IMAN – THE ANTI PROCRASTINATION TECHNIQUE

Fire Nation,

I know what to do. I recognize the benefits of doing it. I understand the negative consequences of not doing it. I have the competence and resources to do it. But I still don’t do it.’ Why not, Why, what is keeping you back to act.

Does this story sound very familiar?

I am sure you will agree with me that we all encounter postponements that keep us from doing what is critical for our success. We cannot always control what happens to us but we can always exercise control over how it will impact us. We do not have to let delays defeat us. We don’t have to give into these energy suckers and become a victim of procrastination. Why should we leave ourselves at the mercy of ‘The Guilt of the Incomplete’? But first the question arises, why do we do that?

WHY DO WE Procrastinate
Before we discover a treatment for this universal disease, ‘procrastination’, let us look at some of the reasons behind it.

1.Waiting for the right mood
You don’t feel like doing it. Your mood is o_ and you are emotionally down.

2. Waiting for the right time
You don’t think that it is the right time to take action, when actually it is.

3. Lack of clear goals
How can you feel inclined to do it when the goal is not clear?

4. Underestimating the difficulty of the task
You thought doing it was no big deal, but when you started you realized that you would have to put in much more effort than you first thought. So why not postpone it for now?

5. Unclear standards for the task outcomes
You started but did not have an idea about exactly what was expected. You did not know the performance criteria.

6. Feeling the task is imposed on you
When you think you have to do it, your motivation is reduced. Your heart and mind are not fully involved.

7. The task is too ambiguous
You finally got around to doing it but the task was too vague, unclear and blurred. Then you did not find good reason to continue.

8. Fear
‘I don’t think I can do it; if I go ahead I will not succeed.’

10 Perfectionism
‘I don’t have the right skills or resources to do this perfectly, so I won’t do it at all.’

FROM INACTION TO ACTION
After acquiring all the tools, techniques and strategies, why do people not put into use what they know? Why do people choose inaction instead of taking action? We have identified some psychological fears. These fears suppress your inventiveness; your talents and resources remain hidden, undeveloped and untapped. These fears include:

1 Fear of failure
If I were unsuccessful, how would I handle the embarrassment? It’s better not to show up for this presentation. Let’s procrastinate.

2 Fear of success
If I do it this time, people will expect me to do it again. Will I be able to
handle the pressure that comes with success?

3 Fear of the status quo
If the status quo is disturbed, who knows how the new situation will
turn out? Let’s maintain things as they are. Why take a risk?

4 Fear of perfection
If I started it now, I would not complete it until I achieved a level of perfection. Do I have time for perfection?

5 Fear of loss
If I did it now, I might end up losing out on a few things. Can I

RECOGNIZE THAT YOU’RE PROCRASTINATING
How would you recognize in yourself the symptoms of procrastination?

I am listing some of them:
• Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do list
• Reading an e-mail more than once, without starting work on it
• Starting work on a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make yourself a cup of coffee or check your e-mails
• Leaving an item on your To Do list undone for a long time, even though you know it’s important
• Regularly saying ‘Yes’ and filling up your time with unimportant tasks

Why you procrastinate can depend on both you and the task. They can often be reduced to two main reasons:

1. You find the task unpleasant; or
2. You find the task overwhelming

Now that you know the symptoms and reasons for procrastinating, the question is how do you crush procrastination? How do you knock it out?

ANTI-PROCASTINATION-FORMULA
This attitude or syndrome has the potential to negatively impact your results, success and even your entire life. I have created a strategy to defeat procrastination and build results faster. I call it the IMAN TECHNIQUE.
I
Must
Act
NOW
So,
Are you ready to act now FIRE NATION……..IGNITE & EXPLODE

Benefits of 5S workplace organization

One of the methods of determining an organizations approach to its business is to evaluate its workplace organization capability & visual management standards.

5S engages people through the use of ‘Standards’ and ‘Discipline’.

It is not just about housekeeping, but concentrating on maintaining the standards & discipline to manage the organization – all achieved by upholding & showing respect for the Gemba [workplace] every day.

The 5 Steps are as follows:

Sort: Sort out & separate that which is needed & not needed in the area.
Straighten: Arrange items that are needed so that they are ready & easy to use. Clearly identify locations for all items so that anyone can find them & return them once the task is completed.
Shine: Clean the workplace & equipment on a regular basis in order to maintain standards & identify defects.
Standardise: Revisit the first three of the 5S on a frequent basis and confirm the condition of the Gemba using standard procedures.
Sustain: Keep to the rules to maintain the standard & continue to improve every day.

Benefits of 5S workplace organization

5S relates to workplace organization and forms a solid foundation upon which many organizations base their drive for continuous improvement. It is equally applicable & successful in all sectors helping to achieve high impact results.

