I had my yearly performance review the other day. In truth, I have been here almost 4 years and this was only my second review. So it's not at all yearly. While I've never actually had a bad one (knock on wood), it's still not my favorite thing. You schedule this meeting at which you know the potential exists for you to receive criticism and then you have to spend the next few days anticipating what's going to be said. It's that anticipation I don't like. It'd be a heck of a lot easier if I could just be blind sided by the review so I don't have to spend time worrying about it. Just call me down to an office out of the blue and lay it on me. I can take it. But, like I said, I've never had a bad one. I subscribe to the notion that if there was a problem with my performance they wouldn't (and shouldn't) wait for my review to tell me about it.
Since nothing remarkable happened this year I thought I would tell you about an interesting review I had several years ago. One of my previous bosses travelled a lot. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT. He would go away for two weeks, come back for 2 days and then leave for another week. He would even take a red eye back to the office, work for the day and then head to the airport after work that same day for another multi-day trip. I was his executive assistant. In fact, I was one of his two assistants. So what work there was to do, and there was a lot, was split between two people. Needless to say, when he wasn't around there wasn't much to do. There were very few, if any, self sustaining parts of the job description that didn't require his presence. No boss meant no letter writing, no phone calling, no emails, no calendar maintenance, no meetings to schedule and prepare. He'd call in once a day but that was about it when he was away.
During one of my yearly reviews he told me that he knows he isn't around a lot but I "need to do a better job finding things to do" to keep me busy. Really? OOOOO...K?
This was by far the most head scratching comment I've ever gotten in a review. I understand this as a piece of useful feedback on face value. If you are a server in a restaurant on a slow night you might clean the coffee machine, wipe out cabinets and sort silverware. But this was an office and I was there to work for this man in any and every way he needed. When he would leave town for 10-12 days I would be left at work for several days in a row without even speaking to him. I could go an entire month of work and only see him for 3-5 work days stretched out over that entire period. I would even go into his office before a long trip and ask him for work to do while he was gone. When you are an executive assistant and you haven't seen your boss in 5 days and aren't going to see him for another three, there are heaps of time when there's nothing to do. I wasn't upset with the comment, it made me laugh more than anything because it was so absurd. Mostly, I couldn't believe he said that.
After some consideration, I realized that this comment came as one piece of criticism in a review that was extremely positive. He felt the need to at least offer up some level criticism as my boss and that's what he came up with. I mean, I know I am perfect and all, but he probably didn't want me to know that I knew he knew I was perfect!!!!
I learned that in our reviews we need to be prepared for whatever comes our way no matter how insane it may sound. How we react to it, in what context it was delivered, and what we do with it is what make all the difference. It is important to not react emotionally during your review as hard as that may be.
There are a lot of great resources available to help us survive our reviews. Boston.com has a great guide so try starting here: http://www.boston.com/jobs/galleries/performance_reviews/.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
So What Should Scott Do?
I thought I'd start with things that Scott shouldn't do before I talk about what he should do:
Set up a meeting to speak with the Regional Director to confront him about all of the Friday presentations that are then asked about on Monday to prove that his Friday presentations are thorough and well prepared.
In general, it's never a good idea to confront your manager no matter how right or wrong you think you are. Think about it this way, the people that are above you on the career ladder, while perhaps not because they are smarter, more talented or even a better person, got there by doing their jobs well in a way that works for them. Could they learn to do things better? Probably! But for the most part, they are usually there because they are good at what they do. It will help you a great deal if you understand that you probably aren't going to get them to change and it could be a problem for you if you try. It's a classic case of the risk far outweighing the reward. Instead, think about trying to understand who they are, how they work, and what you need to do in order to compliment their style rather than pointing out what is wrong with it.
Complain to his coworkers about how frustrating it is to work with the Regional Director but don't really change the way he's handling the Friday presentations.
