Posts Tagged ‘Champion Performance Development’

Procrastinating on Procrastination

March 18, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

Whether you are among the 20% of self proclaimed chronic procrastinators or you find yourself up against a deadline a little more often than you’d like, procrastination is a bug that bites all of us sometimes.  It is well known that we tend to get more done when we know we simply won’t have time to do it tomorrow.  But how can we make ourselves busy enough to get things done while not making ourselves crazy? I suggest we procrastinate on our procrastination.  Here’s how:

  1. Know your procrastination tasks – What busy work suddenly becomes incredibly important when you have a task you need to accomplish (internet, email, catch up phone calls, etc)? I know if I suddenly feel the urge to vacuum, do the dishes or go to the grocery store there is something I am avoiding.
  2. Catch yourself in the moment – It can be easy to lose an hour or two without even trying.  The earlier you notice you are engaging in a procrastination task the sooner you can get back on track.  Anytime you find yourself doing one of the things on your procrastination task list, ask yourself “Is this the right thing to be doing with my time or am I avoiding something?”
  3. Put your procrastination task on the back burner – Whatever it is you are using to avoid doing what you should be doing it can certainly be done later.  Stop doing it and put it in the schedule for a later day or time.  Yes, I have actually left my vacuum in the middle of the living room when I have caught myself using it as an excuse.
  4. Don’t lie to yourself – If I had a nickel for every time someone tried to tell me they worked best under pressure at 2am….
  5. Break it down – The common saying is “Rome wasn’t built in a day” but I like to say, “A dissertation isn’t written in a week.”  Regardless of the task at hand it can always be broken into small parts.
  6. Don’t force yourself to be linear – When you put a puzzle together it is never from the top down or bottom up.  You look for pieces that go together and work on them and then put the groups together. Give yourself permission to do the same thing with your project
  7. Procrastination or think time? – Sometimes your brain needs down time to work through a problem.  Get the basic ideas for a project in order.  Who is your audience?  What are the main points you need to cover? Once you know those things, if you aren’t ready to delve right in, taking a think break might be good.
  8. Reward yourself – When you get something done ahead of schedule or even on time without all the stress of making yourself crazy by procrastinating until the last minute, pat yourself on the back.  Although, I suggest you use something more fulfilling than vacuuming.

 

In my world, procrastinating on procrastination leads to lots of useful work being done. You can teach yourself to work now and procrastinate later.  What types of things do you use to distract yourself from what you need to be doing?

As always, I wish you the most from your potential!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow Doc Robyn on Twitter!

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team, call her: 732-421-5170

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka “Doc Robyn”) is a nationally known motivational speaker, author and conflict resolution expert.  As CEO of Champion Performance Development, she works with executives, professionals, athletes, coaches, parents, and faculty to help them achieve excellence in all aspects of life through the development of leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productive conflict and professional disagreement skills – strategies typically reserved for high-level corporate executive training.  She is the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams.

 

 

 

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Successful Communication between the Sexes

March 11, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  In honor of that I have come up with three tips to successful communication for women in traditionally male dominated fields and three tips for men who are now working alongside women as equals where they may not have been only a few short years ago:

One strong characteristic many women have is their ability to collaborate.  Brainstorming and talking through an idea to reach the best solution is where they can shine.  In a male dominated field too much of this might be seen as wasting time or idle chitchat.  To balance this perception women can:

  • Have their ideas fleshed out before they bring them to the table.  Know where the strengths lie and ask for input in the specific areas you know it needs support.  Avoid prefacing your thoughts with “We might…”, “Maybe I’m wrong but…” or “I’m sorry to disagree…”
  • Be confident when you speak.  Use strong language, “After considering the situation, this is the solution I have… “It will be successful because….”
  • Catch yourself making assumptions about how someone feels or thinks about you as a person.

Men are great at driving a project forward.  Making decisions quickly and getting things done is how they succeed.  When working with women as equals too much of this behavior can be seen as aggressive and uncompromising.  To balance it out men can:

  • Recognize that talking through an idea is what makes good ideas great and keeps bad ideas from being implemented.
  • Understand that everything is not a win/lose situation. Work toward understanding what the other party is bringing to the table before you force your idea.
  • Avoid jumping to a conclusion about someone’s competence because their thought process differs from yours and they are not willing to get into a stalemate of wills with you to prove they are right.

Successful people realize there is a place for both the traditionally female approach and the traditionally male approach to a situation.  Understanding how to take advantage of each players’ strength without alienating your teammates will go a long way to creating a team that meets and even exceeds the sum of its parts.

