Blog | Janis Allen

Tender Mender for a Fender Bender

Thursday, Apr. 8th 2010

Wifey ran into a light post and crunched the fender of her big ol’ sedan.

More than the ugly fender or cost and hassle of repair, she was worried about the reaction she might get

from Hubby.

She started imagining what she wished he would say instead of what she feared he would say.

A brilliant idea struck when she backed into her garage (hiding the fender): “I’ll write down

the exact words I want to hear from Hubby, catch him before he sees the fender, and give him

my words as a “script” to read to me.” She did it.

Watching for Hubby’s arrival home, she went outside to meet him.

“Honey,” she said, “I have something to show you. But before I do, I want you to promise that

the first words out of your mouth will be the words I’ve written on this paper.”

Skeptically, Hubby agreed. Wifey made him hold the paper with both hands as she walked him

back to see the fender. He gulped. She said “You promised."

Dutifully, Hubby read the words aloud: “Sweetheart, I’m so glad you weren’t hurt. What can I do

to help you?”

Then, realizing what had just happened to him, he broke out laughing, so did she, and they

ended up with a hug instead of criticism, crying, and fighting.

Like Wifey, we can all take steps to avert expected negative situations . . . and do it with humor.

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Posted by Janis | in Leader Behaviors | 1 Comment »

Gifts That Keep On Giving – Symbolic Awards That Tell a Story

Saturday, Jan. 30th 2010

By Michael McCarthy

Once upon a time, Performance Improvement Consultant Russell Justice wisely said: "The best positive reinforcement is anything that gives us a story to tell."

People go home from work with stories to tell every day. Most of the stories are not very positive. We want to give people good stories to tell. Good reinforcement “creates” a story to tell.

People say, “You won’t believe what the boss did today,” “Guess what Joe said,” or “Let me tell you what we did.” We want them talking about the fun they had, and the excitement of accomplishment.

At the appreciation dinner for the Nassau Habitat for Humanity in Fernandina, Florida, construction manager Patrick McCarthy found unique ways to give positive recognition to hard-working Habitat volunteers.

Using anecdotes and incidents from their work days, he created clever items that symbolized events, and running jokes among the “regulars” on the crew. Many volunteers were golfers, so Patrick modified golf clubs to create chuckles all around.

The volunteers from the framing crew each received a golf club with a hammer- head on the end. Presenting these, Patrick deadpanned: “The only way Fred can swing his arm is with a golf club, so now he can practice an overhead swing with this hammerhead club.”

For the painting crew chief, his golf club sported a brush at the opposite end of the grip. “This will reduce the number of brush strokes needed to paint a room,” quipped Patrick.

These items are treasures, of course, because they give people a story to tell. Patrick delighted them with their co-workers and family by telling funny stories about things that happened at work. And today those goofy golf clubs have become props for the stories their proud owners are telling to family and friends.

Symbolic recognition awards are . . . gifts that keep on giving.

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Posted by Mike | in Recognition | 1 Comment »

We Affect Other People With Almost Everything We Do

Saturday, Jan. 30th 2010

When I was 11, I cut the grass in my family’s yard all by myself for the first time. Tired and sweaty, I was so proud. A family friend drove into the driveway just as I was finishing. His first words out of the car were “You missed a spot behind the shrubs.” I was crushed. Why hadn’t he noticed the rest of the four acres that I had completed correctly with so much sweat and effort? I suppose his eye was trained to look for the imperfect spot. I never wanted to cut the grass again.

Most of us know the power of other people’s approval or disapproval in motivating us to keep trying. Or to feel like throwing in the towel. A smile and a comment showing that someone values our efforts will keep us going for a long time.

Joanna tells about a week when her supervisor was out of town; she had been working through lunches and until 7:00 P.M. every night to meet department deadlines. She was feeling burned out, she said, when Wayne, a co-worker, came and stood for a minute at her cubicle door one evening, watching her work. “You work hard,” he quietly stated, and then turned back to his work.

“These three words kept me going for three more days,” breathed Joanna. Wayne is a man who doesn’t mince words, so I was quite positive that his comment was genuine. In my boss’s absence, someone recognized my work. In the past we’ve expected managers and supervisors to provide the positive recognition for the people who work for them. Or worse, we’ve depended on pay raises, end-of-project celebrations, or annual appraisals to motivate people.

“There’s nothing wrong with any of the things listed above,” Dr. Aubrey Daniels notes. “They’re just too little, too late." Many of us who are non-supervisors are ready and willing to take more of a leadership role in managing our own careers and work experiences. We want to take positive steps to support the good performance of our teammates, all in the name of creating the best products, the best customer service, and a good place to work.

Everyone likes to get recognition.

When my co-worker, like Wayne in the story above, notices what I do, I’ll make double sure I keep doing it.

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Posted by Janis | in Recognition | No Comments »

From “Burned” to “Juiced”

Saturday, Jan. 2nd 2010

A manufacturer had hired 24 employees from a company which had laid them off.

Most had been with that company for a long time and had trained newer co-workers (who weren’t laid off).

These 24 people were still feeling “burned” from their experience when their new boss asked them to cross-train each other. The goal was to become more flexible with short-turnaround customer orders.

The workers found every reason in the book not to teach co-workers what they knew:

“I don’t have time.”

“I can do it better than him.”

“She’ll mess it up and I’ll have to fix it later.”

Later, during a workshop, they discussed the pros and cons of cross-training (to the company’s health and to their own job security). They completed several “teach someone a task you’re good at” activities during the workshop and received positive comments from co-workers about the skills they shared

They made these activities a more interesting and fun experience by creating a poster to track the number of tasks they taught each other, each jotting down the task next to the learners’ and teachers’ names.

Once each week, they had a five-minute huddle around the poster and reviewed new additions to the poster (this is when the “trainer” and the “trainee” received positive recognition.

One person began carrying colored “gems” in his pocket, and gave one to each buddy who mastered the task being taught. This caught on, and soon everyone was carrying marbles or gems. They decided to put them in a jar because the gems were getting heavy in their pockets, and so they could see the gems as they filled the jar.

Within four weeks, all the cross-training had been completed by the initiative of the employees; the supervisor spending only five minutes each week reviewing their added trained tasks.

.

Positive reinforcement transformed this "I don’t want to get burned" task to "let me teach you."

Just like magic.

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Posted by Janis | in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Start the New Year “Bright”

Friday, Jan. 1st 2010

Start your department’s new year off with a book club. Learn something new and fun, and make your workplace more positive in the process.

May I suggest You Made My Day: Creating Co-worker Recognition & Relationships, by Michael McCarthy and Janis Allen, available on www.janisallen.com - just click on "bookstore."

Here’s an exerpt from the book:

Recognition and relationships are intertwined concepts that are difficult to separate. We find it similar to William Butler Yeats’ observation, "How do you tell the dancer from the dance?"

We often can’t tell the relationship from the recognition. A relationship is composed of the feelings created by past actions and words between two people. Recognition is showing how you value another person’s work.

Recognition (giving and receiving) is difficult or impossible when competitiveness, lack of trust, or insensitivity are part of the way people relate.

The New Year is a great time to transform those relationships into more positive ones!

Below are some ideas for organizing a group "read."

1. Set a frequent (twice per month works well) schedule for discussing an achievable number of pages to read. Two chapters per two weeks works for most everyone. Ask everyone in your group to place the dates and time on their calendars. Over lunch is a good treat.

2. Suggest that members (on a volunteer basis, not required) tell:

a. A key point or insight they gained from the chapter

b. An example they’ve seen in their own business or personal life

c. Ways they can apply the ideas within the group, or to other departments

Send your examples or insights to janisallen@janisallen.com, and we’ll publish them (with your permission) in future newsletters and blog posts.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a bright read!

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Posted by Janis | in Recognition | No Comments »

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Tender Mender for a Fender Bender

Gifts That Keep On Giving – Symbolic Awards That Tell a Story

We Affect Other People With Almost Everything We Do

From “Burned” to “Juiced”

Start the New Year “Bright”