Let's face it, it helps to vent. And if you have a trusted colleague (and I mean TRUSTED), then by all means go ahead and vent. But do not go spouting off to anyone who will listen about all of your supervisor's flaws. And certainly, venting to a colleague isn't the only thing you should do because it is a passive response that won't yield anything but trouble no matter how good you feel afterwards.
So this leaves us with what Scott should do:
Try creating a PowerPoint slide and then handing out a one page synopsis of his Friday presentation that people could take away from the meetings and refer to later.
Now there is no guarantee that this will work. Perhaps Scott's boss isn't someone who responds well to hand outs or slides. But what this does show is that Scott is being proactive in trying to find effective solutions. What he has done here is create new a presentation style that he thinks might positively affect the most amount of people. The PowerPoint is designed for those who respond well to taking in information visually. The handout is designed to help those that understand and absorb information by reading. Those two, combined with his verbal presentation, now gives Scott a fair chance to reach everyone in the room and makes sure the information is going to be retained by almost everyone. After all, if you don't absorb information by visual aids, reading or listening than chance are you don't retain much now do you?
A more formal name for what Scott is doing is Managing Up, which means going above and beyond your actual job description to enhance the work of you manager. Making his/her life easier by providing what he or she needs, anticipating those needs and often satisfying those needs before you are asked. It's a method of assessing the working styles of those around you are figuring out ways to compliment them for the benefit of efficiency and progress.
Set up a meeting to speak with the Regional Director to confront him about all of the Friday presentations that are then asked about on Monday to prove that his Friday presentations are thorough and well prepared.
In general, it's never a good idea to confront your manager no matter how right or wrong you think you are. Think about it this way, the people that are above you on the career ladder, while perhaps not because they are smarter, more talented or even a better person, got there by doing their jobs well in a way that works for them. Could they learn to do things better? Probably! But for the most part, they are usually there because they are good at what they do. It will help you a great deal if you understand that you probably aren't going to get them to change and it could be a problem for you if you try. It's a classic case of the risk far outweighing the reward. Instead, think about trying to understand who they are, how they work, and what you need to do in order to compliment their style rather than pointing out what is wrong with it.
Complain to his coworkers about how frustrating it is to work with the Regional Director but don't really change the way he's handling the Friday presentations.
Let's face it, it helps to vent. And if you have a trusted colleague (and I mean TRUSTED), then by all means go ahead and vent. But do not go spouting off to anyone who will listen about all of your supervisor's flaws. And certainly, venting to a colleague isn't the only thing you should do because it is a passive response that won't yield anything but trouble no matter how good you feel afterwards.
So this leaves us with what Scott should do:
Try creating a PowerPoint slide and then handing out a one page synopsis of his Friday presentation that people could take away from the meetings and refer to later.
Now there is no guarantee that this will work. Perhaps Scott's boss isn't someone who responds well to hand outs or slides. But what this does show is that Scott is being proactive in trying to find effective solutions. What he has done here is create new a presentation style that he thinks might positively affect the most amount of people. The PowerPoint is designed for those who respond well to taking in information visually. The handout is designed to help those that understand and absorb information by reading. Those two, combined with his verbal presentation, now gives Scott a fair chance to reach everyone in the room and makes sure the information is going to be retained by almost everyone. After all, if you don't absorb information by visual aids, reading or listening than chance are you don't retain much now do you?
A more formal name for what Scott is doing is Managing Up, which means going above and beyond your actual job description to enhance the work of you manager. Making his/her life easier by providing what he or she needs, anticipating those needs and often satisfying those needs before you are asked. It's a method of assessing the working styles of those around you are figuring out ways to compliment them for the benefit of efficiency and progress.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Importance of Determining Working Styles
When I was a student in college picking my classes I payed almost as much attention to who was teaching a class as I did to what the actual class was about. I wanted to know before enrolling what my chances were of getting a good grade. And even then, after enrolling and starting the class the first few weeks were all about figuring out what I needed to do to survive the course and (hopefully) bring home the A. What are the professor's expectations? How hard does he/she grade? How many tests and papers will there be? How strict or lenient are they regarding deadlines and punctuality?
