Posts tagged trust

My Manager Musts

Apr06
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Over the years, I have learned some important things to do and not to do. Managing people has been a learning experience. When I was a new manager, almost every situation I encountered was new. I stumbled through them sometimes, but I can safely say, I learned something from each situation. Some of my managers were good sources of my experiences. Some of them offered the “don’t do this” variety, but those are key lessons to take with me. So, what are the major things I have learned in all these years of managing people? What have I shared with other managers? I have written on almost all of them (see hyperlinks). Here are the things that I have in my toolbox of managing people:

  • Your job is to remove roadblocks for your staff. This is one key that many managers forget. What do you really offer your staff that they can not get on their own? Roadblock remover! Sometimes the manager gets in the way. If that is true, get moving.
  • Set expectations. Giving your staff the opportunity to help set expectations is very powerful. Giving them the end point, gives them vision into what needs to be done. Don’t tell them how to do it. See the first one…
  • Empower them. I know this one is a lot of lip service. Truly empower them is giving them the authority, confidence and the space to get the job done. Sounds easy… Make it happen, you will be rewarded more from your staff with this one.
  • Never give someone a task, you wouldn’t do. Let’s face it sometimes there are crappy tasks that need to be done.. Don’t be afraid to say that, “I know this is a crappy task. I am sorry, but I really need you to get it done.” Helps..
  • Problems occur, address them ASAP. In a previous post, I wrote about conflict. Well, those problems don’t usually go away. Stand up and acknowledge there is a problem. Respectfully address it.
  • Praise in public. Critique in private. If you must critique, make sure that it is about the professional part of the job. Stay away from the personal. Everything must tie to what is happening back on the job. Your behavior in this situation caused this to be missed, that to slipped or whatever happened  in their job. Setting the stage is critical.
  • Let them speak (or vent). Give them the opportunity to let of some steam if necessary. Listen, you could hear something that is going on, that you were unaware of. Too many times, I have heard a managers voice and not my own. Those don’t work well.
  • Respect their time. I had a manager that was late to everything. His time management was terrible. For me, I felt that my time was not important. My time and their time is important!
  • Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” I don’t know everything.. The worse thing you could do is make something up. A simple, “I don’t know, but let me find out” works best.
  • No surprises. Don’t blindside your staff members. A performance appraisal should not be the first time someone hears there is a problem. You should be communicating all the time. Here is more deeper thoughts in this area.
  • Never micromanage. Again, another past post of mine. For me, micromanaging is the worst behavior any manager can do. Give your people room to work!
  • Finding the “right” people to work in your team. Your team is key to your success. Finding the right people to work together is critical. Sometimes the person with the most experience is not the best fit for the job
  • Mistakes happen, just not the same mistake over and over. No one is perfect, so when a mistake happens, learn from it and don’t let it happen again. I always use the first one is on me… Have a positive outlook and control
  • Blame is useless. I have had managers that are looking for the “who” to blame. I would rather find out what happened and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. See the above one.
  • You set the example of your staff to follow. Your staff is a mirror of yourself. You don’t like what you see, then you change.
  • You are nothing without them. It is a funny thing, when you go on vacation or are out sick, the work gets done… If you staff is all out on vacation or sick – nothing gets done.

There probably are more to add.. Everyday as a manager is a learning experience. Take this list, use what you want and add some of your own. Either way, your staff will appreciate it.

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Posted in Leadership, New To Management, Observations - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Keys to Empowering Your Staff

Mar28
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Plenty of what I have written have been how to really help you, as a manager or leader, in the area of getting a good working relationship with your staff. One area that I have not really called out, but have written about some of the principles around, empowering your staff. Employee empowerment is something that every manager or leader wants for his staff. Do you believe that you truly empower your staff? Have you asked them? Did you see their body language when they answered. Look at how you feel empowered by your manager. Is that empowerment that you want for your staff? We truly want to have our staff feel empowered to do their work. What does it take to set that stage for empowerment? Here are some of the keys that I believe are necessary:

