Migrating the Blog

I will be migrating the blog over to Wordpress on Sunday, 1/3.   The new URL will be http://worklifekaizen.wordpress.com and I will be republishing some of the earlier content from this site.

If you have read these earlier posts before, I apologize but this is the simplest way I know to migrate the content.

Thanks for following WLK!

Jason

My 3 Words for 2010

My 3 words for 2010 is an idea learned from Chris Brogran.   I've always been one to go the route of committing to 'get in shape' and 'be a better person' which have been very vague goals or resolutions that ending up going nowhere around February each year.   I'd liked the idea of establishing 3 words that I can look to throughout the entire year that are providing guidance to some of the key underlying goals that I personally want to accomplish in 2010.


My 3 Words: Courage, Committed, Captain 


1) Courage - I want to not be held back in 2010, to be able to go for something that may seem like a risky decision to some, but will create opportunities for my family.

2) Committed - I've done a lot of thinking with my down time over the last couple weeks and I have several personal and professional commitments that I want to see through to the end.   I think it is important to finish things you've started.    

3) Captain - I see this as Leadership, how do I grow as a leader and demonstrate the true characters of a leader in my day to day interactions with my friends and co-workers.

What are your 3 words?

Jason

Playbook for Success...Or Maybe A Better Piece of Mind

Watching a lot of football lately gave me an idea that I wanted to try @ work.  Ever notice the playbooks the coaches hold on the sideline which consists of their key schemes for offense, defense, special teams, 2-minute drill, etc?  As I looked into this, every single coach I've ever watched has some type of playbook that they keep close to their side during the game.  I wondered how this could translate from the sports arena to the business arena.


When I'm at work, I occasionally need different types of reminders about my priorities, my team's priorities, and my companies' priorities so I thought why not develop a playbook that I can carry around with me at work.    I thought of the key elements of my day and how this playbook could be useful to me.  I broke out some paper and a pencil and started to draft my idea.


Here are the elements that I've included in version 1 of the playbook.

• Daily --> I'm a GTD'er so I added a few reminders and the GTD workflow.
• Weekly --> Place to hold the core agenda items to cover in my Section mtg and 1 on 1s along with other tasks that need to be performed 1x per week.
• Monthly --> Included tasks that needed to be performed at a specific point during the month.
• Projects --> A list of my active projects and the methodology employed within our division for software development.
• Operations --> Key checks for our products and services we maintain.
• Contacts --> a list of the team including variable workforce and managers I engage with frequently.
• Team Member Development --> Area focuses on helpful coaching reminders and methods for applying effective feedback.
• Company Hoshin (Strategies) --> Our companies' Hoshin objectives and a list of the items in which I have responsibility for to ensure targets are being achieved.

Version 1 was constructed and in pilot since late October 2009.  Below is the front-side of the playbook which is on 8.5 x 11 paper and laminated so it remains durable being carried from meeting to meeting and placed in and out of my backpack daily.


Jason's Playbook v1

Where I work, at Toyota, a key principle of our Toyota Way is reflection or also known as hansei.  As I look back on the last 5-6 weeks of 2009 using the Playbook, here are some of the highlighted pros and cons from my pilot.


Pros 

1. Very useful for establishing an agenda during my 1 on 1 with my Manager.  With a listing of my active projects, I could easily judge which projects I wanted to raise up for discussion.
2. The Daily and Weekly portions of the playbook provided constant reminders about what I'm trying to achieve during the work day.  For example, every morning while booting up my laptop I would review the contents contained in the Daily and Weekly sections.
3. The Contacts section (back-page content in the playbook) was handy in several occasions as it contains my team member's desk and cell numbers, along with contact information for our variable workforce and business managers (our customers).  Eventually I need to get all of these contacts in my cell address book, but this seemed faster to perform the lookup to retrieve the number.

