Archive: June, 2016
Posted by tomdowd - June 28, 2016 - News
When I managed people in a call center, I used to like walking
the floor at least once in the morning and once before
I left for the day in order to talk with the employees.
I often wondered where the time went in the day, and why there were
times when I wasn’t getting everything done I wanted to. I knew the
people doing the hard work deserved my time, but I didn’t know how I
could continue to balance it. My peers were getting feedback that their
employees never saw them, so I knew I was doing the right thing, but
I didn’t want my other work to suffer.
Then, I thought back to my own advice about blocking off time
on the calendar. It was a lesson I’d been trying to teach others, and
yet had completely missed the fact that it was the solution to my own
problem! Although I could typically walk the floor in fifteen minutes,
it wasn’t on my calendar. I instantly scheduled thirty minutes to start
the day and thirty minutes to finish the day, for walking the floor. I
built in double the time to allow for extended conversations, problem
solving, or getting caught in the hall with someone who wanted to
share a lengthy story. As I started to figure out actual timing, I adjusted
it down and input a middle-of-the-day walk, too. I was actually more
efficient because I knew a calendar reminder would pop up—and over
time, I knew it was coming and became better able to focus on my
current tasks and meet all of my goals.
Do you account for everything you do in a day? Take the time to
list out ancillary pieces that you may not have typically added to your
calendar and add them. Some examples may include:
• Walking around/time not at your desk (e.g., water cooler or
even a restroom break)
• Running into people in the hall/casual conversations with peers
Although you may not schedule these events, they do take your time.
These previously unscheduled items can now be add-ons to the
previously noted administrative block of time we discussed earlier.
Have you accounted for this time? Using the blanket blocking of the
time will allow you to know that time is still being taken up.
All of the efforts to account for time are about knowing what is
taking up your time each day. That knowledge is a powerful thing,
because it will ease the pressure you feel on yourself; if it’s not done, it’s
not the end of the world. However, as you become more productive,
you’ll start to see more wins and sustained efficiency. In addition, on
many calendar applications—Microsoft Outlook, Instant Messenger,
and Skype, for example—those blocks of time you’ve set aside will
show your peers that you are “busy,” thus keeping requests for your
time in check.
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com
Do you know about Avanoo.com? Two-to-three minute eLearning programs that can change your life.
When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself
Manage Your Time—Don’t Let It Manage You
MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby
Posted by tomdowd - June 21, 2016 - News
Yes, employers want it both ways. They may advertise a position asking
for only three-to-five years of experience, but have a description
that looks impossible to do unless you have ten-to-fifteen years of this
experience. Some of the reasoning is to keep the compensation expense
reasonable. This makes good business sense, since there are more applicants
than jobs and competition is intense. With over twenty years of
experience in the financial industry, I started most of my conversations
with that fact, thinking that the tenure would elevate my status. I quickly
found out how careful I needed to be in communicating that information,
because I was aging myself—and potentially increasing my price
compared to the competition. I no longer wanted to lead with that fact.
Instead, I used a more targeted approach. As previously mentioned,
I averaged eighteen months a position for twenty-three years, so I used
language that made sense to the particular conversation. I batched some
jobs together to elongate the experience level. For example, “I was in
operations management for a total of five years.” Instead of singling out
each role separately where I had project management, risk management,
and compensation management experience, this method does the math
for the recruiter or hiring manager, instead of them having to add up all
of my experience in different positions. By no means did I misrepresent
myself, I just spoke the language and didn’t invest so much energy into
detailing how long I had certain responsibilities in each designated role.
I became better at explaining the overall impact I had when I was in the
role, which seemed to move me further into the conversation. The quality
of the meaningful work that I executed and delivered became the higher
priority—not the length of time spent doing that work.
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com
Do you know about Avanoo.com? Two-to-three minute eLearning programs that can change your life.
When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself
Manage Your Time—Don’t Let It Manage You
MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby
Posted by tomdowd - June 14, 2016 - News
Are you the eager employee who volunteers for everything that
comes your way in an attempt to advance within your organization?
What is your confidence level when your boss or your
boss’s boss gives you an assignment when your plate is full? I remember
working for an individual who was driving me hard. I made every effort
to keep my tasks organized, so I maintained a spreadsheet. I had a
column that noted all of my deadlines. Some were manager-assigned,
while many were self-initiated, aggressive dates to work toward. I wanted
to do everything possible to push myself and prove my worth. One
day, I was providing an update to my manager, so I showed him the
spreadsheet. Although thirty-seven of the forty items were on pace to
be achieved on time, he focused on the three that were past due. The
three that were past due were my own deadlines missed. Unfortunately,
he held them over my head for quite some time.
I learned a valuable lesson that day: We must be realistic with our
timeframes, regardless of how badly we want to meet them. We should
continue to drive our work and not sandbag our deliverables, but we
must balance it with everything we’re doing. In our efforts to be “gogetters,”
we may actually be casting a negative shadow if we don’t
accomplish everything we said we would by the given timeframes.
Think back to the times when you were a go-getter and found
some commitments not being fulfilled. Effective immediately, I want
you to begin to under-promise and over-deliver. You shouldn’t tell the
boss that it will be done by five o’clock p.m. because you hope it will
be done. You should tell the boss when you know it will be done.
If five p.m. isn’t the right timing, you should be honest and tell the
boss when the realistic right time is, or invest time to reprioritize other
tasks. If you haven’t established a strong enough relationship to do
this, you may want to begin to build the trust and respect required to
have those prioritization discussions. By under-promising and overdelivering,
you’ll start to find appropriate times to hand work in early,
beat deadlines, and often times start taking on more responsibilities.
It’s ironic how easy it is to stop being a go-getter and actually go out
and get more done when you are real with your deadlines.
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com
Do you know about Avanoo.com? Two-to-three minute eLearning programs that can change your life.
When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself
Manage Your Time—Don’t Let It Manage You
MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby
Posted by tomdowd - June 7, 2016 - News
During my job search, I set some goals with specific milestones and
deadlines. I said that after a month, if I didn’t see a definite lead
on the horizon, I would start to tap into recruiters and headhunters to
help with my job pursuit. I was fortunate enough to have a networking
session with an old colleague who provided me with a list of recruiters
he had used when he lost his job. I was excited to have this gift to get off
to a quick start. Although I had heard about headhunters, I’d never truly
understood what I was about to experience. My former colleague’s gift led
to my worst day in the entire job-seeking process.
I had mixed reactions when I sent out the original request to connect
with the list of recruiters. Some never responded. I later found out that
most recruiters are very specialized and target certain fields. This was good
information to know. Others set up meetings that they blew off with no
warning or communication. Others were downright rude via email and
even in conversations, by making it very clear that they didn’t want to
work with me. I have to be careful with such a broad statement, because
there were many that were helpful, polite, compassionate, and giving—
but not all of them. However, even the polite ones cut straight to the
chase. I found out quickly that I wasn’t networking anymore.
After being frustrated for a call or two, I soon realized that recruiters
and headhunters have a very specific job to do. If they were wasting time
on a call with me because they felt I wasn’t qualified for their particular
niche or job, then they weren’t making money. Once I genuinely understood
how the relationships would be established, I began to appreciate
both of our challenges and tried to step up my game by anticipating their
very specific questions, challenging myself for the next similar call by
doing more homework or better defining exactly what I was looking for.
I am very thankful for this frustrating piece of the process. When a recruiter
calls they typically ask three questions: salary range, location preferences,
and exact position in the exact field you’re looking for. I began to
take it as a compliment that I made their list to call. Knowing that they
get a slice of the salary of the person they hire from the hiring company,
and that they have a reputation to maintain in getting perfect hires for the
companies that contract them, it became more understandable how some
of the conversations went. As a job seeker, you’re not required to deal
with headhunters. Although I didn’t run into it, I have heard from my
career center friends, that there are situations when a recruiter is looking
for the unemployed person to pay them to assist in the job search. I will
caution you and say there are very few times you need to spend money on
a recruiter or headhunter to get hired. However, if you choose to go with
a legitimate recruiter, it is a choice you can make—just know the swarm
of bees you’re walking into… although bees are productive!
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com
Do you know about Avanoo.com? Two-to-three minute eLearning programs that can change your life.
When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself
Manage Your Time—Don’t Let It Manage You
MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby
