Misc
Setting a good impression for new hires is important, we also want to show that we’re organized and prepared as a new person starts their journey with us. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, with our busy days it’s not easy to pass on information in a structured way. At times I’ve forgotten to share or explain certain things at the beginning which then ends up being passed on in an irregular way. This can affect their impression of us, but will certainly impact the onboarding efficiency.
The usual route is to maintain a list of things (an on-boarding checklist) for the new hire. I’ve done this and it works, but either it’s passing a lot of information at once or holding some back and then deciding the right time to pass it on, making it more of a scheduling challenge that is never productive.
I needed to try something… Continue reading
I can really relate to this Medium post – Do You Take Yourself Seriously?
It was part of the thinking I had for my Be yourself post. It’s difficult to imagine how many brilliant ideas never happened because they were kept silent. I’m pretty sure my ideas would have amazed lots of people…hmmmmm! Maybe only a few people… Probably weren’t very good ideas… And this is the point, because I never spoke out about it we’ll never know.
You sabotage yourself.
We’re very good at defeating ourselves. Just give yourself a bit of time, then voila! We’re not good enough! My past is littered with these scenarios.
You spend a lot of time dreaming but not actually doing. You come up with ideas but you stop yourself before you even try.
Dreams don’t become reality because we put them off!
I put off setting up this blog many times,… Continue reading
It can be exciting pretending to be someone else, a chance to forget about ourselves for a moment and get immersed into another character. This can be hard work though, constantly overriding our natural personality would cause a cognitive strain. Actors have the ability to switch between characters, although I’m sure this can’t be easy at times when they get so deep into their characters. This question is – do we put on an act in our workplace? Are we putting in extra work to hide our real self? If so, wouldn’t it be easier to just be ourselves?
Waiting a minute – are you saying I should let people see what I’m REALLY like! That’s a scary thought! The reality is we all put on some sort of mask while we’re at work, and other places, to subdue what we may think is inappropriate….maybe it’s safer for others that… Continue reading
Maybe it’s that time of the year as we reflect but I remembered another annoyance to add the my first – Ask a question, then keep talking!
This one is with instant messaging!
Have you ever got back to your desk to find an instant message where the only message is “Hi” that’s been sitting there for 20 minutes?!
Somedays this drives me mad! Why can’t the person ask the question at the same time without having to wait for a reply!
This isn’t a phone call where you have to wait for an answer before you can begin. If there’s no reply after a few seconds continue to ask your question or say whatever you need to. Then when they’re free they can quickly see what you’re asking and respond.
By waiting for an initial reply you’re not only delaying getting a response to what you need but you’re… Continue reading
It’s been a number of weeks now since my last post, although I’ve been trying to blog regularly sometimes it drops down on my list of priorities! I do enjoy blogging, it helps me think about situations outside of the busy work life and often helps me put things in perspective or even see a different perspective. Priorities affect all of us inside and outside of work, we constantly make decisions to do one activity before others, and I know I’ve failed many times at trying to do too many things at once!
Stress has become a popular topic with recent studies and findings presented at tech conferences over the world. We’re talking about stress more which is allowing us to more open about how it affects many of us in the workplace. Stress itself can be good for us in moderation to give us focus, but of course our… Continue reading
I am so guilty of this!
You start out with a question…
“How is the migration project going?”
But then you keep talking!
“…I was talking to Bob and he says there are few questions that still need to be answered before we can progress”
What happens is they begin to answer your question but then have to stop because you’re still talking. Maybe you throw in another question too! Before you know it they have forgotten the first question and maybe don’t know what they are meant to be answering now. Worse still is when you forget what the first question was!
I get that you can ask a couple of questions in one go, this is all about how the sentence is structured so they know not to start talking until you’ve finished.
In a way I think this blog is more for myself in an attempt to… Continue reading
Psychology and mental health issues are being discussed more now as our understanding improves. As awareness grows organisations are recognizing how the culture they create can directly impact the mental health of employees. Cognitive resources play an essential part of this and in our daily health, abuse of these resources could result in serious problems for the individual so an understanding is key. Starting with a definition, cognitive is:
Psychological processes involved in acquisition and understanding of knowledge, formation of beliefs and attitudes, and decision making and problem solving. They are distinct from emotional and volitional processes involved in wanting and intending.
Hopefully from that description we can understand how cognitive resources are used in everyday life – in and outside work! Decision making and problem solving are part of daily life. Look back on your last couple of days, you’ll probably remember exact points where you were interrupted while… Continue reading