Cons

1. Some of the content is dynamic (eg. active projects) and the playbook needs to be updated and re-laminated.  I only had to do this once during the pilot and I'll need to refresh it again prior to picking work back up on January 4th, 2010.
2. Occasionally I would forget to carry the playbook with me as I went to meetings.  This happened when I would place the playbook inside one of my folders that I carry in my backpack.

I will continue to utilize as I start 2010 and I will closely monitor for opportunities to kaizen as certain schemes in my work may alter from time to time and I want to make sure this remains useful and not just another piece of paper to carry around.  A peer @ work even suggested a QB version wristband with the flip up playbook, sounds interesting!


Do you see potential value in creating your own playbook?  


I'm interested in your opinions.  If interested, drop a comment or send me an email.  I would also be happy to share the template and the playbook I've created to give you a jumpstart.


Jason

Making a Commitment & Sticking to It!

I've had eight days off away from work to really think about what's important to me.  Among many things, one area of focus was my blog and how I felt a sense of failure by not making it a habit to post content on a consistent basis.


I've convinced myself as I look towards 2010 that I still have a drive to keep the blog up, to continue to post topics that can generate discussions around improving our everyday interactions @ work or @ life.


My personal commitment is to establish a habit for the blog and I've been checking out 6changes for assistance, a site created by Leo Babauta who is best known for his blog, Zen Habits.


Over the break, I've been brainstorming future ideas for posts and I plan to release them over the next 2 weeks.  I'm following the Edison method with this post to see that I follow through on it! 


"If you want to make a difference in other people's lives as a leader, look into your heart to see if your really committed."  - John C Maxwell


Jason

Teach and Be Taught

Teach and Be Taught

Akio Toyoda, the newly appointed President at Toyota recently stated in his speech to the company about the importance for all team members to be open to the phrase "Teach and Be Taught". This got me thinking how relevant this phrase is to the purpose and being of the blog.

Growing up as a kid my parents, teachers, and coaches always seemed to push me to think on my own and let me solve some of life's opportunies (as I like to call then now). Instead of giving me answers or taking care of things for me, I learned the importance of being able to make decisions for myself and think on my feet.

For certain this applies to where I currently am employed, Toyota. As a company with a very strong philosophy where decisions can be made at all levels of the organization and you are expected to visit the gemba to do your own genchi genbutsu, you witness first hand the value of other's taking time to teach and those being flexible to be taught. Toyota strives to make the workplace a learning organization and whether you work at a place like that or not, you should try to spend every day teaching others or learning something new whether surrounded by family and friends or with co-workers.

Lets take the phrase and focus on each word individually:
- Teach
- Be Taught

Teaching
Francis Bacon Sr. once said "Knowledge is power". As individuals, we all have acquired different types of knowledge, some others have and some do not. Everyone takes to particular interests creating different levels of experience amongst peers. No one person knows everything, but daily you will encounter people who know more or less on particular topics.

When you know more, your focus should be on sharing that knowledge with others. Whether at home with your kids or at work with peers, you need to be open to teach. Teaching is not natural for some, but if we want to further those around us, you should make a point to teach something to someone everyday. For instance, this could be teaching your daughter how to swim in the pool or taking time to demonstrate to a peer at work how to run an effective meeting.

Teaching is not always in a controlled setting either. For instance, sometimes I hear team members who share that they don't receive coaching from their Supervisors in their One on One meetings, but after asking some questions, you grasp that the Supervisor is giving specific coaching at that person's desk throughout the day. Teaching others can come at any time or place. Don't wait for specific circumstances to teach your knowledge to others.


Be Taught
Not everyone is interested in being taught. Some people believe their way is the best way and they aren't always looking for feedback. To be taught you need to have an open mind. If you think that you can't learn from your kids because you are older or that as a Supervisor you feel as if your way is always the right way, then you are mistaken. You need to start everyday with an open mind.

You also need to think deeply. When the opportunity arises to learn something new, consider alternatives and maybe through your deep thinking you can adjust other's thinking. Situations aren't so one-sided, you often can be teaching one moment and be learning the next moment.

Listening is a critical skill when it comes to being taught. So often when you are not interested or already thinking of your next action, you fail to give the moment you are in your fullest attention. Listening if done correctly requires discipline and a true interest in each of your conversations throughout the day. If you are sitting in a One on One and have become disengaged from your meeting because you have already covered your items, you miss out on an opportunity to learn something. Not every single meeting will result in you walking away with that "lightbulb moment", but if you aren't listening you'll never know.

Genchi genbutsu (go and see) is effective when being taught. If you are learning how to play golf, wouldn't you like to go see others play? Or if your Supervisor is asking you to learn a business process, wouldn't it be easier if you went to the actual site where the users perform the process to see it yourself to speak with others and even do the work. When being taught, you should be willing to do some genchi genbutsu.

Starting the Day
From this day forward, think about how rewarding it would feel to know that you have shared your knowledge with others and in return learned something new that you could apply. See if you can apply the phrase "Teach and Be Taught" into your day and see how it impacts the people around you.



Any comments or feedback is welcomed.

P.S. If you have never heard of the 'gemba' or of 'genchi genbutsu', go do a little investigation on your own to learn more about it.
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life."

Jason

Work Life Balance In the Midst of Summertime

Summertime is drawing near with days getting longer, temps hotter, and pools opening all around. Being stuck in the office late evenings because of your job can be demoralizing, thus the reason why now it's very important to stop, consider your current work-life balance situation, and determine how you can prioritize the key facets of your life so you too can join in on those extra hours of sun whether to join the family @ the pool, to take that run through the park that you have been putting off, or to grill out with some friends.

I did some reseach using Twitter (yes Twitter is more than posting what you are doing in 140 characters or less) on work-life balance and found some great posts and confirmed insight into what I think everyone needs to do to reclaim some time to enjoy the Summer ahead! It's a 4 step process.

4 Steps to Re-evaluate your Work-Life Balance

The following 4 steps can be followed to get anyone back on track to accomplishing their priorities @ work and @ life:

Step 1 - Identify where you are spending your time - The first step is stopping to reflect on what you have been doing and where your time is going. It may be difficult to pull from memory more than a few weeks back, so rely on your calendars @ work and @ home, confirm with your Spouse or significant other what it was you did the weekend before last, and consider the entire day (not just the time spent while awake). If you search Google for Work Life Balance Calculator, you can find many references to get well on your way with Step 1.

Step 2 - Determine / Set your priorities - One needs to consider their priorities in life to be able to achieve a strong balance. Priorities should cover every interaction around you, for example, family, kids, hobbies, sports, career, etc. I'm an avid follower of Getting Things Done by David Allen and he references putting your priorities into the analogy of the Runway (current actions) up to the 50,000+ feet level (life interactions). The key point here is when thinking of your priorities, don't just consider today or tomorrow, but one, two, three+ years what you want to achieve in life when working on step 2. I also recommend that it is very helpful to revisit this step monthly to keep things in perspective and not let your life get out of control.

Step 3 - Reclaim some time - After completing steps 1 and 2, you should have an idea on how well the 2 lists correlate. Hopefully you see more connections than gaps, but hey, that is why the term 'work life balance' exists. If everyone did it well, you wouldn't need coaches or advisors or people writing about this stuff. The message and importance of this step is to stop any activities that are unnecessary, that don't align with your priorities. Simply put, reclaim some time and start focusing on the priorities you identified in step 2.

Step 4 - Plan the Fun - The final step is to plan the fun. Ok, work will still be work and whether you find that fun or how to make that time more enjoyable is another post. What I'm referencing here is to not let work overtake you. Plan that weekend getaway or week trip to the beach. Do something away from work and use the vacation time you've earned with your company. I read a post that said that employers who feel they have some sense of work life balance work 21% harder than those who don't! So believe me, it is the best interest of both parties to plan the fun!

I hope you enjoyed this post. As always if you have any comments or feedback, I'd appreciate your responses.

Jason

Getting to the Point

I had a great experience today @ work that I wanted to share. Today we learned about a new personality test known as Enneagram. I've had past experiences with Myers-Briggs and the DISC model, but never heard of Enneagram until today. So what is it?

The word Enneagram is of Greek origin and refers to a diagram with nine points or lines. "Enneagram" is the name of the system of knowledge as well as its symbol (see picture to right).

There are 9 Enneagram types and each represents personality and characteric types that are said to be about what type of person you are @ birth. It's not so much about what you've become, rather giving you insight into the true type of person you are, very close to your core being.

From my experiences today, you can realize for each Enneagram type what types of values,

innate strengths, potential liabilities, preferred and challenging work settings, and work styles you prefer just to name a few. This was an eye opener to see what type I was and what type my fellow team members were so that I can use this for my personal growth and to help when coaching my directs or dealing with others like my wife and kids.

I'm definitely going to reach out and learn more and I recommend if you haven't heard of

Enneagram that you do some research and take a free online test to see where on the 9-point scale you fall.

BTW, I was a 3-The Achiever. I'm testing the wife tonight to see if we share a connection in the

symbol :)

Think about your day, reflect, and put your energy into making tomorrow better @ work, @ life!

Jason

Given any feedback recently? 5 Steps to Try.

If you are a manager or someone responsible for the development of others, when is the last time you gave those people any feedback? I don't mean the 'good job' or 'atta boy', but real, constructive feedback based on those person's behaviors dealing with certain events @ work?

As a Manager, feedback is a critical component to aid in the personal and professional growth of your members. We probably all realize the importance of this role, but giving feedback, especially when it is to offer improvement is not easy for many managers to do. In this post I offer my suggestions on how to give feedback, but as always would like to get your thoughts and methods used to kaizen my own processes.

5 Step Process to Giving Feedback

1. Make it timely - you want to strike while the iron is hot. For example, if you recognize that your team member was spending time on their laptop and not paying attention during your section meeting, you should prepare to give feedback right after the meeting is concluded. Don't wait for your next 1 on 1 or for the behavior to happen again. As Nike says "Just do it". Waiting puts additional pressure on yourself because you know you need to do something about that member's behavior, but you are waiting for the next perfect opportunity and waiting too long could result in the team member not recalling the situation as clearly due to the gap since the behavior was recognized.

2. Approach with a question - always, always, always ask for permission to give the team member feedback. You should do every time when giving positive reinforcement or coaching direction. You want to ensure the team member is ready to discuss what you have to say. Giving feedback isn't about using your authority, rather more about seeing eye to eye and having very open coversations.

3. Be specific with examples - This is the crux of your feedback. Emphasis needs to be placed on the behaviors. Based on the previous example above of the team member working on the laptop during the meeting, your feedback should be specific to how that behavior impacts himself and others around him. For instance, the feedback may go something like this...when you work on your laptop in the section meeting, it looks as if you don't care and that the updates others are sharing on their projects is not important to you. That is just one potential impact caused by that type of behavior, there could be many others. The key here is that you are focused on the behavior, not the action.

4. Listen - be ready to listen because after giving the feedback to the team member and discussing about the observed behaviors, you will want to find out how the team member plans to address the situation. Instead of dictating what is going to happen, find out what the team member is thinking and guide their development based on the end state you want them to reach.

5. Follow up / PDCA - Working @ Toyota you realize quickly that one key skill everyone must develop is Plan, Do, Check, Act or PDCA. This is the last step in the feedback process although it is equally important. If you recognize the need for feedback & determine when to give it (the Plan), address the observed behaviors and ask the team member how they will address it (the Do), but never follow up and see what progress is being made (the Check) then you've reduced the value of giving the feedback in the first place. You need to check with the team member in your one on one meetings and continue to guide them in the right direction (the Act) like I blogged about in an earlier post -- "http://worklifekaizen.blogspot.com/2009/05/effective-one-on-ones-work.html".

Try out these steps and see how it goes...

Jason