Workplace frustrations

A recent USA Today "snapshot" presented results of a survey to 1,200 workers listing their top five workplace frustrations. The results:

1. Poor communication by senior management about the business - 17 percent
2. Office Politics - 16 percent
3. Lack of teamwork - 15 percent
4. The use of politically correct language - 9 percent
5. Nosy co-workers - 6 percent

Let's break them down:

Poor communication about the business

One of primary benefits Barr Corporate Success brings is an immediate focus on identifying the top strategic objectives for a business, and, equally important - communicating and cascading those objectives throughout all levels of the organization. If you don't know how, we do. It's critical that front-line employees have the knowledge, mindset, culture, and tools to bring upper-level initiatives all the way down to customer relations. Front line employees want and need information, and to know what really matters and will contribute to their success by contributing to the company's success.

Office Politics

Politics are no more or no less than an expression of power struggles in poorly defined structures, confusion about objectives, and a lack of trust in co-workers. Teams must have the time, space, and structure to know each other, know what matters, and pursue it cohesively. Individual team members must be held accountable for behavior that divides and sabotages teams. Incentives must be geared toward rewarding all efforts that contribute to the success of the team in meeting defined objectives, even those efforts that are less visible, or harder to measure, and similarly, behavior that rewards the individual but damages the team should not be rewarded. It may sound complex, but Barr Corporate Success has simple, straightforward tools to align your company's systems with its goals, and eliminate the distractions of destructive competition, converting that energy into productive cooperation.

Lack of Teamwork

Teams suffer from a variety of ills, chief among them being a failure to understand that each team needs a diverse group of talents and styles to initiate projects, see to the details, and ensure results. Different work styles bring different strengths and talents. Barr Corporate Success has some amazing programs to foster mutual respect and understanding of what each team member brings to each project, and to the company's long-term goals.

Politically correct language

This listed item, in my opinion, reflects many people's frustration at having their intent misunderstood or mischaracterized. All of us have occasionally misspoken or made an offhand comment that flopped with the audience. When among friends, we speak freely, knowing that others will understand us, call us on something borderline, and give us the benefit of the doubt if we express ourselves badly. But in a business environment, we interact with a much wider group of people with whom we have less in common. That's why offering opportunities for employees to get to know one another on a slightly more personal level, through team-building exercises, can be groundbreaking. It's difficult to get much done if one is watching every word he says, or parsing everything another says, looking for something objectionable. Such an environment lacks trust and understanding, and is poisonous to cooperation. When teams know, understand, and trust each other, miscommunications and frustrations over word choices are much less of a problem -- because they're much more likely to be brought out into the open, and resolved very happily.

Barr Corporate Success has a team-building program that involves personalized assessment of work styles and personal interests, attitudes, and values. When a team sits down together, and understands one another's styles and driving interests, the team as a whole draws together and better appreciates the advantages of diverse talents and styles. Call 513.470.8980 for more information about DISC- and PIAV-based team-building programs.

Nosy Co-workers One person's nosy co-worker is another person's best friend at work. Again, It all comes down to lack of trust, violation of others' boundaries, and different styles. We can help.

It's inspiring and uplifting to know that these top work peeves can be easily solved with the right tools. Imagine how productive your company will be when those frustrations and distractions are out of the way, and every employee's attention is focused on achieving important goals with their teammates.

Warning Signs

To succeed in business at any level, but particularly at the executive level, having a finely tuned radar for who can and who cannot be trusted is critical. Beef up your radar with the following. According to author Mark McCormack in Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age (Viking/Penguin), be especially cautious of those who:

• Rarely do what they say they will.
• Push their work onto you.
• Do not apologize for being late.
• Tell you, "I'm too busy."
• Reject your ideas out-of-hand.
• Won't let you off the hook when you're in a jam.

All the above are indications that a person is concerned only with their own needs, and unwilling or unable to consider other points of view. That rigidity and lack of empathy can indicate a lack of what we would all call, simply, "character," so be on the lookout.

Work-life balance tops pay

To recruit and retain the best workforce, it's important to know what people want. A recent Hudson survey of 1,634 workers who have been in their current positions for at least 5 years ranks the primary reason they accepted their current position. (Please note that respondents were to choose the one most important reason.)

