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So I was catching up on some reading the other day and I came across a reference to a U.S.-nationwide survey conducted late last year that asked more than 7,000 employees and 3,000 employers (across a broad cross-section of industry segments and company sizes) about tardiness at work. You can read more about this study here, but here are a couple of the highlights:

• 16% of workers reported they arrive late to work once a week or more and 27% of workers arrive late to work at least once a month.
• The top three reasons for getting to work late are traffic (31%), lack of sleep (18%), and bad weather (11%).

My favorite section in the study however was examples of some of the most outrageous excuses employees gave for being tardy. They ranged from:

• An employee thinking she had won the lottery (she hadn’t) to
• An employee who believed that his commute time should count towards his work hours to
• An employee whose leg was trapped between the subway car and platform (it was).

So what are some of the most outrageous excuses you’ve heard (or used )? Let’s see if we can top this list.

The most popular business books of the last two decades all advocate workplace excellence and organizational achievement.  No quarrel there.  But this constant emphasis on being “the best” causes many to think that perfection is the ultimate goal.  After all, perfectionism is positive, right?  It’s synonymous with being an over-achiever; the kind of person who sets bold goals and blazes new trails to momentous achievements.  But the unvarnished truth is that in the workplace, there are more downsides to perfectionism than there are benefits.

In this month’s issue of CGA Magazine, I lay out five reasons perfectionism is NOT a plus,  AND if you happen to be “guilty as charged”, five specific things that you can do to break the pattern.  Read Perfectionism is Not a Plus: The business case for 80 per cent results.  And once you’re done, c’mon back and share your views about perfectionism right here on the blog.

When training employees, which do you think is more important?

• Teaching the process – what and how to do the individual tasks and steps that make up whatever it is that needs to be done, or
• Teaching the logic – not only the what and the how but also the why – why things are being done the way they’re being done.

Before you answer, let me submit some points to consider.  The value in teaching the logic – the how, what and the why – is that employees are better able to deal with things that are outside the norm because they understand the reasoning and thus the implications of taking atypical actions.  However, teaching logic takes much longer than just teaching a process.  It’s far easier to give an employee a step-by-step task or instruction list that they can follow every single time.  This instruction list can then also be placed in a “desk binder” or equivalent reference source for employees to consult every time they need to.  In fact, this process orientation is the foundation for many well-recognized (and well-regarded) quality management standards and systems. The thinking behind this “process” approach is that once employees master the process, then understanding the reasoning behind the actions and decisions can come later.

I pose this question because of an informal discussion I had last week with a group of leaders at a large multinational client organization.  Over the past few years, they have been actively centralizing many of their “routine” operational activities (such as contract set-up and administration, accounts payable, and first-level telephone customer service) to lower-cost corporate locations outside North America and Western Europe.  To simplify and fast-track the transitions, they chose the “teach the process” approach.  However increasingly, sometimes even two to three years later, they are finding high levels of errors, due mostly to employees executing transactions without fully understanding the logic behind them.

So, the question is – process or logic?  Where is the balance (and how does one achieve it)?  Have you had first-hand experience with such a situation?  Please share!

A couple of weeks ago, I told you how I was going to stop and celebrate the accomplishments of 2011 by creating a list of what I’d “shipped” during the year.  Not shipping of books or products to a destination, but rather the “shipping” of deliverables – getting things done, achieving goals, reaching the finish line, delivering completed products and services – you know, accomplishing significant goals and objectives.  And not only did I encourage you to do the same, but I promised that I would share my list with you once it was complete.  So here it is!

