Category Archives: Leadership Development

Leaders, Leadership Development, Personal Development, Self Help, Time management

How to master the four quadrants of time management

It always causes me to have a small laugh to myself when I conduct time management programs and people turn up late! It really doesn’t bother me if people are on time or not – they are the ones who will miss out if they are not there. For a lot of people it does highlight an important issue – their lack of capability to manage their time. Many people leave little room for error with regard to their time management – everything is ‘cut so fine’ that if one thing goes wrong, then they are unlikely to be ‘on time’.

Many people have often suggested that they need to ‘make time’. I know what they mean, but can anyone really ‘make time’? The challenge is to use your time wisely so that you don’t ‘waste time’. Stephen Covey’s Urgent and Important Matrix is a useful tool for determining the wise use of time. The matrix works as follows:

URGENT and IMPORTANT Tasks (Quadrant 1)
These are the tasks that require immediate attention. A presentation, a meeting, a speech, a performance (as in a musical, theatrical or sport performance) the majority of the work that you do in your job, answering exam questions, a critical issue or crises. Time matters in the performance of these tasks. In short, if you don’t take effective action ‘right now’ you fail.

NOT URGENT and IMPORTANT Tasks (Quadrant 2)
These are things like planning, preparing, reading, clarifying your values and other personal development activities, capturing and preparing your stories for interviews, retreats, health and fitness activities, developing relationships etc. All these things could be completed at another time. In this sense, time is ‘not urgent’. As such, many of the tasks in this quadrant are simply left alone and they aren’t attempted. What people don’t understand is that there is a direct relationship between the quality of the tasks performed in Quadrant 1, and the quality time that you have spent in Quadrant 2. In short, time spent in Quadrant 2 improves your performance in Quadrant 1. It is therefore worth prioritising your time so that some of it, at least, is spent in Quadrant 2. Think about your performance when you have prepared for a presentation as compared to when you have ‘winged it’. I have heard some people boast about how well they can ‘wing it’ and make presentations without preparing. While it may have the appearance of working these people are in for a big let down – one day. The reality is they don’t ‘know their stuff’ and because of a ‘gift’ may be able to bamboozle people with their presentations skills. That can be a lot of extra pressure to carry around with you after a while. The majority of us, however, know that if we don’t prepare our performance suffers, so we prioritise our time beforehand to ensure that we are prepared.

Another example of Quadrant 2 activities is attending personal development workshops, particularly when you are a volunteer. Ideally the lessons that you learn, when applied, will help your performance in Quadrant 1.

So where does the time come from to enable you to spend more time in Quadrant 2 activities? The following quadrants provide that answer.

URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT Tasks (Quadrant 3)
These are things like many emails, some meetings (when you really don’t need to be there), text messages, the behaviour of some people when they demand your time ‘right now’ (you know the person, they ask if they can have five minutes of your time and they always seems to be talking 30 minutes later). Tasks in this quadrant have the appearance of being urgent, which is why they draw your attention. The problem is that you really could deal with them later (or not at all). By focussing on them ‘right now’ all you are doing is taking your attention away from Quadrant 1 or Quadrant 2 tasks. It is Quadrant 3 tasks where effective prioritising can ‘free up’ a lot of time; time that can be better used in Quadrant 1 or Quadrant 2.

NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT
These are wasteful activities that often relate to addictive type behaviours or are behaviours that are undertaken to deliberately avoid the Quadrant 1 or 2 tasks. Time spent in Quadrant 4 has a DIRECT impact on your performance in Quadrant 1. You have a presentation tomorrow that you have not prepared, yet you spend the whole of the previous night watching the Premier League football on the television. You eventually arrive for your presentation underprepared and very tired. It is no surprise that you performance is poor. Ideally Quadrant 4 activities need to be completely eliminated from your life – all they do is detract from where you performance really matters, and that is your performance in Quadrant 1.

This is just one example of many approaches to time management. What are yours? What systems work for you? What questions do you have about time management? What templates do you use that could be useful for other members of our network?

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Communication, Conversation Starters, Conversations That Matter, High Performing Teams, Leaders, Leadership Development

How to use illustrations to create Conversations That Matter®

Creating Conversations That Matter® is a key skill for organisational leaders. Amidst forecasting, attending to meetings and writing reports, the development of this skill is often neglected. Think about it, how do you stimulate Conversations That Matter® with your peers, direct reports and your leaders? How do you stimulate them with your key stakeholders and clients?

Conversations That Matter® are conversations where people are able to speak from the heart, speak their truth (whatever it may be) in a safe environment where there will not be negative consequences for speaking their mind. This does not mean that people lose responsibility for what they say. Rather, their responsibility increases as respect is a core requirement for a conversation that matters to be conducted.

So how might a leader create a conversation that matters, especially when there may be a level of distrust present amongst team members?

One way is to use illustrations to catalyse your conversations. For these conversations to be successful, the leader must be prepared to do the following five practices:

1. Be prepared to ‘listen to understand’ to what is being said, rather than listening to defend/justify
2. Guarantee that no negative consequences will result to people as a result of the conversation
3. Listen more than speak – a good rule of thumb to follow is to speak 30% and to listen 70% of the time
4. Be prepared to ask open questions (see The Art of Skilful Questions)
5. Judge the quality of the conversation by the level of truth that is present in the conversation (see the video Transparency – How leaders create a culture of candor)

If you are able to follow the five practices above, then determine the focus of your conversation, then select an image that you could use and give it a go. As an example a great friend of ours Jock MacNeish has been creating such illustrations for the best part of his life. Over time Jock has created many illustrations for us and the 0 to 10 Relationship Management body of knowledge. As Licensed Elite Trainer Facilitators in 0 to10 Relationship Management, Andrew and I are able to use Jock’s illustrations.

The 0 to 10 Relationship Management Culture Survey illustrations are very powerful catalysts for enabling people to have a conversation that matters. If you were interested to know what your team members thought about the level of autonomy that they had in their jobs, you could place the illustration below on the table and ask them to mark on the scale where they believe the level currently sits.

When people place their finger on the scale that they believe represents their view, simply say, “Thank you for your honesty. What examples do you have that would help me to understand what this score means to you?”

Their answers will be powerful and enable you to identify what you should keep doing, start doing and stop doing. If, of course, you have tried this technique and no-one in your team spoke up, then you may have your answer anyway!

On the other hand if you’ve never tried this technique before please give it a go. Either print the illustration from this article or select a different onee for your team and create a conversation that matters. Please let us know how you go!

Finally, if you like this concept but aren’t sure what illustration to use, please provide a brief description of your issue in the comments box and I’ll help you find an appropriate illustration.

As a leader a significant part of your success is driven by your capacity to create and stimulate conversations that matter. Is this a skill that you possess? What are you currently doing to develop it?

Please feel free to ask questions and/or to make comments about this article.

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Conversations, Conversations That Matter, efficiency, efficient meetings, Leaders, Leadership Development, meeting structure, meetings

A structure for creating Meetings That Matter

Ron Ashkenas, author of The Boundaryless Organization reports that most managers believe that the majority of meetings are inefficient. Despite ‘knowing’ how to conduct effective meetings they continue to practice ineffective ones.

Ashkenas offers three reasons for this behaviour:

  1. Meetings offer the opportunity for social interaction
  2. Meetings are a practical way of keeping everyone in the loop
  3. Meeting can represent a certain level of status having been attained

He provides the basic tenets of an efficient meeting to be:
“Be clear about what you want to accomplish; invite the right people; send out pre-reading in advance; have an agenda and follow it with discipline; send out notes with key decisions and action steps.”

From my experience one of the problems with the prescribed successful meeting process is that people are too busy to do the required pre-reading. In fact, most managers have reported to me that they don’t have the time to pre-read the prescribed agenda. This is something they do on the way to the meeting or when they first get there.

Managers have also reported to me that they don’t focus on the content of the meeting “…until I am there.”, especially when they are travelling from one meeting to the next.

In this context it seems near impossible to create efficient meetings. Thankfully there is a way, but it will take some of you some time to get used to the ‘instant formality’ that the process creates.Organisations That Matter, Gary Ryan, Yes For Success, Leadership, Plan for personal success

Step 1: Provide an opportunity for staff to ‘check in’ at the start of the meeting (keep it short)
Efficient meetings require all present to be ‘present’ during the meeting. Wandering minds don’t aid efficiency. The purpose of the ‘check in’ is to allow team members to psychologically separate from what was going on before the meeting to focusing on the meeting that is happening ‘now’.

