo?

Jodee Bock created and facilitated an incredible 2 day event in Fargo this past week.

Day 1: An open space day where a strong community of learners worked together to create bigger small talk. It was wonderful to see the power of the community define their needs and offer their perspectives, insights, solutions, opinions, and voice. The day demonstrated the power of trust and the power of Jodee to express her genius: Inviting Dialogue.

Day 2: Was a day facilitated by Dick Richards on help us each find our genius. this was based on Dick’s book: Is Your Genius at Work? Dick is a genius who lets us learn that we are all geniuses. He powerfully helped people to begin the process of finding a two word perspective on their genius. Dick was marvelous at eliciting growth and development and the work of naming our geniuses in two words composed of a gerund and a noun. There was lots of taxing mental work woven with strong interaction and Dick’s unique perspectives and insights.

Learning to be a more real manager. As managers we must become more comfortable with community and dialogue. It will greatly assist us to know our genius and to recognize the genius in the people we manage. I believe attending these two days would help you develop your authentic leadership and management perspective.

Next year. Jodee Bock plans to conduct this next year. I have three words of advice: Don’t miss it!

Expanding connections. By the way, I didn’t quite capture my genius during the workshop. I mulled it over all the way back to Winnipeg, about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive including crossing over the United States/Canadian border. I was two blocks away from home and my two word genius entered my consciousness: Expanding Connections. Watch for a greater sense and expression of expanding connections in the future from this writer.

Thank you. To Jodee, Dick, and all the other participants during both days, thank you for creating a better appreciation of Fargo and thank you for deepening my own sense of self fused with community. I know you know it, but it is always worth saying it: you are a great bunch of geniuses.

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By David Zinger -- 4 comments

June 13th, 2008

One Key to “Uncrankiness”

Guest article from Wayne Turmel, Cranky Middle Manager, and president of Great Web Meetings

I’ve been doing a lot of interviews and speaking on the subject of middle management lately and there’s one thing that emerges time and time again- the key to becoming uncranky is usually in the manager’s control.

I know it seems like a paradox - I mean let’s face it, most of what makes us cranky involves other people. The folks upstairs want you to hit certain metrics but won’t approve the budget for reasonable requests to help get there. An unmotivated workforce (often de-motivated by the inconsistent or thoughtless actions of those above you) isn’t executing. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to deal with confusing, often contradictory edicts from above, and it doesn’t mean that if you do your job perfectly all your direct reports will fall in line… as nice as that would be.

No, the key (and it’s, as a friend of mine likes to say, simple but not easy) is to take control of the things you can control.

Your team is spread out around the country- maybe even the world. You want them to get together- let’s face it, teams that know each other can be much more effective. (Of course, LIKING each other helps too and that’s often easier to do over a bottle of something chilled).

Let’s say your people need training on a certain process. You can request budget to include your team at the next annual meeting- finance people are soooooo understanding about stuff like that. Or you can ask the nice lady from HR to schedule a training session… between scheduling, travel, vendor selection and budget you should have that in time for the Olympics - in London in 2012.

What you have to do is take control of the things you can control with as little budget impact as possible. Fortunately there are several tools that allow you to communicate easily and quickly and- maybe best of all- at very little injury to the operational budget.

Maybe you can’t get everyone together for a meeting, but web meetings are a reasonable alternative, if they’re well planned and executed. Platforms like Dimdim and others are free or nearly so, and don’t put the strain on the IT processes that a lot of the bigger platforms do. There are also telephony services like Skype (free audio and video conferencing between people with accounts), instant messaging, and many others.

Can’t get budget approval for training? You probably have subject matter experts on your team, let them take charge of one of these meetings for a short session. Your people will be up and doing whatever it is before the charming folks in Finance even get that spread sheet built.

Rather than wait for the organization to get its act together… do what you can within your own sphere of influence and then share the results! It sounds like more work than a good Slacker Manager should have to do, but then it’s a whole lot less stressful and crankiness-inducing than trying to get someone above you to approve it or even understand what you’re trying to accomplish. Take little objectives, meet them and move on to the next one before your boss even knows what’s happening.

Details on Webinar:

• Thursday, June 26^th, 11 AM Eastern Time
• “The Freedom to Manage: Guerilla managing your remote team your way”
• Go to www.dimdim.com and click on Featured Meetings to register.

Are you tired of waiting for approval from the folks upstairs for budget to manage your remote team the way you want to manage it? The nice lady from HR won’t approve your training request? We’re going to look at 4 ways managers of remote teams can take control of things and help their team work better at little or not cost.

Anyone managing teams across time zones or leading virtual projects (all the responsibility and none of the financial authority) will find something of use and you’ll learn from managers around the world as well.

Just go to www.dimdim.com and give them your email address. You’ll receive your invitation via email. I look forward to seeing you there!

This is a guest article from Wayne Turmel, host of the Cranky Middle Manager podcast, and president of Great Web Meetings

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 0 comments

June 12th, 2008

The Results From Management Strong Stuff

Strength impoverishment in our workplaces.

by David Zinger

Assessing the poverty of strengths in the workplace. Here are the results from my latest management strength survey.

• 55% of people have had no strength training
• 18% of participants spent less than 1/5 of their day using their strengths
• only 9% of participants spent over 4/5ths of their day using their strengths.
• 28% of respondents report being able to spend beyond 60% of their time using their strengths.
• only 3 out of 10 managers are working from their strengths a majority of the time.

Actual strengths. The list of their greatest strength at work was somewhat vague. Communication, organization, problem solving, and knowledge were most frequently cited strengths. I believe managers would benefit from more detail and a sharper focus on their strengths (see the list of strengths listed at the end of this post).

My two favorite strength responses were: Making complexity comprehensible and sleeping through the noise!

Conclusion. We still have a long way to go to create a strength based workplace.

• 55.8% of the respondent have not had any training while 44.2% had at least some training in strengths.

Question 2. What percentage of the working day do you use your strengths at work?

• 18% spent less that 1/5 of their day using their strengths
• 18% spent between 1/5 to 2/5ths of their day on strengths
• 36% spent between 2/5ths and 3/5ths of their day using their strengths
• 19% spent 3/5ths to 4/5ths of their day on strengths
• 9% spent over 4/5th of their day using their strengths

Question 3. What is your greatest strength at work? (the list is in alphabetical order as provided by the participants in the survey.

ability to make decisions
Ability to Solve Problems.
Adaptability
analysis
analysis: finding patterns
Analytical Thinking
Analytics
Analyzing
calculations
calm
Calming people down to get to the root of a problem
coding
Commitment to get the job done right
common sense
communicating complex information
communicating requirements
communication
communication
communication
Communication
Communication
Communication skills
communication?
Course of Action Analysis / Planning
Creativity/Problem solving
customer relations
deadline work
decision making
Direct Work
don’t know
Employee Relations
Enabling people to understand their strengths and how to use them
encouragement and leadership
Excel skills
EXPERIENCE
Finding Solutions and Strategic Planning
Focus
Going home on time
Humor
humour
innovation
Integration of Ideas
interpersonal skills
intimidation
justice
Knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge
knowledge
knowledge of product
Lateral Thinking
Leadership
Leadership
leadership
leading groups in short-term goals - and as a musician
listening
Listening
Listening
listening
Logical Analysis
Making complexity comprehensible
Manage by walking around
management
managing
Multi-tasking
My focus on the needs of the customers
Organisation
organization
organization
Organization
Organization
Patience
Patience
patiences
perspective
planning design
positive attitude
Priority Setting
proactivity
problem solving
problem solving
Problem solving
problem solving
problem solving
Problem-solving
Process Improvement
procrastination
promoting other people’s strengths
Relating to people at their level to help them develop
relationship building
relationship mgmt
sales
seeing a problem & starting the process of root cause solution implementation
seeing how things can be done
SEO
SEO
setting priorities
simplifying
sizing up people
sleeping through the noise
speed
Strategy
team building
Technical Depth
Technology
Technology
tenacity
Too many to name
Troubleshooting
Understanding people
unknown
Vision

What conclusions or thoughts do you have after looking at these “strong results?”

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By David Zinger -- 8 comments

June 11th, 2008

Slacker Manager Listed as Top Management/Leadership Blog: Management Lesson Inside

According to the editors of HRWorld.com, Slacker Manager is one of the top management and leadership blogs. I am very flattered to count this blog among the great ones, and I do think David and I do a very good job of offering a unique look at management, leadership, and productivity. Our inclusion is listed as this: “With pictures, funny lists and useful tips, this slacker blog works hard to keep you interested.” Thanks!

What concerns me about this list is that the editors of HRWorld.com didn’t do nearly enough homework on the blogs they listed, and listed some blogs that aren’t active any longer and other blogs that aren’t blogs. If I were to guess, someone plugged in the terms leadership and management into a search engine and they posted what they found.

For instance #37 is my partner at Slacker Manager, David Zinger. David writes a GREAT blog on employee engagement at http://davidzinger.com Unfortunately the link they listed points to http://zingeronleadership.blogspot.com which has been dormant since October of 2007. In fact, the last post on David’s old site points folks directly to the new home.

