Leadership Winter 2014

LEADERSHIP Winter 2014

Keys to Coping With Information Overload pg. 9 Planning Ahead for Better Meetings pp. 10 - 11

Your onflict in C g in t n e Prev Workplace bly Comforta re o M it How to S on the Job yee an Emplo in ra T o t How

Leadership Winter 2014

MINES & Associates 10367 West Centennial Road Littleton, Colorado 80127 800.873.7138 www.MINESandAssociates.com

A word from your Account Management Team...

Welcome to the Winter 2014 issue of Leadership!

The New Year brings with it plenty of challenges and opportunities, both personal as well as professional. As you are facing cold morning commutes and icy windshields, your company is facing a new year of planning, reporting, budgeting, and all that goes along with bringing in the new year. To help face these frigid year-end obstacles MINES has prepared some resources that will make sure you are sitting comfortably and not getting bogged down by information overload. We also have some tips that should make training that next employee a breeze all while keeping any personal issues you may be facing out of your professional life.

And don’t worry, while being a supervisor or manager can leave you feeling the cold, we are always here to help you warm up. Just grab a cup of hot chocolate and call your Employee Assistance Program at 1-800-873-7138.

To your health!

– The MINES Team

. . . . . . . . C redits . . . . . . .

Life Advantages - Author Delvina Mirtemadi ©2014 How to Sit More Comfortably on the Job pg. 4 Keeping Personal Problems “Off the Job” pg. 5 Keys to Coping with Information Overload pp. 8 - 9 Krames Staywell Planning Ahead for Better Meetings pp. 6 - 7 Wellness Library Health and Vitality Communications ©2014 How to Train an Employee pg. 10 Preventing Conflict in Your Workplace pg. 11

2015 Awareness is the name of the game in 2015! We here at MINES believe the first step to enhancing your wellbeing is becoming aware. By becoming aware you not only become cognizant of new ideas and open your mind to the world around you, but you also open your eyes to see yourself in a new light as well. Total Wellbeing will continue to bridge the gap between our potential and optimal wellbeing by bringing light to the 8 dimensions of wellness: Physical, Occupational, Intellectual, Environmental, Financial, Social, Spiritual, and Emotional Wellness and expanding your awareness of ways to support these dimensions in your life to help you promote your own Total Wellbeing.

Total Wellbeing

Focus on Awareness

Physical Spiritual Intellectual Social

Total

Emotional Financial Occupational Environmental

Keep an eye out on MINES & Associates in 2015 as we explore the awareness landscape. From financial planning to social influence, physical wellness to emotional health, all aspects of your life are connected and can affect your wellbeing. Let us help you stay on top of this constantly shifting world and make your wellbeing easier to focus on than ever before.

Share

Your Own Perspective In the spirt of awareness in 2015 we want to hear from you. We want to know about the things you do to support your own happiness and wellbeing. So please share your stories, whether they are success stories or struggles you have faced. We will be featuring some of your wellbeing stories in our publications to inspire and let others know that they are not alone.

Email your wellbeing story to: communications@minesandassociates.com

Wellness Webinars

Support from the experts

Wellbeing

Join our partner, Brown Richards, for any of their monthly webinars. 2015 will cover great new topics ranging from organizing your life, facts about Alzheimer’s, family cultivation, eating right, and much more!

Visit our website to learn more, or register for upcoming events at www.minesandassociates.com/webinar.

Is there a topic you’d like to see us explore? We’d love to hear from you.

Shoot us an e-mail at communications@minesandassociates.com and let us know what you’d like to see.

www.MINESandAssociates.com | 800.873.7138

Sit More Comfortably on the Job

If you spend most of your workday sitting down, you can do your body a favor by sitting properly in a chair designed for maximum support and comfort.

A 2003 study by University of Texas researchers found that office workers were healthier and more productive when they used a highly adjustable office chair and had training in how to adjust it properly. The study found that the chairs reduced symptoms such as loss of function, pain, or stiffness.