A ‘check in’ can be a single word where everyone is asked to share how they are at that moment through to just those feeling the need to share a recent experience that may be on their mind (e.g. I nearly had a car accident on the way here).

Step 2: Clarify the purpose of the meeting
Even if this is a regular meeting, remind people why it still matters. If the meeting no longer matters then you shouldn’t be wasting your time conducting it!

Step 3: Collectively set the agenda
Publicly create the agenda. A whiteboard is perfect for this task (remember there is power in the whiteboard marker, so while you are teaching people this method it is best to be the ‘scribe’).

Accept all suggestions from all team members. Then select the most important items that need to be addressed today. It is okay to use your positional authority as necessary when completing this task.

Literally place numbers beside each item as you prioritise them.

Next allocate approximate time slots for each agenda item that you have agreed to talk about. These time slots do not need to be equal – they need to be relevant to the importance of the agenda item and how long (in the available time) you have to discuss the item.

Step 4: Set a time-keeper
A team member will need to take on the role of time-keeper. It is amazing how often the simple statement that we have used our available time on an item results in the discussion ending. Please note that this role can (and probably should) move around the team members from one meeting to the next.

Step 5: Make a record of the meeting
Create meeting notes that highlight the agreed agenda and any actions that result from each item. This can be done by using the left hand side of the whiteboard and recording the actions as they arise throughout your meeting. Share the meeting notes in a timely fashion. This can be done by using your smartphone to take a photo of the Action Items and then immediately distribute the photo to all team members. You can leave the meeting without any extra administration tasks to be completed!

Step 6: Reflect on the meeting skills displayed throughout the meeting
This step spends a few minutes providing the opportunity to team members to talk about their thoughts about how well meeting skills were displayed by the team members. Comments such as, “Joan asked a lot of powerful questions today. Especially when she asked me about the most powerful benefits for the organisation that my suggestion would provide. It really made me stop and think more clearly about why this project matters.” provide an example of what might be said during the reflection.

That’s it. Like anything new this six step approach will feel strange at first, but you will get used to it.

Please feel free to ask questions about any of the six steps outlined above.

Please note that this article was catalysed by a recent conversation with one of my Executive Coaching clients. Thanks Elise!

Gary Ryan enables talented professionals, their teams and organisations to Move Beyond Being Good.
View a TedX Talk by Gary here.
Dagenham Strike, Employee Engagement, Equal Pay, Equality, Leadership, Leadership Development, Made in Dagenham

In business some things are just plain wrong

It turns out that something far more profound than my birth occurred in 1968.

My wife and I recently viewed a film called, Made in Dagenham. The film tells the story about 187 female machinists who went on a three week strike at the Ford factory in Dagenham, England. Initially the women were outraged that they had been classified under a wage review as ‘unskilled’, and became more indignant when they became acutely aware of the difference in classification and wages between themselves and men doing exactly the same work.

What I found fascinating about the film and my subsequent research was that the women, led by Eileen Pullan were not skilled negotiators. They had to defend their actions within the union movement itself (largely run by men) the factory (which employed nearly 40,000 men) and their community. Their strike quickly shut down the entire Dagenham operation ‘laying off’ thousands and thousands of workers.

They stuck to their principles because the behaviour of management, while generally accepted at the time, was just plain wrong. The same level of work should receive the same level of pay irrespective of gender.

Despite the enormous pressure to return to work (including from some of the women’s husbands who had been laid off) the women stuck to their principles and only returned once a guarantee for equal pay had been established and brokered by Barbara Castle, then the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity. At the time the Secretary’s direct intervention with the women was a breach of normal protocols.

As a result of the strike the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1970, leading the way for equal pay for women throughout the Western World.

The story and its impact highlighted for me that some business practices and/or behaviours of management are just plain wrong and need to be treated as such. The courage of the Dagenham women highlights how a single minded approach to ‘righting wrongs’ even in the most lopsided of ‘fights’ can and does result in positive change.

It would be inaccurate of me to suggest that equal pay for women is now a non issue. Quite simply it isn’t. But the Dagenham Strike started the ball rolling in a positive direction.