Believe it or not, many people forget about these survival techniques after they enter the work force. But when you think about it, a big part of managing your career should be about figuring out how to work with those around you, especially your boss, in order to reach your desired level of success. In this respect, you are learning how to do that in college just as much as you are learning the subject matter of your courses yet many people don't realize this part of their education and how important it is. Everyone around us has a particular working style and learning what those are can be crucial to our success.
Considering the following example:
There is a 10:00am meeting every Friday at which department heads meet to report to the Regional Director. They are required to summarize their department's progress during the week that has just past and look ahead to their goals for the week ahead. Each department head gets 10 minutes and must present a clear and concise picture to the Regional Director.
Scott has been with the company for 18 month and has realized that the Regional Director routinely forgets what he said on Friday and often has to call on Monday and ask Scott about things he had just presented the Friday before. Not only does this frustrate Scott because it takes time away from the things he needed to accomplish Monday morning but it also makes him feel that his Friday presentations are inadequate no matter how well he prepared them. At the same time, the Regional Director is frustrated at having to call Scott every Monday to ask questions about the things he felt Scott should be telling him. This became such an issue that it was brought up in Scott's yearly performance review and he became very discouraged.
Scott decided to spend some time thinking about ways to solve this problem and came up with three ideas:
Believe it or not, many people forget about these survival techniques after they enter the work force. But when you think about it, a big part of managing your career should be about figuring out how to work with those around you, especially your boss, in order to reach your desired level of success. In this respect, you are learning how to do that in college just as much as you are learning the subject matter of your courses yet many people don't realize this part of their education and how important it is. Everyone around us has a particular working style and learning what those are can be crucial to our success.
Considering the following example:
There is a 10:00am meeting every Friday at which department heads meet to report to the Regional Director. They are required to summarize their department's progress during the week that has just past and look ahead to their goals for the week ahead. Each department head gets 10 minutes and must present a clear and concise picture to the Regional Director.
Scott has been with the company for 18 month and has realized that the Regional Director routinely forgets what he said on Friday and often has to call on Monday and ask Scott about things he had just presented the Friday before. Not only does this frustrate Scott because it takes time away from the things he needed to accomplish Monday morning but it also makes him feel that his Friday presentations are inadequate no matter how well he prepared them. At the same time, the Regional Director is frustrated at having to call Scott every Monday to ask questions about the things he felt Scott should be telling him. This became such an issue that it was brought up in Scott's yearly performance review and he became very discouraged.
Scott decided to spend some time thinking about ways to solve this problem and came up with three ideas:
- Set up a meeting to speak with the Regional Director to confront him about all of the Friday presentations that are then asked about on Monday to prove that his Friday presentations are thorough and well prepared.
- Try creating a PowerPoint slide and then handing out a one page synopsis of his Friday presentation that people could take away from the meetings and refer to later.
- Complain to his coworkers about how frustrating it is to work with the Regional Director but don't really change the way he's handling the Friday presentations.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Setting Goals: Cracking the 7 Minute Mile
If I learned anything about life from my high school basketball coach, and believe me I probably learned more about life than I did about basketball, it was the importance of setting goals. He broke each season down into individual goals the team could strive to achieve and showed me that life very much proceeds through the goals you set. You can't always achieve all of your goals unfortunately, but to not have them is to not have a direction in life, something tangible to work towards. And when you are working towards something, you are much more focused on getting there to the best of your ability with maximum effort.
Two years ago I started participating in triathlons. Trust me, it sounds a lot more significant than it really is. These are very short: .3 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 3 mile run. Not so much an Iron Man but still good chunks of exercise being done one after the other. After the NYC Marathon in 2003 I had always thought that triathlons would be something I would enjoy. I really like the variety of the training you have to do and because the distances are short the training sessions can be done in manageable segments in between work and home responsibilities.