Ergonomic checklist An ergonomically designed chair -- one that supports your back and the rest of your body comfortably -- should have the following characteristics: • The seat pan, or the area on which you sit, should be comfortable and at least an inch wider than your hips and thighs on either side, say experts on ergonomics at Cornell University. Your thighs should be able to extend past the edge of the seat pan. If the seat pan is too long, the edge will hit the back of your knees, or you won’t be able to sit back in the chair. The better chairs have a “waterfall” front edge, which slopes down and avoids hitting your knees.

• The chair height should be easily adjustable. The better chairs have a pneumatic adjustment that allows you to adjust the height of the chair while you are sitting on it.

• The lumbar or lower back rest should be comfortable. The better chairs allow you to adjust the lumbar support up or down, or backward or forward, depending on your build. Even a fixed lumbar support is fine, as long as it feels comfortable when you sit back against it, Cornell experts say.

• Besides lumbar support, the chair should also provide support for the mid- and upper-back.

• The cushioning in the seat pan should provide enough support for a comfortable sit after an hour, or two. Low-density foam cushioning can become permanently deformed after a period of time, which decreases its support. If the cushioning isn’t adequate, you may feel fatigue in the back and hips, Cornell experts say.

• The chair should allow you to recline, yet still provide adequate support. Cornell experts say sitting perfectly upright isn’t recommended over a long period. A more healthy posture is one that reclines slightly at 100 to 110 degrees.

• The chair should have at least five spokes radiating from a pedestal base. The casters should allow the chair to move smoothly over the floor.

Adjust the chair

Other features

Taking the time to fine-tune your chair to fit you is extremely important. Be sure to adjust the seat height so your feet are resting flat on the floor when you sit back. Use a footrest if you’re sitting at a high desk or in a chair that can’t be lowered.

Adjust the seat angle so it tilts down slightly.

•

The back support should be aimed at the lower (lumbar) curve of the spine, and the armrests should be adjusted so your arms are at right angles when you’re sitting up straight.

If you sit for long hours, you can help avoid pain if you get up and move around as often as you can.

Some ideas: • Stop every hour to stand and stretch.

• Walk to the water fountain or break room every hour or two.

• Stand up when you’re talking on the phone or filing.

• Don’t eat lunch at your desk; walk to a restaurant or a break room.

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• •

Consider whether you need armrests on your chair. If so, they should be broad and cushioned, Cornell experts say. You should be able to adjust them easily, both higher and lower, and closer and farther apart.

You may need a footrest if you are not able to lower the chair enough to keep your feet flat on the floor.

Consider which chair covering you prefer.

Vinyl is easy to keep clean, but it doesn’t “breathe.” Moisture can accumulate under the thighs as the vinyl-covered chair heats up, Cornell experts say. Cloth upholstery breathes more, but is more difficult to keep clean. M

“sitting perfectly upright isn’t recommended over a long period.

A more healthy posture is one that reclines slightly at 100 to 110 degrees.”

Keeping Personal Problems ‘Off the Job’

Your personal life may be in turmoil because of your strong emotional attachments to unpredictable or difficult people. But, allowing your personal problems to affect your productivity at work will add to your stress.

There are steps that you can take at work, at home, and with yourself, to help keep personal problems from affecting your work.

Get involved

Do three things for yourself every day

“One of the best ways to avoid taking your personal problems to work is to be involved in some community work or support group that allows you to vent and to problem-solve, so you’re not taking your negative mind-set into work,” says Loretta LaRoche, author of “Life Is Not a Stress Rehearsal.” “Community service also lets you see other people who are more disadvantaged and makes you feel better about your own situation.”

Schedule time for yourself. Make sure you’re eating properly, exercising, getting enough sleep, and relaxing some every day.

Each week, do at least one activity you enjoy. At work, use part of your lunch hour to go for a walk or read an inspirational book.

Being with other people who have similar problems in a support group provides an opportunity to share experiences and ideas, and keeps you from feeling isolated.