Top Responses

1. Work-life balance and flexibility - 29 percent
2. Compensation - 23 percent
3. Work culture - 13 percent
4. Training opportunities - 5 percent
5. Advancement opportunities - 5 percent

Are your recruiters and advertisements emphasizing advantages that bring the most candidates, and offer what jobseekers are looking for? It's worth a second look.

What spurs innovation?

What is the most important driver of innovation for companies?

Many of us might say that innovation is driven by having the most creative talent on board. But we would be wrong. While it is important to have talented people working with us, an unsupportive environment can quickly turn off the creativity switch, and send our creative people into a defensive posture where they fear making a mistake, feel unsupported, and avoid taking chances -- the backbone of creativity and innovation.

By the numbers, top execs say the important factors in innovation are:

1. Supportive corporate culture (53 percent responding)
2. Top management support (21 percent)
3. Clear processes and measurable goals (13 percent)
4. Creative talent (5 percent)

Source: Textron survey of 150 senior-level executives

The bottom line: Build an environment open to creativity, which drives innovation, and innovation will come.

Barr Corporate Success has the tools and the knowledge to unleash the creativity, enthusiasm, and productivity of your workforce. To discuss your situation and needs, please contact Krissi Barr: krissi@barrcorporatesuccess.com or 513.470.8980.

"The Millenials are Coming" -- Managing Millennials

As if you didn't have enough management challenges, check out this story, from the November 11 broadcast of CBS news' "60 Minutes". Correspondent Morley Safer talks to researchers and analysts about the psychology and outlook of the so-called millenial generation. Be warned: It's a little scary.

"There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they're rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60. They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. [Don't boss them around, or speak to them too harshly...] And if you persist in the belief you can, take your job and shove it."

See? Maybe "scary" is a bit much, but definitely "daunting" and "formidable" when one considers the difference this generation may require in our approaches to management.

Features of this coming generation, according to the story, include:

• Most are hardworking (great!)
• They know and can operate the tools to get things done (also great!)
• They are impressively clever and resourceful (really great!)
• Some of them are absolutely incorrigible(uh-oh)
• "It's their way or the highway. The rest of us are old, redundant, should be retired." (What?!)

Researchers who have studied the millenial generation say a new style of management is required to get results from this cohort of workers.

• "Speak to them a little bit like a therapist on television might speak to a patient."
• "You can't be harsh."
• "You cannot tell them you're disappointed in them. "
• "You can't really ask them to live and breathe the company. Because they're living and breathing themselves and that keeps them very busy."
• "The era of the buttoned down exec happy to have a job is as dead as the three-Martini lunch." "These young people will tell you what time their yoga class is and the day's work will be organized around the fact that they have this commitment. So you actually envy them. How wonderful it is to be young and have your priorities so clear."
• "The flipside of it is how awful it is to be managing the extension, sort of, of the teenage babysitting pool."

Researcher Mary Crane said: "You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just showing up," Crane says.

Safer responded: "To what extent are you having to tell the boomers, the bosses, the 50- to 60-year-olds, 'The people who got to change are you guys, not them?'" Yeah! Why do current managers have to change? What we're doing is working.

Unfortunately, it may not continue to work going into the future. Previous generations are accustomed to doing what it takes to produce results, and if we're dealing with an entire new generation of workers that require a different approach, we're going to have to make some adjustments, apparently.

Crane: "The boomers do need to hear the message, that they're gonna have to start focusing more on coaching rather than bossing. If this generation in particular, you just tell them, 'You got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this.' They truly will walk. And every major law firm, every major company knows, this is the future."

You heard it... coaching rather than bossing. Participative management rather than dictating. Providing guidance and resources, focusing on results rather than methods... basically all the things that my boss, Krissi Barr, has been teaching her clients for years.

Krissi Barr is an expert in coaching. I know, because I work for her. You only have to talk to her, or to me, once to know how motivating and encouraging she is, while not coddling or wasting time with things that make no contribution to the bottom line. As her associate, I (Jodi) wholeheartedly affirm that if anyone can teach other managers how to deal with the millennial generation, it's Krissi Barr.

That's my firsthand recommendation, but you don't have my word for it.

She's trained in and certified to teach Paul Hersey's Situational Leadership program, as well as Coach 4 Success, Will to Win, and many incredibly practical and inspirational techniques. (See bio).