Breaking the 7 minute mile barrier had always been a goal of mine but I had never been able to achieve it. In all of my trainings and in all of the 5k races I had run in my adult life, I had never cracked 7 minute miles. I eventually filed it away in the back of my head and assumed that as I got older this goal would get harder and harder to achieve. Certainly I never expected to do it after having swam .3 miles and biked 15. But sure enough this past summer during the Timberman Triathlon I found myself with gas left in the tank turning for home in the run and I emptied it. Not only did I crack 7 minute miles, I crushed it! My time was 20:23 and my overall pace ended up being 6:47/mile. I did the second half of the race 2 minutes faster than the first. And this was after having swam and biked! I was beyond thrilled.
It's not that I ever gave up trying to achieve my goal. I continued to train as hard as I could. I pushed myself every step of the way. But I definitely lost focus of that particular goal and stopped thinking about it. Yet, it was at this point that I ended up achieving it. Perhaps I need to stop thinking (and if you know me you know it's more like obsessing) about it in order for it to happen.
Career wise, goals are imperative. If they weren't, employers wouldn't ask "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" during interviews. They not only want to know if you are projecting yourself in a career in the field but also they want to see if you have a sense of purpose and direction guiding you. So no matter where you find yourself in your career, be sure to set goals. It's completely fine to not achieve them or to alter them down the road, goodness knows I have done both, but if you don't have them at all you'll have nothing to go after every morning when you wake up.
Two years ago I started participating in triathlons. Trust me, it sounds a lot more significant than it really is. These are very short: .3 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 3 mile run. Not so much an Iron Man but still good chunks of exercise being done one after the other. After the NYC Marathon in 2003 I had always thought that triathlons would be something I would enjoy. I really like the variety of the training you have to do and because the distances are short the training sessions can be done in manageable segments in between work and home responsibilities.
Breaking the 7 minute mile barrier had always been a goal of mine but I had never been able to achieve it. In all of my trainings and in all of the 5k races I had run in my adult life, I had never cracked 7 minute miles. I eventually filed it away in the back of my head and assumed that as I got older this goal would get harder and harder to achieve. Certainly I never expected to do it after having swam .3 miles and biked 15. But sure enough this past summer during the Timberman Triathlon I found myself with gas left in the tank turning for home in the run and I emptied it. Not only did I crack 7 minute miles, I crushed it! My time was 20:23 and my overall pace ended up being 6:47/mile. I did the second half of the race 2 minutes faster than the first. And this was after having swam and biked! I was beyond thrilled.
It's not that I ever gave up trying to achieve my goal. I continued to train as hard as I could. I pushed myself every step of the way. But I definitely lost focus of that particular goal and stopped thinking about it. Yet, it was at this point that I ended up achieving it. Perhaps I need to stop thinking (and if you know me you know it's more like obsessing) about it in order for it to happen.
Career wise, goals are imperative. If they weren't, employers wouldn't ask "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" during interviews. They not only want to know if you are projecting yourself in a career in the field but also they want to see if you have a sense of purpose and direction guiding you. So no matter where you find yourself in your career, be sure to set goals. It's completely fine to not achieve them or to alter them down the road, goodness knows I have done both, but if you don't have them at all you'll have nothing to go after every morning when you wake up.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Pull Up a Facebook Stool and Have a Drink
James Power is the co-owner and broker of record at Advantage Relocation Consultants, providing exclusive buyer and renter representation in the New York City Real Estate marketplace. He specializes in employee relocation and is an avid user of Facebook and social media in general. He was kind enough to guest post a counter argument supporting the personal and professional value of using Facebook.
I recently took the MBTI personality test, a professional assessment that breaks down your personality into types. I am an ESFP, or Extraversion/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving. I think it’s a little comical to break down my personality into a paragraph, however, when I read the results I definitely said to myself “That’s me!!” ESFP’s are outgoing, friendly, accepting, exuberant lovers of life, people and material comforts. They enjoy working with others to make things happen, bringing common sense and realistic approaches to work, and trying to make work fun by doing things differently. They are also flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments, and learn best by trying a new skill with other people.
