Work911 Ezine - Focus on Maximizing Time, New Knowledgebases for Performance Management, Strategic Planning and Customer Service, and the topic of procrastination.
Robert Bacal
for Performance Management, Strategic Planning and Customer Service,
and the topic of procrastination.
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As Summer comes to a close in the Northern Hemisphere people are
gearing up, and getting really busy. Our focus in this issue is on
getting the most from your time.
1) Fast Answers From Our Frequently Asked Questions Knowledgebase
These days it's hard to find answers to questions without spending a
lot of time reading long books or hunting around in search engines. To
help people find information fast, we've created three frequently asked
questions sections about performance management and appraisal, customer
service and strategic planning. They are under constant development,
and we also have a similar area planned for conflict.
Each of the knowledgebases includes questions (organized by category)
related to the overall topic. Answers are kept short (for the most
part), and the topics range from the basic and definitional through to
the much more advanced. Here's the rundown on the three existing areas:
A) The Performance Management and Appraisal Knowledgebase
Available at http://performance-appraisals.org/faq this area contains
over one hundred questions and answers about how to make performance
management and appraisal work. It includes sections on setting
objectives, conducting the review, itself, and more. There's even a
section written specifically for employees, so they can become better
participants in the process.
B) The Strategic Planning Knowledgebase Questions and Answers
We've done the same thing for strategic and business planning topics.
You can access it at http://www.work911.com/planningmaster/faq.
There are sections on basic strategic planning concepts, definitions
and terms, strategic planning tools, strategic planning implementation
and tons more. Again, we keep answers as short and to the point as
possible so you can save time.
C) The Customer Service Knowledgebase Questions and Answers
Access it at http://customerservicezone.com/faq . This is our newest
area of this type, but the principles are the same. Have questions
about improving customer service in your company? Want to know who
coined the phrase "the customer is always right"? Or how to deal with
more difficult customers? (under development). You'll find the
questions and answers here.
2) Our Theme - Time! What A Concept
A) Speeding Up The Learning Process and Keeping Up
It's hard to keep up with the newest articles, books and other material
related to management, business and personal development. There is one
option you may want to look at and that is to subscribe to a service
that provides you with summaries of relevant books, either in print or
in audio. Audio summaries are great since they can be listened to and
learned from while you do other boring things, like commuting to work,
or even gardening, so you can learn while doing ordinary chores.
Soundview Book Summaries provides just such a service and provides book
summaries in print, online and on cdrom and tape cassette on a
subscription basis. The price isn't "dirt cheap", but neither is it
prohibitive. They currently have some free offers to subscribers, and
there's also a free sample available.
You can sign up now for a subscription to Soundview Executive Book
Summaries and receive 5 of the most popular summaries FREE! Simply go
over to:
http://www.dpbolvw.net/email-386745-10411644
Of course, more information and details are available if you click on
the link above.
B) Audiobooks - Great For Learning, Maximizing Time, and Entertainment
Ok. I'm an audiobook junkie. I "read" several fiction titles a week,
and "read" non-fiction, including books on business, leadership,
management, communication. Well, my reading is mostly done listening to
audiobooks. While I do the dishes, weed the garden, travel on business,
drive and commute, you'll likely find me listening to something on my
cd player, computer or mp3 player. I love it since it transforms pretty
boring downtime into something entertaining, or educational, and often
both.
For those of you who haven't tried out audiobooks, consider it now.
There's the "better use of time" reason, of course, but you'll also
find that listening to a book (particularly a fiction book) provides a
different (not necessarily better or worse one) experience than reading
the book.
If you are interested you have a number of options, from completely
free to making audiobook purchases. On the free side many libraries now
carry commercial type audiobooks that you can borrow free of charge,
although selection tends to be limited, and occasionally, the cd's are
scratched or skip. Of course you can buy audiobooks through many
bookstores, but prices can be steep, particularly for unabridged
version. They can range from $30 to $100 per title, and that's pretty
expensive.
