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Workplace boundaries will prevent you from reacting to others' interference and getting angry at their disturbances. No matter what size your business is, you need to set boundaries and provide structure to your workday. You determine your schedule, not your clients or vendors. If you decide your day starts at 9:30 AM, then don't answer the phone or turn on the computer until then. Start the day with a good breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Break-the-fast like a king or queen. Don't forget the protein. Take frequent breaks during the day to give your brain cells a rest. Schedule in exercise for the body as well as relaxation for the brain. Leave your office for lunch at least 3 workdays per week. It's much too easy to work through lunch, eat at your desk and ignore your personal needs. Don't forget those evening meetings, whether networking or classes. Allow time to leave work, home office or a job, revitalize yourself, and be ready for these events. If you work with others, learn to close your door or put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your cubicle. It's difficult to concentrate when constantly interrupted. If you allow full access to co-workers, clients or vendors, you may wind up being angry or over-reactive to minor infractions. The telephone works three ways: you can pick it up, hang it up or not touch it at all. Have voice mail or an answering service. Listening to incoming calls on an answering machine will only prove a distraction. Should I or shouldn't I answer that? OK, I'll pick it up. It's never as important as you think. If you are working on a project, give it one hour of effort at a time. Check messages and decide the importance and urgency of these calls. Then decide if you need more protein. Athletes are not the only people who require constant nourishment. Using your brain is exhausting, but has never been given enough credibility. Don't get 'stuck' on-line. If part of your marketing is focused on the Web with e-mail newsletters or similar marketing tools, hire someone to do the updates for you. If you value your time and have set a dollar figure for Web-update time, you can see the wisdom in having a less expensive individual perform this function. Use an employee, student, independent contractor or virtual assistant. It's too easy to sit in front of the computer and get lost when that time could be better spent writing or going for a walk. Take care of yourself, first! Mornings are best for detail work. The mind is refreshed and capable of high functioning. It's best to return phone calls in the afternoon, especially if they are non-urgent. Critical thinking is best done in the morning. Delegate all your non-essential tasks. The more structure you have in your work, the more freedom you have. As a last item, learn to say no. Say no to anything that does not fit into your annual plan and your goals. The purpose of creating your plan is to determine what you really want to do. If a request comes for a volunteer or paid situation that does not fit into your plan, just say no. Saying 'no' is difficult for many people, especially if they are just discovering their boundaries. Remember - always take care of yourself first! ~~~~~ CompleteGuideToMakingMoney.com. - Get the wealth consciousness, mindset and strategies to make money in 60-90 days and grow your financial freedom and wealth now. The Eft Coach. - eBook: A complete guide to using Emotional Freedom Technique as a coaching tool, Guest post written by Stuart Ngai, Director of Technology Solutions, VERAX
It’s an investment that pays off Sure, everyone is very busy these days. And most IT managers have long days in addition to the constant bombardment of mobile messages. However, if you neglect to put a good effort to nurture your IT staff, it will come back to bite you in the form of low employee morale, low productivity, high turnover, and lack of innovation to name a few. Thus, preventive steps on a consistent basis is essential to keep a healthy workforce working for you. So take the time to nurture your valuable IT staff. Upper management buy-in is a must Now that you’ve been reminded of the importance of nurturing your staff, is that enough? My experience tells me that unless you also get your boss to recognize and help drive this important aspect of being a manager, it might be an uphill battle you’ll be taking all on your own shoulders. So do spend time to keep the benefits of training front and center with your boss amongst many “must do’s”. Having well trained IT staff will not only benefit both you and your boss in achieving and exceeding your deliverable objectives while creating a great work environment for all. The 10% allocation rule So you and your boss are persuaded. But how much should be set aside for investing in people without affecting your capacity to deliver? Well, many IT businesses tend to be cyclical and you should definitely take advantage of the downtime for training. But by default, use the 10% time allocation rule over the course of the year to ensure reasonable time is dedicated for your IT staff to up keep their skills. Now, that doesn’t directly translate to a 10% reduction in productivity. There are a number of ways you can afford to keep with the 10% rule without breaking your bank. So read on. Know strategic directions for your company and industry Great, your boss is on board and you’ve set a budget aside. What’s next? Well, just like you don’t get on a highway before deciding where you are going, you need to know the strategic focus of your company and trends in your industry before you start planning with your staff. As an example, I recently purchased a state of the art, air-thin laptop for my son for his university study away from home even though I know it doesn’t run all the fancy shooting games that he loves on his desktop at home. As a result, he now has a sleek laptop that’s the envy of his friends while he’s getting top marks because he doesn’t waste hours shooting at colourful pixels. Mean dad you say; may be. But he ends up ahead with his leading edge gadget while happy getting top marks in university – just have to borrow his friends’ clunky desktops for the occasional thrills. Likewise, as an IT manager, you need to know what’s good for your company and where the industry is heading before entertaining any training requests. Listen to your staff Now you are aware of the direction of your company and industry. Time to sit down with your staff to listen. Knowing everyone’s different, you definitely need to spend time listening carefully to the areas that they feel they need to beef up while you let them know the direction that’s important for your company and what you see as the important trends in your industry. Help them focus on some concrete and measureable goals so as to keep a focus on the objectives. Do encourage creativity from your staff in terms of learning style so to maximize the benefits based on your budget. To be continued next Monday. Share Your Thoughts How do you go about planning and managing training for your staff? Do you have any pointers or advice for others? Join the conversation in the AlignIT for Infrastructure and Development Managers group on LinkedIn. Stuart Ngai
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Stuart Ngai, Director of Technology Solutions at