Author Archive

Lorraine Pirihi

One of the biggest challenges any business owner or manager has is hiring the right people. I’ve recently discovered a simple, inexpensive yet very effective way which will help you get it right. This week I’ve asked Nathan Chanesman, Managing Director of Myprofile Pty Ltd. to please explain…

“Without quality employees who share your vision and work ethic your business is not going anywhere.So how do you find the “right” employee?

We’ve all experienced hiring the “wrong” person. It’s a nightmare. Hiring mistakes costs money, time and worse can easily ruin your business and your health! A recent survey in Forbes Business Magazine revealed, “Hiring the wrong person is the prime cause of business failure in the USA”. For most employers it’s a lottery, hire someone and hope it works out.

People problems take the most toll on us personally producing significant emotional wear and tear.

What if you had a tool that could tell you in advance of hiring, if the candidates applying have the right attitude and behavioural style to do that job successfully.

Now that would be something! Well read on. It’s now possible to predict behaviour quickly and accurately.

People can do most jobs if they are qualified and skilled for that position. However some people have a more natural aptitude for a particular type of job. Their behavioural style closely matches the job and as a result, they do better, are less stressed, can’t wait to get to work, are enthusiastic and stay with you longer. The ideal employee! These are the people you need to hire..

Which Behavioural Style Are You?

Four dominant styles define everyones behaviour

Whilst we are all different, our behavioural habits and style are more predicable than we think. We each have a dominant style and this determines how we manage at work, at home, in our relationships, how we communicate and importantly what careers we are best suited to.

D - Drivers. These are people who want to get things done. Active and fast paced, more interested in tasks than relationships. Often strong willed and very assertive, they push to have things done their way.

P - Promoters. These are people who want to be noticed. Active and fast pace they are relationship oriented rather than tasks. Often very expressive, chatty, friendly and usually dramatic. Do things more intuitively.

S - Supporters. These are the people who want to get along. Very social and relationship oriented and not as vocal or enthusiastic as Promoters. Very dependable, work slower, great team players, amiable, want to help, show concern and want take care of everyone.

A - Administrators. These are people who want to get it right. Task oriented, not big on relationships, not very social and don’t express their feelings. Very analytical, cautious and risk averse. They work at a slower more methodical pace and are less assertive and less expressive.

Each style has it’s own behavioural patterns. Some styles don’t get along, others are more suited to each other.

Interestingly the population is evenly spread, in other words 25% are one of four styles and more significantly 75% are of a style different to yours.

As an employer it is important that you know your style and that of your employees. Each style thinks differently, reacts differently, communicates differently, works at a different pace, handles emotions differently, manages stress differently and solves problems differently. Not necessarily worse, not better just differently. As an employer your style is most likely going to be different than your employees so you need to know who your staff are and how to communicate with them.”

The Final Word

It’s really important to consider all these factors when hiring people. So why not make your life easier, save time and money and utilise MyProfile. You’ll discover in less than 10 minutes the behaviourial style of a candidate or employee. MyProfile tells you if the person is suited to the job, if their working style match that required to do the job. What would normally take months of relationship building and in many instances, a lot of heartache, can be predicted using this tool. For a miniscule investment of $33 can you not afford it?

Further details are available on www.myprofile.com.au or contact Nathan directly nathan@myprofile.com.au

Lorraine Pirihi

Many people have a huge challenge coping with the incoming paperwork. (Whatever happened to the paperless office?).

Paperwork lands on your desk and somehow finds its way into your in-tray. Eventually the in-tray becomes so high it explodes and ends up all over your desktop. That’s because you avoided taking action on those messy pieces of paper the moment they arrived. Now you have no option but to sort through the explosion and tidy up the pile or actually do something with the paperwork.

It’s also frustrating when you need to search through the pile to look for information someone has asked you about. Many times I’ve contacted people to follow them up and I can automatically picture their desktop as they search their in-tray for the information I’ve sent them.

How can a pile of paper cause you so much stress? If only you could organize the paper so that it would disappear! Looking at it is enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure. Well here are a few organizing tips to help you tame the paperwork.

Purchase a large vertical wire step file (available from stationers)

Sort through your in-tray/s or piles and organize the paperwork into similar categories, ie.

Correspondence

Reading

Clients

Invoices

Staff

Label manila folders with the above categories.

Place folders into step file.

Now you’ll have all your work to do sitting in manageable files. It’s much more effective than shuffling piles of paper.

This simple but practical device saves my accountant 2 hours per week. Do you know what that means to an accountant who charges out at $100 per hour?

Save Two Hours / Week @ Hourly Rate of $200

2 HRS/WEEK = $200

= 8 HRS/MTH = $800

= 96 HRS/YR = $9,600

You don’t need to be an accountant to understand the significance of saving a small amount of time and the impact it has overall. It’s always the little things in life - the one percenters which make the difference.

Lorraine Pirihi

Working from home can be a most effective way to be more productive! Today’s open plan offices stop many people from getting their work done. The constant noise, phones ringing and colleagues interrupting can drive anyone to distraction! Many people would dramatically boost their productivity if they could spend some or all of their workday out of the main office and join the thousands of small business owners who work from home. However there are a few rules you need to follow to do this successfully:

Establish a Routine?

Decide on a starting and finishing time. Include breaks.

Plan Your Day

Prepare a ‘to do list’ each day and action it.

Dress for Success

It’s okay to occasionally “chill out” in your daggy old clothes, however you’ll feel much better in comfortable casual gear. How you look will affect how you feel and how you perform.

Clean out the Clutter

Keep your work area clean and tidy. You’ll work from home far more effectively and reduce the stress levels.

Organise Your Work Area

Have the right tools and systems to work with - an appropriate chair, desk, computer, filing system.

Group Tasks Together

Divide your day into similar activities. Make all phone calls in the morning and work on important tasks. Do errands later in the afternoon after the lunch-time rush or when you go to pick up the kids.

Learn How to Say NO!

Inform your family and friends of your working hours and that because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you’re ‘available’.

Take Time Out for You

It can be easy to lose yourself in your work. Take time to smell the roses…and make human contact.

The Final Word

Not everyone can work from home successfully. Some need the daily discipline and people interaction encountered in the office. However, for many others, being able to work from home has greatly improved their productivity and enhanced their lifestyle. They have more flexibility, more time and the opportunity to work much more effectively without all the usual distractions encountered in the traditional office environment.

Lorraine Pirihi

Many people have a huge challenge coping with the incoming paperwork. (Whatever happened to the paperless office?).

Paperwork lands on your desk and somehow finds its way into your in-tray. Eventually the in-tray becomes so high it explodes and ends up all over your desktop. That’s because you avoided taking action on those messy pieces of paper the moment they arrived. Now you have no option but to sort through the explosion and tidy up the pile or actually do something with the paperwork.

It’s also frustrating when you need to search through the pile to look for information someone has asked you about. Many times I’ve contacted people to follow them up and I can automatically picture their desktop as they search their in-tray for the information I’ve sent them.

How can a pile of paper cause you so much stress? If only you could organize the paper so that it would disappear! Looking at it is enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure. Well here are a few organizing tips to help you tame the paperwork.

Purchase a large vertical wire step file (available from stationers)

Sort through your in-tray/s or piles and organize the paperwork into similar categories, ie.

Correspondence

Reading

Clients

Invoices

Staff

Label manila folders with the above categories.

Place folders into step file.

Now you’ll have all your work to do sitting in manageable files. It’s much more effective than shuffling piles of paper.

This simple but practical device saves my accountant 2 hours per week. Do you know what that means to an accountant who charges out at $100 per hour?

Save Two Hours / Week @ Hourly Rate of $200

2 HRS/WEEK = $200

= 8 HRS/MTH = $800

= 96 HRS/YR = $9,600

You don’t need to be an accountant to understand the significance of saving a small amount of time and the impact it has overall. It’s always the little things in life - the one percenters which make the difference.

Lorraine Pirihi

Everytime Mary had to find a file on her computer, she always had great difficulty. And it was no wonder why. Every file had been saved under the folder “Mary” and that was it. There were no other categories. Consequently every time Mary searched her folder she spent ages sifting through all the documents.

Now Mary is a real smart cookie. She’s the Marketing Director of a very well known organisation. She knows her ’stuff’. She is fortunate to have her own personal assistant. However Mary still has to type many of her own letters and prepare a multitude of documents in relation to her demanding role. She also receives around 60 emails a day, most of which contain relevant information to the variety of projects she works on.

In Mary’s situation, other team members in her organisation occasionally are required access to her electronic files and in the past they wasted unnecessary time sifting through them

Just like many other businesspeople I have worked with, no-one had shown Mary how to handle the basics of organisation, including how to organise computer files so they are stored logically and can be easily accessed.

So how do you store your computer files?

In my opinion they should resemble the same categories as your paper filing system. If your paper filing system is a disaster, then take careful note of the points made and make changes as soon as possible (today).

Before you do anything else, delete all old or obsolete files.

Write down the categories of information you need.

Ie. Admin
Clients
Projects
Staff
Resources
Note: Always have a general area to cover anything else.

Create folders for each of these areas.

Now work out if you need to expand these categories.

