Beth SchaeferJanuary 14, 2025Most Recent Blog, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Stop the World #3 | I Want to Catch Up

Stop the World; I Want to Get Off  Catch Up

Beth Schaefer IPD Director  

stop the world 3 rectangle

This series on Stop the World has been about taking time to do Important and Innovative work.

I know, easier said than done. Time is a limited resource.  Even if you work overtime, you still only have 24 hours in a day.  You cannot create time, but you can control how you spend your time.  This is what is meant by time management.

You may already do some of these time management strategies, but maybe you will be sparked by a new idea or two.  I am presenting these in “David Letterman countdown style” – starting with most difficult for me to practice on a consistent basis and ending with the one I do the most.

#8 – Write Down Process

I find it is easier to delegate tasks or ask for help if the process I use is written down.  It allows me to easily hand off work knowing the person has direction/instructions.  I will not lie; documenting process takes time to do.  Because it takes time, this makes it the most challenging way for me to manage time.  However, once you get some processes defined, it really allows for teamwork.  Others can help you when work piles up, and you can help them when their work piles up. As an added bonus, documented processes used by more than one person have a better chance  being streamlined, and that streamlining absolutely helps you manage time.

#7 – Prioritize

Prioritizing does not help you complete all your work; it just helps you kick some of the work cans down the road, but they are still down there waiting for you.   This is why prioritizing work does not always feel like a time management win.  However, it can be a win because when you keep kicking the work can down the road, these things can happen before you see that can again:

  • Someone else has completed the work
  • The initiative stalls out, and the project manager moves all the due dates to later
  • A new leader comes in, and the whole initiative goes away

Kicking the can is effective if you choose wisely.

#6 – Be Realistic With Your Time

The first step to being realistic with your time is to actually think through how much time it takes you to do tasks.

Does this scenario sound familiar?:

  1. You make a list of things you want to get done that day.
  2. You do not calculate how long the tasks will take and make the assumption they will all get done.
  3. You do not allow time for any “fires” that may occur that day.
  4. As the clock ticks towards 5, you start to panic and decide “what needs to get done” that day.

To combat the end-of-day panic, take a beat to think about how much time a task will take.  For instance, when I facilitate a meeting, I do not just schedule time to run the meeting, but time to prep the meeting, and time to do the meeting follow-up actions.  This technique really emphasizes how much time meetings actually take.  It also makes sure that when you take people’s time for meetings, you are prepared which respects their busyness, and it causes you to think twice about the usefulness of your meetings.

#5 – Get Rid of Meetings

Because meetings are more than the meeting time — they are the prep time, the follow-up communications, the time to get to the meeting (or logged into the virtual meetings), and time for the meeting-after-the-meeting meetings — meetings eat more time than you may realize.  If you attend meetings that are not useful, consider asking your supervisor to let you skip those meetings stating what work you would be able to complete during that time.  If you are the one scheduling all the meetings that have no purpose, well… you know the answer already.

The reason this time-saver is not higher on the list in terms of easy-to-do is because meetings can be more about work completion.  For my remote team, the meeting is about connection that fuels collaboration and support for one another.  The better you understand the purpose of a meeting, the more you can determine the value of the time.  Balance efficiency with relationships.

#4 – Limit Your Time

Time blocking – setting aside a pre-designated block of time for a specific task – can be quite effective for time management on some tasks. Time-blocking a task can help you focus and work more efficiently. (This is your reminder that most research indicates that multi-tasking is a fallacy).  The time pressure can motivate you to persist on challenging tasks.  Time-blocking can be especially helpful on “black hole” activities such as research, cleaning out email, or innovation and idea-generation.  If you reach the end of the time without sufficient progress, then schedule another time-block for another day and move onto other work.

#3 – Do NOT Be a Perfectionist

Those of you who know me well are saying, “Really?” Yes, I am definitely a recovering perfectionist. The pandemic taught me to let go of perfection.  We needed to punt all the time during the pandemic, and people were really gracious when things did not go as planned.  This showed me that perfectionism is overrated. I have learned to embrace the concept of “good enough.”

Let’s be clear – you cannot approach your work with a “whatever” attitude all of the time.  That is just being a slacker.  Good enough is about picking and choosing moments to accept good instead of great. In a Reddit thread, someone suggested prioritizing tasks by thinking about what adds value to customers and what does not.  If a task does not add value to a customer, figure out how to “half-ass” it. This should be used judiciously, but it can still be an effective time management strategy.

#2 – Work From Home When Needed

Working without meetings or messages or interruptions or chit chat at the water cooler is a great way to get more work done, so stay home and spend the day focusing on the work that needs your deepest concentration. This is easy for me as part of a remote office; however, I started this practice prior to working remotely.  This technique is very similar to time-blocking because you are dedicated to getting specific tasks completed while at home.  For me, the tasks that I get the most value in tackling from my kitchen counter are the ones that take large chunks of time and complex thinking to complete.  Researching and writing these articles are in that category, along with annual budgeting. High-concentration tasks can vary depending on your aptitudes.

Some tips to make this work. Put on your out-of-office, silence your phone, and log out of pop-up Teams messages. If you must be in the office, try closing the office door or finding an alcove in the lunchroom and put on your headphones.  Also practice a do-not-bother-me face so that just a glance can deter interruptions.

And the easiest way for me to manage time…

#1 – Use a To-Do List

This seems basic but many people do not use lists to organize and prioritize work tasks.  I started making lists as soon as I could hold a crayon in my hand, so I have nearly perfected my method. I end each week with my to-do list for the next week.