It is a systematic and methodical approach allowing teams to organise their workplace in the safest and most efficient manner.

The discipline to check & repair equipment is included & adopted. The entire process is managed through the use of team generated audit documents, completed on an agreed frequency by responsible owners within the Gemba.

Summary

Improved safety
5S becomes a fundamental business measure & key driver for Kaizen
Forms a solid foundation upon which to build continuous improvement
Employees gain a sense of ownership, involvement & responsibility
Reduction in waste – as defined by Ohno’s seven forms of waste
Improved performance in productivity, quality & morale leads to increased profitability

Are you ready to INSPIRE

Would you like to decidedly affect the lives of others? In the event that you genuinely longing to rouse the general population around you, the best thing you can do is to concentrate on some basic “standards of character” and make them a player in your every day life. More than where you work, or the amount of cash you make, or what you look like, the way you hold yourself and cooperate with others will affect the amount of motivation they draw from being around you.

Here are some ways you can rouse others to reach past themselves and lead experience that are more significant and fruitful.

Inspire others by expecting the most of them.
Most of us will rise to the expectations of the people who believe in us. Find reasons to believe in the people around you, and communicate your high expectations. Encourage them and let them know that you have faith that they will achieve what they set out to do.

Inspire others by challenging them.
While you are communicating your faith in the people around you, help them raise the bar as well. Challenge them to go beyond what’s easy and comfortable. Encourage them to try new things and confront new obstacles they haven’t faced before. Doing so will make them stronger and increase their faith in themselves.

Inspire others by caring about them.
Expectations and challenges won’t matter much unless you are also authentically caring about the people you’re hoping to inspire. Focus on what’s best for them. Then show them that you care by the way you treat them and interact with them.

Inspire others by taking a stand for what you believe in.
In order for other people to follow you, they have to know that your convictions inspire you to stand for something. One of the best ways to help other live meaningful, significant, lives, is to set an example by living that kind of a life yourself.

Inspire others by having the courage to change course.
Even as you stay true to what you believe in, be sure to remain flexible. A true leader doesn’t hold rigidly to a path he or she has chosen in the past when that path turns out to be the wrong one. Be willing to consider alternatives and explore new options when they present themselves.

Inspire others by being vulnerable.
Be honest about who you are and your own shortcomings and failures. People are much more apt to follow and be inspired by someone who is a real human being, than by someone who seems too good to be true. Talk about the struggles you’ve overcome, and demonstrate that it really is possible to remain strong and resilient in the face of difficult times.

Inspire others by practicing HIGH integrity.
Refuse to be a spin doctor. Speak the truth, even if it’s not what someone wants to hear. And avoid gossip and easy attacks on unpopular people. Rise above petty politics and be someone people count on to do the right thing.

Inspire others by sharing the VALUABLE credit.
Recognize the people around you for what they’ve done, and for their successes. Even when you are largely responsible for a particular victory, there’s no reason not to spread the wealth as far as credit and recognition are concerned. A leader who shares a success is someone other people will want to follow and even emulate.

Inspire others by sharing your BEST influences.
Talk about the people who have inspired you. Quote from books you’ve found meaningful, and tell stories of the people who have impacted your life. The more people hear about others who have achieved meaning and success, the more likely they will be to believe that they can do so themselves.

Inspire others by listening GOOD to them.
When you listen to the people around you, you show them that they matter, and that their ideas are worth hearing. Plus, you’ll better understand what they care about, and what their goals are, and you’ll know better how to motivate and inspire them.

10 Main Approaches to Move Others to Be Their Best

We all know people who are inspiring. But just how does one inspire others? Here are ten main simple rules you can inspire people to be their best, let them jump and fly and touch the sky:

Be a good example. People watch what you do more than they listen to what you say. Be someone worth emulating.

Care about others. People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Ask questions. Take a genuine interest in people.

Encouragement. Everyone goes through tough times. When you support people and encourage them through these times, you’ll be inspiring them to see the best in themselves and in the situation.

Be inspired yourself. Look for people, ideas, environments and knowledge that you find inspiring and motivating.

Share from your own experience. You have more to share than you realize. Mine the rich experiences of your life and share your wisdom from your unique point of view. You may be the only one who can touch someone with your inspiring message.

Be vulnerable. Be willing to share your failures as well as your successes. Others will relate to you. They’ll understand that they’re not the only ones with challenges.

Tell stories. Facts tell and stories sell. They inspire, too. We learn best from parables and we all need to develop our own inspiring stories.

Be a good communicator. Increasing your ability to communicate effectively is a critical element for you to inspire others. Watch how you speak and what you say. Invest in your communication skills.

Challenge people. Many of us have had teachers who at times seemed more like tormentors than mentors. They challenged us to do our best, and we were better for it. Practice “carefrontation”—the careful and caring confrontation of others.

