Professional Facilitator - Matt Cartwright
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We are a leading Facilitation Company helping business, groups and organisations achieve better, simpler, faster, clearer and lasting outcomes.   

We improve the process, performance and produce more  value in your business, group meetings, customer experiences, and stakeholder engagement.

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Success Leaves Clues, Download the Free Software

6/3/2012

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Success Leaves Clues, Download the Free Software 

One of the biggest hurdles is the software that runs in our brains. It's almost like we have inadvertently downloaded a virus that operates on our mindset slowing down our performance, speed and efficiency in achieving our goals.

Having coached and counselled thousands of clients, my experience tells me that it’s not so much ‘what to a mange to move forward” but it’s working out “how to move forward”.  This concept separates high performance/significance versus mediocre performance/existence.

Finding the sweet spot lies within us but unfortunately most people and businesses are searching outside of themselves.  My observations are that people need to spend a lot more time developing inwardly versus outwardly.    Being successful or achieving more significance leaves clues.

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks. Then start on the first one. That doesn’t mean it has to be done by you. I struggled for many years with the concept of asking for help and delegating.

I had all these ideas in my head and I had expectations of how things were to be achieved.  It was just easier if I did it, then it would be done the way I wanted it.  It took me some time to give up this mindset. Yes, the pressure cooker in my head had no room for more work or more demands. The term “Let go” stuck with me one day.  That was also a day I let go of one of my former bosses.  It has been one of the major secrets to my success. 

I have found that being successful and improving performance leaves clues.  I make it my business to help people find the clues to achieve their success.   Whether it’s a project, a new business venture, a new strategy or a new partnership.

The high performer goes searching for clues.  The implications for not searching are obvious….

Here is something for you.  “Nothing is really new”.  It has been done before. 

Okay, want to know more?

Whether it’s in the mind or on paper, many of our issues, problems have been dealt with before.  There is a concept of sameness everywhere we go.  Many businesses have the same objectives, same challenges all over the world. There are 7 billion people in this world, all with creative and intelligent minds in their own right.  We basically all share the same DNA.  The difference is that some people make different decisions about what they think about.  These decisions combined with actions achieve different results.

The Clue

Personally, I tend to ask for help where I can.  I don’t waste time in trying to always work the problem out. I have found many people willing to help.  On the flip side, I have encountered many people will not. Let go of them.  These people control information because they live in a world of fear and insecurity. That is, they are attached to an imagined concept of self-importance or attached to an image of themselves losing something.  They are afraid of co-workers finding out the real person behind the position.

Do you know the person in the office who controls knowledge or skills in fear that someone might use it and look better than them? 

Remember, by being a person who is a multiplier and not a divider of information makes very good sense. If your work area is not operating like this then you’re losing power and influence.  Most importantly you’re losing staff engagement, customers and potential profit.

Many of us in the corporate world unfortunately have reinvented the wheel due to the fantasies of self-importance which are underpinned by our self-limiting beliefs.  The belief that we must achieve the task on our own and that we will be rewarded for our efforts.  Too many people have the mindset that sharing the problem or asking for help is a sign of weakness or incompetence.  In fact, this is the hallmark of a successful leader, an enlarger and a multiplier.

Your job is to ask people smarter than yourself for the information. 

It's knowing your people, knowing their skills and seeking out their abilities to assist you.

One of my suggestions is to review your business or project management knowledge management policy, processes and systems.  I see much duplication, rework, overprocessing, overproduction, wasted effort, wasted talent, wasted time in meetings etc.  Not good for people, not good for profit.

Not real good at all….

We are in knowledge worker economy…..Work smarter, not harder.  People will thank you when you raise the following questions in your business or project meetings.

  1. Is this the best way to do this?  
  2. Is there a better way?  
  3. What could we improve?  
  4. Who will we get involved to help us?
  5. When can we get started?

Challenge

Let go of fantasies of your self-importance.  That is “Ego”, stop saying “I” for one day at work.
Find someone like a coach, mentor or colleague to help you.
Write an action plan, do it, review it, change it, reward it.
Encourage your work area to have knowledge fairs, mentoring schemes, lunch and learn sessions or breakfast byte meetings tec.

Get Started, success leaves clues, the software is everywhere and free.  So ask for it and keep asking….

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright

Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results 
© Copyright 2008 -12
    
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A war on email, I survived and so did others

5/3/2012

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A War on Email, I Survived and So Did Others.

Some time ago I started a war on my email. I survived and won the battle. Yes... there were only minor casualties. I put an automation rule to respond to my work email to deal with the deluge.  One of my email accounts had over 3000 unread emails in it.  I’ve turned that account off.   It can’t be important to me.  I simply just don’t value it and it’s never important.  Its information overload.

I have survived and I haven’t been in trouble about it. I have had the occasional “didn’t you get that email? Of course I did, I just hadn’t got around to reading it”

I operate a number of email accounts to manage my workload.  I tried something like this recently and this and it worked a treat.   I suggest if you do try it, tell your team or boss and do it as trial for a week. Tweak it to make it work for you and your team.

