Practical tips. Prompts to get you thinking. The odd rant.

When participants in Zoomly’s ‘How to communicate for clarity’ workshop pause to take a brief self-assessment, they often realise they default to one or two methods – which may not be the best for their message. Reassurance that they’re not alone is needed, and then we can get down to work. So first, let’s deal… Read more

Around this time last year I created this post in response to requests from participants on Zoomly’s ‘Plan & prioritise’ and ‘Handle pressure’ workshops. It seemed to be popular so no apologies for updating it and reminding you how to handle email while you’re taking that well-earned holiday. With a big ‘Thank You’ to those participants… Read more

What’s stopping you from delegating? This is something we deal with right at the start in Zoomly’s ‘How to delegate effectively’ workshop. For example, people can feel very uneasy about the whole idea of asking someone to take on a task and get it done. Typical objections that I’ve heard include: “They’ll think I’m arrogant”… Read more

Why do we need to sleep? Surely we’ve got better things to do than spend an average of a third of our lives asleep? Especially as most of us say we’re ‘crazy busy’. If you’re thinking, “If I’ve got so much to get done, surely cutting out an hour or two of sleep each night… Read more

Thanks to the recent interest rate rise – on top of the squeeze already being felt by most people – many managers are wondering how on earth they’re going to keep people motivated when the word goes round that there won’t be a pay rise. Bear in mind that ‘motivating’ isn’t something you can do… Read more

  World Mental Health Day takes place on 10 October every year, hosted by the World Federation of Mental Health (WFMH). 2017 marks the 25th anniversary. This year the focus is on mental health in the workplace, with events taking place globally. WFMH produces a themed report each year; for 2017 they’ve got an impressive… Read more

1. Choose carefully Yes, it’s very tempting to delegate that task you’ve always hated (as in “it’s a s*%t job but I had to do it” – how motivating does that sound?) But it may be inappropriate to delegate it, wholly or in part. If you’re unsure what to delegate, you can try different approaches… Read more

Participants in Zoomly’s ‘Plan & prioritise’ and ‘Handle pressure’ workshops often talk about a sense of overwhelm, due to being unclear about what’s really top priority. All their plates are spinning (well, most plates if people are honest), it seems simultaneously – and so are they. But what’s actually getting done? Technology and our capacity… Read more

Image ‘email overload’ by VectorStory / Deposit Photos The two biggest bugbears of contemporary working life are meetings and emails. We wade through a swamp of the former and are regularly overwhelmed by a torrent of the latter. The volume of email is mind-boggling: Palo Alto tech firm Radicati predicts 269 billion emails will be… Read more

Up with the lark to lead a conference call with India? Or being forced to be a night owl, to contribute to the weekly round-up video call with HQ in the USA? Or, as some clients tell me – both? Then this book will really help you. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Dr Pullan… Read more