Read. It may not follow that all readers are leaders, but certainly all leaders are readers. Stay informed. Share what you read with others. Tell people about books that have inspired you.

25 Rules I Want To Share with So-Called “Aspiring ” (Blog) Writers

Fire Nation,

Let me start with the my blogging praying:

Dear Almighty in Blogosphere. I am the Commander of these powerful words. Give me the Power 7 Strengths to be the King of all my stories.I am the writer, I will finish all of the stories I Started with your blogging blessings. Blogmen.

It seems funny, but follow the words piece by piece to get the kick off power to move. In this article 25 things will be dropped to aspire writers all over the world. Straight to the point, no long stories at all.

Seen a lot of people giving advice to so-called “aspiring” writers these days, so, I figured what the hell… Might as well throw my nuggets of wisdom into the stew. See if any of this tastes right to you.

1. No More Aspiring, Dingbats

Here are the two states in which you may exist: person who writes, or person who does not. If you write: you are a writer. If you do not write: you are not. Aspiring is a meaningless null state that romanticizes Not Writing. It’s as ludicrous as saying, “I aspire to pick up that piece of paper that fell on the floor.” Either pick it up or don’t. I don’t want to hear about how your diaper’s full. Take it off or stop talking about it. These days paper is digital.

2. Kick Your Lowest Common Denominator In The Kidneys or Stomach

You can aspire to be a lot of other things within the writing realm, and that’s okay. You can aspire to be a published author. Or a bestselling author. Or a professional freelance writer. Or an author who plagiarizes his memoir and gets struck with a wooden mallet wielded by Oprah live on prime time television. You should aspire to be a better writer. We all should. Nobody is at the top of his game. We can all climb higher. Look for the SKY !

3. Aspiring Writers, Far As The Eye Can See

Nobody respects writers, yet everybody wants to be one (probably because everybody wants to be one). Point is, you want to be a writer? Good for you. So does that guy. And that girl. And him. And her. And that old dude. And that young broad. And your neighbor. And your mailman. And that chihuahua. And that copy machine. Ahead of you is an ocean of wannabe ink-slaves and word-earners. I don’t say this to daunt you. Or to be dismissive. But you have to differentiate yourself and the way you do that is by doing rather than be pretending. You will climb higher than them on a ladder built from your wordsmithy.

4. We All Booby-Trap The Jungle Behind Us

There exists no one way toward becoming a professional writer. You cannot perfectly walk another’s journey. That’s why writing advice is just that — it’s advice. It’s mere suggestion. Might work. Might not. Lots of good ideas out there, but none of it is gospel. One person will tell you this is the path. Another will point the other way and say that is the path. They’re both right for themselves, and they’re both probably wrong for you. We all chart our own course and burn the map afterward. It’s just how it is. If you want to find the way forward, then stop looking for maps and start walking.

5. The Golden Perfect Path Of The Scrivening Bodhisattvas

Point is, fuck the One True Way. Doesn’t exist. Nobody has answers — all you get are suggestions. Anybody who tells you they have The Answer is gassy with lies. Distrust such certainty and play the role of skeptic.

6. Yes, It Always Feels This Way and no way else

You will always have days when you feel like an amateur. When it feels like everybody else is better than you. You will have this nagging suspicion that someone will eventually find you out, call you on your bullshit, realize you’re the literary equivalent of a vagrant painting on the side of a wall with a piece of calcified poop. You will have days when the blank page is like being lost in a blizzard. You will sometimes hate what you wrote today, or yesterday, or ten years ago. Bad days are part of the package. You just have to shut them out, swaddle your head in tinfoil, and keep writing anyway. BOOM Up the system.

7. Figure Out How You Write, Then Do That Thing Yourself

You learn early on how to write. But for most authors it takes a long time to learn how they in particular write. Certain processes, styles, genres, character types, tenses, whatever — they will come more naturally to you than they do to others. And some won’t come naturally at all. Maybe you’ll figure this out right out of the gate. But for most, it just takes time — time filled with actual writing — to tease it out. TEASE THEM

8. Finish Your Shit Yourself

I’m just going to type this out a dozen times so it’s clear: finish your shit. Finish your shit. Finish your shit. Finish your shit. Finish your shit. Finish your shit! FINISH YOUR SHIT. Finish. Your. Shit. Fiiiiniiiish yooooour shiiiiit. COMPLETO EL POOPO. Vervollständigen Sie Ihre Fäkalien!

9. You Need To Learn The Rules. . .

…in order to know when they must be broken.

10. You Need To Break The Rules. . .

… in order to know why they matter.

