by Shawn | Mar 9, 2021 | Podcast
Excel and Google Sheets are one of the most used tools at most companies… and yet are often the most underutilized. Â I’ve been customizing, teaching and helping businesses get the most out of Excel for the last 25 years and I’d love to help you as well. Â Get some great tips and tools out at shawnwashburn.com/excel and let me know how I can help!Â
It’s time to talk some Sheet about your business. See what I did there.
I’ve got some things to get off my chest. About you, your business… and how you use spreadsheets.
I know, I know. “Oh awesome, that sounds like riveting conversation”
Don’t worry, I’m not going to get into all the mind-numbing details… unless you like that kind of thing (in which case you can head to for some great Excel lessons).
But here’s the deal. You and your team have so much untapped potential just sitting there on your desktops. Whether you use Excel or Google Sheets, every time one of your team member touches a spreadsheet you are losing out on time that could be saved, processes that could be automated or communication that could be clarified.
How do I know this? Because I have secret cameras hidden in your office. Creepy, I know.
No, seriously. Because for 25 years I’ve been learning and customizing Excel (and more recently Google Sheets), as well as teaching coworkers, friends and businesses how they can do so much more with this tool that they use every day.
Picture this with me.
We meet up for coffee and you are super excited to show me this new device you got. It’s called an iPhone.
I look on as you pull it out of your pocket and prepare to show me what you can do with it.
You proceed to open up the calculator and show me some calculations, followed by the flashlight.
“Isn’t that awesome?” You ask. “Have you ever seen a flashlight with a calculator before?”
“Um, no” I respond. “Can… can I show you something?”
“Sure,” you reply.
I reach over, take the phone and proceed to find the nearest Panera while also answering the question of who was the 20th president of the United States (it’s James Garfield in case you needed to know). Then I call your mom, play some music, send out a tweet (you might want to delete that one), record my pulse and play a game of Candy Crush.
“I didn’t know it could do all of that…” you say, slowly pulling the phone back into your hand.
While Excel can’t do most of THAT, the parallel is real. In fact, if you’re using the Desktop version of Excel, you’d be blown away by all that it can do. Online Excel and Google Sheets are also super powerful, but Desktop Excel is where the real magic happens.
I guess, sort of like how someone with OCD can’t just leave that picture alone that’s hanging slightly off to one side, I’m the same way with Excel. When I sit in a meeting where a file is shared or someone sends me a file to work on, I find it impossible to not just want to “tweak” it.
When you know the potential of something, you want to help it reach that potential.
I know you feel the same way. It’s how you look at your people. And it’s how you look at your processes as well.
But somewhere along the line, spreadsheets became that super-charged Ferrari that only gets taken on 25 mile per hour side streets. It’s meant to see the open road, to hit the high end of that speedometer.
I’ve worked with tons of individuals and businesses over the years to help them see what’s possible with Excel. And I’d love to help you as well.
If you head over to shawnwashburn.com/excel, you’ll find 30 free Excel tutorial videos that will give you a great foundation. I designed them to do one a day for a month, but you can use them however you’d like. They cover beginner, intermediate and advanced tools and tips.
While you’re there, if you’d like more info or want to chat just head to the contact area and shoot me a message.
I’d love to help you get your Sheet in order.
by Shawn | Mar 8, 2021 | Podcast
What if we are coming in 45 minutes late into the stories of those around us? What if we believed that there is more to them than we know?
That what has happened in their lives has shaped how they view the world, how they interact, their hopes and fears. Â If we approach our coworkers, family and friends with that mindset we can understand them better and more deeply, as well as being able to work better together and give them more of what they need.
Have you ever arrived late for a movie at a movie theater?
If you have, if it was less than fifteen minutes late, you probably were alright since you only missed the ads for upcoming movies. That’s just how it is these days.
But imagine coming in 45 minutes late to a movie. 45 minutes after the actual movie had started.
You’d be like “wait, who is this Frodo guy, why is he so short, and why doesn’t he just throw that ring in the river?” or “What made Darth so angry, why is breathing so heavy and why do I feel like he has some deep family issues?” or even “Wait, Matt Damon is stuck again somewhere in the universe and needs to be rescued? I think I’ve seen this before somewhere…”
You get the picture. So much is revealed in the beginning of a movie. Something tragic happens. Or there is a snapshot from a character’s past. Or a chance meeting takes place or a message is shared.
A good movie will still leave some things for you to figure out. But what is shared at the beginning often fills in a lot of the blanks of the story. If you miss it, you will be led to figure the story out on your own. You’ll draw conclusions about characters or their decisions. You’ll falsely assume things to be true or not based on your limited knowledge. And often you’ll be wrong.
With a movie there’s no major implications here, other than you peppering the people who are watching with you with all kinds of questions that would have been answered if you hadn’t been late!
But with people, it’s a much different story.
And yet this happens all the time we meet someone new.
Every time our paths cross another’s, we’re coming into their life 45 minutes late. And even if we’ve been friends forever, there are still details about their past that we may never know but that have shaped who they are.
It’s not that we need to know every detail of everyone we meet. But acknowledging that we’re coming in late to their story allows us to be aware that their past has in part made them into who they are now. And by past, this could even mean what happened this morning before they left for work.