As always, I wish you the MOST from your potential!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow Doc Robyn on Twitter!

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team, call her: 732-421-5170

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka “Doc Robyn”) is a nationally known motivational speaker, author and conflict resolution consultant.  As CEO of Champion Performance Development, she works with executives, professionals, athletes, coaches, parents, and faculty to help them achieve excellence in all aspects of life through the development of leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productive conflict and professional disagreement skills – strategies typically reserved for high-level corporate executive training.  She is the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams.

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5 Things to Keep Performance Reviews from Being a Waste of Time

March 4, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

Have you ever, even once in your life, talked to someone who thought yearly performance reviews were good things that working for them?  I never have and I talk to a lot of people.  The problem with them is they are completely generic.  There is no standard for what it means if one box is checked versus another and the only time a company reviews them is if they are trying to fire you (Trust me I know, it happened to me).

What you need for a performance review to be helpful is a way to tell your consistent A performers from your inconsistent A performers from your B and C performers.  Every team has all of them but the way you are currently evaluating them makes it look like all talent is created equal.

Last week I talked about how you needed a definition for what high performance/production looks like in order to prune your bottom performers.  The same is true if your performance reviews are going to be useful.  If you don’t have a communicated standard to use, any box you check is going to be based on your gut.  I think we can all agree that is going to be fickle at best.  So roll up your sleeves and take the time to create a baseline.  Without that the rest of this post, and every performance review you write, is going to be useless.

I had a professor in grad school who used to say “In God we trust. Everyone else must have data.”  Now that you have a baseline you are going to need a way to decide if someone meets, exceeds, is inconsistent or never meets that standard.  There is no way you are going to be able to remember how often you do that in your own work so you certainly aren’t going to remember for everyone on your team.

Here is an example from my life of why standards and data are helpful:

It was my job to support the Fed Funds trader and keep several portfolios balanced.  The challenge was keeping track of our closing position throughout the day while about a billion dollars moved in and out of the bank.  I was pretty good at it (if I do say so myself).  When my performance review came due my boss checked that I was “satisfactory”.  I question him and he said, “Well, I haven’t gotten any complaints about your work and the trader seems to like you so, satisfactory.”  I asked what I needed to do to get a better than satisfactory rating. He shrugged and told me he just always gave everyone that rating unless there was a problem.  To say I wasn’t impressed or motivated would be putting it mildly.

Figure out a way to keep track of how your employees are doing against the standard throughout the year (make notes on your phone if you need to).  That way you can do more than always check the same box, your team will know what they have to do to be standout performers and you will have useful information to pass on to your replacement when you get promoted.

Speaking of team, if you have a team environment you also need to be able to assess how someone functions within the team.  Make it the norm for everyone on the team to evaluate everyone else and the team itself.  Ask them what they think needs to be changed to make the team better.  Cull toxic members, regardless of their individual performance.

Finally, and this is important, don’t do forced ranking.  When you rank people you create a competitive dog eat dog environment and your star performers will refuse to work together out of fear of losing rank.

Take the time to figure out those five things and you will be well on your way to performance reviews being a useful tool rather than an annoying waste of everyone’s time.

As always, I wish you the most from your potential!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow Doc Robyn on Twitter!

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team, call her: 732-421-5170

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka “Doc Robyn”) is a nationally known motivational speaker, author and conflict resolution consultant.  As CEO of Champion Performance Development, she works with executives, professionals, athletes, coaches, parents, and faculty to help them achieve excellence in all aspects of life through the development of leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productive conflict and professional disagreement skills – strategies typically reserved for high-level corporate executive training.  She is the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams.

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Increase Your Team Average

February 26, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

Every winter the orchards of Central California are littered with piles of branches.  Each tree has been individually inspected.  Some are deemed unfit to produce and are removed.  The remaining trees are pruned to create the strongest, highest producers possible.  When was the last time you really looked at your team?  Not because you had to write something in a yearly evaluation, but really looked at how the individuals and the team itself was functioning.

I have written before how a meeting can only run as quickly as the slowest mind in the room.  The same is true of your team.  You might think you can improve the average output by adding more star players.  That is not the case.  One “average” person can grind a team of all-stars to a halt.  Think about what would happen if you put an average person on a NASCAR pit crew.  Talk about losing the race when you’re not on the track! To increase the average on your team you need to prune the bottom producers.

That means setting the groundwork.  Here are some questions you are going to need to be able to answer:

  • What does production or high performance looking like in your industry?
  • Have you provided everyone with the knowledge and training they need to be a high performer?
  • Have you communicated clear performance expectations?
  • Do you have a standard and consistent way to measure performance?
  • Do you understand your company’s policies for pruning low performers?

