Jack of All Trades…

…Master of None. Quite often, the second part of this old adage is omitted. In today’s fast-paced world, multitasking is a buzzword that makes us feel guilty when we stop to ponder what we’re doing, rather than leaping to the next task.

In a recent article on NYTimes.com, Russell Poldrack, Director of the Imaging Research Center and professor of psychology and neurobiology at UT Austin, questions the advantages of multi-tasking. His research shows decreased effectiveness as simultaneous tasks increase. Dr. Poldrack estimates that “supertaskers” – those who can multi-task without affecting performance – make up only three percent of the population; the rest of us need to focus on the task at hand to perform at our best.

In his book “The Shallows – What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains ,” Nicholas Carr discusses the effect that the Information Age is having on our brains. As the brain adapts to manage rapidly incoming information from diverse sources, it becomes less reflective and more likely to accept information at face value without analysis. In addition, constant novel information can provide a stimulus that considered reflection cannot, causing the brain to crave stimulation. This has been linked in preliminary research to parts of the brain that influence attention disorders and addiction.

When I began my career as a graphic designer in the early ‘80s, the field was full of specialized artists: from typesetters to photographers, darkroom technicians to strippers (relax, it was a very specialized job in printing – all clothing remained on), printing press operators to writers, even graphic designers were all specialists – even artists – at their jobs.

Now (as I’ve been told more than once), anyone who can figure out the mysteries of Windows can be a graphic designer or an instructional designer – heck, there are even templates! The quality of the end product has fallen off a cliff, but there’s no one left to notice. Is mastery is disappearing? Has Jack inherited the Earth?

It's Time for Mid-Year Reviews

Research supports that effective performance management drives an increase in company performance and drives employee engagement and satisfaction. Many times, we mistakenly think about performance management as providing our employees with a yearly evaluation. It’s more than that and throughout the year, it includes setting goals, providing on-going coaching, keeping documentation with regular check-ins along with a more informal mid-year review and a year-end formal evaluation.

We are half-way through the year and it is time to conduct mid-year reviews. EPI suggests that the mid-year review be more informal. A mid-year review:
• Keeps your employees on track.
• Provides six months worth of performance information.
• Allows you to identify those that are performing well and reinforce continued performance.
• Helps you identify those that aren’t performing well, so they can improve performance.
• Ensures employees are meeting departmental goals and, if not, you can modify and adjust.

Here's a mid-year review checklist that can set you up for success:

 Review job descriptions, employee goals, and documentation that you have been keeping over the last six months

 Allow employees to complete a self-assessment

 Be aware of leniency, severity, central tendency and halo rating errors

 Make the intangible tangible by being specific as you write and deliver performance feedback

 Work with your HR department to understand the rating scale(s)

 Identify gaps between the employee self-assessment and your assessment

 Create a safe, comfortable environment as you deliver your review

 Tell employees what they have done well and what they need to improve

 Provide time for the employee to respond as you conduct your review

How Do You Use LinkedIn?

I joined LinkedIn several years ago and until recently didn’t use it very much. We’ve decided at EPI to bolster our LinkedIn profiles and start making more of the social media tool, so I’ve begun posting occasional status updates and have joined several groups, including Talent Management magazine and ASTD. I’ve also set up an application to import this blog.

Do you use LinkedIn? If so, what for and how often? If not, why not? While I still don’t see myself checking my LinkedIn page nearly as often as my Facebook page, for example, I do see it as part of my strategy for staying connected professionally.

Here are a few articles/websites about how and why LinkedIn can work for you.

• Seven Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn
• LinkedIn Tips
• 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn

Since most people tend to connect individually, be sure to connect your LinkedIn profile to each of ours!

Serving Others

The last several weeks I have been working with a client to write a class about service. The research has forced me to evaluate some of my own feelings about service and has made me want to do more in my own life to serve others well. One thing I can say definitively is that we all want to be provided with good service. Good service meaning, we all want to be treated with some respect for the product or service that we are purchasing whether it is something as simple as a cup of coffee or as major as a new car.

We often think about customer service in a store as the only service interaction we have and while it is the most frequent interaction, we have an opportunity to serve others in many other areas. At work, I have an opportunity to serve the people that I work with by:

· Always having time for a conversation
· Creating availability to help on a project when needed
· Consistently providing a quality product so that everyone knows they can count on me
· Doing what I say I will do

These are simple things but when I put them in the context of service they seem really powerful. My next question has become, if the above bullets are about serving the members of the team, is this average service or is it exceptional service? My answer is; this is average service. So what does it mean to go above and beyond, to serve people exceptionally? How do I elevate my contribution to the team and everyone I come in contact with to the level that does more than satisfy but creates loyalty? This is an interesting question that I have posed to myself and one I may have to get back to you on.

How will you serve exceptionally?

Imagine

On my way to work this morning, I heard one of my all-time favorite songs on the radio: Imagine by John Lennon. The combination of melody, lyrics, and delivery offer up a generous helping of poignancy, but hearing it improved my mood. I even sang along.

By the time I got to the office, my synapses were firing. This song may be about lofty ideas such as world peace, but it always makes me aware of imagination in general. I choose to hear it as an anthem for thinkers and dreamers. Imagine!

Imagine if you loved your life, the whole kit and caboodle. Maybe that’s not so hard to do. But imagine if you loved your JOB. I wonder if you can.

That’s what we do here – imagine what it would be like if people actually enjoyed going to work. Okay, we design, customize, optimize, and organize ways to spark learning and engagement while staying true to a company’s culture. But behind all that is a dream, a dream forged in our team’s ongoing imagination, that after we’re done with you it might be a little easier for you to get out of bed in the morning. And not only that – it might be easier for us too.

This week I was reminded that working on a team project inspires us a little more in our own jobs. We’ve been making a big push on an initial project with a new client. Not only is the end product inspiring, the teamwork that led up to it is even more so. It really can be fun to work together toward the common goal. The give-and-take, the challenges, the exhaustion – imagine if it was all worth it!

You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one… There’s a whole team of dreamers with me.