Windridge - Identify. Develop. Retain.

A Perfect Monday Morning—Ha!

I was actually pretty proud of myself this morning…

• Walk completed
• Starbucks latte purchased
• All the monthly income and expense data entered into Excel by 8:30 a.m.; not bad for a Monday morning.

Suddenly, and God as my witness I don’t know how, my Starbucks latte tipped over and instead of simply dripping out the little sippy hole (which would have been wonderful), the entire single/grande/vanilla latte flowed, yes, that is what it did—flowed—all over my desk!

Okay, there are a couple of options here: scream, cuss, cry, rant and rave, I could have even “blamed” someone, except I work by myself, or remain somewhat composed and get something / anything to stop the increasing flow of coffee—quickly!

In my many years on this earth, I’ve learned that typically the best course of action is to remain composed and move quickly. And so, hand towel, paper towels, and wet paper towels were my arsenal to mop up the mess quickly and silently (followed by lemon scented Pledge to help cut the coffee smell).

 Really the worst moment in this entire episode was watching the coffee spread unchecked across my desk and hearing the drip, drip, drip, onto the plastic floor mat below (thank goodness for plastic floor mats!).

 Here are my takeaways:

1. Remain calm—even when you feel like screaming.
2. Remain composed which helps keep blood pressure down and actually lets you think and move  quickly. Rants take time.
3. Slowly and methodically clean up the mess.
4. Pay attention to what needs to be cleaned, what simply needs to be moved, and thankfully what hasn’t been affected at all.

If you think about it, those solutions work in a lot of life’s little unexpected, stress-filled situations.

Off to get another latte—have a great Monday!

One of My Favorite Weeks of the Year!

“Chronologically we’re at the end of the year but the beginning of the journey.”
Sarah Ban Breathnach

This week is one of my favorite weeks of the year! It’s the week between Christmas and the New Year and it’s a perfect time to take a short “time out” to pause and reflect. Even with family in town for the Holidays I’m still trying to spend snippets time thinking about the past year,what worked and what didn't, and then shifting my focus to the coming year and identifying what my “theme” for the New Year will be. When January 3rd 2012 dawns, after all the house-guests have gone home and the house is wholly mine again, I will sit in quiet reflection recording the challenges and successes of 2011 and all of my forward hopes and dreams for 2012..... Perfect!

If you don’t start, You won’t arrive… Anonymous

Use the questions below to map your course for 2012:

2011

• For the past year what was your overall theme?
• What were your three biggest wins personally?
• What were your three biggest wins professionally?
• What were the three top lessons you learned?
• What was the one personal quality that you developed in 2011?
• List the ways this quality helped you both personally and professionally.

2012

• Looking forward, what do you want the overall theme(s) of 2012 to be for you?
• What are your top three personal goals for 2012?
• What are your top three professional goals for 2012?
• What personal quality do you most want to develop in 2012?
• List the ways that this quality will help you move forward both personally and professionally.

May you take the challenges of 2011 (and there have been many) and move forward into 2012 with confidence and courage!

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emails Worth Responding To

Most of us receive way more emails than we can ever hope to keep up with. I feel like I’m constantly editing my inbox (delete, delete, delete) and truth be told, most of the time I’m simply highlighting entire blocks of emails (especially if they look like ads or newsletters) and hitting delete. This act of de-cluttering is also the reason I stopped writing a newsletter and switched to blogging. Why add more stuff / junk to someone else’s inbox?

On the other hand, emails are invaluable touch points to contact someone who may not, for whatever reason, be answering their phone.

What’s the best way to make emails professional, easy to read and worth responding to? I had to learn this etiquette myself, as my novice email tendency was to ramble on and on, and on…

Here are five strategies (four by Michael Hyatt and one by me) for you to keep in mind when writing emails:

1. Put their name in the “To” field. This should be obvious, but if you want a response from a specific individual, put that person’s name in the “To” field and that person’s name alone. If there is more than one name, he or she might assume that one of the others will answer. Also, never use the “CC” field for any purpose other than FYI. (Note: I even have an email rule that sorts these messages into a separate folder. I assume these are lower priority and only look at this folder once a day).
2. Double-check the email address. A few months ago, one of my colleagues wasn’t getting a response from one of our authors. He said, “I’ve emailed him five times.” I was a little irritated myself, so I said, “Forward me your last email and I will follow-up.” When I got the email, I noticed that my colleague had one character missing in the email address. I asked him to re-send the original email with the correct address. The author responded within the hour.
3. Put your question at the top. Writing a good email is like writing a good blog post or magazine article. As they say, “Don’t bury the lead.” Put the most important information (the “lead”) in the very first paragraph. Don’t assume that the recipient will read beyond that. You can use the rest of the email to provide support or background information.
4. Keep your message short. Long emails only encourage procrastination. Think of your own behavior. What happens when you get a long email? Right, you save it for later. Unfortunately, many people never get around to “later.” If you keep the message short, you make it easy for the other person to digest what you have said inviting them to respond now.
5. When you are sending professional correspondences, make sure your signature / contact information is in the email. This makes it much easier if the person receiving the email needs to quickly call with questions or verification.

And while we’re talking emails, let’s take a moment and look at some examples of good and bad subject lines from Clay Hebert:

Examples of horrible, time wasting subject lines:
- Website
- My flight
- Meeting
- Please review
- Status?
- Thx (or thanks)

Here are those same subject lines, improved:
- So many orders…our website is down!
- Confirmed MSP to LGA this Friday – arrive 10:20 p.m.
- Friday meeting with Ms. Alba – Les Halles or Bridge Cafe?
- Please review this Gladwell article and reply by EOD
- Status update on Rodriguez steroid story? (due 3:00 p.m. today)
- Thanks for speaking at our conference – rave reviews

Emails are a quick and easy way to correspond and emailing can save a lot of time. Make sure you are using email to your best advantage!

Small Business Advantage

I just got off the phone with a friend where we discussed the challenges of running a small business and what it takes to be successful.

I’m noticing that despite some of the ongoing frustrations of “never enough time or help” there has been an interesting mental shift on the pluses that small businesses offer clients (many of whom are big businesses).

I used to always try to hide the fact that Windridge is a small, I work from home, company.

What I’m realizing now is that people, more than ever, need instant information (sometimes at anytime of day or night). People long for a constant / accountable touch point within an organization; someone they know will be there for them. And many folks are simply tired of the levels and tiers and new faces they have to deal with because of downsizing or employee adjustments. So my perspective has shifted from apologizing about size to appreciating all the advantages that Windridge (or any other motivated small business) can provide.

1. Agility. Small businesses have a great advantage in a fast-changing world: they adapt quickly. Without layers of bureaucracy slowing them down, small businesses can act fast to changing circumstances. (This is an asset to our clients!)
2. Rapid testing and refining. Social media and online marketing tools allow even the smallest of businesses to do real-time market testing. They can also engage customers and build a community around their business.
3. Planning. Plans are often outdated as soon as they come out of the printer. Small businesses tend to focus more on planning and less on plans. They watch their surroundings and act accordingly.
(How Small Businesses Win Big in Tough Economies Jeff Stibel(HBP))

I’m excited to move forward. Are things challenging right now, yes! But there are so many opportunities for growth and that is the focus to hold on to.

 

Organizing Your Space

This past weekend, it became apparent to me that I need to spend a bit of time organizing my office environment; it is so easy to let clutter build up!

Here are some timely tips for organizing your office space from Gina Trapani / Harvard Business

Many of us spend most of our waking hours in cubicles or offices. It's critical to make those spaces comfortable and conducive to productivity. Here are four tips to design a space that helps, not hinders, your ability to get work done.

1. Cut the clutter. Get rid of the papers, extra hole-punch, books, and tchotchkes. Be ruthless, throwing away the things you really don't need and filing away the things you might need later.
2. Keep frequent-use items close. If you don't use your stapler every day, you don't need it front and center. Reorganize so commonly used items are within reach and less-used items aren't taking up valuable real estate.
3. Put related items together. Group items by task. Store your stamps with the envelopes and your file folders near the file cabinet.

Adjust as needed. After your initial reorganization, pay attention to recurring tasks that may require adjustments. If you start using your stapler daily, move it closer.

Thanks Gina... Perfect timing!

 

He's Still the One!

It was 37 years ago on April 14th my husband and I were married. We were young, in love and didn't have a clue what life held for us.... I can honestly say it feels like yesterday that we began our journey together and my prayer is that there are another 37+ years ahead of us!

March of 1972....

 

April 2009....