Converge International

Dr Lindsay McMillan writes about the appeal to employers on mental health. Click here to read more.

“So what’s the big drama?” you may ask. Well, should he survive the first episode, he will be one of 20 aspiring chefs who will be forced to leave their jobs and families for six months.

Such is the secrecy that goes into reality TV, contestants of MasterChef are contractually forbidden to have physical contact with anyone outside “the kitchen” during this time, with the exception of Christmas and Easter. Whilst this is a dream come true for “A”, his children are begging him not to go, for his wife is not a satisfactory replacement cook. Last week she burnt their dinner – fish fingers. For my sister-in-law, this is an opportunity to lose weight after years of gourmet meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. “Lean Cuisine, I’m very excited!”, she said this weekend past.

For the rest of us mere mortals living vicariously through the excitement of others’ experiences, faced with a similar situation, what would you do? Imagine six months as a Getaway reporter or as a photojournalist for Planet Earth. Or six months making a Hollywood movie or cutting a rock album. Without contact with your loved ones? Which would you choose?

I recently heard a very interesting story from a technology journalist friend of mine. He was discussing the impact emails are having on people’s lives and the lengths people are going to in order to manage this new aspect of their life.

He relayed a story to me from a work colleague who after many months of never being able to get on top of his emails one day sent the following message to all of his work and personal contacts:

“Dear Colleagues, as I now have over 1000 unread emails I have officially declared myself email bankrupt. I am going to wipe my inbox clean and start over again. If there is anything else you are still waiting on from me please call me or resend your request”.

I found this story enlightening, how many times do we get emails which have no consequence for ourselves, or are double ups of requests we have already dealt with by phone or in person?

Those of you reading this you are probably highly email literate and know the pressures and anxiety that comes from not checking email regularly or not knowing what will be in your inbox when you start the day.  Sometimes between the office and home I can get anxious just from knowing that someone may have delegated a task to me to complete in a short timeframe and I am not aware of it yet.

How do we get colleagues to take responsibility to complete a task instead of delegating it via email?

Have we become so responsive via email and leaving a paper trail that we don’t trust each other to get things done?

I welcome comments from all around how you manage your emails and possible email anxiety…

For those of you whom will take leave in the next few months keep the following email reply in mind that I recently came across:

“I am currently on leave; please do not expect me to reply to any email you send me in this time. Please call me on my return to work or email me at that time if your request is still relevant”.

REFRESHING.

One of the most accurate statements I have read of late is that “great productivity is not about working all the time; it is about being effective when you are working”. 

Believe it or not, the key to being effective when you are working is to make sure you are not working all the time.  Even the most driven of people cannot put in 100% at all times – our illustrious Prime Minister, for example, needs 3-5 hours sleep to run the country.  Having said that, I recommend you not try this at home unless you are an aspiring politician, yet if you would like to learn more, please go to Rudd only needs three hours sleep? Tell him he’s dreaming - Crikey. 

What is important is to recognise when your attention and energy levels are waning.   Leave it too long and you will have spent half an hour staring at your computer screen and becoming increasingly frustrated by your inactivity. Take a break too early and you’ will be eating into precious productive time.

To begin with, try working in short bursts of up to one hour, focussing on a single task and not allowing yourself to become distracted by the phone or emails.  The following indicators are telling you that it’s time for a break:

1. Boredom. -  When something starts to feel tedious or uninteresting, take a break. Come back in 15 minutes and look at the task with fresher eyes, or start on something else.
2. Distraction - When you’re constantly checking email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. it means you’re losing focus
3. Lack of Precision - When your quality of work deteriorates or you can’t get something quite right, take a break. Lack of precision will lead to frustration, more distraction and less productivity
4. Being Unconscious - When you suddenly crash face first into your keyboard…it’s too late.

What’s your best productivity tip? Please share it with me.

Phil Ruthven, IBIS World, recently spoke about the changing economy and its impact on households, individuals, business and employees.  A notable comment Phil made was that the average age of Australians is 34.  Thinking about this, the implications are significant in a number of ways.

1. The style of management will need to change to accommodate the need for Gen X Y to see purpose and meaning in their work.
2. No longer can we think of the old style of management of control and command.  It needs to reflect more creativity, design and meaning.
3. The 34 year old employee is the future leader.  I wonder how we, in business, are nurturing employees to be the leaders of tomorrow.  Where are courses on ‘aspiring leaders’?

I know we have ‘mentoring’ programs; however this appears to be for the privileged.  What about the ‘champions’ in business who, given the right circumstances can be nurtured to be the leaders of tomorrow.

For the first time in our business world we have four generations working together.  This can be both demanding or creative.  Recognising the present and future, the X & Y generations are our future.  If we recognise this, our organisational structures will recognise eco-systems as the basis of growth where creativity, team performance and growth is the spirit of the age.

What do you think?