11. What I Mean By Rules Is–

Writing is a technical skill. A craft. You can argue that storytelling is an art. You can argue that art emerges from good writing the way a dolphin riding a jet-ski emerges the longer you stare at a Magic Eye painting. But don’t get ahead of yourself, hoss. You still need to know how to communicate. You need to learn the laws of this maddening land. I’ve seen too many authors want to jump ahead of the skill and just start telling stories — you ever try to get ahead of your own skill level? I used to imagine pictures in my head and I’d try to paint them in watercolor and they’d end up looking like someone barfed up watery yogurt onto the canvas. I’d rail against this: WHY DON’T THEY LOOK BEAUTIFUL? Uhh, because you don’t know how to actually paint, dumb-fuck. You cannot exert your talent unless you first have the skill to bolster that talent.

12. Yeah Oh,The Salad Days Of College!

Why are the days of our youth known as “salad days?” Is “salad” really the image that conjures up the wild and fruitful times of our adolescence? “Fritos,” maybe. Or “Beer keg.” I dunno. What were we talking about? Ah! Yes. College. Do you need it? Do you need a collegiate education, Young Aspirant to the Pen monkey Order? Need, no. To get published nobody gives a flying rat penis whether or not you have a degree. They just care that you can write. Now, college and even post-grad work may help you become a better writer — it did for me! — though, I’d argue that the money you throw into the tank getting there may have been better spent on feeding yourself while you just learn how to write in whatever mousetrap you call a domicile. You can only learn so much from someone teaching you how to write. Eventually you just have to write.

13. Reading Does Not Make You A Writer

That’s the old piece of advice, isn’t it? “All you need to do is read and write to be a writer.” You don’t learn to write through reading anymore than you learn carpentry by sitting on a chair. You learn to write by writing. And, when you do read something, you learn from it by dissecting it — what is the author doing? How are characters and plot drawn together? You must read critically — that is the key.

14. Here Is Your Tin Cup, Your Rat-Nest Undies

You’re going to starve for a while, so just get used to that now. Don’t quit your day job. Yet.

15. Commerce Is Not The Enemy Of Art

If you think commerce somehow devalues art, then we’re done talking. I got nothin’ for you. Money doesn’t devalue art any more than art devalues money — commerce can help art, hurt art, or have no effect. The saying isn’t Money is the root of all evil. It’s The love of money is the root of all evil. Commerce only damages art when the purpose of the art is only money. So it is with your writing.

16. Overnight Success Probably Isn’t

Suddenly on your radar screen is a big giant glowing mass like you’d see when a swarm of xenomorphs is closing fast on your position and it’s like, “Hey! This author appeared out of nowhere! Overnight success! Mega-bestseller! Million-dollar deal!” And then you get it in your head: “I can do that, too. I can go from a relative nobody to America’s Favorite Author, and Oprah will keep me in a gilded cage and she’ll feed me rare coffees whose beans were first run through the intestinal tract of a dodo bird.” Yeah, except, those who are “overnight successes,” rarely appear out of nowhere. It’s the same way that an asteroid doesn’t “just appear” before destroying earth and plunging it into a dust-choked dead-sun apocalypse: that fucker took a long time to reach earth, even if we didn’t notice. Overnight successes didn’t win the lottery. They likely toiled away in obscurity for years. The lesson is: work matters. Work Hard every moment.

17. Meet The Universe In The Middle

My theory in life and writing is this — and it’s some deeply profound shit, so here, lower the lights, put on a serious turtleneck with a hound stooth elbow-patched jacket over it, and go ahead and smoke this weird hash I stole from an Afghani cult leader. The theory is this: meet the universe halfway and the universe will meet you in return. Explained more completely: there exist components of any career (but writing in particular) that are well beyond your grasp. You cannot control everything. Some of it is just left to fate. But, you still have to put in the work. You won’t get struck by lightning if you don’t run out the storm. You must maximize your chances. You do this by meeting the universe halfway. You do this by working. WORK DIE HARD !

18. Self-Publishing Is Not The Easy Way Out

Self-publishing is a viable path. It is not, however, the easy path. Get shut of this notion. You don’t just do a little ballerina twirl and a book falls out of your vagina. (And if that does happen, please see a doctor. Especially if you’re a dude.) It takes a lot of effort to bring a proper self-published book to life. Divest yourself of the idea that it’s the cheaper, easier, also-ran path. Faster, yes. But that’s all.

19. No, Total Stranger, I Don’t Want To Read Your Stuff

I really don’t. And neither does any other working author. It’s nothing personal. We just don’t know you from any other spam-bot lurking in the wings ready to dump a bucket of dick pills and Nigerian money over our heads. That’s not to say we won’t be friendly or are unwilling to talk to you about your work, but we’re already probably neck deep in the ordure of our own wordsmithy. (Or we’re drunk and confused at a Chuck-E-Cheese somewhere.) We cannot take the time to read the work of total strangers. Be polite if you’re going to ask. And damn sure don’t get mad when we say no.

