Blog - Page 57 of 127

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

Did you like the movie “Rudy”? The coach gets the team psyched by acknowledging challenges and sharing the plan to overcome them. In business, this works too. In fact, professors at Texas A&M studied motivational language theory (MLT).

In a Harvard Business Review (HBR) article they share “most winning formulas include three elements: direction giving, expressions of empathy, and meaning making.”

Here’s a succinct summary of the three elements: Direction giving – People want to know what’s expected of them. Empathetic language – You’re talking with a human… act like it. Meaning-making language – Answer why this is important.

Meeting Madness!

In a recent article from HBR, we learn that meetings are:

65% = Interruptive
71% = Unproductive
62% = Miss opportunities (to bring the team closer together)

Meetings are supposed to improve creativity and productivity—but they do the opposite when they’re excessive, badly scheduled, and/or poorly run. Here are some additional points from the article:

Companies with “dysfunctional meetings were associated with lower levels of market share, innovation and employment stability.”
Declaring “meeting-free periods” and enforcing those time restrictions resulted in fewer wasteful meetings
“Meetings do not have to be a trap; they can be a conduit for change. . . In the end, better meetings –and better work lives—result.”

Good Enough Project Management

In “How to perfect the art of ‘good enough’ project management” in The Business Journals, “Good enough” is an article on Agile and Scrum for non-techies.

In it, I break down the major parts of Agile:

Part 1 — Product backlog

Part 2 — Sprint planning

Part 3 — Sprint backlog

Part 4 — Sprint retrospective

Checkout the article.

“5 Lessons Most People Learn Way Too Late in Life”

Alyssa Satara wrote “5 Lessons Most People Learn Way Too Late in Life.” It appeared on Inc.com. Below is her list with some of my thoughts:

Perception is reality. This is true for our view of the world and other people’s views of the world and us. Perception can create bias or make us miss what’s happening (how someone feels, a potential opportunity, …).

Everything is temporary. Life cycles. Whether it’s personal, business, or family, life’s not linear. As Satara notes, enjoy the highs and know the lows are temporary.

The importance of being present. I have nothing to add here as the article quotes Lao Tzu “If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”

Do what you love, love what you do. As the saying goes, we’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time. Life’s too short to not do what’s enjoyable and fulfilling.

Being happy takes work. My favorite book on happiness is What Happy People Know. In the book, the author notes to be happy, we need relationships, purpose, and appreciation.

Intertech Named a Top Workplace for 2017 by the StarTribune

Intertech was named one of the StarTribune Top Workplaces for 2017. This marks our 5th year in a row making this prestigious list. My thanks to our dedicated employees and loyal customers for making us possible.