Even if you aren’t ready or willing to do any pruning just yet, these are important questions to be able to answer.  Without those answers you are running your team blind.  With them you learn where you can provide more training, where your best work comes from and who might be more successful somewhere else.  And those are the keys to creating a team that runs like a well oiled machine.

As always, I wish you the most from your potential!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow Doc Robyn on Twitter!

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team to achieve greater success, give her a call 732-421-5170

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka “Doc Robyn”) is a nationally known motivational speaker, author and conflict resolution consultant.  As CEO of Champion Performance Development, she works with executives, athletes, coaches, parents, faculty and professionals to help them achieve excellence in all aspects of life through the development of leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productive conflict and professional disagreement skills – strategies typically reserved for high-level corporate executive training.  She is the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams.

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“Forgive & Forget” or “Burn Me Twice, Shame on Me”?

February 18, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

It has been said to forgive is a virtue to forget, sainthood.  But ‘burn me once shame on you, burn me twice shame on me’ also rings true.  In the competitive world of corporate teams, which is the right answer?  I believe it depends on the situation and knowing when to apply which rule requires wisdom.

Some examples to clarify:

Someone on your team quits unexpectedly.  The huge client she was working on is handed to a senior person, Joe.  He has never done direct sales with a client before but he knows the product really well.  He is the best option the team has.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the knowledge or the skills to land the client who is now skittish because their contact left without warning.  The project is awarded to a competitor. 

Several members of the team start finger pointing and the blame is directly aimed at Joe.  He lost the best opportunity the team had to make numbers this year.  One of the executives on the team has even said he will never trust Joe to “come through in a crunch” again.

Was this Joe’s one “burn” or is this a “forget” situation?  I would say, “Forgive, Train, Retest”.  Joe did not intentionally or maliciously lose a big contract.  He was thrown into an unlikely-to-win situation.  Only the most experienced closer can expected to take over the game in the ninth inning and come out with a win.  Joe and the team need to move past this client (forget) and look to the future.  If Joe is going to be expected to jump in and close big deals he needs to be trained and given opportunities to succeed; not banned from ever doing it again.

Have you seen the cell phone commercial where a man and woman are talking about how the phone can do two things at once?  The woman says “You can watch videos and text.”  The man replies, “Or you could watch the earnings report and take notes like we are supposed to.”  She asks for his notes, and he agrees.  When a third person walks up and asks if either of them put together the earnings report, the woman takes the credit.

What do you think, forgive or burn?  In this case I would say learn from being burned.  The woman intentionally manipulated the situation for her benefit and to the detriment of her teammate.  If you have someone like that on your team, you still have to collaborate with them.  You don’t have to let them walk on you.  Keep good records of your ideas and be careful about open brainstorming where they can use you.  Don’t forget.  Professional skepticism is the way to go.  If they do it again you can’t say you hadn’t been warned.

It was once said to me, “It is easy to learn who someone is.  It is hard to remember.”  If you are forgiving and trusting by nature, it may take being burned by the same person multiple times to remember you can’t “forgive and forget” with them.  If you are more of a “One strike and you’re out” person you may have a really hard time letting go of a small infraction by someone who is actually a great teammate.  To find middle ground you need to know which way you lean and throw in a healthy dose of emotional intelligence.

As always, I wish you the most from your potential!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow Doc Robyn on Twitter!

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team to achieve greater success, call 732-421-5170

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka “Doc Robyn”) is a nationally known motivational speaker, author and conflict resolution consultant.  As CEO of Champion Performance Development, she works with executives, athletes, coaches, parents, faculty and professionals to help them achieve excellence in all aspects of life through the development of leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productive conflict and professional disagreement skills – strategies typically reserved for high-level corporate executive training.  She is the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams.

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Conflict Resolution With a Conflict Avoidant Person

February 11, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

When I give my presentation on conflict resolution a very common question I receive is, “How do I address a problem with someone who either won’t talk to me or agrees with everything I say and then continues to do whatever he/she wants?”

Let me start with first part of the question, someone who won’t discuss a problem with you.

Start by bringing the issue out in the open.  Without being confrontational or public say to the person, “It seems like you aren’t comfortable discussing xyz issue.”  Then be silent and let them respond.  Assure them you aren’t interested in the conversation turning into something ugly or shaming them, you just want to work it out.  If it is appropriate, move into the actual discussion you need to have.  If it is not, schedule a time.  If they cancel or no-show the appointment, you may need to get an authority figure (boss, coach, parent, etc) involved.