You have many non-religious support groups to choose from, including Tough Love for families with difficult children, Al-Anon for the family members or friends of alcoholics and Parents Without Partners for single moms and dads. A multitude of religion-affiliated groups also are available. Check with your local chamber of commerce for a list of organizations and volunteer opportunities.

Become an actor Pretend you’re an actor or actress playing a role. When you get dressed for work, wear your work costume, and don’t wear these same clothes in your personal life. When you arrive at work, pretend you’re on stage. As an actor, no matter what’s going on in your personal life, audience members have paid for their tickets and the show must go on.

Make friends at work Invite a different co-worker to lunch every day. These one-onone lunches will help you get to know your peers on a more personal level. Choose happy people with a positive attitude, because they’ll give you energy.

Be an optimist

Get support from your supervisor

Look at what’s good about your personal life, or as Ms. LaRoche says, “Look for the bless in the mess! Optimists know there’s a problem and try to solve it. Optimists say, ‘Things happen, now what?’”

Make your supervisor aware of any major problems you’re facing in your personal life. He or she may have more compassion and offer possible solutions. Ask if your company or health insurance covers outside counseling.

Change what you can

“By using these strategies, you’ll be better-equipped to focus at work in spite of personal problems, and you may soon discover your work has become a safe haven from the chaos you experience at home,” says Ms. LaRoche. M

Determine which changes you can make in your personal life.

Where can you add more predictability and structure? With whom do you need to set limits? Can you either divide up the household chores or hire someone to help with the cleaning, laundry, and cooking? How can you be more pleasant at home, even when others are grumpy?

Humorize your situation Most people take something bad that happened and make it seem even worse by exaggerating reality.

“Turn that into something humorous by taking that exaggeration one step forward and making it completely absurd,” says Ms. LaRoche. “You’ll soon laugh at your ridiculous thoughts.”

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Planning Ahead for Better Meetings

Many people hate to go to meetings. They insist that most of them take too long, lack focus, and create more problems than they solve by keeping the participants from crucial tasks.

“Despite the fact that many meetings are poorly run, a good meeting can provide a critical link in the way business is conducted and information is communicated,” says Bobbi Linkemer, coauthor of “Get Organized.” “Meetings also serve to define responsibilities, motivate, teach, and generate decisions.”

Meetings often fail because their leaders don’t plan ahead, have no clear objective, and don’t prepare agendas.

The following basic principles can help you learn to conduct meetings that accomplish your objective, make good use of time, and encourage active participation.

“Meetings often fail because their leaders don’t plan ahead, have no clear objective, and don’t prepare agendas” Plan ahead “The secret of effective meetings is what goes on ahead of time,” Ms. Linkemer says. “More often than not, more work is done before the meeting than during it.”

Here are seven steps to planning an effective meeting:

1. Define your objectives Ask yourself what you hope to accomplish at the meeting.

2. Select the right participants Depending on your objectives, you may want to invite people who have a stake in the outcome, have something to contribute or gain from the discussion, will implement the policy decisions that are made, or are creative and innovative thinkers.

3. Decide when to hold the meeting Select a time when everyone can attend and when you’ll have enough time to cover the subject.

4. Draft an agenda Include the topics you’ll cover and how much time you’re allotting to each one. An agenda helps you organize every aspect of your meeting, from topics to speakers to visual aids, and lets people know what to expect.

Define, Decide,

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Draft...

“Depending on your objectives, you may want to invite people who have a stake in the outcome, have something to contribute or gain from the discussion, will implement the policy decisions that are made, or are creative and innovative thinkers.”

1. Choose a site and make physical arrangements This may be as simple as reserving a conference room or as complex as booking a hotel ballroom.

6. Notify the participants You can do this in person, in writing, or by e-mail. Decide whether you’ll send materials ahead of time or present them when you meet.

7. Make the final preparations Double-check all arrangements.

Assuming you’ve planned well, the following outline will help you conduct a successful meeting.

Start off right Be in the room and ready to go before the other participants arrive. Announce the meeting’s purpose and open the discussion.

Structure the discussion This means keeping the meeting constantly moving in the direction of your objective. This may include asking questions, balancing the discussion between opposing points of view, using gentle reminders to keep people on track, and watching the clock to make sure the meeting finishes on time.

Hold people’s attention Use visual aids, such as a blackboard, a flip chart, an overhead projector, charts, movies, slides, videotapes, and transparencies.

Ask for information from others “The ability to ask the right question at the right time in the right way is one of the most important skills of a meeting leader,” Ms. Linkemer says.

Have someone take minutes Ask the person to write down the topics covered, conclusions reached, and decisions made.

Wrap things up Draw your meeting to a close by assessing whether your objective was achieved. “If it was, summarize it,” Ms. Linkemer says. “If you need more information, restate what’s needed, and who will provide it. Propose a follow-up meeting if the problem wasn’t solved or a conclusion wasn’t reached.” M

“The ability to ask the right question at the right time in the right way is one of the most important skills of a meeting leader,” Winter 2014 Leadership 7

Coping With Info Overload

In-boxes are overflowing with magazines, reports, and memos; e-mail boxes are brimming with half-read and unread messages.

“More and more managers tell me they’re spending three or four hours a day responding to e-mail and doing so isn’t making them more productive,” says Lyle Sussman, Ph.D., a speaker, author, management consultant, and professor of management at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

“Staying abreast of developments in your field is more important than it has ever been,” he says.

Yet even as demand for data skyrockets, the supply of information — particularly that available on the Internet — is outpacing demand. Anyone who works in an office or answers e-mail can experience information overload.

Instead of spending a large chunk of your workday sorting through irrelevant data and correspondence, Dr. Sussman recommends you become an intelligent consumer of information.

“Anyone who works in an office or answers e-mail can experience information overload.”

To send or not Tell people what they should or shouldn’t send you. It’s so easy now for e-mail users to attach documents or to refer political messages to anyone in their networks. Be more assertive with your networks about what you want and don’t want to receive.

“I’ve received messages from people in my network saying they would prefer I not send jokes I run across,” says Dr. Sussman.

“People are trying to set limits on the supply side.”

Make the call Ask people to use the telephone or to stop by in person. “Phone calls and face-to-face conversations are becoming lost arts,” Dr. Sussman says. “I’ve been telling my professional colleagues that if it’s something important, they should come down to my office and talk to me. I get a lot more information that way.”

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Focus on problem-solving It’s fine to search the Internet and scan magazine and newspaper articles, but you can physically control what lands in your in-box by not searching so much and then by searching only for what you need.

Find a gatekeeper Develop closer contacts with trusted colleagues who can act as information agents. Who do you know who’s knowledgeable in your field, whose opinion you value and who can point you toward relevant information?

“If everyone located two or three such friends who can act as gatekeepers, it’s amazing how much time and frustration they could save themselves,” says Dr. Sussman.

Try a screening agent Use artificial-information agents, such as e-mail newsletters, that automatically feed your e-mail box with topical information.

“Services like these are why Reader’s Digest will never go out of circulation,” says Dr. Sussman. “They scan a wide variety of news sources and deliver to you only those items containing key words of your choice.”

Problem-Solving

“What makes it frustrating is that you never know what the wheat is and what the chaff is, because the world is changing so fast. We have to look at our information-search procedures in a much more pragmatic way — they have to be driven by problem-solving.”

Use these agents selectively Dr. Sussman has friends who rely on seven or more artificial agents. But rather than simplify their categorical use of information, all those agents make their jobs more complex, he says. Choose just one or two of these services — the ones that consistently send you the highest quality, most relevant information — and drop the others.

“Unlike the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, most of us aren’t in a position to pay someone to screen our e-mail,” says Dr. Sussman.

“So we have to sort the wheat from the chaff ourselves. What makes it frustrating is that you never know what the wheat is and what the chaff is, because the world is changing so fast. We have to look at our information-search procedures in a much more pragmatic way — they have to be driven by problem-solving.” M

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How to Train an Employee Plan to Train Before you start training an employee, put together a list of the goals you wish to accomplish through the training. Ask yourself what the employee should be able to do when training is complete, and then start moving forward. Write down tasks that an employee must be trained on and take notes on the steps. Make sure everyone in the office is aware of who this new person is and where they will be working. It may be helpful to prepare an introductory portfolio. Some organizations have these available through their HR department, but if not, feel free to put one together yourself.

Start the Training When you start to train, begin with basic training measures: Given them a tour of the office so they know the layout and location of different areas; make sure that they know where to find materials, how to position materials (if applicable); and proper safety regulations for the work environment. Next, consider how to best train your employee using the instructions below.

Using Training Aids to Help In addition to verbal guidance from supervisors and colleagues, think about using training aids to help explain work processes to a new employee. Training aids can help the employee learn essential work practices quicker and more efficiently. Manuals, films, videos, photographs of equipment or products, finished products samples, and flow diagrams can all provide beneficial training to your employee.

Instructing Your Trainee • First, prepare your trainee for what’s being taught. Explain to your trainee the value of, and reason for, what you are teaching. As a trainer, take time to assess the skill level of the person you are working with. Are there unnecessary training steps that can be omitted?

• Second, teach your trainee. Describe and illustrate each task the trainee will need to know. Take it step-by-step, making sure to point out the key points of each step, reiterating important points when necessary.

• Third, have your trainee perform the task. This way, you can see if the employee knows how to perform the task properly.

Start by having the employee perform each step, explaining key points. Correct errors if you see them, and have the employee repeat the steps until he or she can master it.

• Lastly, follow up with your employee. Make sure to check in on the trainee to see if there are questions or errors being made. Take time to praise what he or she is doing correctly, but don’t expect tasks to be performed flawlessly right away.

Make gentle corrections and work with the employee to perfect skills. M

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Preventing Conflict in Your Workplace Conflict is an inevitable part of life and relationships. However, by working to prevent conflict, you can help minimize the negative impact it has on your overall quality of life. Finding ways to establish healthy communication lines and clear goals can help reduce conflict both in and out of work.

Three Common Causes of Conflict: • Expectations, values, needs, or goals don’t match up • Differences in perceptions, whether this be of motives, words, actions, or situations • An unwillingness to cooperate or compromise

“Conflict is an inevitable part of life and relationships.”

Skills That Can Reduce the Impact of Conflict and Help You Work Through Conflict: • Keep communication lines open by developing listening skills • State clear and reasonable expectations of others • Ask for others’ expectations of you • Make promises that you keep • Help show team members how to fulfill job duties and expectations • Give praise • Clearly state job performance expectations • Avoid punishment tactics • Make steps to reduce bickering • Lead meetings as an effective communicator

• • • • • • • • • •

Adopt a problem-solving attitude Be open to negative feedback Trust employees to make decisions Encourage solutions Focus on common goals and remind the team of the goals Develop trust in others Be respectful of others Work for a solution rather than blaming others Remove sources of repeated problems or conflict Have coworkers write ways to prevent future conflicts, then use that list as much as possible M Winter 2014 Leadership 11

A note to Supervisors...

From time to time, situations arise when a supervisor is not sure how to respond to a particular behavior.

The Employee Assistance Program is available on a 24/7 basis for consultation on issues such as: referring an employee to the EAP, how best to respond to and manage difficult behavior in the workplace, and whether training or some other form of group intervention (such as an organizational intervention or a conflict resolution) may be helpful for a particular situation. The EAP can serve as an ally to anyone who is working with a troubled employee.

• 24/7 supervisor consultation regarding problems in the workplace

• Assessment of behavioral risk on the job • Return-to-Duty conferences

• Advisory services in writing, revising, and implementing policies

• Supervisor and Manager training

• Unlimited formal Work Performance Referrals

• Coaching for management and leadership skills

• Conflict resolution for supervisor-employee problems

MINES believes that employees are an organization’s most valuable resource.

Your EAP is always available to provide you and your employees with support.

The MINES Team

Questions? Reach us at 800.873.7138 | www.MINESandAssociates.com