  • Value your people – in all that you communicate and do for them. If you do this, your staff will “see” it. They will appreciate your words and actions…
  • Share your vision – with your team. No one likes to be left out in the dark. If you have plans, share and ask them their opinion. Keep that vision where they can find it!
  • Share goals – I know I have written a lot about expectations and goals. To me that is key to helping each of my staff to understand what and why.. They make sure the how to is theirs. They get it done…
  • Trust your people – again another topic that I feel is very important. Trust is a two way street – insure that you trust your staff. Earn their trust by setting strong expectations, do what you say you will do and remove roadblocks.
  • Insure all information is available – this one is making sure that the “why” is communicated freely with the what. Issue that your staff has access to everything they need to help them get their job done.
  • Delegate to your staff – for me, this one is making sure that the people getting the work done have the power to make decisions (when appropriate), get help when necessary and give them opportunities to shine. It is so easy for most managers to delegate the crap work… Don’t do that, your staff reads right through that stuff.
  • Provide feedback often – nothing says you value them than providing positive or constructive feedback. Do it timely.  Do it in the right setting..
  • Listen to your staff – it is all to easy for managers to do all the talking. You staff is “doing” the work, they do know what is truly happening. Listen… Problems may come up and if you listen – you maybe able to help solve the problem with them. Don’t listen – you will miss what is really happening.
  • Reward your staff – recognize good work and let the staff know. They will feel that you do value them.. That their work means something and they will continue to do some amazing stuff.

Those are the keys that I strive for with my staff. Many have communicated over the years, that they had some of their best times working with me and in my teams. I truly enjoyed that feedback.. I believe it is because I empowered them to do their best work.

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Sometimes Change Is NOT Good

Mar11
2011 2 Comments Written by Steve

I guess because I am an older person, with many years and experiences under my belt, that I have seen a few things. Some of those things have changed and significantly over the years. The one that I want to write about today is just plain personal. I can remember from the very first time I went off to school – elementary school and the experience has carried me through my kids going through school and now since I volunteer a lot – I get to witness it daily (with other people’s children).  The title of the blog post is “Sometimes Change is NOT Good” for a reason. I know we need changes in our education system – I truly understand that.. But, the change I want to focus in on is teacher, student and parent. Why? Like I said, years of experience…

Let’s look at this relationship. We can all agree that it takes a village to raise the children. Especially, parents and teachers when it comes to education. Don’t forget the main ingredient – student (your kids). The relationship over time has changed significantly. Let’s look at my experience -

  • I went off to public school back in the mid to late 60′s and graduated in 1977. I know I am dating myself.. But that is okay. It is a frame a reference! I am not going to tell you I walked uphill in the snow both ways – we all know that is not true, but I did walk to school (and the winters were pretty cold – Canadian border upstate New York). Well, back to the topic; parent, student and teacher relationship. My parents taught me the teacher is right, always right. They are very important and you need to listen to them and do what they tell you. My parents attended all scheduled conferences and shared communications as needed. When I acted up or didn’t get along with a classmate, a call or note would go home – and I was 100% at fault, no questions asked. My parents would tell me, what is your side of the story.. Here was the trick I learned later on – they were baiting me to lie. Fact is they sided with the teacher 100%.  Back in that day, corporal punishment was allowed and I got my share (I liked to be the class clown).
  • Fast forward some to when my kids attended school, 80′s and 90′s. Times were changing some. Teachers we used to see get out and about (we did see them eat in public). They even shopped! I never knew that growing up.. When my wife and I used to discuss the importance of a very good education, we shared that the teacher is a very big part of your success. Listen, work hard and do what you are asked to – these were the important points. Along the way, we had some issues with how things were going. We never once attacked a teacher for anything. We would sit down and work out what needed to be done. I was lucky, my kids were gifted students - they set high goals for themselves and worked hard. Sometimes the school would only focus on working to the middle (or on getting students to passing). When my kids got their calls or notes for behavior issues – we sided with the teacher more times than not. Rarely did we take the stand for the kid. Did I bait my kids like my parents did? Some…
  • Fast forward again to the 2000 and 2010′s. I have seen an increasing number of challenging of the teachers on the simplest of things. Let’s go back to the behavior issues examples. I have witnessed an increased focus on the teacher as the cause of the behavioral issue. Not a complete 180 degree switch – but the first step is to agree with the child’s words. Which puts the parents on the offensive when meeting with the teacher. Upset parents coming to the aide of their kids… Making excuses or defending the behavior – it can not be my child that did it.. Why has it changed? Do we think that the 9, 10, 11 year old is right over the teacher?

Like I said, in my day, my parents accepted the teacher as gospel. When my kids went through school, I was definitely more supportive of the teacher. I can only remember one time – that it was definitely not my child that was at fault, but was there – guilty by association (make a better choice). Watching what I am seeing today scares me. Maybe it was me not being like my parents – 100% support of the teacher no matter what.. Helped to pave the way to what I see today.. I hope not. The village has to raise the kids – it is time for the kids not to raise part of the village. Sorry, but if you are a parent that supports your child 100% over the teacher in all matters, ask yourself one simple question. “What does the teacher gain from what you just heard from your child?” I think that will help put into perspective who has something to gain…. Working together for the best for the child’s future.

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Effective One on One Communications

Feb14
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

After 20+ years of managing and working in corporate America, no one will argue that communicating with your direct reports is not important. One on One communications is the life blood of coaching, mentoring and developing the boss/employee relationship. Why is it, that many managers fail at this? Or employee’s just don’t want them? Could it be that the sessions are just not effective? Over those 20+ years, I hate to think how many of those one on one’s I have led or attended as the direct report. I do know I have had some great, good and terrible one’s.

Here are my very simple steps to making sure that these sessions are effective:

Agenda’s set in advance: Normally the one on one was the employee’s meeting (in my last employer) and they had to have an agenda. I have found that agenda’s are the first critical step. Know what is going to be discussed sets up the meeting in the right way. Some of the worst one on one’s were those that had no agenda. One point that I would make is, the agenda needs to be sent to the manager at least 24 hours in advance. This way, the manager has time to prepare.

Be prepared: Both the employee and manager need to be prepared! Prepared to discuss what is on the agenda without holding back. When the discussion is guarded, no one wins. Having the agenda ahead of time, helps the manager to be prepared to discuss in more detail. Being put on the spot sometimes can be damaging to the relationship. The one explain that really used to get me fired up as an employee was… My question would be something like, “how is my performance to date?”  The answer back, “keep doing what you are doing.” Two things come to mind… First, my agenda was probably not looked at ahead of time because the manager was not prepared… Or worse, this manager has no idea what I am doing – I have basically been goofing off the past month…

Set up meeting frequency regularly: Maybe it is me, but having a regular cadence and basic discussion topics insures successful discussions during the one on ones. Basic discussion topics are overall performance, professional development, help needed, coaching and general discussions. Not every topic can be accomplished every time.. Set up the meetings in the right cadence (every 2 weeks maybe) and have certain basic topics preset..

Listen: Better yet, effective listening… Make sure that this meeting is really about your direct report. This is one of those critical times where you as the manager get to really learn and help develop the employee/manager relationship. Listening helps you learn!

Follow-up: Sometimes the one on one will be so successful that the employee and manager may have some stuff that needs to get done outside of the session. Don’t forget to follow-up! Successful sessions get people excited and really to take on whatever is in front of them. Forgetting to follow-up, just demonstrates the words were just that words… Actions speak much louder!

Sounds simple, it truly is.

Posted in Leadership, New To Management - Tagged , , , , , , ,

Team Processes and Procedures

Nov23
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Every new managing will get to really enjoy their time in the next phase of the Tuckman Model for team development, storming. I have spent time with many new managers and they always say that they are not looking forward to repeating the storming aspect of team development. Their experiences have taught them that it is ugly and sometimes difficult to move through. Personally, I find this particular phase a challenge and helpful in making sure that I have focused the team in the right places.

What is Storming really? This is the time where competition and conflict start to surface. Each person is starting to feel out their individuality and inserting their influence on subject matter. May get to see the resistance to tasks or processes. Lastly, depending on the size of your team, you could start to see subgroups or polarization form. Since you are the new manager – I would bet that you are the cause of this happen at the time you joined. Same thing will happen as soon as a new member joins. The time spent in storming is really all about how the roles and responsibilities are set up. What should you have?

  • Assigned duties. If you have set up your SMART team goals, work tasks are assigned! What about the other tasks? Do you have a coverage model for when you or your team are out of the office? Do you have meetings? Do you have assigned meeting duties? Should you? Taking any of the guess work out of the team on who is doing what, when will help get out of storming quickly.
  • Cross training. Does you team have knowledge of other’s jobs? The more that each one knows the better it is for helping each other out, rather than point the fingers. Should this all be documented? Would be extremely helpful for reminders and for any new members coming in.
  • Documented processes. Not the job documented processes, but the ones that they team has for each other. Getting back the discretionary items. If you set up a schedule for coverage or meetings… Writing it down, sharing it with the team makes it clear.
  • Documented procedures. As a manger – do you have a set of pet peeves or rules that you like to work within with your team? Most new managers are feeling that out. Over the years, I have developed a simple list of team procedures that I use – and work with the team to refine to get commitment moving forward.