20. Your Jealousy And Depression Do Not Matter

All writers get down on themselves. It’s in our wheelhouse. We see other writers being successful and at first we’re all like, “Yay, good for that person!” but then ten minutes later we get this sniper’s bullet of envy and this poison feeling shoots through the center of our brain like a railroad spike: BUT WHY NOT ME? And then we go take a bath with a toaster. Fuck that. Those feelings don’t matter. They don’t help you. They may be normal, they may be natural, but they’re not useful and they’re certainly not interesting.

21. Talking About Writing Is Not The Same As Writing

Needs no further comment. It’s up to you to think about it.

22. Pack Your Echo Chamber With C4 And Blow It Skyward

Aspiring writers lock themselves away in echo chambers filled with other aspiring writers where one of two things often happen: one, everybody gives each other happy hand jobs and nobody writes anything bad and everybody likes everything and it’s a big old self-congratulatory testicle-tickling festival; two, it’s loaded for bear by people who don’t know how to give good criticism and the criticism is destructive rather than constructive and it’s just a cloud of bad vibes swirling around your head like a plague of urinating bats. If you find yourself in this kind of echo chamber, blow a hole in the wall and crawl to freedom.

23. Learn To Take A Punch and a Kick

Agents, editors, reviewers, readers, trolls on the Internet, they’re going to say things you don’t want to hear. A thick skin isn’t enough. You need a leathery carapace. A chitinous exoskeleton. Writing is a hard-knock career where you invite a bevy of slings and arrows into your face and heart. It is what it is.

24. You Can Do Whatever The Fuck You Want

As a writer, the world you create is yours and yours alone. Someone will always be there to tell you what you can’t do, but they’re nearly always wrong. You’re a writer. You can make anything up that you want. It may not be lucrative. It may not pay your mortgage. But we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about what’s going on between you and the blank page before you. It’s just you and the story. If you love it and you want to write it, then wire your trap shut and write it. And write it well. Expect nothing beyond this — expect no reward, expect no victory parade — but embrace the satisfaction it gives you to do your thing.

25. The One No-Fooling Rule

Is “write.” Write, write, write, motherfucking write. Write better today than you did yesterday and better tomorrow than you did today. Onward, fair pen monkey, onward. If you’re not a writer, something will stop you — your own doubts, hate from haters, a bad review, poor time management, a hungry raccoon that nibbles off your fingers, whatever. If you’re a writer, you’ll write. And you’ll never stop to look back.

Hope to have aspired all of you who like to become a blogging pen monkey. Start writing and never stop doing it. There are enough topics.

Blogzynergy Key points for Organizational Development

On special request of one of our blog readers, Team Blogzynergy loves to post an article regarding the subject down here.O yes it’s all about Organizational Development [OD] this time.Enjoy, update and execute.

Key basic points for Organizational Development

Understanding Organization:-

Organization like products and people have life cycle.

Corporate culture should be understood and should be looked at as a system.

Organization has to be understood and studied in totality. And should not be studied in parts.

The behavior of the system cannot be predicted from the behaviors of its parts.

If there is too much top-down control, creativity and productivity will be stymied, and the organization will

Every action within the organization would create a reaction and every reaction would not be predictable. A small instrument of change can create lasting effects or no effects at all.

Points that influence Organizational development:-

Span of control
Authority
Responsibility
Delegation
Chain of command
Accountability
Line authority
Staff departments

Points towards Organizational Development:-

Purposes
Structure
Identification of activities
Departmentally organizing the activities
Classifying the authority
Co-ordination between authority and responsibility

Organizational Development Process:-

Diagnosis (address business, process and people issues)
Suggestions
Intervention and implementation
Feedback

Points to maintain the organizational process consistent:-

Monitoring
Auditing
Continuous Follow up

It is to be clearly remembered that at all times open communication with concerned employees and the stake holder’s needs to be maintained. Before any organizational development planning all the concerned should be taken into confidence and suggestions from all levels of employees should be taken into consideration.

Readers HOPE you like the straight to the point writing style. Don’t forget to send us your comments.

FANTASTIC EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Employee engagement is a property of the relationship between an organization and its employees. An “engaged employee” is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests.Friends, I know many of you run businesses and like happy and engaged employees.Let us talk about EMPLOYEES ENGAGEMENT in this article.Let us roll down…

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement can be defined as an employee putting forth extra open effort, as well as the likelihood of the employee being loyal and remaining with the organization for long time. Engaged employees, perform better, put in extra efforts to help get the job done, show a strong level of commitment to the organization, and are more motivated and optimistic about their work goals. Employers with engaged employees tend to experience low employee turnover and more impressive business outcomes. Employee engagement is essential. In order for organizations to meet and surpass organizational objectives, employees must be engaged.