While this takes 1 – 2 hours of my time, I also take this time to:

  1. Complete any task that I can do in less time than it takes me to write down on my to-do list.
  2. Tap coworkers or clients who owe me completed tasks for my projects to move forward.
  3. Determine if a project needs a status meeting to move forward and get it on the project team’s calendar for the next week.

I know that using my own brain to generate my to-do list each week is old-school; however, my language arts teacher background tells me that writing is one of the best ways to create order out of chaos.  Organizing information (whether handwritten or typed, whether essay or table or list) is thinking.  Creating the to-do list is my own way of taking time each week to think holistically about the work/goals/purpose of IPD.

For me, not enough time is one of my biggest stressors at work.  I am always balancing time in terms of what I need to complete for my team and clients with what I need to check off my list to feel less stress about my job to the time I should spend away from work for a healthy life.

While this Top 8 list provides some strategies for managing time, you may still feel guilty about the steps you take to balance your work time and your personal time. Here are a couple of statistics that can ease your guilt:

  • Research indicates that once you put it more than 50 hours a week, your production decreases to the point of being pointless to work.
  • Americans are towards the top of the list for working more hours in comparison with other countries with an advanced economy. Americans also suffer more health issues and higher insurance costs related to work than any other country with an advanced economy.  So, save your organization insurance costs and work less.

Sidebar

As part of my research, I was curious about the phrase, Stop the world – I want to get off.  Turns out it is the title of a musical from the 60’s.   Set in a circus, it is the life journey of a young boy, who stops the show to have sidebar conversations with the audience every time something disastrous happens in his life.  As an intelligent reading audience, I will leave you to draw your own connections between the workplace and the circus and add your own sidebar comments.

Stop the World Series Resource List
The 7 Habits
Encouraging Creative Thinking in the Workplace
Falling Behind on Work? Take These Steps to Get Back on Track
Finding Your Innovation Sweet Spot
The Hidden Tactic Overloaded Workers Are Using to Catch Up
How CEO’s Make Time to Create That Unexpected Lead Forward
How to Catch up on Work When You’ve Fallen Behind
How to Give Busy People the Time to Innovate
How to Gossip Strategically to Get Ahead at Work
Systematic Innovative Thinking
Top 10 Productivity Killers in the Workplace

Read More
Beth SchaeferDecember 5, 2024Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Stop the World #2 | I Want to Be Innovative

Stop the World; I Want to Get Off  Be Innovative

Beth Schaefer IPD Director  

Get off Long

In the first Stop the World article, I discussed making room for important work.  Read Stop the World; I Want to Get Off Do Important Things to set the stage to engage or re-engage with your work and your coworkers.  While that article discussed important work, some readers may have noted that it left out Innovation.

This month’s article focuses on making time to be innovative, which – because it’s so important – gets its own article.  60% of CEO’s rate innovation as important to the organization.  Innovation is what allows an organization to flex, adapt, grow, and offer unique solutions to customers.  Some might say innovate or disappear.

Take a look at your calendar for this week; how much time have you set aside to be innovative?

Innovation Culture Killers

In the first article, being physically (but not mentally)  present and looking busy were called out as an enemy to productivity; they are also the enemy of innovation.  The brain will not spend time on creativity when it is overworked or when pretending to do work.

Avoid these innovation culture killers:

1. Overloading people with operational tasks.

Those who lack time to complete their work are 3 times more likely to struggle with innovation.  The trend to eliminate workers and “do more with less” continues.  While I agree that a reduced workforce saves money in the short-term; in the long-term, the burnout will:

  • Reduce workers’ ability to find process efficiencies
  • Delay the development of new products or product improvements
  • Negatively affect quality customer service (which research consistently tells us is closely correlated to how individuals feel about their jobs)
  • Diminish the ability of workers to problem-solve

2. Encouraging only Quadrant 1 activities.

The first article in the series introduced The Covey quadrant model that categorizes workplace activity. Quadrant 1 activities are necessary and important, but having your head down, checking off task after task kills “aha moments”–those moments where you and your team discover a process improvement or a brilliant new way to suit customer needs. Constantly moving to the next thing does not allow the space for the brain to think creatively.

10 Strategies to Balance Necessity with Innovation

1.      Improve processes so that mundane tasks don’t take so long! 

Find out what rules and protocols are soaking up work time and fix them.  “Process debt” can build up in small pieces without being noticed.  Innovative people will be innovative if you remove the routines that prevent innovativeness.  Ask your people.  They will tell you which processes are overburdened and can be easily streamlined. Create an agile or flexible list and reorder each month based on current needs and new suggestions. Pick one cumbersome process each month and fix it.

2.      Add innovation to performance goals. 

Established goals are green lights that allow people to schedule innovation time.  Host regularly scheduled “innovation sprints” every 2 weeks or once a month to help your team meet those goals.  Consider inviting other departments to your sprint to create/revise a process you share.

3.      Grant permission to turn off the world. 

Encourage your team members to occasionally ignore the phone and turn on an Out of Office message to create blocks of time for activities that promote creativity.  Set the example by blocking off time on your own calendar and pointing that out to your team.

4.      Be Attuned. 

Do not schedule or expect innovation during busy times.  Most organizations have hectic periods where business is brisk or times when holidays or vacations are more frequent and fewer workers are in the office. Do not squeeze innovation into time when people are scrambling to serve customers.

5.      Allow reading and viewing.

Reading leads to learning. Learning leads to innovation. Learning can also happen when viewing a Ted Talk or listening to a scientific podcast, or similar program. “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think.  That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think.” -Warren Buffet.

6.      Subtract something old before adding something new. 

Innovation equals projects.  Projects equal work.  More work equals tough choices.  Encouraging innovation may generate more ideas than can be simultaneously executed and sustained. If you continue to launch the new without removing the old, you have a recipe for overwhelming your team, and they will circle back to innovation stagnation.

7.      Reward subtraction.

Addition is visible. Subtraction is invisible.  Leidy Klotz addresses this in Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less where he calls this Shiny New Object Syndrome. Organizations tend to reward new things – additions – but they seldom recognize when someone is able to subtract an underperforming project or streamline steps to a process. Hold meetings focused on subtraction. Create a guideline to complete or subtract a priority or project before adding a new one. Openly celebrate subtractions; do not limit innovation to additions.

8.      Make a path to submit new ideas. 

If you ask your team how and when they submit innovative ideas, would they know?  Provide many venues and modes for sharing.  Let your team know that innovative ideas can be communicated through a sketch, a paragraph, a one-page document such as an SBAR, or a conversation.  Make it easy to be innovative.

9.      Teach innovation and creativity.

While some of your team members may just need time or permission to be more innovative, others will need specific tools, guidance, or established patterns for how to be innovative. See Innovation Tips and Tricks for more ideas on how to encourage innovation from your team.

10.  Model

Ensure that your team sees you taking time to be innovative.

 

Sidebar

As part of my research, I was curious about the phrase, Stop the world – I want to get off.  Turns out it is the title of a musical from the 60’s.   Set in a circus, it is the life journey of a young boy, who stops the show to have sidebar conversations with the audience every time something disastrous happens in his life.  As an intelligent reading audience, I will leave you to draw your own connections between the workplace and the circus and add your own sidebar comments.

I know… All of this is easier said than done, so next month we will tackle, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off Find More Time 

Stop the World Series Resource List
The 7 Habits
Encouraging Creative Thinking in the Workplace
Falling Behind on Work? Take These Steps to Get Back on Track
Finding Your Innovation Sweet Spot
The Hidden Tactic Overloaded Workers Are Using to Catch Up
How CEO’s Make Time to Create That Unexpected Lead Forward
How to Catch up on Work When You’ve Fallen Behind
How to Give Busy People the Time to Innovate
How to Gossip Strategically to Get Ahead at Work
Systematic Innovative Thinking
Top 10 Productivity Killers in the Workplace

Read More
Beth SchaeferOctober 30, 2024Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Stop the World | I Want to Accomplish Something Important

Stop the World; I Want to Get Off Accomplish Something Important

Beth Schaefer IPD Director  

stop the World Blog 1

Explaining Stop the World Logic

I had a conversation with a colleague last week who was lamenting the lack of time to complete all their work.  This led me to think about time management and a phrase I often use in both my work and personal life, Stop the world; I want to catch up. I need everyone else to freeze in time so that I have a few days to keep working and get caught up.

And, as often happens, real life generates an article idea. In this case: time management. Yes, this is an old topic, but a perennial favorite because so many of us still feel the time crunch.  Add it to the list of other topics we can never seem to get consistently right: change management, process improvement, onboarding, (add your own topic here).  These are topics that we are constantly revisiting and learning more about because the gap between doing it, and doing it well, is so large.

Researching innovative time management ideas turned this one article into the Stop the World collection of articles.  Because, as research tells me, time management is about more than just catching up.

What Am I Doing All Day?

Thinking about time management reminded me of Covey’s 7 Habits for Highly Effective People. I most recently used Covey in teaching a college course on effective supervision. Covey divides your time into four quadrants based on importance and urgency.

 

  1. Necessity: Important and Urgent
  2. Effectiveness: Important and Not Urgent
  3. Distraction: Not Important and Urgent
  4. Waste: Not Important and Not Urgent
time management matrix

The Stop the World collection will focus on reducing Distraction and Waste so that you have more time for the Necessary and Effective. This may seem an obvious solution; however, the latest workplace trend is “Present-ness.”

Looking Busy

While “being present” is a good thing; present-ness is about appearing busy.  Present-ness is the response to the return-to-office movement.  Recent research has shown that people sitting at their desks in their offices are more likely to be seen as a quality worker, a dedicated worker, an engaged worker and are, therefore, more likely to receive promotions.  However, that same research reveals that the traditional thinking of “desk = productivity” is not accurate.

Sitting at a desk in the office does not mean those workers are more productive.  When it comes to perception vs. reality, perception is 9/10th of the law, so workers are willing to sacrifice productivity in favor of appearing busy.  What are those “busy” people actually doing?

  • Answering emails (average of 9 hours a week)
  • Sitting in meetings (average of 7.5 hours a week)
  • Gossiping (average of 2-12 hours a week depending on your source)
  • Texting friends and family (average of 5 hours per week)
  • Surfing the internet/social media (average of 5 hours per week)

“Busy” is, not necessarily, productive. “Busy” can happen at the office (gossiping even more so) just as easily as at home.

Accomplishing Something Important

With that new trend in mind, let’s take a look at the Effectiveness Quadrant.  The Effectiveness Quadrant (Important, Not Urgent) includes proactive activities that can be done in an office located at work or at home:

  • Setting important goals
  • Planning
  • Relationship Building
  • Learning
  • Thinking Creatively

Just thinking about doing these things at work makes me feel guilty because I am not crossing tasks off my to-do list; however, what strikes me about this list is that it correlates quite strongly to items leaders should do to promote employee engagement.  (See our Employee Engagement series.)  I firmly believe in cultivating intentional employee engagement.  Maybe that will help me make time for important, not urgent items.

I also read this list and find that these items could fuel my own work engagement. I can proactively incorporate important, not urgent items into my own schedule to keep myself invested and model the importance of that quadrant to my team.  You can too.  What parts of your job do you love but do not take time to do because it feels like a guilty pleasure?  Do them.  If you do not have anything you like about your job, consider referencing the articles on The Great Resignation to find a new job.

For me, I love writing curriculum.  It is no longer the main part of my role, but finding pockets of projects that allow me to write curriculum sparks creativity, keeps me engaged in my work, and gives me joy. For you, these activities could be taking some training, having a conversation with a mentor, or researching a topic you are passionate about.  Clearly finding joy in your work can only be a good thing for both you and your employer.

Hopefully, the Stop the World collection of articles will help you to step off the busy-ness and step into what is important.

Next article in the collection coming next month: Stop the World; I Want to Get Off Be Innovative.

Sidebar

As part of my research, I was curious about the phrase, Stop the world – I want to get off.  Turns out it is the title of a musical from the 60’s.   Set in a circus, it is the life journey of a young boy, who stops the show to have sidebar conversations with the audience every time something disastrous happens in his life.  As an intelligent reading audience, I will leave you to draw your own connections between the workplace and the circus and add your own sidebar comments.

Stop the World Series Resource List
The 7 Habits
Encouraging Creative Thinking in the Workplace
Falling Behind on Work? Take These Steps to Get Back on Track
Finding Your Innovation Sweet Spot
The Hidden Tactic Overloaded Workers Are Using to Catch Up
How CEO’s Make Time to Create That Unexpected Lead Forward
How to Catch up on Work When You’ve Fallen Behind
How to Give Busy People the Time to Innovate
How to Gossip Strategically to Get Ahead at Work
Systematic Innovative Thinking
Top 10 Productivity Killers in the Workplace

Read More
Beth SchaeferJune 4, 2024Business Architecture, For the Public Sector, Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

How Mature Are You? | A Workplace Blog

By Beth Schaefer

IPD Director

Over the years, IPD has offered several courses on solving problems:

  • Solve the Right Problem
  • Are You Fixing or Solving?
  • Continuous Improvement Training: Learn and Do
  • Building the Business Case for Change

The one thing that each of these courses has in common is the emphasis on defining the problem you are trying to solve before you start picking a solution.  Undefined problems are often the reason why many initiatives do not succeed.

It can be the same issue for training.  There are good reasons for doing training such as employee retention or leadership pipeline development, but if you are not sure what you want to accomplish with the training, those good reasons can still end up being a waste of resources: both time and money.

A tool that I find useful for helping to define all sorts of problems – including training – is the capability maturity model or capability maturity continuum.  You will have people at every level of the maturity continuum; however, if you can determine where most of your organization is living, and focus training at that maturity level, you will be able to move the organization as a whole along the maturity continuum toward your goal.

Capability Maturity Model

I find that you can take a generic maturity continuum and fill in your topic to help you define the problem. This approach is not as detailed or accurate as a full-blown consultant report, but it takes a lot less time and money!  And often the information a consultant taps you to collect on their behalf is the same information you can apply to the continuum.  Or you can use the continuum as a starting place to write questions for an employee survey.

To illustrate how to use the maturity continuum as a quick evaluation tool, IPD has taken the maturity continuum and used it to define DEI maturity for an imagined client.  If you find that most people are on the left of the continuum, you would offer training on the 4 tools for navigating DEI.  Or if you find that most of your people are at the defined level, you would offer DEI workplace influencer training for key leaders to implement policy.  You can see how tailoring training for maturity helps you define the problem or opportunity you wish to address with training.  Targeting training to move along the continuum is more effective than constantly offering and reoffering training at the same level of maturity.

If you search capability maturity models, you will find several hundred to pick from varying with the number of levels and the names of levels.  Pick the one that works for your organization, and start assessing your maturity on any initiative to help you define your problem, define your needs and, in turn, help define your solution.

 

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Beth SchaeferMay 6, 2024Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog, Workplace Wins

Celebrating the Grumpy Coworker Part 3: Too Much of a Good Thing | A Workplace Blog

By Beth Schaefer

While I have enjoyed confessing to being a curmudgeon (Part 1) and writing about the benefits of having a curmudgeon on your team (Part 2), even I need to admit, curmudgeonly behaviors have their limits.

Yes, you can have too much of a good thing.  IPD does quite a bit of training with the CliftonStregnths® philosophy which also promotes that any strength used too much and too often can become a weakness, and the curmudgeon benefits are no exception to that rule.

 

Grumpy Staying

Long-term ongoing anger is not great.

When researching, I noted that the new phrase for this is Grumpy Staying.  Apparently, none of us like coworkers who are grumpy 100% of the time.  (Noted.)  In addition to being disliked, your grumpiness loses its super power of extra energy if you are in a constant state of grumpiness.  According to research, there is the short burst of adrenalin that propels us to press on in challenging circumstances, and that burst of adrenaline is lost if we are just mad all the time.  If you are mad at work all the time, you may want to revisit the blog series on The Great Resignation.

In addition, if you are grumpy all the time, people will not like working with you, and then they will not help you when you need it.  I am sure some of you more dedicated grumpy people are saying you do not care if you are liked or that you do not need anyone else’s help to do your job.  I do not believe that is true.  At some point, you need HR to rush a vacation request or IT to update your computer or for someone in your department to respond to your customers while you are out of the office, so you need to make some effort to build good will with others by taming your grumpiness.

If you are having trouble balancing your grumpiness with happiness, take time at the beginning and end of each work day to think of a “positive nugget.”

 

Positive Nuggets

This is a strategy that I have used to manage up when I meet with my direct supervisors.  Even if the meeting is addressing lots of barriers, constraints, and problems, I try to end the meeting on a positive note with the positive nugget.  I find 1, 2, maybe even 3 nuggets (small morsels) to be share about good things taking place in my department so that I leave my supervisor with the impression that despite all the challenges, good things are happening.

Some positive nugget examples are:

  • Sharing how well a team member is performing
  • A positive comment shared by a client
  • Describing how someone from another department went out of their way to help
  • Explaining how your risk mitigation plan caught a big problem sooner rather than later

Positive nuggets do not need to be about the meeting of a goal or benchmark, but it is something positive that makes the working environment more pleasant. Positive nuggets themselves do not solve problems, but they can reframe your outlook to take the edge off your grumpiness.

 

Curmudgeons – go forth and use your grumpiness to improve the workplace, but also be sure to sprinkle some positive nuggets into your day.

 

Series Resources

Fortune: Getting Angry Can Make You Better at Your Job
NDTV: Can Being Angry at Work Make You More Productive?  This Study Says Yes
PTC News: Can Anger Boost Productivity?
Quartz: The Case for Being Grumpy at Work
Sky News: Getting Angry Boosts Performance and Productivity
StudyFinds: Research, in a nutshell: It’s good to be grumpy

 

 

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Beth SchaeferApril 12, 2024Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog, Workplace Wins

Celebrating the Grumpy Coworker: Part 1 – Curmudgeon | A Workplace Blog

Celebrating the Grumpy Coworker: A 3-Part Series

image

Curmudgeon

cur·mudg·eon

/kərˈməj(ə)n/

Definition: a crusty, ill-tempered (usually old) person

Also known as:

  • Killjoy
  • Wet Blanket
  • Grouser

Most Well-Known Phrase: “Get off my lawn!”

I have written quite a few articles for IPD over the years, so I feel like you have gotten to know me pretty well; therefore, this confession may come as a bit of a shock, but I am a closet curmudgeon.

To those who read the articles on the IPD website, this may surprise you because I write about engaging employees, valuing people’s input, and encouraging chit chat at work.  And, I believe in all those things – no, really… I really do because I strive to keep my inner-curmudgeon hidden during the workday.

(Disclaimer: Truth be told, as I get older, my curmudgeonliness may be more out in the open than I am aware of and not so much of a secret to those who interact with me regularly.)

But now… I may not have to hide or attempt to keep my curmudgeon self hidden any longer.

New research is debunking the myth that the always-happy employee is your most productive employee.

You may feel that some of my articles have promoted that theory.  I would like to be on record saying that I promote how engagement affects productivity.  If you go back and read my articles, engagement looks different than happy.  Engagement is not about sugar-coating bad news or smiling until your cheeks hurt; engagement is:

  • Removing inane processes that create unnecessary barriers to work completion
  • Enabling flexible work situations for life adaptability
  • Thanking people for specific accomplishments and contributions
  • Being a part of a team that includes and respects each other – even if someone is a curmudgeon
  • Providing challenging work that helps people contribute to the organization

To quote the famous Ted Lasso*, “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”  In other words, easy and happy are not the same as challenged and engaged.

If you are not already a curmudgeon, it’s not too late to take up the challenge. And remember, if it is not uncomfortable at first, you may not be doing it right – or maybe you are a closet curmudgeon too, and you feel a weight being lifted.

 If you are not convinced that grumpy is good, stay tuned for our next installment: Because the Research Says So… (be sure you say the title in your best curmudgeon voice) which is Part 2 in the 3-Part Series: Celebrating the Grumpy Coworker.

*I have a new person on my team who shares a Ted Lasso quote each week – which is where I heard this one.  I hear that Ted Lasso is a “feel-good show,” but I am too much of a cheapskate (cousin to curmudgeon) to pay for Apple TV, so I am not sure if Ted falls into the always-happy employee category.  I am hoping not, but that may just be the curmudgeon in me.

Series Resources:

Fortune: Getting Angry Can Make You Better at Your Job

NDTV: Can Being Angry at Work Make You More Productive?  This Study Says Yes

PTC News: Can Anger Boost Productivity?

Quartz: The Case for Being Grumpy at Work

Sky News: Getting Angry Boosts Performance and Productivity

StudyFinds: Research, in a nutshell: It’s good to be grumpy

Read More
Beth SchaeferApril 12, 2024Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog, Workplace Wins

Celebrating the Grumpy Coworker Part 2: Because the Research Says So… | A Workplace Blog

A curmudgeon may be known for saying Because I said so…  In this article, I am saying this because the research says so.  Yes, research provides solid reasoning for having at least 1 grumpy coworker on your team or in your department. I can provide 4 reasons to tolerate your grumpy coworker.

Side Bar:

One of the best things about celebrating the Grumpy Coworker is that your grumpy coworker will be the first one to be skeptical about a grumpy coworker being a good thing.  Yes, skepticism is one of the talents the curmudgeonly coworker provides (Series 1: My Inner Curmudgeon is Welcome at Work if you are unsure about the definition of curmudgeonly).

Here are the strengths your Grumpy Coworker brings to your team:

1.Analytical

The grumpy coworker brings the correct mood to be analytical.  Research finds that when people are in a grumpy mood, they perform analytical tasks better. Besides being skeptical, you can use your grumpiness to proofread documents, search for numerical inconsistencies, review data for trends and patterns, and identify inconsistencies in new situations or processes that warrant more attention.  Because skeptics ask for proof, they bring critical thinking, innovation, and integrity to any workplace problem-solving discussion.

2. Status Quo Challenger

Grumpy people are more likely to speak up and open topics in conversations that others may be afraid to address.  Curmudgeons do not care if they are liked, or at least, liked by everyone all the time, so they are OK saying what needs to be said. Their intriguing comments can increase the engagement of other team members. Someone who is willing to challenge the status quo helps your team avoid Groupthink and is actually, ironically, a catalyst for positive change.  Organizations who listen to their grumpy challengers are more likely to be innovative and adapt to uncontrollable forces. And, also ironically, the curmudgeons’ workplace longevity is a testament to the qualities of resiliency and agility – not traits we usually associate with curmudgeons

3. Persistent

According to a study by the American Psychological Association, angry people are better at thinking innovatively for out-of-the box solutions and more likely to persist in the challenging work to implement those solutions. Angry is one step beyond grumpy, but I still felt the study was worth noting here. Curmudgeons have standards; they know how things should be done and they are willing to put in the time and energy to ensure those standards are being met on behalf of their team, department, organization.

4. Productive

In the United States, we tend to value more highly someone who is even-keeled as a team member than someone who is grumpy.  However, research shows that anger is the most productive emotion. Anger was the best emotion for problem-solving and overcoming a challenge – more so than cheerfulness, sadness, or apathy.  Again, grumpy coworkers may be more irritated than angry, but they are still on the right track.

Things can go wonky in the workplace.  The curmudgeonly grumpy coworker says This is wonky.  This needs to be fixed.  This is bordering on ridiculous.  We need to stop this. (As a closet curmudgeon these phrases are familiar to me) along with This is very frustrating.  This makes it difficult for me to do my work.  This does not mean that the situation will be fixed or even addressed although organizations are more likely to fix things when made aware that they do not work.  By stating their unhappiness out loud, the curmudgeon can help their organization fix process and be more efficient.

The curmudgeon is also more productive as an individual worker. The American Psychology Association states that by expressing anger and frustration, you can be more productive at work.  When you are unhappy and frustrated, but are afraid to express those feelings, you can waste energy on pretense.   Smiling and pretending that everything is OK when it is not, takes time and energy – time and energy that you are not using to get work done. Passive acceptance of bad situations is not necessarily positive.  Another study showed that women who are happy all the time at work are less likely to be promoted.

Side Bar:

Finally, a study that focuses on women as the main subject and not an afterthought 20 years after the first study.  While I wish it was something more positive, the curmudgeon in me is happy to see that I am on the correct track with expressing workplace frustrations when they occur.

In addition, expressing anger and frustration in a proper manner to the proper people means that grumpy coworkers are less likely to have it come out sideways at the wrong time and directed to the people who do not deserve to be on the receiving end of an angry outburst.

In summary, a grumpy coworker can help you be innovative, critical thinkers who are more likely to address problems and challenging issues so that they, their coworkers, and their organization can be more productive.

But, before all you curmudgeons out there start dancing for joy – wait… you would probably not do that – before you start waggling your finger saying I told you so, know that being grumpy all the time will decrease your impact.

Coming soon: Celebrating the Grumpy Coworker: Part 3 – Too Much of a Good Thing

Series Resources

Fortune: Getting Angry Can Make You Better at Your Job

LinkedIn: Is Groupthink Reducing the Effectiveness of your Team?

NDTV: Can Being Angry at Work Make You More Productive?  This Study Says Yes

PTC News: Can Anger Boost Productivity?

Quartz: The Case for Being Grumpy at Work

Sky News: Getting Angry Boosts Performance and Productivity

StudyFinds: Research, in a nutshell: It’s good to be grumpy

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Beth SchaeferDecember 27, 2023Advance Your Career, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Eyeshadow Can Change Your Life | A Workplace Blog

By Beth Schaefer
IPD Director

 

The Workplace Resolution Concept

It’s January, and the start of a new year, so the IPD January article focuses on the New Year and the resolutions or fresh starts that come with it. To freshen up the article idea, I decided to take a different approach and focus the article on workplace resolutions.  A quick search on the internet showed me I was not the first to take this “fresh approach” (You can scroll to the end to see the lists I compiled).

Even as I am encouraging you to set a workplace resolution and pondering my own, I wonder if I need the extra stress of a resolution.  Isn’t the workplace already filled with deadlines, goals, benchmarks, and KPIs?

The Eyeshadow Resolution

And, then I think of the year of the Eyeshadow Resolution: my most successful resolution ever that occurred about 10 years ago.  I was at a New Year’s Day brunch and pressed into sharing a resolution- which I tend not to make or share, but with excessive badgering, I stated that I would resolve to wear eyeshadow every day.

The year of the Eyeshadow Resolution was the year that I lost 60 pounds.

I always laugh at that result and explain it as a fluke, but while researching workplace resolution lists, I came across an article that explained why the Eyeshadow Resolution was so successful. To summarize the research: use your resolution to change your process, not set a qualitative number with a deadline.

The Process Resolution

At the time, the eyeshadow goal served the purpose of keeping people from being in my business, but I had fallen into a bad habit of not getting out of bed when the alarm went off.  Occasionally, I got up on time to get fully ready for work (back in the day when you traveled outside your home to the office and wore a matching top and pants and makeup).  Instead, I hit the snooze button and eliminated parts of my morning routine with each button tap. Not wearing makeup was the first elimination so I could sleep 10 more minutes, followed by other options such as not eating breakfast or not packing a lunch.

 

By resolving to wear eyeshadow each day, I had to quit hitting the snooze button.  To quit hitting the snooze button, I had to go to bed earlier so that I was less tired in the morning. To be less tired and get a good night’s sleep, I had to be sleepy at bedtime. To be sleepy at bedtime, I started doing more exercise and activity.   The Eyeshadow Resolution led to a change in my sleep process which led to overall positive changes for my daily routine that included: activity, sleep, breakfast, and packing lunch.

The Resolution Frame

A resolution is a big-picture change.   While it offers intent, it does not provide a plan.

 

A goal is a measurement.  While it offers a concrete pass/fail measure to a resolution, it does not provide a plan.

 

A process resolution is the key to achieving a goal and a resolution because it contains the first (of perhaps many) concrete steps to change.

 

To frame a resolution as a change in process is easier said than done, but if you are in a resolution rut, this may be the lens for you to reframe and achieve a goal.  I have taken some of the workplace resolutions I found and attempted to frame the process to help get you started.

The Final Notes

At the time of publication, I am still pondering my process resolution goals for both my personal life and my workplace.

In full disclosure, during the past 3 years, I have gained 30 of the 60 pounds back.  Since I work from home and mostly adopted a default routine during the pandemic, it is probably time for me to make an intentional process resolution on my work-from-home routine.

The positive of any resolution is that while we mostly feel that we fail, research provides proof that we do not.

 

  • Even though 43% end their resolutions by February, that leaves more than half who are still forming a new habit after the first month.
  • New Year’s resolutions are 10 times more likely to succeed over other methods of change.
  • You cannot win if you do not enter. 8% of people fully achieve their resolution.  You can be part of that 8% – especially if you are smart about the resolution framing.

 

I wish your process resolution success in in 2024.

 

The References

4 Reasons to Make New Year’s Resolutions Even if You do not Keep Them

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Work in 2024

10 Meaningful New Year’s Resolutions for Your Office

30 New Year’s Resolutions that will Inspire You at Work

New Year’s Resolutions at Work Can Work

 

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Beth SchaeferNovember 6, 2023Pandemics, Holidays & Other Stresses, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Making Your Lists and Checking Them Twice | A Workplace Blog

By Beth Schaefer

IPD Director

Thanksgiving – just a few weeks away – used to be the kick-off of the holiday season.   That is no longer true.   The holidays have crept into October.   As soon as Halloween wraps up on October 31st, people are swapping out their spooky decorations for the next holiday.

The holiday =  more parties and potlucks, more shopping and spending, more decorating and baking… more, more, more… STRESS!

Even though most of this stress is from our home environments, it can creep into the workplace.  As we move into the last 2 months of the year, be aware that the stress of holiday preparations and celebrations may affect your staff and coworkers in different ways.
Read a list and cheers to reducing the stress of the holiday season.

Based on my own experience and some light internet research, here are some top holiday stressors:

Time Management – more parties and potlucks, more shopping, more pageants and festivals, more cooking, more decorating, and more wrapping – all this can lead to more decisions being made with less sleep and changes to routines. Stress.

Family Conversations – so many divisive topics and so much time together – in addition, some family members may no longer be part of the family (death or divorce) and some may be failing cognitively or physically, and seeing these changes firsthand can be jarring. Stress.

Money – while your cash reserves may be spinning downward, many do not even have cash reserves making economic disparities more visible, frustrating, and discouraging during the holidays. Stress.

High Expectations – Besides trying to plan the perfect holiday gathering, finding the perfect gift within your budget, or trying to provide idyllic memories for your children, you may also be scrambling to wrap up the goals you had for 2022. Stress.

Illness –More gatherings also mean more opportunities to spread illness. While this is a relatively new item on the list, it carries quite a bit of stress. The pandemic has made us more aware of doing our part to not spread any germs, but having to choose to stay away from a special gathering because you might have something that you do not want to spread is a tough decision to make – and can also be a no-win situation.  Some will be pleased with your consideration, and some will be miffed that they missed seeing the grandkids or that you could not bring your famous dessert.

STRESS!

All this busyness and stress can lead to less exercise and more eating and more stress –  which may mean weight gain and decreased immunity, or the stress can even lead to physical illness, such as upset stomach, headache, sleeplessness, or even sore muscles.

You can take some actions to manage this year-end stress.

Managing Holiday Stress at Work

As a supervisor:

  • Encourage team members to handle extra holiday chores during lunch times so that workers are present and focused on their tasks.
  • Workplaces can have extra visitors or visiting or parties taking place this time of year; provide some additional quiet spaces for those who need them to concentrate and stay focused to complete work.
  • Remind staff that some people, such as the finance department closing out year-end, are extra-busy during this time and to be patient when interacting with them.
  • Encourage employees to stay home when sick so that you do not spread illness across the department or to each other’s families
  • Help team members prioritize work– especially with their and others’ holiday and vacation time.

As a coworker:

  • Plan so that the work you need others to do can get completed amongst the extra time off and holidays.
  • Check-in with co-workers if you note the stress. Remind them of any Employee Assistance programs they could use or just listen.
  • Be mindful of those who may be alone during the holidays or are experiencing the first holiday without a loved one. Offer comfort if your co-working relationship allows, “I know that this is the first New Year’s Eve without your husband, that must be difficult.”
  • Partner with a coworker and take walks during your breaks.
  • For those who have taken the IPD communication course, remember to flex! Assess the communication style of the person you need to receive your message and then flex your communication style to accommodate them – and remember – we all communicate differently when under stress.

Manage your Holiday Stress

The tried and true include:

  • Eat smart whenever when you are not at gatherings.
  • Skip tasks (do not send out cards) or cut corners (do a cookie swap rather than baking them all yourself).
  • Set a budget for gift-giving and stick to it.

Some more strategic and thoughtful approaches to holiday stress include:

Generate a master schedule of events, prioritize them, and remove the bottom 10 or 15 % of the list. Fewer events and less hustle and bustle will allow you to be present and focused on the ones you attend.  Choose quality over quantity.  Think about planning gatherings with those you missed in December a few months into the new year instead.

Trigger your feel-good endorphins by spending time or money on others. Consider visiting a relative or friend who cannot get out to the big gatherings due to limited mobility issues.  Save money on presents for friends and family and donate it to a homeless shelter or a women’s crisis center. Pack some food for those who are in need. Use technology to reach out to friends and family who may be long-distance and not able to travel back to see their loved ones.

Avoid these questions at family gatherings:

  • When do you plan on starting a family?
  • Why aren’t you engaged yet?
  • Remember when (fill in any embarrassing moment or past argument)?
  • Have you gained weight? Have you got more gray?  Lost weight?
  • Don’t you need a job that pays more money?
  • What do you mean you are not working; what do you do all day?

Mark some days as “off limits.” Mark them off at somewhat equal intervals. Do not schedule anything on those days or nights and use them to get caught up, or just take time to relax, or just hang out on the couch to watch a favorite holiday film or binge-watch a favorite show.

Prepare yourself for difficult social situations (family or otherwise) with these tips:

  • Anticipate awkward questions you might be asked and have a light-hearted vague answer at the ready.
  • Try to position yourself so that you can walk away from conversations you do not want to be a part of.
  • Prepare a list of questions to change topics if a conversation gets heated:
    • I am wondering where to travel this year. Where have people been?
    • I am looking for a good BBQ Shrimp (cake, salad, chili) recipe. Does anyone have one or know where I could look?
    • ____ and _____, I am not sure if I know how you met. Can you share that story with us?
    • I want to binge-watch some shows this winter, what do you recommend?
    • I need to pick the next book for book club. Any ideas?
  • Prepare a list of questions that people (generally) enjoy answering:
    • What are you looking forward to in 2023?
    • How is your (garden, hobby, cooking class, sport, DIY project) going?
    • How was your trip to ____ last summer; do you have any pics on your phone?
    • How old are your grandkids (kids, nieces, nephews, dogs, rabbits) now?  Any pics on your phone?  What are they up to these days?
    • And follow most answers up with, “Tell me more.”

Choose. For those of you who have taken the IPD course on handling conflict, remember there are five choices for how to handle conflict with others.  While you learned these strategies in a workplace context, they work for other environments as well.  Review your 5 strategies for handling conflict and make a choice rather than defaulting to whatever the situation brings.

With those 6 strategies, go forth and have a happy and stress-free holiday season!

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Beth SchaeferOctober 5, 2023DEI Blogs, Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Interdependence Part 1: The Goal | A Workplace Blog

Moving to Interdependence

By: Beth Schaefer

In search of an employee who is a self-starter and can work independently?  Not me.

 

In writing the posting for our new IPD Operations Lead role, I pulled out a word that I had not thought about for a while, but it seems like a word we should use more – Interdependence.

 

Back in a class I took (high school or college – too long ago to remember), I was taught that Interdependence, not Independence, is the real mark of maturity.

 

The theory was that being able to ask for help when you need it and being willing to support others when they needed it was far superior than being alone on your own island of independence (see the chart below).

 

However, in American culture, we have our roots in the rugged frontier which still transfers to modern day with the self-made person.  We love a “rags to riches” story where one person overcomes all the odds to gain power and riches.  However, I am sure that if you drill down into these stories, you would discover they are myths.  Even as I think about the terms associated with independence such as frontiersman and self-made man, those terms sound antiquated and out of place in today’s world.

 

Frontiersmen relied on someone to teach them survival skills, and others to support a supply chain, and others to care for children, and others to form towns and cities.  They may have moved outside “the grid,” but they used the community for support. They were not wholly independent.

 

I think too of the rich plantation owners that built the southern economy.  Self-made?  Hardly.  They relied on forced labor- slave labor.  Entire communities of slaves to build their empires and fortunes.  They were not independent at all. In fact, they may have even fallen more to the dependent-side of the continuum.

 

While we may not use these specific examples anymore, our culture still idolizes the multi-billionaires who presumably build corporations by themselves using their own ideas. The harm of putting the self-made rugged (or now-days contrarian) individual on a pedestal is that we send the message that NOT asking for help or NOT accepting help is the goal.

 

There are plenty of public service announcements that attempt to tell us that it is OK to ask and accept help for our mental health, but I feel like the step of asking for help is still considered a last-ditch effort to solving a problem.

 

Interdependence in the Workplace

We hire for the self-starter independent worker and are then surprised that we find that person lacks the skills to be a “team player.”

 

It is time for us to realize that we are not working on an island.  We need to teach people to work interdependently, ask for help early, and work with others to dream big and solve large problems.  We need to cultivate work places that value and respect this balance.

 

Look for a series of future articles to discuss the philosophy of Ubuntu that provides a framework to lead based on the African worldview of the interconnectedness between people.

* Examples of resources include = ability to comfort, mentor, ability to pay bills, listen, do errands, make purchases, provide advice, recognize limitations, see other’s strengths and weaknesses, solve problems, maintain person and home, give grace

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