Do you know what a portfolio career is? And if you’re a manager, how do you manage someone who has one?

A portfolio career is one where a person has more than one career at the same time. Take me for example:

Career 1
I work for the Open University as an Associate Lecturer on three different courses:
- Understanding Management (Y159)
- Data, Computing and Information (M150)
- Business Organisations and their Environments (B201)

That means I’m actually an employee of the Open University – PAYE, part time work.

Career 2
I’m also employed by my own company. I’m a Director of upd8 technology ltd. That company publishes websites (like this one amongst others) and provides coaching and training services as well as technology advice.

Career 3 and 4 and …
And that’s not all – I build websites, I write (like in this blog for example, as well as elsewhere) and I’m also an authorised distributor for utilities. And more!

If I came to work for you and you had to manage me, what difference would it make that I have a portfolio career rather than one, more traditional career?

Well, speaking personally … I won’t depend on you for my livelihood, so if you don’t treat me the way I want, I’ll walk … I love what I do, so I’ll always be enthusiastic and energetic about what I do … I’ll meet deadlines, because I’m good at juggling (I have to be) … but also, when I say I’m not available, then I’m not, because I really do have to be somewhere else.

If you’re managing someone who has a portfolio career, then are things really any different from managing someone who doesn’t have one? It’s still about understanding your employee and working out how to bring about the best possible performance, together.

Most people have probably heard of SMART goals - writing our goals so they are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timebound

and then checking that what we do works towards these goals. But I think that’s a bit boring - where’s the excitement? Where’s the motivation to complete a SMART goal?

I like my goals to be SMART and also to be WISE:

• WOW! Make sure that achieving the goal is a WOW!  You really want to do this – for you, not for anyone else.
• IMAGINE What will it be like when this goals is achieved- if you can’t imagine it, then it won’t happen.
• STEP Make sure that your goal is a step forwards. The size of step does not matter – the direction of the step does. 
• EXPECTATIONS Make sure your expectations are realistic. Expect to make mistakes, expect to go backwards sometimes. Expect and demand to move forwards.

For more information on SMART and WISE goals and how to achieve them, sign up for the ACHIEVE e-course - a short 5 step course which will help you towards your goals. Start today!

I was talking to someone who’s just returned from holiday and he told me about a conversation he had whilst stood in the queue at the local Fish and Chip shop. The owner was talking about the different deep fat fryers available (apparently the Dutch ones look after themselves, but the UK ones need more skill to use well) and the difficulty of taking time off as no-one could be trusted to use the fryer in his business properly - not uncommon in small businesses - not uncommon in teams either.

Does this sound familiar? It’s yet another way to say ‘I’m better off doing this myself’ – ever find yourself saying:

• ‘it’ll be quicker if I do it myself’
• ‘he always does it wrong – I’ll just do it now’
• ‘this is really complicated – as the expert, I need to do it’
• ‘she never produces the right quality’
• … or similar.

I’m sure we’ve all done it at times but is that good management? Of course not and tempting though it is – and yes we can give all the best ‘reasons’ for it – it’s bad management and if you find yourself saying or even thinking any of these little phrases, then you need to consider what you can do differently. That way, you’ll free up more time to manage – rather than do.

So, what’s the answer – well, it has to be a two-pronged approach – one won’t work without the other:

• you need to do some work on yourself - No more excuses, no more saying or thinking the phrases above
• you need to do some work with your team member. Training isn’t only done through training courses –there are lots of ways for people to learn new skills or to improve existing ones.

What will work best for the team member and you right now?

Hmmm – I wonder if there’s such a thing as an NVQ in fish-frying?

I’ve been asked about time management quite a lot recently – and some suggestions I’ve made have been met with a ‘that won’t work here’ attitude.

Maybe it’s just those people, or maybe it’s a general feeling that we have less control than we did – or (and this is what I think) it’s actually business as usual:

• there’s a lot to do

• lots of things to achieve quickly

• lots of pressure

• changing deadlines and priorities

• the most recent crisis

• the next looming crisis

• …

That’s not anything new - and good managers have to learn how to cope with it. One thing’s for sure – if you carry on doing what you do now, then nothing will change – and if ‘that wont work here’ then I challenge you to tell me ‘what will work there then’.

The key to good time management is raise yourself above the detail – be like a meerkat and get up on those back legs to have a really good look around at what’s coming over the horizon next, rather than reacting to whatever’s dropped into your rut of workload.

If you know what your goals and objectives are then it’s easier to see when they’ll need to be changed, it’s easier to assess impacts and, crucially for time management, it’s easier (and defendable) when you have to say ‘no I don’t have time to do that… unless we also drop this’. 

If you’ve been on a time management course, or if you’ve read a time management book, then why not make the time (put it in your diary or schedule right now) to review it and see what actions you can take to improve your life.

