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Why go to the gym, when you can have a meeting instead? Yes!


Chris Walter
Google+

Posted May 5, 2013

5 Comments

Fun, Leadership, Management, Meetings

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Not long ago, you might remember I had drafted a blog article on the inefficiencies of meetings due to poor leadership and protocol (see ‘Jan’s. Not. Happy‘) – and then lost it because I didn’t invoke the magic spell entitled ‘Save-before-Quit’.

Much the same as everyone loving a committee, meetings are so often ineffective, let alone inefficient. Have you ever stopped to think about the direct financial costs of poorly administered meetings?

Consider the following. Say you were a middle manager who:

  • Attended three regular meetings per week, for 48 weeks each year, and
  • On average, each meeting started five minutes late and ended 10 minutes late, and
  • You earned the Australian average adult salary per year, equalling approximately $35 per hour (assuming a 40 hour week)

 

Guess what – you’ve just wasted $1200 of your productive time, and nearly a full working week, per year.

Now, if you’re a middle manager in a company of, say, 200 people, you might be one of between six-10 managers. That’s a cost to the business – which may be your own – of between $7200 – $12000 per year, and the loss of 198-330 working hours. And now you’ve got to make up the lost time, in your time, in (unpaid) overtime, getting you home late to the family and eating into your weekends. If you had a wife called Jan, she certainly wouldn’t be happy.

All because of lousy leadership at meetings.

Meetings are ...READ FULL ARTICLE

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall…


Chris Walter
Google+

Posted May 1, 2013

1 Comment

Cross-Generation, Leadership, Management

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Ageism hits younger people too, who can find themselves discriminated against in the jobs market. For business to thrive in an increasingly competitive market, it must not ignore the skills of any worker, whatever their age.

Alan Johnson, British politician

 

Who is the best workplace social generation of them all?

In wanting to fan the flames of the cross-generational workplace discussion, I came across two interesting articles during the week, one from Seth Godin (Competence vs Possibility) and the other from Vivek Wadhwa (In Defence of Older Workers). Both seemed pretty complementary when arguing which social generation is:

  • the most competent, or
  • most open to new ideas, or
  • adds the most value to a workplace

 

I suspect it might rub some people the wrong way, but I guess there are commercially-based pros-and-cons for hiring either older, or younger workers. Note I said commercially-based – such hiring decisions may fall within the bounds of anti-discrimination laws, but it doesn’t necessarily mean any decision made is the ‘right’ one. It’s all about perspective, and how you choose to navigate this ethical conundrum.

Godin essentially argues that openness to possibilities diminish the more successful someone, or something, becomes. I see this as a decreasing willingness to innovate, where to innovate and try something new equals an opportunity to trip over your shoelaces. Nobody likes risk when basking in the glow of their achievements. But who’s more open to possibilities? Boomers and Gen X, because ...READ FULL ARTICLE