Engaged employees reflects in following way,

Higher self-motivation.
New ideas generation
Higher productivity.
Higher levels of customer satisfaction.
Reliability.
Organizational loyalty; less employee turnover.
Lower absenteeism.

Focus on employee engagement:

Organizations are focusing on the significance of employee engagement and how to make employees more engaged. Employees feel engaged when they know personal meaning and motivation in their work, receive positive interpersonal support, and operate in an efficient work environment. Organization is trying to refocused attention on maximizing employee output and making the most of organizational resources. When organizations focus attention on their people, they are making an investment in their most important resource. You can cut all the costs you want, but if you neglect your people, cutting costs won’t make much of a difference. Engagement is all about getting employees to “give it their all.” Some of the most successful organizations are known for their unique work environments in which employees are motivated to do their very best.

High-involvement, empowerment, job motivation, organizational commitment, and trust are focus on the perceptions and attitudes of employees about the work environment. In some ways, there are variations on the same fundamental issue. What predicts employees “giving their all?” Obviously, all organizations want their employees to be engaged in their work. Several standardized tools exist for assessing employee engagement and providing feedback for making changes. These tools tend to have several common goals and characteristics:

Create a Simple and Focused Index of Workplace Engagement

Many organizations are using very short, simple, and easy to use measures that focus on the fundamentals of a great workplace. Instead of conducting broad culture/climate surveys with 100 or more questions, organizations are opting for a focused approach that measures fundamental qualities of the workplace that likely will be important 10 years from now (e.g., feedback, trust, cooperation).

Competitors benchmarking

Most organizations want to know how they compare to other organizations. Using a standard measure of engagement allows organizations to see how they compare to other companies along a simple set of fundamental work qualities.

Direct action(s)

Engagement measures tend to be very actionable. This means that the organization can alter practices or policies to affect employees’ responses to every item in the measure.

Show relationship to company performance

Without a link to company performance or other critical outcomes, measures of engagement have little value. The whole idea behind engagement is that it leads to enhanced performance. The link to performance outcomes is a necessary underlying assumption of all engagement measures.

Engagement PREDICTS Organizational Success

Many studies have shown that investments in people (i.e., HR-related practices) have a reliable impact on the performance of organizations. People practices have significant relationships to improvements in productivity, satisfaction, and financial performance. When engagement scores are high employees are more satisfied, less likely to leave the organization and more productive.

Each organization is different and there are many factors that affect bottom-line outcomes; however, engagement scores can serve as meaningful predictors of long-term success. Some organizations use engagement scores as lead measures in their HR scorecards. When an organization can show the relationship between engagement scores and bottom-line outcomes, everyone pays attention to the engagement index. Establishing this critical link between people and performance helps HR professionals prove that people-related interventions are a worthwhile investment.

Elements of Engagement

Personal impact, focused work, and interpersonal harmony comprise engagement. Each of these three components has sub-components that further define the meaning of engagement.

Personal Impact

Employees feel more engaged when they are able to make a unique contribution, experience empowerment, and have opportunities for personal growth. The ability to impact the work environment and making meaningful choices in the workplace are critical components of employee empowerment. The perception of meaningful work is one of the most influential factors determining employees’ willingness to stay with the organization.

Focused Work

Employees feel more engaged when they have clear direction, performance accountability, and an efficient work environment. Aside from the personal drive and motivation to make a contribution, employees need to understand where to focus their efforts. Without a clear strategy and direction from senior leadership, employees will waste their time on the activities that do not make a difference for the organization’s success. Additionally, even when direction is in place, employees must receive feedback to ensure that they are on track and being held accountable for their progress. In particular, employees need to feel that low performance is not acceptable and that there are consequences for poor performance. Finally, employees want to work in an environment that is efficient in terms of its time, resources, and budget. Employees lose faith in the organization when they see excessive waste. For example, employees become frustrated when they are asked to operate without the necessary resources or waste time in unnecessary meetings.

Interpersonal Harmony

Employees feel more engaged when they work in a safe and cooperative environment. By safety, we mean that employee trust one another and quickly resolve conflicts when they arise. Employees want to be able to rely on each other and focus their attention on the tasks that really matter. Conflict wastes time and energy and needs to be dealt with quickly. Some researches also find that trust and interpersonal harmony is a fundamental underlying principle in the best organizations. Employees also need to cooperate to get the job done. Partnerships across departments and within the work group ensure that employees stay informed and get the support they need to do their jobs.

Making BIG USE of Engagement

Measurement of employee engagement can have many applications in the organization. Earlier, it is mentioned that engagement could serve as a general index of HR effectiveness in an HR scorecard. Also, engagement measures serve as an easy way to benchmark the work climate against other organizations.

Needs Analysis

The fundamental issues measured in engagement provide a quick index of what leaders and HR need to do to make things better. In addition, items in engagement surveys tend to be very actionable. This means that leaders or others in the organization can take action that will affect the score on a single item.