There's one more options you may want to try, and this is one I use on
occasion. Audible is the leading supplier of audiobooks available in
downloadable form. It's a legitimate company that has partnered with
amazon, and all of their material is legal from a copyright point of
view. Basically you choose the titles you want, download them, and use
their software to play them on your computer, transfer them to an Ipod
type thing, or burn them to standard CD's. The whole buying process is
quick.
They offer monthly subscription deals also that are worth looking at.
What about pricing? Popular titles in audio format are priced around
the cost of a hard cover version of the book, but a monthly
subscription (which allows access to x number of books per month) makes
things a lot cheaper.
What I found shocking on the pricing front was that the prices of many
"learning type" books on management, leadership, and so on were for all
practical purposes, dirt cheap. Paying six dollars for an audio version
of The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard, is a bargain by any
standards.
Anyway, the selection is amazing. The costs are reasonable. On the
negative side, they use their own audio format to prevent pirating, and
this can be a bit of a nuisance, but if you have an Ipod, want to
listen on your computer, or burn regular CD's, it should work for you.
Anyway, I buy from audible, and you may want to check it out. You can
listen to more than 25,000 audio books programs. Choose from popular
and informative categories. They have a special offer going on now --
join now and receive free MP3 player.
http://www.dpbolvw.net/email-386745-10297292
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3) Ok. Well, it's easy to put off something until we "feel" like doing
it -- procrastination. Heres a short piece on procrastination with some
tips. Read it NOW, not tomorrow!
How To Overcome Procrastination Today By T Young
"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."
-- George Carlin
Billions of dollars are lost each year by people who choose to put off
things that should be done immediately. When taxes get filed late,
fines and penalties accrue. Pay a bill late and your interest goes up.
Wait too long to make airline reservations and your fare increases.
But procrastination isn't just about money. Depending upon what it is
you're working so hard to avoid doing, you could be impacting the
lives of people who are depending on you to come through for them.
Whether it's lost money, loss of respect, or lost opportunity -
procrastination is for losers and you certainly don't need any part
of it. If you find yourself missing deadlines and stressing out over
things you should have crossed off your to-do list already, pay
attention:
You CAN overcome procrastination, and you CAN do it today. Just follow
these steps (and don't put it off):
1. Create a daily "to do" list and set firm deadlines for
everything on it. That way you know how much time you have available to
read your e-mail, return phone calls, pay your bills, or handle
anything else that's on your list.
2. Break large tasks into smaller steps. Create a schedule of
deliverables for each task and focus on getting each small step done on
time.
3. Set deadlines. Instead of using phrases like "I need to get my
taxes filed soon", replace it with "I will file my taxes today by
5:00 PM." There is no way to determine when soon will occur, but
there's no doubt about when today at 5:00 PM is scheduled to arrive.
4. Think positively. "I can" and "I will" are strong statements
that can push you forward. "I should" and "I might" are anchors
that only weigh you down.
5. Do your hardest task, or the one you hate doing the most, first
thing in the morning. That will get the "biggie" out of the way and
the rest of the day will seem easier in comparison.
6. Clutter kills productivity. Don't let paper pile up in your life.
Make a rule that every piece of paper you touch must be either filed,
thrown away, or the action that the paper requires you to take (like
paying a bill) must be taken.
7. Take a few minutes each day to review your progress and pat yourself
on the back for getting things done. Seeing things crossed off on your
to-do list is a highly motivating sight.
8. Don't let unexpected events throw you off. If you get hit with
something that must be done at once, do it and then reschedule your
to-do list so nothing falls through the cracks.
9. Don't let it get you down if you find it hard to break the
procrastination habit in one day. It took you more than one day to
develop the habit. Treat failure as an opportunity to do better
tomorrow.
10. Stop thinking "Hmm, maybe I'll do what this article suggests"
and just do it!
For more personal growth articles visit:
http://www.personalgrowthunlimited.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=T_Young
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That's it for now.
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