When you think about those you rub shoulders with every day, whether your peers or team members, the more you can view them and their stories in this way, the more it can help you have more compassion and understanding as well as a vision for their potential as well.
Instead of jumping to conclusions about their behavior or how they missed the mark, consider asking them more about what led to that. If they feel that you are genuine and can trust you, you can begin to fill in more blanks of the story. And THAT is when you can begin to make a deeper connection, see how you can help them and what they need from you to perform at their best.
All you need to remember is this one phrase: “I don’t know their whole story”.
That’s it.
This doesn’t mean that even after you dig deeper and try to help them that they might not still make bad decisions or refuse to do things that are needed to get where you need them to be. Tough decisions and conversations are still bound to happen.
But you have a better chance to connect with and hang onto those teammates who are the types of people you want in your organization.
That person who perhaps is on your mind as you listen to this? Why not take some time this week to reach out to them, dig deeper and let them fill in more of their story to you.
As for Frodo and the ring, don’t worry. You’ll fill in all those blanks you missed if you’ve got another 8 hours on your hands. Matt Damon though? Might have to just let that guy go…
Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
I can’t wait to connect with you again tomorrow
by Shawn | Mar 4, 2021 | Podcast
So much rides on good communication and yet we’ve all seen what happens when it goes bad. Miscommunication, assumptions, lost opportunities, stained relationships, waste and more. Today, we begin to lay the groundwork for topics we’ll cover in future episodes.
If there’s a phrase that has captured the last year of life her in our world, it’s probably this: “you’re on mute”.
If you’re one of the handful of people who hasn’t been on a zoom, teams or other video call this last year I guess you missed out on this treat.
But for the rest of this, I’d say I’ve only heard this phrase uttered… every… single… meeting.
After a while, you just laugh because, for as advanced as we are as people and with all of this technology, we still (myself included… often) haven’t figured out how to unmute ourselves when we’re ready to talk in a virtual meeting.
At this point, it’s just become commonplace… and honestly quite funny. Most meetings, I’m making silent bets with myself on who will forget to unmute and how far we’ll make it into the meeting before someone does this.
But it just brings to the surface how important communication is. I’m not a great lip reader so I have a hard time figuring out what someone is saying when they’re muted… especially if their video is off too.
But in our daily lives, the same thing plays out over and over. Lack of communication. Or sometimes miscommunication.
And when that happens, in our home lives or especially in business, it can take a huge toll.
You’ve seen it happen over and over and I’m sure you’ve got some great examples that just rose up into your brain of when miscommunication cost you money in your business, or caused a rift in a team relationship or created a frustrated customer or disgruntled employee. I could go on. Products scrapped. Deadlines missed. Leadership questioned. Embarrassment. Wasted time. Pain. Brokenness.
It’s so crazy because it’s just words, right? It wasn’t like you meant to ship that product to your customer but you decided to toss it off the side of that bridge instead. Nope. You just sent that email and they read it differently than you did in your head.
Communication can be, at the same time, the simplest thing we use and deal with, and yet one of the most complex and potentially destructive when used the wrong way.
There’s so much to unpack in this area and I can’t wait to dig into all of it in the episodes ahead.
Communication affects both your people and processes in huge ways.
As a leader, you set the direction for this. When done well, good communication makes processes clear, helps team members know where they stand and feel valued, sets a plan of action for the company and a unified focus, eliminates so… much… waste.
Communication is just words. But those words are like rudders on a thousand tiny ships. And when those ships go off course, they collide, sink, cause destruction.
As we talk about the different ways communication affects your company, I want to give you little snapshots that can help you identify the areas that need adpdressed, give you hope and vision for communication done well, and bring to light pitfalls as well.
So, as we dig deeper into communication next time…
Sorry, I was on mute. My bad.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
I can’t wait to connect with you again tomorrow
by Shawn | Mar 3, 2021 | Podcast
Curiosity is one of the most valuable skills you and your team members can have. It leads to positive change, new ideas, streamlined systems and clarified communication.
Notes from today’s show:
Welcome back to the Engineering Your Business podcast, the show that helps business leaders like you do more with what you have.
I’m your host Shawn Washburn.
Do you remember your child’s first word? If you don’t have kids, do you remember your own first word?
It might have been “mama” or “dada” or “blah” or something like that. So precious. So sweet. “Oh, she just said her first word!”
Every parents loves that first word (unless of course it was “mama” and you’re the dad).
But most parents despise the first question.
Oh, that first question that children learn and then use over… and over… and over.
I think you know it. It’s “why”.
“OK, Billy, time to get your PJs on” “But why?”
“Because it’s time to go to bed” “But why?”
“Because you need to get your sleep” “But why?”
“Because… honey, you want to step in here at some point?” “Why should honey step in?”
You get the picture. If toddlers have a PR problems it’s the “why” problem. Why can’t they just be satisfied with my first answer!!! we think to ourselves… after we’ve put them to bed finally and settled down for some Netflix.