I recommend watching the movie, not just from an entertainment perspective but from a historical one as well.

Finally, what ‘wrongs’ need to be ‘righted’ in your organisation?

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Culture, culture change, Formal training, Leaders, Leadership, Leadership Development

Government grants enhance the affordability of culture change programs

A combination of state and federal government schemes designed to enhance the formal qualifications of Australians have the added bonus of providing the resources for corporate culture change programs.

The challenge is that many leaders aren’t aware of the opportunity they have available to them and therefore don’t fully leverage the culture change opportunity.

As a facilitator of such programs I help senior leaders recognise that the real benefit of the programs is the conversations about their business that the course material catalyses. In simple terms, the course material and the courses themselves create the space for staff to talk about their organisation in a safe way. In other words, they have the opportunity to have Conversations That Matter®.

In every session that I have facilitated staff have learned something about their business that they did not previously know. Often this knowledge was considered by others in the room to be “known by everyone”. Yet it quickly becomes obvious that not everyone did know.

For example one organisation with whom I have been working has a bonus system in place that rewards staff for submitting ideas via their intranet that, if adopted and they produce measurable business improvements a bonus is paid to the employee. A lot of the mid-level managers in the program didn’t know that the system existed.

If it wasn’t for the program and the opportunity to talk about organisational systems designed to enhance idea generation, the conversation that resulted in the knowledge sharing would not have occurred. This type of conversation occurs in every session.

The opportunity to overlay the program with a specific culture change focus is both available and logical. Why not use government funding to pay for a program that enables real conversations about the organisation to be conducted that are influenced by theory! In addition, the program provides employees with a nationally recognised qualification.

In fact, it is my experience that corporate programs offer the greatest opportunity for theory to be understood and applied because the program creates the space for colleagues to apply theory to the practical operation of their business. In many cases the theory can then be applied in real time.  When properly understood and facilitated such opportunities can provide enormous benefits for everyone.

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in how such a program can benefit your organisation and employees.

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Leadership, Leadership Development, New Year Resolutions, OTM Plan For Personal Success, Personal Development, Personal Success, Personal Vision

Create your New Year Resolution

If you are in to announcing New Year resolutions, as many people are then I encourage you to create the outcome of your resolution throughout 2012.

I use the word ‘create’ deliberately. You see we have the ability to create the future we desire. Making an announcement on New Year’s Day is only a very small part of creating your desired future.
It is critical that you you are as clear as possible about the benefits that you will receive from bringing your New Year resolution into reality.

For example, if you have made a resolution top ‘get fit in 2012’ then clarify the benefits that getting fit will provide you. Your list may include:

  • looking better
  • more energy
  • better sleep
  • a happier partner (if you have one!)
  • increased chances of finding a partner (if you don’t have one!)
  • higher self confidence
  • less anxiety
  • improved concentration

Clearly this list could go on.

The point is, once you are clear about the benefits that the creation of your New Year resoluion will provide, the more clear you become about the ‘cost‘ of not creating such a future.

As Swedish neurologist David Ingvar discovered, writing down these benefits also increases the clarity with which your brain pictures the future you desire. Such clarity, coupled with developing and writing down your plan, significantly increase your ability to take the required actions to create your desired future.

If you keep your picture of the future (possibily represented by images or the list of benefits that you have established above) somewhere where you will see it regularly, your capacity to continue to take the required actions to create the future you desire will continue to be enhanced.

As the year progresses you wil bring your New Year resolution into reality. After all, isn’t that what we really hope for when we make a New Year resolution in the first place!

What are your New Year resolutions and how are you going to bring them into reality throughout 2012?

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Business strategy, Customer Service, Employability, Employability Skills, Leadership, Leadership Development, OTM Service Strategy, Service Excellence, Strategy

Is your People Strategy aligned with your Service Strategy?

Your organisation’s People Strategy includes everything from recruitment, to development and the way people exit your organisation. People are fundamental to the implementation of your Service Strategy so the way that you approach your recruitment, development and exit processes are examples of that strategy in action. 
How do you recruit, develop and exit people from your organisation? 
Are these activities performed in a way that reflects a service approach toward your people?
Copyright Gary Ryan 2011
Research Participant
The way people are exited from an organisation is a true test of its approach to service. When the company had to reduce staff numbers through no direct fault of its own and it did everything it could over a 12 month peeriod to help to prepare the exiting staff for their next job, I thought to myself, “This company really cares about people. I hope that their next company cares as much.”
Why not use this article as a catalyst for Conversations That Matter® within your workplace.
 