Ie. Admin
Financials
Marketing
Vehicles
Clients
Brown & Co
Jax
Monogram
Projects
Building
Newsletter
Quality Assurance

Create sub-folders for #3 if required.

Transfer existing files to the appropriate areas.

By the way the same applies to emails, the same folders can be set up to store incoming and outgoing email. It will be up to you to decide what will work best for you. And of course you have to be mindful of specific procedures which may be in place in your organisation. Just make sure you keep everything simple and take action.

Lorraine Pirihi

If you look at any major organisation, there is this trend for executives to use “palm pilots” in conjunction with software schedulers such as Microsoft Outlook.

What’s really interesting is even with all this technology (and many of these execs are fortunate to have personal assistants) they are still disorganised. Organisation is not about having all the latest and greatest tools, it’s about using common sense and sticking to what works. For some reason many people think that by using these (expensive) tools they will automatically manage their time and be more productive. Sadly, this is not the case. Technology is an aid, a tool. It has to be used and adapted to suit the human being using it.

In most cases a paper diary or planner has proved more valuable in helping people to be more effective with their time and their work.

In one organisation where I had been working with the Head of Department, who was much better organised when he was shown how to use a paper diary rather than the computer one, I had the Manager of Information Technology say to me “what are you doing? You’ll have them all back to using pen and paper!”

Terrible, isn’t it? To think the use of good ole pen to paper to write down your thoughts and ideas, things to do and follow-ups may actually work better than the use of a computer software programme!

Some of my clients have had to use the software in conjunction with their diary, which can easily be done when they are shown how.

I often find that some of the most ‘high tech’ people are the most disorganised, particularly if the technology breaks down.

At least with pen and paper, the only thing that lets you down is when the pen runs out of ink. If your organisation is adamant that you must use the electronic system so that other people know when you are available, then use it for that purpose. However if it isn’t helping you get organised effectively, consider utilising a paper diary as well so that you can stay in control.

Don’t be afraid to get back to basics if you find it all becomes too much.

Lorraine Pirihi

What stops you from ‘getting things done?’

Have you ever started your day with good intentions of completing a task or project only to find that by the end of the day you’ve hardly worked on it?

Or have you ever set a goal to attend a seminar, learn a new skill or just have more time out for you?

I’m sure you have. I’m not going to write a long-winded explanation about the art of procrastination or “putting things off” but what I will do is share with you the secret of actually “getting things done”. Which is all about improving your organisation skills.

I believe most people overload themselves with too many unimportant tasks or commitments, which in the scheme of their day or life is really of little benefit.

Our society is so conditioned to “being busy”. If you ask a colleague or friend “How are you?”, generally they answer “I’m busy/flat-out/snowed-under”, even on weekends! Yet what are they “busy/flat-out/snowed-under” doing?

“Being busy” can be totally different to “being productive”. Personal organisation or self-management skills are the key to you moving forward.

Bill’s story

Bill, a friend of mine is an extremely intelligent and creative person. He’s “flat-out” in his role as the Marketing Manager for a large manufacturing company.

Having observed Bill in his working environment, he constantly allows anyone in his organisation to interrupt him. He believes in the “open door” policy.

He allows the day to evolve rather than planning what he wants to achieve.

Bill’s office looks like a bomb-site so he consequently wastes immeasurable amounts of time searching for paperwork.

Bill has just turned forty - the ‘mid-life’ crisis decade.

He’s married with two children 8 and 10 yrs old whom he loves dearly. Unfortunately due to his work commitments he does not spend as much time with them as he wants to. He spends most of his waking hours working for his organisation than anything else

He ‘used to be’ fit but now he’s on the pudgy side. His excuse for not exercising is “I don’t have the time”. Starting work by 8.00 a.m. and finishing around 7.00 p.m. Who would have the time?

Bill is like many people I know who don’t realise there is a better way.

Bill called me a few weeks ago. He’d decided he’d had enough of “never having time” and wants to get organised for living his life. (Prior to this, I used to offer unsolicited advice but he took no notice).

How Bill stopped procrastinating and “just did it”

This is what happened:

Bill cleaned out the clutter from his original “bombsite”. We devised simple systems tailored to Bill’s creative personality to cope with the mountains of paperwork. Now that Bill has systems he has been able to identify tasks which he can delegate to others.

We’ve worked out simple and easy to implement strategies for coping with interruptions. The “open door” is sometimes closed. Bill now uses a diary (that’s right he never used one before) writes a daily list of things to do and scribbles all his notes in it. No more scraps of paper.

We worked out where Bill spends his time and prepared a weekly timetable so that he can work in a more structured way and get more done. Such as allocating specific times of the week for certain tasks, rather than letting them build up to unmanageable levels. Time for himself was also factored in.

He now gets up at 6.00 a.m. and goes to the gym near his home 4 mornings a week, has breakfast there and then blasts off to work. Those of you who exercise first thing in the morning know what I mean. Bill’s now eating more nutritious food. Instead of the unhealthy restaurant food he will often have his lunchtime meetings in a “trendy caf” where he can choose what he eats.

The last time I spoke to Bill he said he had reduced his working hours. He was leaving the office by 6.00 p.m. the latest and was feeling so good he is considering training to compete in his gym’s mini- triathalon.

How’s that for “just doing it”?

You can too, you know. It’s a matter of defining your priorities. In fact you’d find if you and other people in your organisation made the effort, you’d be happier, healthier and far more productive.

We often know what to do, even how to do it. All you need to do today is start.

Lorraine Pirihi

Some time ago I attended three major events, two were well-run, the third was a shambles. All three had a number of speakers and more than 200 hundred people present.

The Disorganised Event

This is what happened at one of those events:

On arrival, there were two people at the front desk who completely ignored me, so I walked straight in and organised my own stand. (This was a combination expo/seminar event).

There were no name tags for stallholders or attendees. Refreshments were non-existant. Even water was unavailable. Instead of briefly wrapping up at the end of each presentation, the Master of Ceremonies wasted at least another 10-15 minutes rambling on.

A sponsor who wasn’t scheduled to speak was ’squeezed’ into the programme for a SHORT 10 minute promotion. He prattled on for 40 minutes boring everyone. No one, including the organiser or the MC stopped him. At one point, the audience had been sitting for two hours with no break. The last speaker who was scheduled to speak at 3.30 p.m. presented at 5.00 p.m… that’s how poorly organised the event was. By this time many people had left (including me).

The sad part about the lack of organisation is that some of the presenters were great and so were many of the people who attended. The event management by the organiser would have tainted their reputation and reflected extremely badly on the company they represented.

Unfortunately, many of the attendees will remember more of the negative aspects, rather than the positive ones.

The Ingredients of Successful Events

With the end of another year in site, many of you will be in the process of planning events for your clients and your people in the new year, so I’ve put together a special event management tip sheet to help you save time, money and stress when preparing for your next event. Click here to receive “How To Run Stress-Free Events”.

Speaking of running events in 2006, I’m presenting a terrific seminar to kickstart the new year together with Shelley-Taylor Smith, 7 time World Champion Marathon Swimmer and Motivation Expert. This one of a kind event will be held in both Melbourne and Sydney. If you seriously want to “Skyrocket to Success in 2006″ then click here to book today as numbers will be limited and we’ve already had bookings pouring in.

The Final Word

Organising and attending events where you’ll meet new people and expand your mind is crucial to stay ahead in both your personal and business life. The world is constantly changing and you need to change with it. Fresh input gives you a different perspective. It’s very easy to stay in your comfort zone. However when you expand your mind, you learn more and can earn more. When you apply what you learn, you’ll enrich your own life and can help others to do the same.

Lorraine Pirihi 

Everytime Mary had to find a file on her computer, she always had great difficulty. And it was no wonder why. Every file had been saved under the folder “Mary” and that was it. There were no other categories. Consequently every time Mary searched her folder she spent ages sifting through all the documents.

Now Mary is a real smart cookie. She’s the Marketing Director of a very well known organisation. She knows her ’stuff’. She is fortunate to have her own personal assistant. However Mary still has to type many of her own letters and prepare a multitude of documents in relation to her demanding role. She also receives around 60 emails a day, most of which contain relevant information to the variety of projects she works on.

In Mary’s situation, other team members in her organisation occasionally are required access to her electronic files and in the past they wasted unnecessary time sifting through them

Just like many other businesspeople I have worked with, no-one had shown Mary how to handle the basics of organisation, including how to organise computer files so they are stored logically and can be easily accessed.

So how do you store your computer files?

In my opinion they should resemble the same categories as your paper filing system. If your paper filing system is a disaster, then take careful note of the points made and make changes as soon as possible (today).

Before you do anything else, delete all old or obsolete files.

Write down the categories of information you need.

Ie. Admin
Clients
Projects
Staff
Resources
Note: Always have a general area to cover anything else.

Create folders for each of these areas.

Now work out if you need to expand these categories.

Ie. Admin
Financials
Marketing
Vehicles
Clients
Brown & Co
Jax
Monogram
Projects
Building
Newsletter
Quality Assurance

Create sub-folders for #3 if required.

Transfer existing files to the appropriate areas.

By the way the same applies to emails, the same folders can be set up to store incoming and outgoing email. It will be up to you to decide what will work best for you. And of course you have to be mindful of specific procedures which may be in place in your organisation. Just make sure you keep everything simple and take action.