But what I think is so cool is that we are born with a natural curiosity. Remember that kid that had to be told to ask “why?” Yeah, me neither. It just comes natural to us when we’re little. After all, we spend nine months in this warm, dark little pool and then suddenly we’re yanked out, surrounded by a room full of people staring at us, wrapped into a little cloth and left to try to figure out “what in the world just happened”.
It’s natural that we should want some answers. And now. Unfortunately (or fortunately for most parents), kids can’t actually articulate the word why for several months. Kind of like a gracious breather for parents before the onslaught.
But all the parental frustration aside, it’s pretty amazing to watch little kids operate like that and it’s a skill that I believe is one of the most important to have… and yet is often so rare. Curiosity.
Maybe it’s because it’s been beaten out of us by the time we’re 4 (“Stop asking why!!”).
Or maybe it’s because the world becomes more familiar and slows down a little bit for us and we just settle into an understanding of it. Or so we think.
We feel we know what’s going on or accept what we’re told and we just go with the flow.
Or maybe we used to ask questions but got in trouble for it and lost that curiosity.
Whatever it happened to it, it’s something I believe is crucial for you and for your team members if you want to really thrive in your business.
Let’s start with you, because they will follow your lead. Are you curios about the world around you, or do you just go with what you know, or think you know? Equally as important is this: are you approachable?
Because if you set out to encourage a culture of curiosity, you need to be willing to be challenged, questioned, to change and grow on your own.
I’ve had the privilege of mentoring a lot of co-ops (interns) over the years where I’ve worked. And one thing that I tell each of them when we first get going is that I want them to question everything. Yes, everything. They’re coming in, seeing with new eyes, learning and processing. I want them to turn over the rocks in our organization, question why we do things that way, explore possibilities of a different approach. I don’t want their ideas to be limited by budget or how we currently do things or that thing we tried before that didn’t work five years ago.
I’ll be honest. The good ones, the ones that are willing to take me up on that, can sometimes make me a little uncomfortable. Especially if I have more of a personal fingerprint on that process or design. But if I really want to make it better, I listen and we discuss.
I truly believe that some of the best change can come from when new people enter your team. If you allow them and encourage them to be curious and if you’re willing to be approachable and discuss their ideas.
You might be amazed at what you’ll find.
Now… if they come in and just ask why over and over… well, that’s a different story.
Thanks for listening to today’s episode.
I can’t wait to connect with you again tomorrow
by Shawn | Mar 2, 2021 | Podcast
Today, we talk about how processes make up every aspect of our daily lives and how optimizing them in your business can make a huge impact
Did you brush your teeth today?
It’s an honest question because I’m right by your mouth and, well, there’s some yucky breath coming out of there.
Seriously though, did you brush today?
How about get dressed? Make coffee? Pack a lunch? Drive a car? Scroll Facebook?
If you did any of those things… actually anything at all… there was a process involved.
Let’s take the teeth for example.
You went into the bathroom, grabbed your tooth paste, opened it up, grabbed your tooth brush, put a big glob onto your brush, brushed your teeth (for like 5 minutes, right?… right) OK, for probably 20 seconds, rinsed your brush put it all back and you were done.
Truth is, life is somewhat a series of processes. Everything we do follows a process. Whether it’s something quick like brushing your teeth, something longer like losing 10 pounds or a bigger task of getting a degree or raising kids.
One thing I love is studying and optimizing processes. It’s probably one of the reasons why I’ve been successful as an engineer. My brain is just wired that way. If you’ve ever seen the movie The Matrix, think of when Neo becomes fully aware and can see the matrix for what it is and then manipulate it.
That’s how I feel about processes. So, essentially Keanu Reeves and I are like the same, right? Yeah, well, maybe not.
But it’s honestly something that’s hard for me to turn off. Of course, I use it at work as I design and analyze manufacturing work flows and individual steps. But it also crosses over to things around the house or when I’m at a store or a restaurant or waiting for the one traffic light in our town that I swear never recognizes my presence!
All that said, I love looking at processes and seeing how they can be improved and streamlined. I almost see it as free money right there. Granted, sometimes you might buy a new machine or new software or an app that will help you automate or optimize a process. But often, it’s already all there right in front of you like a puzzle. You just have to re-imagine how the pieces could fit together better.
You have these processes in your business as well. Some of them are physical. Some are electronic or information-related. If you could put on magic glasses and see all of them in front of you, it might indeed look like some form of that matrix. A little overwhelming, honestly.
But there is so much potential there. Every step it takes to go from customer order to shipping your product, every email, every instruction, all your training procedures or onboarding or accounting. All of it can be optimized, streamlined, clarified, standardized.
I want that to bring you some hope today. Even if you’ve felt like you’ve been squeezing everything as tight as you can to try to improve that bottom line, there are still opportunities right in front of you that you can leverage to get you there, often with minimal resources. Just a different perspective or different approach.
I want to help you get there. Join me in coming episodes as we dig into all aspects of your processes. Communication, automation, identifying and reducing waste, standardization, fun (yep, fun is allowed), innovation, creativity, curiousity. All of it makes a difference.
I can’t help you make sure your teeth stay cavity-free (though regular brushing might help), but I can help you make a positive impact through the processes you touch each day. Let’s get after it!