Evaluation

Many learning and performance interventions are designed to impact some aspect of engagement. When an engagement measure is used as a pre-implementation baseline, the impact of the intervention can be gauged by measuring post-implementation changes in engagement.

Climate Survey

Some organizations like to use engagement measures as simple indexes of the workplace culture. While more extensive surveys are valuable, sometimes it’s easier to focus attention on a few simple and proven factors.

Department or Leader Feedback

Depending on the demographic information collected when the engagement measure is implemented, one can create breakout reports by department or leader. This means departments and leaders can gain a better understanding of how engagement in their groups differs from the rest of the organization. This information can be used to create development plans or plans for larger-scale interventions.

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Free Hints When Writing Standard Operating Procedures

Here are 10 ideas to keep in mind when you write Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). An SOP is a written set of instructions that someone should follow to complete a job safely, with no adverse effect on health or the environment, and in a way that maximizes operational and production requirements.

How much someone knows about an entire process or job affects the way he or she does that job. Incorporate safety, health and environment into the traditional how-to-operate or how-to-do steps. This teaches the person comprehensively so that he or she has a complete picture of the responsibilities for doing a job properly. This knowledge base simplifies follow-up training.

Write an SOP to be as long as necessary for a specific job. All jobs differ in the number of steps required to complete them properly. Short changing someone by providing short and incomplete SOP sets up failure. Write an SOP to satisfy the definition of SOP, not a standard company format that no one has thought about in years.

1. People tend to ignore long SOPs because they cannot remember more than 6 to 12 steps. If your SOP goes beyond 10 steps, consider these solutions:

- Break the long SOP into several logical sub-job SOPs,
- Write an accompanying shortened SOP that lists only the steps but not detailed explanations of those steps, and
- Make the long-form SOP a training document or manual to supplement the shorter sub-job SOPs mentioned earlier.

2. Prepare the longer comprehensive training SOP first to get a picture of what training is needed. Then decide how to break it into shorter sub-job SOPs. Writing sub-job SOPs first, and then trying to put them together, may leave out linkage steps that make sub-jobs interdependent.

3. Write SOPs for people who perform under different interpersonal circumstances.

- Write some SOPs for people who work alone.
- Write some SOPs for two or more people who work together as a team.
- Write some SOPs for people who will supervise other people doing a job.
- Write some SOPs for people who not familiar with rules generally understood by your employees. For example, you may write for contractors, vendors or suppliers.

4. Consider the work culture within which people work. If you write for people in a culture in which shortcuts are accepted practice, explain the reasons behind certain steps so that SOP users will understand the importance of following all the steps in the proper order.

5. Consider the age, education, knowledge, skill, experience and training, and work culture of the individuals who will be performing the SOP steps.

6. Keep in mind that many people do not read all the steps before starting on step one. Many people read one-step, perform it, read the next step, perform it, and so on. To try to get around this habit, forecast future effects and steps at certain points in the SOP to tell reader things they should know in advance, such as upcoming steps that require caution, precision, timing, assistance, and personal protective equipment.

7. Once you have completed writing an SOP, have several workers test it and give you feedback. If you did not consult safety, health and environmental experts prior to writing the SOP, have them observe the SOP being tested so they can add comments.

8. Review the effectiveness of SOP’s after a few weeks and make necessary changes if in-the-field practice suggests that descriptions should be improved.

Review SOP’s when processes and equipment are changed.
When new equipment is installed, take the opportunity to write a new SOP, incorporating the good from the old, and adding what is necessary to satisfy the new equipment.

SUCCESS IN WRITING YOUR SOP DOCUMENTS. IT WILL BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED IF YOU SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH US IN THE COMMENTS.

8 most effective methods to keep up an inspirational state of mind

My Sweet Blog readers. Without any long story I like to provide you with just 8 FREE effective methods to keep up an inspirational state of mind.

BOOM Here we go………….

Become mindful of your thoughts and let them occur without judgment. As you recognize self-limiting beliefs and feelings, eliminate them by focusing on positive thoughts about the present and future.

Reflect upon your present blessings,of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Don’t brood over mistakes, carry grudges, or harbor hate.

Worrying is a wasted effort and the breeding ground of doubt. It will lead you to contemplate potential losses rather than effective solutions. The antidote to worry is positive action.

4. Adversity comes to each of us in time. Expecting rather than dreading this adversity can make challenging periods seem less daunting and will allow you to accept that you possess the strength to conquer each obstacle as you have conquered obstacles in your past.

Assume that hidden in every setback there is a lesson. Consciously choose to think of the challenges you face in a positive way: as a learning experience, an opportunity to demonstrate your strengths, or the first step on a new path.

6. Think about what you desire, not what you fear. Visualize future successes with the belief that you will achieve them, and then take action. When you are working diligently toward a goal, there will not be time to ponder the obstacles.

7. When negative thoughts and feelings threaten to overwhelm you, take a “time out” and do something that makes you happy. Letting yourself be swept away in a favorite activity or meditation will inspire well-being.

8. Be confident that no matter what adversity you face, you will be strong enough to remain positive and optimistic. Knowing that there is no obstacle you cannot overcome will give you that strength.

Isn’t it NICE and CLEAR to have it presented very effective. It’s up to you my friends to use the methods in your situation. Finally it’s your MIND your thoughts your everything. Life continue.

18 CLEAR IDEAS TO FIND YOUR PASSION TO MOVE HIGHER

here’s a big myth in our culture: that passion can only be spontaneous. You either love your job or you don’t. You either enjoy exercising or hate it. You are interested in reading books or you find them boring. That passion can’t be forced or created.

I disagree. Passion can be created. Even for things you don’t currently enjoy.

By tweaking the activities and pursuits you engage in, you can find a passion for anything. All it takes is a bit of patience and an open mind.

The benefit is that you end up loving the things you have to do anyways. Exercising, learning, studying, working and almost any pursuit can be made into a passion. And if you know how to do it, existing passions can be turned from mildly interesting to exciting. The skill of finding your passion is like turning up the dial for the amount of color you experience in life.Here are some ways to find your passion:

1. Get Curious – Curiosity is the basis of passion. Shake off your current understandings and begin from the view that you are almost completely ignorant on the subject. Then look for novelty to boost your interest.

2. Make it a Game – Give yourself rules, objectives and strategic constraints. The more creative thinking required, the better.

3. Set a Goal – Create a specific goal along with a deadline. This can infuse mundane activities with a sense of direction and purpose. Writing a report goes from being just another task, to a creative challenge that pushes you.

4. Express Yourself – Find hidden opportunities for self-expression. This could mean inventing a style for folding clothes. Changing the format you write code in or altering the style of your presentation. View each activity as an act of expression and originality.

5. Focus – Cut distractions and eliminate noise. The more you focus on an activity the better you can notice interesting qualities about it. The only truly boring activity is the one you can’t pay attention to.

6. Jigsaw Piecing – A jigsaw puzzle has hundreds of uniquely shaped pieces of a picture. View your activities as pieces of a larger image. This can turn dull activities into individual snippets of a more fascinating whole.

7. Dial Down Cravings – Have you ever noticed how the hungrier you are, the less able you are to enjoy the taste of food? This works the same way with passion. The more you crave a goal (instead of the process containing the goal) the less likely you are to develop a passion for it. Goal-setting is good. Goal-obsession is not.

8. Connect with Talents – How can you apply your existing talents to an activity? Find ways to use skills you already have in a new endeavor. An artistic person could draw pictures to help himself study. An athletic person might be able to use her strength and endurance as a speaker.

9. Overcome the Frustration Barrier – If an activity is too difficult for you to become enthusiastic about it, slow down. Worry less about results and more about experimenting until you build up skill. Whenever I try a new hobby, I strive to just try things out before building skills. This keeps me from getting frustrated and ensures the process is fun.

10. Leech Enthusiasm – Energy is contagious. If you spend time with someone who exudes passion about a subject, some of it will rub off on you. Seek out people who have the energy you want and get them to describe their motivation. Often it will point you to key information you had no idea could be so interesting.

11. Remove the Chains – Feeling forced into an activity is a sure way to kill any passion. Instead of flowing with the task, you rebel against it, making you miserable. Be aware of the consequences for not acting, but remove the feeling that you don’t have a choice. You always have a choice.

12. Tune the Challenge – For boring tasks, make them more difficult. For frustrating tasks, make them easier. This can be done by varying the speed or constraints you need to complete a task. Boring chores can be made more interesting by setting a time-limit. Frustrating assignments can be made easier by allowing yourself an awful first-draft instead of perfection.

13. Get instruction – Finding a teacher can give you the basic level of understanding necessary to enjoy an activity. Sometimes passion can be drained just by not knowing the basics.

14. Humble confidence – Confidence is necessary for passion, but arrogance can destroy it. Build a humble confidence where you believe in your abilities to handle the unknown, but you also have a great respect for it.

15. Focus Immediately – Look at the next immediate step. Don’t concern yourself over what needs to be done next month or next year if it overwhelms you. Focus on each step of the marathon, not how many miles you have left.

16. Play – If the process confuses or bothers you, just play with it. Don’t have a purpose until you can define one.

17. Eliminate – This one might not apply, but it is always good to use. If you really can’t enjoy something, find a way to eliminate it from your life. Don’t waste your time doing things you don’t enjoy. Either cultivate a passion or get rid of it.

As a BONUS I like to share with you the SUCCESS FORMULA: