1. What things do you like to do to ensure you have fun at work?
2. Can you give an example of a time you have felt most connected to your team mates?
3. Can you tell me about the best boss you’ve ever had and what made them so?
4. What good stuff have you heard about working here?
5. What bad stuff have you heard about working here?
6. What crazy things can you do that you could teach the team (Juggle? Do headstands? Swear in French?)
7. How do you love to be thanked for extra hard work? (Bottle of wine? Lotto ticket? Chocolates? Boss shouting coffee?)
8. If you are having a flat/tired/off day at work, what do you do to get yourself on track? How can I help?
9. What is your bliss? (Mountain biking? Holidaying somewhere exotic? Reading? Sitting in your fave café?)
10. Who do you most admire and why?
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
July 23, 2009
May 8, 2009
8 ways the workplace has changed
1. There seems to be an increased interest in career breaks as no one knows when they'll retire anymore.
2. Workers are having career ‘turning points’ at ages like 25, 40, 50 or 65.
3. Values driven work (i.e. with charities) is being mixed in to their career portfolio.
4. The demands of top talent are:
- to be treated like a member not an employee
- to have values lived not laminated
- that there is direction beyond the top end of a learning curve
- that the employer brand promises are fulfilled
5. There is a lot of talk about the differences between the generations. Some people believe that it is a case of a new ‘career mindset’ rather than it being a generation thing. The argument is that people of all ages have worked in companies that don’t understand them. The new career mindset involves a belief that the past generations paid too high a price for success. Lots of workers these days, regardless of generation are trying to work smarter not harder.
6. Years ago people were quite passive about career planning. They would trust their employer to manage their career and just work hard keeping their head down. They would take opportunities as they presented themselves without a real plan. When such people get made redundant, it is often the first time they've had to think about what they love and what they want in a career.
7. Job sculpting is important. People need to change their thinking from 'I hate my job' into 'this is how I want my job to be' – then get fixing it.
8. Bosses need to focus on different things. Rather than watching people who leave, bosses should watch high performers who are still motivated after a long time, if they start to lose motivation, bosses should focus on fixing whatever changed.
2. Workers are having career ‘turning points’ at ages like 25, 40, 50 or 65.
3. Values driven work (i.e. with charities) is being mixed in to their career portfolio.
4. The demands of top talent are:
- to be treated like a member not an employee
- to have values lived not laminated
- that there is direction beyond the top end of a learning curve
- that the employer brand promises are fulfilled
5. There is a lot of talk about the differences between the generations. Some people believe that it is a case of a new ‘career mindset’ rather than it being a generation thing. The argument is that people of all ages have worked in companies that don’t understand them. The new career mindset involves a belief that the past generations paid too high a price for success. Lots of workers these days, regardless of generation are trying to work smarter not harder.
6. Years ago people were quite passive about career planning. They would trust their employer to manage their career and just work hard keeping their head down. They would take opportunities as they presented themselves without a real plan. When such people get made redundant, it is often the first time they've had to think about what they love and what they want in a career.
7. Job sculpting is important. People need to change their thinking from 'I hate my job' into 'this is how I want my job to be' – then get fixing it.
8. Bosses need to focus on different things. Rather than watching people who leave, bosses should watch high performers who are still motivated after a long time, if they start to lose motivation, bosses should focus on fixing whatever changed.
November 7, 2008
Seize the moment at work!
When I was a kid I had a friend who lived opposite the beach. On hot days we’d cross the road for a dip. My friend’s parents would come to supervise us as there were no life guards around this area. On this particular day, my friends mum decided it was a gorg day, and she too should take a dip. She hadn’t fore planned it so didn’t have her togs. Rather than nip home for them, she stripped off her clothes and trotted into the surf in her bra and knickers. My friend was absolutely mortified (as you are when you are 11) that her mum was wearing nothing but her ‘intimates’ in front of her friend!
I on the other hand thought it was hilarious and lots of fun (as did her hubby who was keeping a pervey watchful eye on his lovely wife from the shore)! I admired her zest for life, the way she ‘seized the moment’ and just did it. Which is why I remember it to this day many years later. So many people are too conservative, shy and ‘sensible’. They don’t act on impulse EVER, they would never get involved in a water balloon fight (their clothes would get wet), they would never schedule something at the last minute as they weren’t ‘prepared’. More people getting involved makes life more fun! Her running into the sea to have fun with us, made the swim so much better. We were laughing and our energy was sky high.
It is the same at the office. Impulse could be the boss doing a random coffee shout on a Friday morning – watch peoples collective energy and motivation soar then! It could be deciding to close early for drinks because there is something to celebrate, or better – just because. It’s about not being scared to break the mould – doing new and different things.
RE: more people getting involved, it can be demonstrated with the boss pulling up their sleeves and getting into it when staff are under pressure. The boss demonstrates they are REALLY part of the team. It is so motivating for workers to see its ‘all for one and one for all’. They see the boss isn’t ‘a cut above’. At the end of the stressful day, the boss really does understand what life was like for the workers.
Where can you harness the energy of impulse and ‘seizing the moment’ in your workplace? (Just don’t strip down to your undies!) What opportunities to do this have you missed in the past?
I on the other hand thought it was hilarious and lots of fun (as did her hubby who was keeping a pervey watchful eye on his lovely wife from the shore)! I admired her zest for life, the way she ‘seized the moment’ and just did it. Which is why I remember it to this day many years later. So many people are too conservative, shy and ‘sensible’. They don’t act on impulse EVER, they would never get involved in a water balloon fight (their clothes would get wet), they would never schedule something at the last minute as they weren’t ‘prepared’. More people getting involved makes life more fun! Her running into the sea to have fun with us, made the swim so much better. We were laughing and our energy was sky high.
It is the same at the office. Impulse could be the boss doing a random coffee shout on a Friday morning – watch peoples collective energy and motivation soar then! It could be deciding to close early for drinks because there is something to celebrate, or better – just because. It’s about not being scared to break the mould – doing new and different things.
RE: more people getting involved, it can be demonstrated with the boss pulling up their sleeves and getting into it when staff are under pressure. The boss demonstrates they are REALLY part of the team. It is so motivating for workers to see its ‘all for one and one for all’. They see the boss isn’t ‘a cut above’. At the end of the stressful day, the boss really does understand what life was like for the workers.
Where can you harness the energy of impulse and ‘seizing the moment’ in your workplace? (Just don’t strip down to your undies!) What opportunities to do this have you missed in the past?
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