I recently took the MBTI personality test, a professional assessment that breaks down your personality into types. I am an ESFP, or Extraversion/Sensing/Feeling/Perceiving. I think it’s a little comical to break down my personality into a paragraph, however, when I read the results I definitely said to myself “That’s me!!” ESFP’s are outgoing, friendly, accepting, exuberant lovers of life, people and material comforts. They enjoy working with others to make things happen, bringing common sense and realistic approaches to work, and trying to make work fun by doing things differently. They are also flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments, and learn best by trying a new skill with other people.
My results say a lot about why I am an avid user of Facebook, both personally and professionally. Personally, I am exhaustive about keeping in touch with people. That is to say, everyone. In this respect, Facebook was made for me. I need to know what everyone is doing. I am not talking about people like my closest college roommates that I still communicate with on an almost daily basis, but rather I am referring to my first college roommate with whom I was crammed together into a cement box of a dorm room when we were 18 and just about every other person I've ever met. I enjoy seeing pictures of weddings even though I wasn’t invited. I like seeing pictures of people's kids and showing them pictures of mine and seeing what’s on people's mind. If they want to share with me what they had for breakfast that's great too! Once I meet someone, chances are it will not just be a passing acquaintanceship as I try to build long lasting friendships with people that I care about and who interest me. Facebook feeds this social addiction to keep in touch.
Yes, of course, there are some awkward Facebook moments. I recently became Facebook friends with someone I knew in grammar school. I had not seen this person since the 8th grade and we scheduled a play date with our kids because I posted where I was going to be and it just happened to be right around the corner from where she lives. We met, talked a bit, caught up (as much as you can since we have not seen each other in over twenty years!) and it was definitely a little uncomfortable. But it was also awesome. Here’s someone I hadn’t seen or thought of in years and we connected! We both realized that chances are we will just be Facebook friends and we will not take it to the next level. I have nothing in common with her husband, and to say that this person and my wife are alike in any way is just silly. All of this aside, since we were close in grammar school, there is a piece of me that likes the connection we have on Facebook because I am energized by relationships no matter what level they are on.
Professionally, Facebook has proven to be a lucrative tool as well as simply a great way for me to network. I own a real estate company called Advantage Corporate Relocation and since the day I started in the business I have always felt like I am one connection or phone call away from something big. It is this feeling that keeps me energized and motivated to continue promoting, selling, and marketing myself and my business. Facebook has an amazing reach that can benefit all of us professionally. 1 in every 13 people have a Facebook account. That’s 1 in 13 people in the WORLD! That is astonishing. As we all know, having an online presence right now is imperative. I attended a seminar last fall and was told that not having a TOTAL ONLINE presence (i.e. FACEBOOK/TWITTER/BLOG/LINKEDIN) is like owning a business in the 1970’s-80’s and not having an ad in the Yellow Pages. The Internet has become our Yellow Pages. Business is happening online and Facebook is the key player.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is where it’s at now days. When you Google (yes, Google......I did not say open the YELLOW PAGES...frankly I am not even sure we are listed in the Yellow Pages) my company name, my website and my Facebook page come up. From a business and professional perspective, a Facebook page ranks right there as something we all need.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
More than 800,000,000 use Facebook. Why don't I?
(Gasp! Whispers! "He doesn't have a Facebook page?" "How could you not be on Facebook?" "Dude, it's 2012, get with the times." ).
I have never been one to do things simply because everyone is doing it. In fact, when I was younger if everyone was doing something that was good enough reason for me to not do it. I have vivid memories from junior high of walking down the hall wearing tie died shirts and telling my friends that I was listening to Freakie Styley by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on my Walkman. Oh the looks I got!
