by Shawn | Mar 31, 2021 | Podcast
What Is a Tip For Improving Your Processes?
As we mentioned back in episode 3, just about everything we do is a process. You could take any aspect of your day and break it down into steps that you might create a work flow for… you know, if you really wanted to do something like that.
At your organization, no doubt… hopefully… you have different standard operating procedures or instructions for different items that happen to make your company work.
But how do you know if they are robust enough? How can you tell if they need some improving or tightening up.
There are plenty of things you could do, but I want to suggest one for simplicity.
Ask questions. Act like an outsider, someone new. Or better yet, take someone new or from a totally different department and have them try to walk through one of your organization’s procedures and ask their own questions.
I’ve found that, often, we maybe aren’t communicating as much as we thought (leaving communication gaps) because we are too close to a process.
Our brains may be filling in those gaps for us, answering questions that we didn’t even ask verbally, and allowing us to get to the right destination.
But when someone new is dropped in there (or we’re able to try to look from a new perspective), we can unearth some potentials for miscommunication, defective parts, letting customers down, and more.
So, here is your challenge for today.
Find a written (or maybe even a verbal) process.
Then, for each step, ask as many questions as you can come up with. EVEN IF YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWERS.
Ask away.
For example:
Step 1. Open the HPE file, fill out lines 1-3 and submit it to the sales department
Questions:
– What is HPE?
– Where can I find this HPE file?
– Does everyone have access to it or could there be a problem for some?
– Is the file editable?
– Should I save a copy or change the actual file?
– Who should I contact if I have questions?
– How should I submit it to sales? Email, paper, fax, carrier pigeon (I hear those are making a comeback)
– Who specifically in sales should get it?
You get the picture. I’ve found this exercise to be really eye-opening when I’ve done it with procedures on manufacturing lines where I’ve worked. And it has always opened up the potential for a communication gap and given us an opportunity to close that gap before it leads to something bad.
So, good luck with your quest. If you find that you’re not coming up with many questions, grab someone new and have them go through it. I think you’ll find their input invaluable.
If you’ve been enjoying the podcast, I’d love it if you’d leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts at shawnwashburn.com/apple Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
by Shawn | Mar 30, 2021 | Podcast
How Can You Better Organize Your Work?
On today’s Tech Tuesday episode, we’re going to talk about one of my favorite tools.
Evernote.
If you’ve never used Evernote I don’t think we can be friends. OK, totally not true… as long as you give it a try.
Evernote is a cross platform app (meaning you can access it on your phone, computer, tablet and lawn mower — I think they’re still working on this one).
I love that, first and foremost because I use it in different ways on each of those… except the lawn mower.
At it’s heart, it’s a place to store notes electronically. But it’s so much more.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the ways you can use it and how I use it from different platforms.
OK, so, let’s start with my phone.
Generally, with the phone version, I mostly use it for searching for and retrieving notes I’ve previously created.
But I sometimes will use it to auto dictate notes into Evernote from my phone as well.
From your phone, you can create a text note, scan something into a note with your phone’s camera, hand write, attach, record audio and more. It really has a lot of functionality.
And as an aside, the structure of Evernote’s system is pretty cool too. Each note has a title that you give it. And then you can assign an unlimited number of tags to a note (for different categories you created) or place notes into folders as well.
The searchability is one of my favorite aspects of the whole thing.
Now, on to the other way I use it. On my laptop. On a laptop, you can use the native app by itself or also install a Chrome Browser plugin.
The nice thing about the plugin is that it creates a little button that lets you quickly save a whole web page, just an article on a page, bookmark the page, take a screen shot and more. And it comes with a lot of editing tools to go along with that.
Even if you just use the regular desktop app version, it’s still a great way to capture or type things out.
If you’re already an Evernote user, I’m sure you’re just sitting there nodding your head, resonating with the awesomeness that is, in fact, Evernote.
If you haven’t tried it, just search for Evernote just about anywhere and you’ll find the app.
Then, search for “how to use Evernote” and you’ll also find some great tips and techniques people have developed to help you make the most out of it.
I’d love to hear from you about how you like to use Evernote. You can email me at shawn@shawnwashburn.com. I read every one and would love to hear from you.
You could share a screenshot from your podcast player or just send them to shawnwashburn.com. Thank you so much.
by Shawn | Mar 29, 2021 | Podcast
How Can You Really Get To Know Your Team Members on a Deeper Level?
I’ve talked in the past about how I love digging into how each of us has been designed. Our strengths, love languages, interests, communication styles and more.
And there are a ton of assessments out there that can help you discover more about yourself in these areas.
Today, I wanted to focus on personality types.
Now, I know I’ve taken some pretty extensive and complicated assessments in personality and other areas, but one of my favorites was actually a lot simpler.
It involved four animal types: Lion, Otter, Beaver and Golden Retriever.
I remember learning about it from Dr. Gary Smalley several years ago but you can also find it online now as published by Dr. John Trent from Focus on the Family. I’ll post a link to his article in the show notes. I encourage you to check out the article and then take the assessment for your self, although you may already be able to tell where you land as I describe these.
(Here is the link: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/4-animals-personality-test/)
Like with many assessments, it is pretty eye-opening to not only learn about yourself but about others. And it also can help explain why certain people really mesh together while others can get on each other’s nerves.
I’ll tell you where I tend to fall with this test, but first let me lay out generally what the four types represent:
Lions are the take charge people, the natural leaders. Assertive, goal-driven.
Otters are the life of the party. They don’t plan, they do. They go with the flow.
Gold Retrievers are the feelers of the group. They tend to think and feel deeply.
Beavers are the detail oriented ones. They plan, are more risk-averse… keep people alive.
Like with any assessment, we are usually a mix of the results, with some being higher than others.
