- livingthedash.tv

I was thinking about how I’ve been spending my time at work lately.

All my work days seem to have a similar look and feel.

Some time (actually, lots of time) processing email, jumping from meeting to meeting, squeezing in time to work on tasks for projects, some planning, occasionally taking some form of training, etc.

All of that stuff crammed into the same day. Day after day. It just doesn’t seem right.

I’m thinking I need dedicated……

• Thinking/Brainstorming days // focused time alone or with the team to just think, generate ideas, & brainstorm

• Planning days // focused time to plan for the future. what am i going to do next week, next month, next quarter, next year?

• Meeting days // too many meetings in one day can be a killer, but focused time just for meetings results in better meetings and it can free up larger blocks of time for other things

• Organizing days // i’ve noticed that people and teams are often very disorganized. i think we need focused time just to organize stuff like personal & team online workspaces, documents, files, etc.

• Learning days // when I stop learning, I stop growing. when my team stops learning, my team stops growing. learning must remain a personal and organizational priority. we need focused time to read internal/industry/leadership blogs, to take internal training courses, to attend conferences and seminars, maybe even read a book

• Relationship Building days // we work better when we have strong relationships with those we work with. we need focused time to just to have coffee or lunch with a coworker, to send a thank you note to a team member, to reach out to stakeholders and clients

• Executing days // if we spend too much time thinking, brainstorming, planning, meeting, organizing, learning, and relationship building then we run the risk of not accomplishing anything. we need focused time to actually execute

Would love to hear your thoughts on this?  How do you structure your time at work?

(image by monkeyc.net)

There are those that operate out of obligation.

They do what they do because it pays the bills. They view their work as something they have to do, rather than something they get to do. They watch the clock…..4:59:57, 4:59:58, 4:59:59…..because they can’t wait to be done for the day. They aren’t really satisfied with the way things are, but changing things would be way too much work.

And then there are those that perform out of passion.

They do what they do because they love it. They pop out of bed a little faster on Monday mornings than the rest. They talk and write about their work……and they smile while they do it. Their minds race with ideas. They aren’t satisfied with the way things are and they can’t wait to do something about it.

I’m drawn to these people. These people that perform out of passion.

Connect with them.

Read their blogs.

Follow them on Twitter.

Chat with them over coffee.

Converse with them during lunch.

Learn from them.

They will Energize you.

Are you operating out of obligation or performing out of passion?

I am a member of a very, very large church.  But it doesn’t feel like it.

Large, growing, healthy churches are successful at growing smaller while growing larger.

- Strong friendships are developed as small groups of members gather in homes regularly for study and fellowship.

- Connections are made as small groups of members do ministry together.

- Members gather to grow in areas like personal finance, marriage, parenting, recovery, and Bible study and break into smaller groups.

- Members gather in common areas at church like cafes, bookstores, and outdoor spaces and they get to know each other in smaller groups.

I also work at a very, very large company.  And I can’t help but think about how this growing smaller while growing larger principle from large churches could be applied at large companies.

- Collaboration works better within smaller groups of employees.

- Communication is easier within smaller groups of employees.

- Speed, agility, flexibility, adaptability are available within smaller groups of employees.

- Strong working relationships are developed easier within smaller groups of employees.

I wonder if companies that want to grow larger need to first think about growing smaller.

My home office this morning.

The LeadershipNow blog had an interesting post the other day about 5 essential ingredients that are required for successfully driving change.

• Vision
• Skills
• Incentive
• Resources
• Action Plan

Leave out just 1 of these ingredients and you could end up with Confusion, Anxiety, Resistance, Frustration, or a False Start instead of the change that you wanted.

This got me thinking. At work, we often try to drive change and end up with something other than the change we wanted……usually resistance. We always blame it on the other people, but maybe we are the ones leaving out one of the key ingredients.

What about you? Ever tried to drive change and end up with something else?