This brings me to a long running conversation with a friend regarding why I don't have a Facebook page. Honestly, for the longest time, I didn't even realize I didn't have a Facebook page. Nor did it occur to me that it mattered. Increasingly, however, as social media evolves further into every day life I am realizing that this issue is deserving of some further consideration.
The first indication beyond my conversation with my friend (who you will meet later by the way) that my absence from Facebook might be worthy of addressing was in a job interview when the interviewer flat out asked me "Do you use Facebook?". (Ummmmmmm...huh?...) While I was more than prepared for that interview, I was not prepared for that question. Since then, I've thought about whether to get with the times.
So to finally address this subject, I am going to make my case for why I'm not a Facebook user:
I have never been one to do things simply because everyone is doing it. In fact, when I was younger if everyone was doing something that was good enough reason for me to not do it. I have vivid memories from junior high of walking down the hall wearing tie died shirts and telling my friends that I was listening to Freakie Styley by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on my Walkman. Oh the looks I got!
This brings me to a long running conversation with a friend regarding why I don't have a Facebook page. Honestly, for the longest time, I didn't even realize I didn't have a Facebook page. Nor did it occur to me that it mattered. Increasingly, however, as social media evolves further into every day life I am realizing that this issue is deserving of some further consideration.
The first indication beyond my conversation with my friend (who you will meet later by the way) that my absence from Facebook might be worthy of addressing was in a job interview when the interviewer flat out asked me "Do you use Facebook?". (Ummmmmmm...huh?...) While I was more than prepared for that interview, I was not prepared for that question. Since then, I've thought about whether to get with the times.
So to finally address this subject, I am going to make my case for why I'm not a Facebook user:
- Why all of the sudden would I want to be on Facebook?: I don't quite understand the need. Is it to keep up with my friends and what is going on in their lives? To let everyone know what I am up to? To reach out to old acquaintances from the past and to allow them to find me? With the exception of perhaps a small handful of people I've lost touch with I already feel pretty connected to my friends. Will Facebook deepen that connection?
- Time: By the time my kids are fed, bathed and in bed, my lunch is made, and my clothes are laid out for the next day (things you need to do when you get up as early as I do) I am exhausted and it's roughly 8:00pm or later. If I don't check my Facebook page then, I would have to check it and use it a lot at work, which is a habit I am wary of getting into.
- The Decision to NOT Be Someone's Friend: Someone sends me a request to be friends and I have no interest in accepting it. When I ask Facebook users about this it doesn't seem to matter to them. They say you just ignore the friend request, which means you are also getting ignored. I am not sure I like the idea of sending someone an overt message that I don't want to be their friend nor do I want to receive that message from others.
- Why again should I do this?: I've yet to be presented with an actual compelling reason how and why a Facebook page would improve my life. Things have been going just fine thus far without it so why start now?
- Privacy: While not an original reason of mine, in reading up on why others don't use Facebook I learned that there are some legitimate concerns regarding user privacy and Facebook's practices of protecting and sharing your browsing and personal information.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
To The Class of 2012
I had the pleasure of attending a Career and Networking Seminar held by my college's alumni association last week. Yes, this is the same seminar I attended during my career change referred to here.
At the seminar I met some of the class of 2012 and I realized that there's a lot in my blog posts that may be of use to them as they slide, or crash as the case may be, into the work force over the coming months. So to help them out I am going to try and offer them some useful content and perhaps address how they might apply what I am talking about to the early stages of their careers.
To start with, I found this blog post that should be of some use: 10 Tips for New Grads Entering the Workforce. It's written by Allison Green and I find her blog to be incredibly useful and timely.
At the seminar I met some of the class of 2012 and I realized that there's a lot in my blog posts that may be of use to them as they slide, or crash as the case may be, into the work force over the coming months. So to help them out I am going to try and offer them some useful content and perhaps address how they might apply what I am talking about to the early stages of their careers.
To start with, I found this blog post that should be of some use: 10 Tips for New Grads Entering the Workforce. It's written by Allison Green and I find her blog to be incredibly useful and timely.
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