And also like with other results, there are generally strengths and weaknesses associated with any of the results.
So, where do I fall?
Well, to start with I’m a super high Golden Retriever. I’m wired to be more empathetic. I tend to think a lot about how something makes other people feel. I’m loyal, listener, caring, etc.
My second trait would be Otter. I love to be creative, to do new things, very verbal, etc.
Honestly, Lion and Beaver are in there somewhere but they’re a distant third and fourth.
One fascinating thing about these four is that each of them has another one that is like oil to it’s vinegar. They clash.
You can probably guess, but Lions and Retrievers can have difficulty together. As well, Beavers and Otters don’t play as well together as they might out in the wild (I have no idea, but I kind of imagine them being best buds in all kinds of river-related activities)
The Beaver will carefully plan out every detail of an event only to have the Otter show up right at the last minute, ignore the plans and say “he, let’s just wing it!”.
And while a Retriever is carefully thinking through people’s feelings and wondering which direction they should go, the Lion leaps past them, makes the decision and is basically like “hey, let’s get on with it”.
Bottom line is that each person is wired differently.
And in God’s creativity and design, each personality is needed in an organization or team to function effectively.
Got a room of all Beavers? Lots of plans. Not much fun.
Got a room of all Otters. Most won’t be alive for long.
Got a room of all Retrievers? The room will explode from all of the empathy flowing out of it… but not much action will take place.
Got a room of Lions… you can just imagine.
The first key is to understand yourself. Understand your own strengths and blind spots based on your personality.
The second step is to do the same with the people on your team.
So, what about you? As we’ve been talking about these different personalities, I’m guessing there were one or two that resonated with you.
Take a deeper dive into them. See what blind spots you might have been missing or where you’ve misunderstood others of had conflict because of the interaction of your respective personalities.
Ultimately, you want to be able to harness each person’s uniqueness and strengths to help your business thrive and grow.
Diversity is awesome.
Celebrate what makes us each unique and seek to understand those that are different.
Here’s a link to find out more: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/4-animals-personality-test/) Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I’d love to know what you find out about your personality. You can shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com. Can’t wait to be back with you tomorrow.
by Shawn | Mar 26, 2021 | Podcast
Today, we’re going to continue on with our Ode to the Office series.
A few weeks back, in episode 11 we gave a shout out to the Sticky Note.
Today, we celebrate those brave heroes of the office… the ones willing to brew a new pot of coffee when the post has run dry.
Ode To The Coffee Brewer
If, while getting your coffee the pot has run dry
Please don’t run away… there’s no need to cry
For you have been chosen, right here on this spot
To make some more coffee to put in the pot
A nobler task would be hard to devise
For you’ll fuel tired bodies and open closed eyes
With this liquid that’s brewed over dark ground-up beans
You’ll power a workforce to do some great things
So go be that hero! Use bravery and skill
Grab beans and a filter, but try not to spill
Make sure to align well the pot with the basket
And push the brew button, that’s all that we’re askin’
Then fly off anew to do more super deeds
Because of your efforts, so many are pleased
All future brew-takers will collectively shout
“Thank you for brewing when the coffee ran out!”
If you’ve got an office or work topic you’d like me to do an ode on, just shoot me an email at shawn@shawnwashburn.com. I’d love to hear from you and see what we can create.
Thank you so much.
If you’ve been enjoying the podcast, I’d love it if you’d leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts at shawnwashburn.com/apple Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
by Shawn | Mar 25, 2021 | Podcast
Listening is one of the best skills you can develop. Being a great listener can value your team while also encouraging creativity, new thinking and new ideas.
In episode 5 we poked a little fun at the phrase of the year: “You’re on mute”
Even just that phrase still makes me smile a little bit honestly. I can picture the mouth moving and everyone scrambling to unmute themselves so that they can tell the muted one that they are, in fact, muted.
But today we’re going to talk about some ways that we might be actually muting others around us without realizing it.
Their mouths are moving but we’re not hearing anything. We’re not listening.
To me, one of the top skills you can have as a business leader is to be a good listener. And I don’t just mean someone that people talk to. I mean, someone that really listens.
To be a good listener means that you are approachable. It means that people know that you value them and what they have to share… even if it’s hard to hear.
Being a good listener isn’t asking for an opinion and then letting your team member speak while the whole time you’re secretly holding your own answer behind your back ready to pounce it on them.
Being a good listener is being curious. Being willing to acknowledge that you might be wrong, that you might not be able to see the whole picture.
I heard a great quote from Andy Stanley years back. He said that “leaders who don’t listen will soon be surrounded by people with nothing to say.”
I remember hearing that and having to think that one through again. But it is dead on and I’ve seen it happen.
If people don’t feel like their opinions and thoughts and ideas are truly valued, then eventually they might try to find a place where they are.
And then all that will be left are people who just repeat back what has been said before.
So, if you really want to not only help your business thrive but also to bring out the best in your team members, put in the work to become a better listener.
It may take time. And if your people haven’t been used to being asked for their ideas and really listened to, it may take some time for them to trust they this time it’s different.
Maybe you could start this week and invite a few members of your team in for a meeting with no agenda other than to just hear from them. Let them know that you want to honestly hear how things are going for them, what frustrations they have, struggles, roadblocks to success.
Ask them what ideas they have about making things better… and let them finish, even if you don’t believe they are things you can do right now. That can come later, but you’ll miss out on so many great ideas and empowering your team if you shoot down ideas from the get go or if they feel like it’s not even worth sharing.
Every person on your team is asking this same question: “Can you hear me?… do you want to hear me?”
I believe your answer is yes, because you care about each one of them… and you also want the business to grow as well.
So un-mute your team this week and let them speak what they’ve been dying to say… unless, of course that lawnmower is still blaring in the background…
