How can you tell your team is really motivated? What are the signs that say so? Do they show enthusiasm for their work, their colleagues and the wider organisation? Is there discretionary effort – going above and beyond what’s expected (as opposed to demanded)? Are they energised and engaged? Research old and new* backs… Read more
Whenever I run Zoomly’s ‘How to plan and prioritise’ workshop, as the group identifies their daily ‘time bandits’, meetings loom large. Typical comments are that they take too long and deliver too little. No wonder that people fiddle with their phones…Are they really an essential, valuable of getting things done? Or just a waste of… Read more
‘How to handle difficult situations’ is one of the most popular topics on Zoomly’s menu of workshops. Based on the insights gained on both developing / delivering it and the contributions of hundreds of participants, here are some DOs and DON’Ts to help you when a situation gets difficult. DON’Ts Go for a ‘win’ at… Read more
Poor you, that doesn’t sound good. Yet what strikes me most is that you believe you’re stuck. Who says you must stick around and can’t leave? I wonder if you’re finding your present situation so tough you’re struggling to find ways through, around or out of it. If that’s the case, possibilities may not spring… Read more
The idea generation, or ‘brainstorm’ (or ‘thought shower’ as someone suggested recently) is done. You’ve got heaps of wild and wonderful ideas, concepts, and suggestions. So now what? A point that’s made crystal clear in Zoomly’s ‘How to brainstorm ideas’ workshop is the need to separate idea generation from idea evaluation. These are two… Read more
Participants in Zoomly’s workshops often hang back to ask me questions at the end, and I feel privileged to be asked. The ‘How to manage upwards’ session is typical. I’ll always do what I can to help. Yet I’m acutely aware that I don’t work there and I’m not their manager. But I try to… Read more
“How do I motivate people?” is a question that we deal with early on in Zoomly’s bite-sized workshop on the topic, as well as how NOT to. There’s more to it than high-fiving people or telling them they’re ‘awesome’ – much more. A useful exercise is to think of when you’ve felt really motivated about… Read more
Hot off the press: Investors in People (IiP) have just published their annual ‘Job exodus trends’ for the UK. The report is based on employee sentiment research conducted in December 2018 with 2000 UK respondents. Being somewhat sceptical, I would imagine that if people were asked in December if they were likely to ‘consider moving… Read more
More and more of us are working remotely; some of us some of the time, some of us all of the time. There are pros and cons… What’s great about working remotely? Many of us can now work any time, wherever we are. We might be working at a regional hub, in a hotel or… Read more
Want to better handle those moments when you’re asked to evaluate creative work, a.k.a. feed back to the people who did it? Yep, there’s a Zoomly bite-sized workshop for that*. This is something that happens a lot in creative enterprises of all persuasions: content creators, ad / design / media / branding / experience /… Read more
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