It's not just her curriculum vitae that impresses. Doing the various administrative and professional tasks I do as her "jill-of-all-trades", I've seen her at work, seen what she accompishes with people. After my interview with her, I researched the management and leadership training business as a whole. I came to the conclusion that many people out there are offering, in essence, modern-day "snake oil," and asked her about it. She confirmed, "There are lots of consultants out there. What matters is pull-through."

Over the next few months of assembling client data into spreadsheets, being cc'd on e-mails to her clients, seeing clients recommendation letters and their e-mails of gratitude, I realized that she is the "real deal."

Serious stuff, how she works with clients. The programs are just the start for her.

Krissi didn't just take her training and use it to sell programs -- she trains, but also does follow-up, coaching, and ongoing accountability measurement. She has enough passion for and commitment to the work that she does to follow her clients, ensuring that their new knowledge is ingrained such that it becomes behavior, and even habit, to the benefit of all who have worked with her.

The coming generation of "millennials" will be a challenge to those who are accustomed to the previous generations of direct reports. If you thought Gen X'ers were difficult... well, we're all in for a bumpy ride. If you are already experiencing rough terrain with your teams, whatever their generation, I encourage you to call Krissi (513.470.8980) or e-mail her (krissi@barrcorporatesuccess.com).

Stress Facts:

52% of employees report that they have considered or made a career decision -- such as looking for a new job, declining a promotion, or leaving a job -- based on workplace stress. Leading sources of stress at work are:

• Low salaries - 44 percent
• Heavy workload -- 41 percent
• Lack of advancement opportunities -- 40 percent
• Uncertain job expectations -- 40 percent
• Long hours -- 39 percent

55%

of employees report being less productive at work as a result of stress.

24%

of workers with household incomes under $50,000 report that they manage their stress poorly, versus 15% with incomes of $50,000 or more.

Lower income adults are more likely than those with higher incomes to experience symptoms of stress

• Physical -- 80% versus 74%
• Psychological -- 77% versus 68%
• Including:
• Irritability or anger -- 54% versus 46%
• Feeling nervous or sad -- 50% versus 42%
• Lack of motivation or energy -- 51% versus 40%

Barr Corporate Success can help you design a plan that will not only reduce your work stress, but take your business to the next level. Call Krissi today to find out how! 513-470-8980.

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Going in Circles at 150 MPH

It's one thing to be excited, motivated, and passionate about our work. It's another to be overwhelmed, consumed, out of balance, and in danger of burn-out. Many of us who have a "high sense of urgency" must be on the lookout for the effects of overwork, over-controlling, and allowing work to over-run our lives.

To re-assess and identify some potential fixes, consider the following:

• What would happen if I did less?
• What tasks can only I do? What can I assign to others?
• Is the business running me, or am I running the business?
• What message am I sending to my employees?
• If I fell under a bus, what would happen to the company?
• Is my family suffering because of my job?
• Am I taking care of myself? How is my physical health?

Many of us pay lip-service to the notion of work-life balance, but continue to neglect it.

Don't fall into the trap.

Neglecting your physical health, the state of your family, and the effects that over-work have on you overall actually costs you productivity. It's easy to enter a spiral of diminishing returns by becoming so overtired, stressed, and physically unconditioned that your time becomes less productive. The key is to make sure is that the right steps toward personal and professional success get done. Without a plan, and regular reassessment of your progress, you can get lost in constant busy-ness that does NOT move you closer to your goals.

Check your professional and personal "vital signs," making limited, intermediate goals that contribute to long-term objectives.

Examples of professional vital signs:

• Have lunch with at least one past customer a week.
• Meet with 4 new customers a week.
• Add X prospects to your database a week.
• Reduce your paperwork or admin by X hours a week.
• Sell X dollars/units a week.

Examples of personal vital signs:

• Spend X hours a week reading inspiring or motivational material.
• Exercise one hour 3 days per week.
• Dedicate non-working hours to your family and hobbies, not more work.
• Listen to one self-improvement or motivational CD per week.

Reassess, review, reallocate, recharge and renew -- step back and make sure you're moving in the right direction. Call or e-mail us today for a complete "vital signs checkup"!

Krissi Barr 513-470-8980, krissi@barrcorporatesuccess.com

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