Workplace Ruminations

How many times have you said to yourself, "I don’t have the time!"? If you are like most busy professionals, you said this too many times to count. Well, Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks made the time. On February 26th of this year, more than 135,000 employees at 7,100 different Starbucks locations stopped work, put the closed sign up and then attended a 3 hour training session. That’s over 400,000 people-hours of time—not to mention the impact on the revenue! Why did he do this? Simple…so that the baristas (the folks who make the coffee) would be better at their jobs.

Whether it’s investing 3 hours, 6 hours, or even a full day or two doesn’t it make sense to spend time getting better at your job? Throughout the years, I have been witness to an interesting paradox, the struggle between, "My job would be so much easier if only I knew…" and "I don’t have the time to learn." The irony is, that if you take the time, then your job would be easier! Why do we fight that truth? Why don’t we stop, listen, and learn? We think nothing of sitting in counter productive meeting after meeting that chew up huge chunks of our day, yet we can’t seem to find that same amount of time to invest in our own or our staff’s professional development.

Learning opportunities are endless...from books and articles – many that you can get for free at the library or on the internet – to workshops and seminars, and even college courses. Unlike Starbucks and their multi-million dollar investment in training, you won’t need to spend nearly as much to improve your skills, get better at your job, and if you desire, advance your career. And, let’s not forget, Starbucks is what they are today because of their dedication in providing continuous improvement opportunities for their employees!

Click here for more information about the Starbucks training.

Productivity Pointer Did you know that you can double your reading speed today? We generally read between 200 and 400 words per minute. Simply by doing the one thing that we were told not to do in school – point – you can double your speed. That’s right, as you are reading, move your finger just ahead of your eyes. By doing so, you will double your reading speed immediately!

Learning Opportunities

Are you suffering from the "now where did I put that" syndrome? The key to doing a job well is having the information you need when you need it. We have a Workshop and Webinar coming up that are designed to help you cure this syndrome once and for all.

Paths to Productivity Workshop
Learn how to pull all of the information together so that you can effectively tackle your priorities of the day. Managing that flow of information – whatever form it takes – paper, voice mail, e-mail, is what allows you to be productive on the job. Join us for our Paths to Productivity Workshop.

If tackling the piles of paper that are stuck on your desk is the first step that you would like to take, then please join us for our free Webinar on creating an Effective Paper Management system.