Another example: October 2007’s Golden Slacker winner, Rosa Say, is listed at #9 with Say Leadership Coaching, the front page of her leadership company. A better choice might have been Managing with Aloha, the companion site for her book of the same name, or better still, Talking Story, where Rosa and others “talk story” about leadership, learning and much more.

There are probably more that aren’t correct, and to be honest, I’m a little disappointed. Some well meaning editors took the time to compile this list, send me a link congratulating me on my inclusion, and then they only did a halfway job on the list. What could have been a big honor seems only half as great as it could be.

On the brighter side, many of the blogs they list are new to me, so I’ll have plenty of new folks to learn from. I encourage you to check out the complete list of all the top 100 leadership and management blogs and see for yourself which blogs are worthwhile and which ones are worthless.

Here’s the management lesson: If you’re going to give someone an honor, make it an honor worth their time to accept. If you compare your existing associates with associates that are no longer in your firm or no longer in that position, don’t be surprised if they aren’t as happy as you expected them to be with the honor.

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 3 comments

June 10th, 2008

Employee Customer Care Matters: Interview with Sybil Stershic

If you’re a people manager, then you know taking care of your people is the most important thing you can do. You know that you can’t get work done without the people you serve and yet many organizations don’t invest any time or money in employee customer care. I had been looking for a good book about this for quite a while, so when I was offered a chance to review Taking Care of the People Who matter most: A Guide to Employee Customer Care, I hoped this book would be worth reviewing.

Not only was it worth reviewing, but the author is an amazing individual who I was fortunate enough to spend 45 minutes chatting with the author on the phone, learning more than is even offered in this great book.

Today I am delighted to share Sybil Stershic with you in a rough transcript of our conversation. If you read all the way to the end, you’ll get discount code to get you 20% off the price of the book. FYI: The audio file isn’t ready just yet, but I’ll share it with you as soon as it is. And I’ll be doing a full book review shortly as well.

Phil: Sybil, why are you so passionate about this internal marketing and employee customer care?

Sybil: Because I want to create a better workplace committed to both employee- and customer satisfaction.

Phil: Your book is called Taking Care of the People Who matter most: A Guide to Employee Customer Care. What does that mean?

Sybil: It’s based on the impact employees have on customers; namely, the way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers!

Phil: Sounds so simple to me. Tell me…Why don’t more organizations do this?

Sybil: There are a few reasons for this.

1. Benign neglect — With everything managers have to do these days, it sometimes falls through the cracks. Companies forget the ongoing need to communicate where employees fit in the scope of the organization and what is expected of them in helping the organization achieve its goals (assuming management remembers to share the company’s direction!).
2. Employees just don’t know where they fit into the organization
3. New employees get a lot of attention, but after employees have been on the job for a while, when do they get the reinforcement of where they fit in the scope and what they do contributes to the bottom line. How can you expect employees help an organization move towards success if they don’t know what to do or how they fit in? Annual performance review is one time to reinforce this, but how can you do this more often?
4. Arrogance is another reason. It’s like a “Field of Dreams” approach to management: tell employees their the company’s greatest asset and they’ll act the part.

Phil: What’s your favorite story of a company who does get it?

Sybil: Wood Dining Services gets it! I walked into the HQ, and they had a wall of fame. Anytime the CEO got a letter from a customer/vendor/partner complimenting an employee, that went up on the wall of fame. President of the organization (Bob Wood) would call the employee, make a fuss, call HR, and put it up on the wall.

At the monthly staff orientations, they welcome new employees, and they also talk about the values of the organization, how they focused on their employees as well as their customers.

My favorite story is this: The CEO spent 60-70% of his time in the field, and did a LOT of recognition, to catch people doing something right. He carried plastic gold pineapple pins, and go back in the kitchen, catch them doing something right, and hand them a plastic pineapple. I think these pins cost 47 cents, but these people thought they were getting a pile of gold. This was successful because everyone wants to be part of something — to feel that they are valued, that they made a difference. To the degree we can celebrate our people, that’s our greatest weapon, our greatest tool.”

Phil: Celebrating our people. So simple, yet so under done.

Phil: So Sybil, what’s the best tip you can share for managers who want to put this into practice?

Sybil: Here are a few.

• Ask them the questions of what’s happening, are you getting the tools & information you need to do your job, what gets in the way of serving customers and how can we improve, listening, and asking them what will help
• Listen
• Respond
• Hold face-to-face staff meetings; many do this via e-mail because it’s much more convenient. It’s a chance for everyone to get together and talk about everything. Hold them at least once a month.
• Have top down communication but a bottom up response

Phil: What are some other resources we can use for employee customer care?