The OTM Service Strategy includes 7 key elements and 50 attributes that provide synergy for an effective service strategy. Find out more here.


Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Customer Service, Leaders, Leadership Development, OTM Service Strategy, Service Excellence

Does clutter detract from the services you offer?

Clutter creates stress and creates a sense of disorganisation. What systems do you have in place to keep both front-of-house and back-of-house areas free from clutter?

If you ‘sweep your mess under a carpet’ rather than clean it properly, your back-of-house systems and processes will eventually let your front-of-house operations down.

Would you be comfortable letting the public see your back of house operation? If not, why not?

What could you do about this situation?

Copyright Gary Ryan 2011

 Research Participant
Our back of house operations had always been a shambles. But we seemed to keep getting away with it. Until one day we didn’t. And the company nearly went broke because of it. Luckily we survived and we cleaned our act up. Literally!


Why not use this article as a catalyst for Conversations That Matter® within your organisation.

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Book, career, ebook, Employability, Kindle, Leaders, Leadership Development, Professional Development, What Really Matters For Young Professionals

Kindle version of ‘What Really Matters For Young Professionals!’ released today

Today I have some exciting news to share with you.

A Second Edition of What Really Matters For Young Professionals! How to master 15 practices to accelerate your career has just been released on Amazon Kindle.

In the book you will discover:

  • How to capture your stories that reflect your employability
  • How to identify your personal values
  • Why behaving in an aligned manner with your organisation’s values matters
  • How to communicate effectively with email
  • Why Dee Hock, the founder of VISA International recommends developing Servant Leadership skills
  • Why having mentors in your life is crucial for personal and career success and how to find them
  • How to stop yourself from jumping to conclusions so that you communicate effectively in the workplace
  • What Systems Thinking is and how to use it throughout your career
  • And much, much more!

Even more exciting is the price – just US$4.97.
The timing is perfect for anyone who has just finished their university year or degree.

However, the book isn’t just for people who are at the start of their career – seasoned professionals have found the content of the book extremely useful for helping them to do the little things that help them to continue their success.

The book isn’t just for Kindle Readers either – if you have an iPad or other tablet you will easily access apps that will allow you to read your Kindle books on those devices.

You can access your own Kindle version of What Really Matters For Young Professionals! here.

More information regarding the book, including a short video can be accessed here.

I am confident that you will find this version of the book even more value than the first. Enjoy!

Til next time, please keep learning and be the best leader that you can be!

Gary Ryan Founder – Organisations That Matter

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com
Customer Service, Leadership Development, OTM Service Strategy, Service Excellence, Southwest Airlines

Team members always reflect your brand in great service companies

The way team members behave, how they are attired and the way they speak should reflect a consistent brand message. Please don’t be mistaken. This does not mean that staff become robotic in their behaviour and appearance (unless that is a deliberate aspect of the brand strategy for the organisation).
Southwest Airlines are a terrific example of brand management. Their people, irrespective of role truly reflect the spirit of freedom in the way they perform their jobs. Southwest staff have fun on the job and the enjoyment positively infects their customers. In addition the way that the staff are treated by the organisation demonstrates that staff come first.
At Southwest pilots are renowned for helping ground crew load and unload baggage from their planes. Why? Fast turnaround times are key to Southwest’s service and profitability, and the pilots no it and support the practice of doing what needs to be done (safely and in a fun way when appropriate) to achieve great service.
The customer is not always right. Employees, not customers, come first… “The customer is sometimes wrong. We don’t carry those sorts of customers. We write to them and say, ‘Fly somebody else. Don’t abuse our people’” (Herb Kelleher, CEO Southwest Airlines, quoted in (Freiberg et al., 1996 p.268)

Why not use this article to catalyse Conversations That Matter® in your organisation. 

Contact Gary Ryan to discover how the OTM Service Strategy® can enhance your capacity to deliver service excellence. 

Gary Ryan enables individuals, teams and organisations to matter.
Visit Gary at http://garyryans.com