I set up an auto responder email. It read:

“Thank you for your email. I read my emails twice a day and respond to them accordingly at 12 midday and 4pm.  I read email in order of business priority.  If you are sending me a meeting appointment, please send the agenda and the meeting outcomes that are required so that I can prepare accordingly.

If that matter is urgent please ring me and leave a message and I will call you back as soon as possible.  Thank you for your understanding as this helps me manage time more effectively and serve you better. 

Have a great day.
Regards Matt”


I told my immediate coworkers in advance if you need me, just call me and still send me the email.

I then put my landline phone and mobile onto message bank and observed what happened.  Surprise people stopped sending me unnecessary emails and the phone calls dropped off.  I have now created more productive time.

Other people’s urgency no longer became mine. Within a week I increased my productivity time.  It was hard the first day.  I was used to the amphetamine pellet dispenser responding to  most email as it came in.  I went cold turkey and turned it off and back on at 12pm and 4pm.

It bothered a couple of people.  It was an experiment.  I was challenging the status quo.  Like all good experiments there are lessons and sometimes causalities.  I gather those people didn’t quite understand my needs or priorities. They assumed I waited around for email.  They operated in the urgency paradigm not the high performance paradigm.  Just a reminder if you are not applying Stephen Coveys Important and Urgent Matrix, you are losing precious time.  Consider applying it for at least 3 days and check your progress. It's a mental, behavioural and attitudinal shift.

The Important and Urgent Matrix

This tool, developed by Stephen Covey (Covey, 2004), helps people set priorities and learn how good management means putting first things first and organizing and carrying out work based on priorities. This tool helps people learn that the most important thing is not managing time; it is managing ourselves.

The Importance of Effective Self Management and Prioritization

Quadrant I  Represents things that are 'urgent and important'.   Quadrant I activities are usually "crises' or problems'. They are very important, but if not careful Quadrant I activities can consume you. As long as you focus on it, it keeps getting bigger and bigger until it dominates your work. There will always be crises that require immediate attention, but how many things are really that urgent?

Quadrant II includes activities that are `important but not urgent'. It is the quality quadrant, where you plan and anticipate, and prevent things that otherwise might become urgent.

Quadrant II is the heart of effective personal leadership. This is where you should spend most of your time!

Quadrant III includes things that are "urgent but not important". Plenty of managers spend too much time in this quadrant. The urgency sometimes is based on someone else's priorities.

Quadrant IV includes activities that are "not urgent and non important". It is the "waste of time' quadrant.

If you’re strong and able, try and have an email free day……once a week or once a fortnight or once a month.  We are far to addicted to email ecstasy, love or hate it. Choose your work poison wisely.

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright

Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results 
© Copyright 2008 -12   
 
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Tackling the Elephant in the room in 10 quick easy steps

4/3/2012

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Tackling the Elephant in the Room in 10 Quick Easy Steps

First principle, is not to shoot the elephant....that hurts and is unkind and morally wrong
Second principle, it takes courage and heavy lifting
Third principle, empower  the group by holding them to account
Fourth principle, keep going 

Okay its a common mistake not to address the elephant in the room.....I've been there and done that.  I still see it being done by senior people who have influence and power.

I can't help myself, what a waste of time for everyone if we don't address it....Of course it needs to be done with sensitivity.  Please share this with people who need help managing Elephants.

10 steps to help you... lets go!

Step 1. Ask permission to offer feedback.
Example:  "Ok, I want to stop this meeting now and give you some input, I hope that is okay….I think the group would benefit from hearing my observations. . . is that OK?"

Step 2. Describe specifically what you’re observing
Example:  "During the pre-prgram meetings I held with over half of you, the issue of some people not pulling their weight was mentioned by everyone as the most serious problem facing this team. We have been talking about team problems all morning and no one has mentioned this issue."

Step 3.  Tell them about the direct impacts of their actions.
Example:  "Since the issue of people not pulling their weight has not been mentioned, there's a good chance that these current discussions are not going to resolve your most serious team problem."
  
Step 4.  Give the other person(s) an opportunity to explain.
Example:  "You're telling me that this problem is not being discussed because it’s too sensitive and people are concerned about offending each other is that right?”

Step 5.  Draw out ideas from the other person(s).  
Example:  "What do you think we could do to make it safe so that this issue can be discussed?  What guidelines do we need to create to make it safe?”
  
Step 6.  Offer specific suggestions for improvement only when necessary.       
Example:  "I think the guidelines you have come up with are excellent. I'd like to add a few ideas about how we can tackle this with sensitivity, they are only ideas."

Step 7.  Summarise and express your support.
Example:  "I want to thank you for being willing to tackle this tough issue, I appreciate your effort, thank you."
  
Step 8.  Review.   
Example:  "I'm going to stop the meeting in about an hour and check with you to see if we are now tackling our real problems and if the guidelines we set are working."

Step 9.  Reflect. 
Reflect on the process of how you managed yourself, what did you learn about your faciliation, what might you change next time?

Step 10.  Reward.       
Give yourself some positive praise for tackling the Elephant in the room, that's your job as a facilitator, manager or leader. 

Journey well,
Matt Cartwright
Inspiring People, Inspiring Business, Inspiring Results 
© Copyright 2008 -12
   

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    “We all want to see change in the world, but first we must change ourselves”

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