Sybil: There are LOTS of books and blogs out there. I’ll share a few of my favorites.

Blogs:

• Forum for people performance management and measurement
• David Zinger’s Employee Engagement Network

My 3 favorite books:

• The Customer Comes Second by Hal Rosenbluth
• Love ‘em or Lose ‘em by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans
• Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Performance by Rajendra Sisodia, David Wolfe, and Jag Sheth (beyond internal marketing, passion and performance

One other recommendation: Find people who work at the Fortune 100 best companies or seek out those companies that never make the list and them what NOT to do!

Phil: What is internal marketing all about in 1 word

Sybil: It’s the L-word. No, it’s NOT love. It’s Leadership

Phil: What did I miss?

Sybil: Remember that internal marketing is NOT a program, it’s an ongoing effort. It’s not a flavor of the week, it MUST be done sincerely.

Phil: Thanks Sybil. Where can we get more from you and your work?

Sybil: You can find my blog at http://www.qualityservicemarketing.blogs.com or pick up a copy of Taking Care of the People Who matter most: A Guide to Employee Customer Care at WME Books.

One last note to remember:

Customers are also internal, you must take care of other employees

Connect – critical connections –

Need to connect employees:

• to the organization (e.g., Where they fit in and what’s expected of them)
• to the customers (so they can take better care of them)
• and to other employees (connect with other employees/co-workers to create a sense of empathy and teamwork).

Strengthening these connections conveys & reinforces a sense of common purpose, a sense of belonging and being part of something special.

Phil: Thanks so much Sybil! So much to learn and so much to DO as a manager!

Special offer: If you order Taking Care of the People Who matter most: A Guide to Employee Customer Care from WME Books, and enter code 107VBT, you can take 20% off.

To read more from the virtual book tour with Sybil, check out these great posts:

Phil Gerbyshak wants to know: What tips do YOU have to increase employee engagement? Which tips did Sybil share that resonated the most with you?

Pictures all courtesy of Sybil Stershic

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By Phil Gerbyshak -- 4 comments

June 9th, 2008

Genie Power: The 3 Wishes of Management

What if you could grant 3 wishes…

by David Zinger

Click here or on the wishbones above and take 2 minutes to be transformed into a management Genie. Grant 3 wishes for managers:

1. The wish you would grant for the people you manage.
2. The wish you would grant for the organization.
3. The wish you would grant for yourself.

Go ahead Genie, do it now.

I will provide an overview of the wishes granted in 2 weeks.

Photo Credit: Wishbones by Comparison by http://flickr.com/photos/carbonnyc/305400890/

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By David Zinger -- 0 comments

June 7th, 2008

A Personal Assistant: Shorten Your Working Hours with Longer Days

Do you need Longer Days?

I was invited a number of weeks ago to try out Longer Days. Longer Days is a personal assistant company. I was provided with 15 hours to see what I thought of it. My experience was very positive and I am convinced that I will make use of a virtual assistant in the future.

I had them help with with mailing lists, address lists, newsletter lists, and RSS development. The service was both fast and professional.

My challenge was to determine how to manage the service and I would encourage you to determine what you need your assistant to do for you. Over the summer I will look at work and work flows and determine my best use of an assistant.

As a manager it avoids such time consuming activities as searching for and hiring an assistant and then working on payroll and other factors. You also have more than one person who can provide you with services, so you don’t have to worry about someone calling in sick and being stuck without help.

You can have a virtual assistant for as few as 5 hours a month or request more hours to get a better rate. If you have not used a virtual assistant I encourage you to try it out.

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By David Zinger -- 2 comments

June 6th, 2008

Employee Engagement Book Tour: Coming June 10th

Employee engagement is one of the most important things you need to understand to become a great manager. It’s something David and I are extremely passionate about unpacking and teaching back.

This week I was fortunate to talk to Sybil Stershic, author of the amazing book Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most, and I’ll be bringing Sybil’s interview to you on June 9th.

As a prelude to Sybil’s arrival here, I thought you might want to see where else Sybil has stopped on her virtual book tour and learn a little more about her and her outstanding book.

• Toby Bloomberg of Bloomberg Marketing
• Chris Bailey of The Alchemy of Soulful Work
• Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts
• Ken Burns at Burns Blog Attitude

And coming soon:

• Becky Carroll of Customers Rock!
• Paul Hebert of Incentive Intelligence
• And yours truly (Phil Gerbyshak) of Slacker Manager

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