Storming can be fun! Especially if you work as a team to go through the team processes and procedures. There should not be too many questions that come up that can not be handled from your basic team roles, processes and procedures. The goal is to get to Norming!

Norming is that area where the team is working with cohesion and alignment. Roles are well established and practiced as witnessed by an increase in trust and communication. Listen for “WE-ness.” What really helps here is taking all of the work in forming/storming and adding a deeper understand. Focus on problem solving, like identify problems and working through them together. As a new manager, you have to be willing to let go when the time is in norming. That does not mean ignore. It means that you are still in it, but on the outside with the team. Communication should flow – but not just through you. Having a tool in place for each member to track their performance or at least know what is happening goes a long way to moving forward (that will be coming in the monitoring team performance post in a few days).

The last stage of the Tuckman model is Performing. As a new manager – you want to strive to get your team to this stage. Why? Goal achievement is consistant with each member focusing on high task output. The team starts to put the emphasis on their performance and production. The team sees you, manager, as just another member of the team. Trust is a big component in performing. Trust in each other to do what is right for the good of making the results be the best that they can be.

So, where is your team today? Do you have the basics in place? Are you updating them?

Posted in New To Management - Tagged , , , ,

Lead or Judge – You Pick

Sep22
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Reality is a funny thing. We know we should live in it. When you are leading sometimes, reality is not something that you really want to see or hear. The story is always better. Given a choice between reality and our version of it, I bet we are more inclined to choose the later. Sharing a story – I was a new leader to a team of folks, that were partners of mine before. My perception of this team was not good. They were difficult to work with, rarely got stuff done on-time and frankly I did not look forward to any dealings I had with them. As part of a rotation, I was now their leader (careful what you wish for). What do you do? Below I will share my experience on what I did.

So what does this sound like? Have you ever heard any of these?

  • “I shouldn’t have to do this – it’s not part of my job description.”
  • “Our department is always having to clean up after others’ mistakes (messes).”
  • “The boss just doesn’t get it.”
  • “Management only cares about the bottom-line.”

When you hear those – you are arguing with reality. Judging your situation in terms of right or wrong instead of confronting what is. Time to respond to facts. Always easier said then done. Think what is woven into the story; ego, insecurities and identity. The story makes us look and feel better. Most stories have someone or something that is not quite good enough (not always placing blame, but enough to point to it). This insures that the criticism is setting us apart from others (which in turn does not help them).

When you start judging, you stop leading. Judging is in the land of the story… How do you make sure that you get back?

  • Step back and really getting the facts. Do you have all the information or are you judging what you think you know?
  • Focus on actions for success. Too many times I hear – I was right. Are you trying to prove yourself right?
  • Trust others. Not to worry about what motives are driving a team or individual, but how can you help them achieve success.
  • Clear and solid expectations. Those expectations have to be of your team and yourself. We all have challenging goals to achieve. Work with your team to best figure out the right approach for success.

Back to the story.. That horribly negative group that I know am the leader of… I took it upon myself to say, I am the biggest obstacle in making this work. It was my judging of the team that needed to change first. Respond to reality.. The phone rings – I pick it up. Email comes in – I answer it right away. Team asks a question – I answer it or teach them to fish. Team discusses how things worked in the past – I listen and learn – then lead them toward the future. Engaging with them all the way. I started to see changes in the team. I mostly started to see changes in myself. With every experience comes some key learning’s – if you want to learn.

I wonder, if you think back to a situation – where you telling yourself a story? Were you doing any judging of individuals or departments? Was it reality? Did you lead in that situation?

Posted in Leadership, Observations - Tagged , , , , , ,

My Thoughts On Managing

Sep03
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

Been managing a very long time, some 28 years. I taught my first of 3 or 4 more sessions on “New to Management” for my employer. So, I started thinking more about being a manager. When I think about my career and what is it to be a manager – a number of things came to my mind. So, I thought I would write them down and share.

We all have to start with a baseline , managers are the vehicle that turn intentions (mission, strategies and expectations) into results. I have been doing this for a lot of years, many of my peers have as well – we are getting ready to finish up our careers and pass the baton to others. So, what are my thoughts?

  • Management is probably the best and most challenging job around. If you really want maximum impact – sign up now.
  • Great managers really do what many will not try or do. It all starts with the choices that you make everyday. Those managers approach and blast away barriers. Don’t shy away from the difficult task of stopping busy work for the really important work.
  • Management is a social act. Sitting in your office is not very social. You have to get out, have conversations and develop relationships. Simply put: erode relationships, erode results. Get out there and bring out the best in others.
  • You are in the middle and much is expected of you. Too many times I have heard, “that is why you make the big bucks.” Completely understanding the expectation (from your manager and the needs of your team) will help you chart your path.
  • Time is critical. Look at your inbox (unread), calendar, to do list and count the instant messages during the day. Each and everyone of those are opportunities to engage and excite. How are you spending your time? Would you change anything?  Great conversations are worth lots. Remember, relationships = results.

There has been much written on management over the years. There has never been any new silver bullet to being completely successful. What I learned over the years, is nothing new. Remember to spend time on yourself (learning, developing and listening). The true important part is – How you apply the learning’s and experiences.

Posted in Leadership - Tagged , , , , , , ,

What Was said, What Was heard!

Aug27
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

We all know that communication needs to be two ways. We have the sender that says something (“What was said“) and a receiver that hopefully heard the message (“What was heard“). They do get mixed up from time to time. Over the past, weeks I have been communicating, listening and adding some of my peers to this discussion. Below you will find a list of some of the more humorous “What was said, what was heard”.

What Was Said What Was Heard
Be More Assertive. Make them agree with you.
Scope is not clear. That’s not what I meant.
Your data is misleading. That data makes everything look bad.
You’re a bit too aggressive. Being a “B” (male or female version)
Think out of the box. Heard all your ideas before, get some new material.
Emerging Market Strategy. Moving jobs offshore.
You always offer ideas on how to improve. Too opinionated.
Viewed as a SME by peers. Total Know It All.
Keeping it real for me, thanks. Better use a “filter” (don’t say that) for others.
You’re doing great! Probably has no clue how I am doing.
Fly under the radar. Don’t tell anyone – what they don’t know will not hurt them.
That is not what I meant. Bring me a rock exercises are fun, not!
Disagree and Commit. Just agree with me, it is much easier.
You are too valuable to the organization. No transfer for me.
Need to be more open-minded. Have to get alone with everyone.
That will not work. Not invented here, so of course it will not work.
Site strategy. More compressed office time.
That should be Zbb Nights and weekend work.
Only the best and brightest work here. Someone is full of themselves.
It’s confidential. It’s a test… Will I or won’t I tell someone?
Put your corporate hat on. Suck it up…
Let’s bin that. Ok, now that one is dead.
Take it off line. Done listening or Shut the hell up!
That’s Steve being Steve. Ignore him; he will eventually go away.
Not a good idea in this environment. Didn’t think of it, so we are not going to do it.
You’re a solid team player. You are not a leader.
Too foster better work/life balance involve teammates. You’re too slow at this task.
You take a very direct approach. You sometimes leave a trail of dead bodies.
You need to find a new outlet to support your career passion. Your career desires don’t fit within this group.
One-way rotational What the heck? (Trying to rotate me out?)
Is it done yet? Moving a bit slow.
Sorry, I was on mute, what you say? Not paying attention (mute your ears?)
Your Program or project is not strategic. Time to update the resume.

We all know there are more.. Please share…

Posted in Leadership, Observations - Tagged , , , ,

Feedback IS Critical – Use It

Aug18
2010 Leave a Comment Written by Steve

I read awhile back, from where I don’t remember, that one important part of leadership is asking for feedback. Research showed that this was the one that leaders least used. This one peaked my interest enough for me to want to write about it. Is this true? If you are a leader – how often do you really ask for feedback? If you are a director or higher, do you get feedback from the troops in the trenches? After posing those questions over the last month (most of it when I was on sabbatical), I can say that the research is probably spot on. My simple sample size with many different folks – really pointed out to me that many leaders do not gather this information. From my experience, there is plenty of data being gathered for some decisions that are being made.. When it comes to decisions, on the individual basis, the data is somewhat limited. 