The second issue, someone who agrees and doesn’t stick to the agreement can be more challenging.

When I work with clients who are having this issue I often will ask them to evaluate the “agreement” discussion or to play it back for me as they remember it.  What seemed like agreement might be one party bullying the other into the “right” answer or it could be an unfinished conversation.  After assessing how the other person might have perceived the previous conversation, you might approach them with one of the following opening comments:

  • I think we might have had different ideas about the outcome of our last conversation and I’d like to revisit it.
  • I felt like we agreed to xyz the last time we talked but that doesn’t seem to be happening.  Can you help me understand what is going on?
  • I feel like I’ve been lied to.

I have put these in order of less confrontation to more.  Choose the one that best fits your situation.  However, make sure you are in a good place before you approach the person.  Never go in with a chip on your shoulder or a sneer in your voice.  The conversation simply won’t end well if you do.

On rare occasions you may have to deal with someone who is narcissistic and/or who pathologically lies.  I hope these cases are few and far between for you.  When you encounter a person like that, there is no win/win option.  They are always going to do what is best for them with no remorse for the damage or discomfort it causes you.  Your only option is to learn from the situation, cut your losses and discontinue all association with that person.

One final note, as with any productive conflict, make sure you are ready to have the conversation before you initiate it.  You can see my tips for preparing for tough conversation here, here and here.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!

As always, I wish you the most from your potential!

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team to achieve greater success, email her at DocRobyn@ChampPerformance.com

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka “Doc Robyn”) is a nationally known motivational speaker, author and conflict resolution consultant.  As CEO of Champion Performance Development, she works with athletes, their coaches, parents, faculty and professionals to help them achieve excellence on the field and in all aspects of life through the development of leadership, teamwork, effective communication, productive conflict and professional disagreement skills – strategies typically reserved for high-level corporate executive training.  She is the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams.

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An Explanation or An Excuse?

February 4, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

Several months ago I had an appointment with an important client and needed a consultant for some expert work.  I was referred to someone who came highly recommended for doing the highest quality work.  There was one caveat; he was notoriously late.  Before I hired him I explained that my reputation of being prompt and respecting my client’s time was very important to me and his being late was not an option.  He said he understood and suggested I meet him at his office forty-five minutes before the appointment so we could make the 30 minute ride together.  That way there was no way he could get “caught-up” in something and be late. My concern about his tardiness was assuaged, the recommendation for the quality of his work overrode my concerns.  I brought him onboard.

The day of the meeting I arrived at his office only to be told by his receptionist  he had not yet returned from his previous appointment.  I was a little early (as is my norm) so I sat down to wait.  Forty minutes later he came rushing in full of apologies.  He grabbed his paperwork and proceeded to drive like a crazy person to the client’s office.  We were, of course, late.

On the ride home he started to tell me how he had an appointment he had been trying to schedule for the last six months.  That he knew he was going to be tight for time but it ran longer than he had expected.  At which point I asked him, “And the meeting with my client was the least important thing you could schedule over in the last six months?”  He responded, “I am just trying to explain.”  And I said, “That isn’t an explanation, it is an excuse and I am not interested in hearing it.”

It is my thought that an explanation is provided when a mistake is made and tells what happened and why it won’t happen in the future.  While an excuse is a song and dance to justify what happened with no plan for change.

What do you think? Agree or disagree?  Am I missing the boat by expecting the “highest quality work” to be accompanied by promptness?

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How do You Decide if Someone is Smart?

January 28, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

When I was growing up I was regularly and consistently told I was average.  If I succeeded at something it was only because someone better, smarter, and more qualified failed to apply themselves.  It was my lot in life to have to work twice as hard to be half as good.  This is best summed up by what I was told when I graduated from high school as the class valedictorian: “It is easy to look like an eagle when you work with turkeys”. (Don’t think too deeply on that.  Just go with it.)

Put aside the issue of self-esteem and all the other directions we could take and focus on the singular element that I truly and without malice believed myself to be average when I entered the workforce.  As an example of an average human I unconsciously believed I was the perfect measuring stick.

I was in my thirties and in grad school before someone pointed out the flaw in my thinking.  I can look back at the fourteen years I spent in the corporate world and pick out instances where I believed someone was either not very bright or not applying themselves.  I thought if I, average Jane Doe, understood and could do something, then clearly anyone should be able to get it after I explained it two or three times.

As you can imagine, this way of thinking did not do any favors for my interpersonal relationships with my coworkers.