If time management is something you have no formal training in – and not really much knowledge either – then why not book on a course or read a book. What do I recommend? Learning Tree’s Time Management course takes a whole brain approach (tell them I sent you) and Steven Covey’s book First Things First.

It’ll be time well spent – I promise.

It’s done! The latest upd8 booklet Be a Better Manager in 5 Days shows you how to achieve more as a manager and it’s available now - from here.

I’ve been talking to a few people recently about how to improve team performance and I’ve also been listening to how terrible their teams are - how they need lots of guidance, how they don’t do what they should be doing … and lots more things besides.

It’s a wonder anything gets done at all!

So, I thought I’d distil my wisdom (hmmm - well my suggestions anyway) into a short - as I know how busy all you mangers are - booklet on how to be a better manager in just five days.

Imagine - this time next week, you could be on your way to solving your problems. If you take any of these actions then you’ll be well on the way to a better performing team - if you do all of them, consistently, then you’ll soon reap the benefits - not only will your team be performing, but you will too as your time is freed up to manage rather than do.

Do let me know what you think - is this is good idea? Do you like it?  

Technorati Profile

Afternoon all,

Read any good books lately?

I’ve just re-read Michael E Gerber’s The E-Myth Manager - and written a short review which you can read or if you want to know why management doesn’t work, just follow my recommendation and buy it now.

Let me know what you think (of the review or of the book)

More on meetings …

I was talking to a client yesterday who manages a team of 40 people and every quarter (ish) they have a big team meeting. It’s an important meeting as it’s the only chance for the whole team to get together – a lot of the team work away on client sites. Unfortunately a lot of the team think the meeting’s a waste of time or useless or a bit informal or what’s the point anyway? I would guess there are other people who would moan they never see anyone and never know what’s going on if the meeting didn’t run.

Are you involved in big meetings like that one?

Running a ‘big meeting’ is tricky. The challenge is to run a different kind of a meeting - one where everyone who attends will take away some value. That doesn’t mean that everyone has to be happy throughout the whole meeting – it’s enough that everyone takes away one good thing… and you know what, there’s nothing wrong with asking people at the end of the meeting to think about what value they’ve gained. Ask them to provide some feedback. I suggest the following questions:

• What was the best thing you gained at this meeting?
• What was the most useful thing you did at this meeting?
• What would you do differently if you were running this meeting?

Ask people to focus on the positives and then ask for their ideas for improvement.

If you have a good facilitator then run a workshop as part of the meeting – to work on a key skill (eg. communication) or to solve a common problem (eg. lack of parking). There are lots of resources to help do this sort of thing… ask your training people, or look on the web, or post a comment below with your meeting details for some suggestions.

If you don’t have a good facilitator – then develop one (yourself or someone else). If you don’t run the meeting, then offer your suggestions to the person who does.

Big meetings still need to follow the basics though - here’s a free tip sheet on how to cure some of the most common problems with waste of time  meetings.

Too many of us attend ‘waste of time meetings’ or spend seemingly endless hours listening to meaningless conference calls - and have you ever called a meeting or arranged a conference call where it felt like no-one was really engaged?

What a waste! Of time and of effort – and what’s even worse, it’s demotivating - which helps no-one. It directly impacts on:

• Effectiveness (working on what we’re meant to be doing) – if people would rather be elsewhere or don’t see the point, then they’re not working on what matters and that’s ineffective (see blog on effectiveness)
• Efficiency (doing things well) - meetings and conference calls can take too long – especially if people arrive late or unprepared or the meeting is not facilitated well – so lots of time is lost during the meeting.

Think about what happens to someone when forced to attend a meeting that seems to be a waste of time:

one that seems to be irrelevant - or the conference call where other attendees keep dropping out (‘someone just came into the office’) or were typing away (clearly not paying attention and don’t know how to use the ’mute’ or ‘silence’ on their telephone)

What does the bored attendee do when they regain their freedom? Work hard? I don’t think so!

What’s the answer?

1. Always have an agenda. If it’s your meeting or call - write one or delegate the task to someone.  If you’ve been asked to attend a meeting or call - ask for the agenda and if there isn’t one – don’t go. Don’t attend meetings without an agenda.
2. At the start of the meeting or call, review the agenda – make any changes and agree the end time.
3. Make an action list during the meeting. Yes do minutes too if required – but always do an action list – it helps focus on outcomes and keeps people interested. 
4. At the end of the meeting or call review and agree the action list
5. Arrange the next meeting or call and confirm the list of attendees (allow existing attendees to drop out if they don’t see the value).

Remember meetings and calls are only one method of communication and working. Choose the most appropriate method.

Stop the waste of time meetings and calls! Start today and pick up your free tip sheet here now.