So, what is being gathered? I got from some folks, that their companies have formal survey’s to gather feedback. Some folks commented that the leader would discuss the results. Action plans were discussed, but little action on the plans were witnessed. Good start, but overall execution needs more work. Another area that folks pointed out needing some improvement, were the questions. They felt like they were way too broad and did not help pinpoint the work that is being done. Too broad a question could have too many concepts rolled into one.. Making scoring a bit tough. Getting to the detail that could help the leader is somewhat lost. Making the questions more focused is not always good either, as the survey becomes a chore (too long). There needs to be a balance.  Having the company provide a venue for gathering feedback could be very powerful. Some leaders take the feedback to heart and really work with people to address the items areas needing attention. But, that truly is the exception. Some are words only.. Taking the time to read the feedback, gather some more information, develop plans but actions don’t match plan. Others mostly commented that they get some occasional questions asked of them from the leader in one on one’s or skip level discussions. The respondents pretty much felt like they were put on the spot. Getting a question out of the blue, “How am I doing? Anything that I can do better?” left them caught off guard. You really want to think about that and provide some rich feedback.

So, why not really use feedback to your benefit? Here are a few that came out….

  • Don’t know how to interrupt the feedback (if given).
  • Feedback is less than actionable.
  • Treat feedback as an exercise.
    • “Who knows me better than myself?”
    • “True feedback comes from the boss.”
  • No visible reward (or punishment). The soft skills are normally not recognized. 

The challenge is really two fold. First, we all have to be honest and timely with the feedback. This is something that I have had preached to me all of my career. This should not get lost the higher up the ladder a leader goes. Second, reward systems need to really be hard deliverable and soft-skilled based.

Posted in Leadership - Tagged , , ,

Cube Farm Etiquette

Aug16
2010 2 Comments Written by Steve

Maybe it is because I just got back from sabbatical or maybe it is just because the office area has more people around me.. But, I feel it is time to bring up a subject near and dear to most of our hearts – cubical etiquette.

Here are my basic simple rules that I would hope that we all can follow:

  1. All cell phones are put on vibrate. There are a number of you all that think those ring tones are special or cute. Well, for many of us – not so much. Please when entering the building – place the cell phone on vibrate. If you can’t feel vibrate, place on the desk next to you. I bet you will see it moving across the desk..
  2. Personal phone calls. Hey, we all have them from time to time. There is nothing wrong with them – just when the subject matter gets a little off base. I really don’t think you want to share some of the topics of you personal life with your cube farm mates. We are in a very open area… the walls have ears (and your voice carries).
  3. Loud talkers (and that goes for me!) we need to remember that there are people in the office area (besides ourselves). If you are going to be the main talker in a meeting or decision – well, try to get a room. If unavailable – well remember your voice carries. Please use you inside voice… For those that forgot or never knew what that is – six inches should be the carry distance. If they can not hear you on the call – more the mic closer to your mouth or change the batteries in the headset.
  4. Music in the office area to keep you focused is awesome, except when…
    1. If I can hear you music over the cube wall (and you are using your headset) – you have that volume a bit TOO LOUD. Please take care of your health, turn the volume down and save yourself from some hearing loss later in life.
    2. Singing along – please stop!
    3. Whistling, humming and drumming in your cube… Maybe it sounds awesome to you, but the rest of us – not so much (again). If you are ready for American Idol – great, but practice at home.
  5. Smells – We are in a confined space… We have to be very mindful of (and it is open to interruption):
    1. Food – smelling burnt popcorn and some leftovers are not good.
    2. Cologne or perfume – use in moderation.
    3. Kickin off the shoes… Please don’t.
  6. If you happen to be off for an extended period of time – SAC your phone, please!
  7. Be professional and remember to be respectful to your neighbors… We all are working!

For the folks in their cubes – that are having problems getting work done or having their frustration level reaching boiling point. You have every right to – politely ask for people to do the right thing. No need to get angry.. We have one person in our area that comes by and reminds us about the cellphone not being on vibrate – she does this politely. Some of us have labelled her the cellphone police… In a nice way. Only takes one ring and watch us all scramble to turn our phones to vibrate… I am loud, I know that and have warned my fellow cube mates. Told them - if I get too loud they can shhhhh me.. or ask me to take it down…. I am quite okay with that.

Remember to just be respectful in letting your fellow cube mates know – they may not realize it!

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Posted in Observations - Tagged , ,
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