I have chosen to share this story with you because I often see the same flawed thinking in my clients.  They take their talents for granted.  Something that comes naturally to them is just “easy” and therefore anyone who can’t do it is either stupid or lazy.  I am willing to bet there are areas in your life where you make the same mistake.

The next time you find yourself becoming frustrated with someone for not being able to do an “easy” task or grasp a “simple” concept, stop and ask yourself what you are using as a measuring stick.  The areas where you have the least patience are likely to be where you are not average.  It is not fair to use yourself as a measuring stick unless you are really and truly average.  And in those cases you are very unlikely to feel the need to judge others.

Have you ever had someone with a talent just expect you to get something you didn’t understand? Tell us in the comments or send Doc Robyn an email (DocRobyn@ChampPerformance.com) we would love to hear your story!

If you would like Doc Robyn to speak to your team on how to achieve more from their potential, email her at DocRobyn@ChampPerformance.com

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka Doc Robyn) is a nationally known speaker, author, and consultant.  She has a doctorate in psychology and is the CEO of Champion Performance Development (www.ChampPerformance.com); an organization that enables her to combine her skills in executive coaching , organizational development and sports psychology, with her passion for public speaking to show clients how they can achieve success in every aspect of their lives.  Doc Robyn founded the Stop The Drama! Campaign, authored the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams (www.StopTheDramaNow.com), and speaks for high schools, colleges and coaches’ conventions to reach students with the same skills that bring success to her business clients.  She is a sought after expert in leadership, teamwork, communication and conflict resolution for radio, TV and print and is passionate about sharing high performance skills proven to assist teams and individuals in achieving the most from their potential.  As an avid supporter of people striving to attain the highest level of performance, Doc Robyn lives by the motto, “Worst case, I want to be neutral to everyone I meet. My goal is to make a positive difference.”

 

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Does Your Team Talk Like a Champion?

January 21, 2013  |  Posted by Doc Robyn |  No Comments

The NFL divisional championship games were played over the weekend and I noticed something interesting after the San Francisco/Atlanta game.  Every SF player or coach who was interviewed used the word “we”.  I didn’t hear a single person say “I”.  Even when asked about a specific play, the players talked about what their teammates did to make the play possible.  That isn’t always the case in professional sports.  Too often players, and even coaches, are all too happy to toot their own horn about how awesome they were.

What about your team?  When they are talking about projects or clients does the discussion sound like a team effort?  I have seen many instances where people claim they are part of a team but the only time they use the word is when they need something from someone (manipulation) or there is a problem (blame).

Most of us don’t have the opportunity to watch our teammates and leaders speaking to the media where we can rewind and analyze every phrase.  But you can observe the natural flow of conversation.  If “we” only comes out when there is blame to be cast (or worse they throw each other under the bus), it is likely the team isn’t working as well together as it could.

Another piece to the team puzzle is how you, the leader, talk.  Does your language create an “us” versus “them” mentality when you talk about management and workers?  What about between the different departments?  Everyone in an organization should be working towards the success of the organization as a whole, not just their department.  Do they view themselves that way?  If not, it could be in how you talk about them.

Language is very powerful.  How you put words together, the pronouns you choose, the inflection in your voice – Everything will be translated and assigned a meaning, either consciously or unconsciously.  You will be able to hear that translation in how they talk about themselves and each other.  Are you listening to the subtle queues your team is providing about its health?  Are they really a team or are they a group of individuals working next to each other? Pay attention to how they talk.  You just might be surprised what you will learn.

If you would like Doc Robyn to work with you or your team to achieve greater success, email her:  DocRobyn@ChampPerformance.com

Dr. Robyn Odegaard (aka Doc Robyn) is a nationally known speaker, author, and consultant.  She has a doctorate in psychology and is the CEO of Champion Performance Development (www.ChampPerformance.com); an organization that enables her to combine her skills in executive coaching , organizational development and sports psychology, with her passion for public speaking to show clients how they can achieve success in every aspect of their lives.  Doc Robyn founded the Stop The Drama! Campaign, authored the book Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams (www.StopTheDramaNow.com), and speaks for high schools, colleges and coaches’ conventions to reach students with the same skills that bring success to her business clients.  She is a sought after expert in leadership, teamwork, communication and conflict resolution for radio, TV and print and is passionate about sharing high performance skills proven to assist teams and individuals in achieving the most from their potential.  As an avid supporter of people striving to attain the highest level of performance, Doc Robyn lives by the motto, “Worst case, I want to be neutral to everyone I meet. My goal is to make a positive difference.”

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