• Delivered 61 speaking engagements
• Delivered my signature keynote “Why Does the Lobster Cast Off Its Shell?” to an audience of my peers and colleagues at the National Convention for the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, a huge honour!  Woo hoo!
• Crossed the 44,000 mark for total number of people who have attended my keynotes and workshops
• Produced four new audio CDs
  • Juggling Your Workload – Prioritization and time management skills for leaders
  • Emotional Intelligence – The keys to working more effectively with others
  • Are We Having Fun Yet? – Motivating your team and maximizing performance
  • Personality Performance – The inside scoop on forming high-performing teams
• Acquired eight new (to us) clients
• Launched four new learning programs
• Wrote six installments of my regular Further Than Figures column for CGA Magazine
• Was re-elected for a second 2-year term to the national board of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
• Provided expert advice to the Canadian HR Reporter on tackling prickly conversations with employees.
• On the personal front, got to check off two items on my “places I want to visit before I die” list – (1) traveled to remote areas of eastern Turkey to visit the ancient (and endangered) city of Hasankeyf and to wander amongst the fallen heads of Nemrut Dagi, and (2) explored the spectacular underwater world of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

So … did you make your list of what you “shipped” in 2011?  Do it!  I think, like me, you’ll surprise yourself.  And please … do stop by here to let us all know how you did.

Happy new year everyone!

The start of the new year is not only the perfect time to set goals and objectives for the year ahead but to also reflect back on the accomplishments of the year past.  Last February, my professional colleague Debbie Elicksen (Canada’s publishing expert) issued a challenge to the readers of her blog to make a list of everything they had “shipped” during the previous year.  “Shipping” refers to a concept advocated by best-selling author Seth Godin.  Not shipping of books or products to a destination, but rather the “shipping” of deliverables – getting things done, achieving goals, reaching the finish line, delivering completed products and services – you know, accomplishing significant goals and objectives.

Well I took her up on the challenge.  And when I sat back and took an inventory of everything that I had “shipped” in 2010, I was very surprised — apparently, I had “shipped” a lot more than I realized.  My list from last year is here.  The exercise was a valuable lesson to me on the importance of celebration.  Here at mergespeaks Inc., we invest a lot of time and energy in moving forward, creating new learning programs and products, asking provocative questions to make people think, helping managers and supervisors become even better leaders than they already are.  But we don’t often stop to celebrate what we’ve accomplished.  We’re so busy striding forward, we don’t take the time to stop, look back and reflect on the good work we’ve done.   And that shouldn’t happen.

So later this week, I’m going to take an inventory of what I “shipped” in 2011, and I’ll share that list with you in a couple of week right here on this blog.  But in the meantime, it’s your turn!  Make a list of what  you “shipped” in 2011.  And please, stop by here to let us all know how you do.

Voice mail can and should help improve your productivity, not worsen it.  It is just like any other business tool: if used appropriately, it CAN enhance your efficiency AND that of others calling you.  The key word here of course is “appropriately”.  In the latest May-June issue of CGA Magazine, I outline specific changes you can make to both the greeting that callers hear when they phone you as well as the messages you leave for others.  Read the article – Voicemail etiquette: Taking productivity from mediocre to masterful.

And of course, as always, I’d love to hear your opinions.  How do you feel about voicemail – friend or foe?  What approaches have you take to make it work for you?

In previous blog posts, I’ve explored the bottom-line financial cost of ineffective meetings as well as offered ideas on how to make your meetings more productive.  Here’s one more thing that you can do to ensure that you maximize the potential in your meetings.

Always issue an agenda, distributed at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. If you find yourself calling an unplanned or emergency meeting, use the first 10 minutes to develop a quick agenda on a whiteboard or flipchart, and don’t proceed until you’ve reached agreement on it. One of the best and easiest ways to develop an agenda is to use a table format with a minimum of four columns as follows:

1. The agenda item
2. The name of the person responsible for leading and/or facilitating the agenda item
3. The required outcome for the agenda item, e.g. group discussion, information, update, decision, consensus, action, round-table reporting
4. The allotted time for the agenda item (Make sure that the total of the allotted times does not exceed the total time set aside for the meeting!)

So for example, your agenda may contain the following items:

• Purchasing software rollout: Amy Harris, IT lead; project update; 10 minutes
• Customer service survey results: Reena Davis, customer service manager; information and action on complaints; 30 minutes
• Software training vendor selection: Bob Edwards, procurement specialist; decision; 15 minutes

Now obviously, this is the basic format, but you can choose to add additional columns to your agenda based on your specific needs.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of an agenda … without it, you may well end up in the meeting from hell!  Have you attended meetings from hell?  Was the lack of an agenda the problem, or was it something else?

Debbie Elicksen, Canada’s publishing expert, is a professional colleague and a friend.  And lest I forget, she was also the project manager for the 2^nd edition of my book Why Does the Lobster Cast Off Its Shell?, but I digress  from the real purpose of today’s blog post …

Debbie puts out a regular e-newsletter on publishing and book marketing and the latest issue is headlined “Ship or Get Off the Pot”.  Her provocative title is referring specifically to a concept advocated by best-selling author Seth Godin.  Godin preaches shipping.  Not shipping of books or products to a destination, but rather the “shipping” of deliverables – getting things done, achieving a goal, reaching the finish line, delivering completed products and services – you know, accomplishing significant goals and objectives.

So with Seth Godin in mind, Debbie sat back and took an inventory of 2010 and what she had “shipped” during the year.  Her list was admirable; yet she said the results surprised her.  Apparently, she’d “shipped” a lot more than she’d realized.  She ended with a challenge to her readers to do the same.  It intrigued me, so I took her up on the challenge.  And guess what?  My list surprised me too!  So now I’m passing on the challenge.  It’s your turn, make a list of what you “shipped” in 2010. I’m betting your list will surprise you as well.

Here’s my list:

• Delivered 82 speaking engagements
• Completed my first-ever speaking engagements in the Netherlands, China, Singapore and Australia
• Crossed the 41,000 mark for total number of people who have attended my keynotes and workshops
• Produced four new audio CDs
  • How to Communicate with Confidence, Clarity and Credibility
  • Motivating Employees Without Spending a Fortune!
  • Mastering the Secrets of Persuasive Communication
  • Managing Employees with Lousy Performances, Unacceptable Behavior or Rotten Attitudes
• Acquired eight new (to us) clients
• Launched three new learning programs
• Wrote six installments of my regular Further Than Figures column for CGA Magazine
• Achieved several key milestones as the Chair of the Branding & Visibility portfolio for the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS)
• Presented with the (highly-coveted) 2010 CAPS President’s Award for Distinguished Service – Woo hoo!
• Provided expert commentary for a Calgary Herald (and other national media) front-page story about the top issues in the workplace
• Guested on the TrendPOV show with Dr. Amy Vanderbilt, talking about the top five trends in the workforce

So … what’s your list?  Try it for yourself and of course, let me know how you do!

Last month, we conducted a fun online poll – “What are your biggest time wasters at work?” we asked.  And the top two answers were (drum roll please) …

#1 – Other people

#2 – E-mail

For the rest of the results, click on the poll box to the right.

So, do you agree?  What are you doing to overcome these obstacles and manage your time better?

You don’t need me to tell you that you’re busy!

If you’re a leader, then you have a multitude of responsibilities that keep your schedule overflowing. From dealing with the day-to-day issues to participating in long-term initiatives; from putting out smoldering fires to responding to the never-ending stream of e-mail in your in-basket; you are tasked with juggling numerous projects and meeting a myriad of deadlines!

You don’t need me to tell you that your schedule is demanding, you already know that you are being asked to do more with less: provide better customer service, greater productivity and stronger leadership, all while your time and resources dwindle.

You don’t need me to remind you of how much you’re trying to juggle.  You already know.  But … wouldn’t it be fun to find out whether your biggest time waster at work is the same as everyone else’s?  Participate in our fun (and highly unscientific) poll and you’ll find out!  Click on the polling box below.