Change the way you start your day

What’s the first thing you do when you get to your desk? Check email and listen to voice mails? This is the worst way to start the workday. Instead of automatically going into reactive mode and focusing on other people’s priorities, begin your day with a brief planning session about what you need to get done. The moment you sit down, ask yourself: The day is over and I am leaving the office with a tremendous sense of accomplishment. What have I achieved? Thinking this through will help you distinguish truly important tasks from those that only feel urgent. Determine what to focus on, and then break down these tasks into specific actions and goals. Prioritise your list, and try starting your day with tasks that require the most mental energy.

(Adapted from How to Spend the First 10 Minutes of Your Day, by Ron Friedman)

Boost employee engagement

If you can increase the level of engagement in your organisation, you’ll likely see the productivity of your workforce rise, too. And almost any organisation can foster greater engagement if leaders:

Talk about the company’s impact, not just its financial results. Shareholders care about performance, but employees are more often motivated by the impact their company has on the world.

Reward inspirational leadership as much as effective task management. People who work for inspiring leaders are more committed, satisfied and productive. Reward managers for raising people’s eyes to the horizon as much as you reward them for holding workers’ noses to the grindstone.

Measure employee advocacy. A worker who is just ‘satisfied’ isn’t necessarily deeply committed. A better measure of engagement is whether an employee would recommend his workplace to a friend.

(Adapted from 3 Ways to Actually Engage Employees, by Michael C. Mankins)

Break up with your mentor to move on

A great mentor can do wonders for your career, but if you’ve reached the point where you’re no longer learning from him or the chemistry has fizzled, don’t prolong the relationship. In order to grow, it’s necessary to move on. Maybe your mentor’s skills don’t align with where your career is heading, or you just want a mentor who has more time to offer. Start the separation conversation by sharing your appreciation for all of his time and effort. Detail everything you’ve learned from him and explain how those skills will continue to help you. Be honest and transparent about why your future plans necessitate a shift, and frame it considerately: “Given my change in focus, I wonder if getting together regularly is the best use of your time.” Leave the door open for possible future collaborations, and offer any assistance to return the kindness and help he’s given you.

(Adapted from How to Break Up With Your Mentor, by Carolyn O’Hara)

Cut out some of the noise in your life

Most of us live and work in noisy environments. This can hurt our health, concentration and happiness. As silence becomes rarer and more valuable, we’d be wise to seek it out. Here are some ways to do so:

Turn off the TV or radio. We tend to fill silence with music, radio programs or television shows, but our minds need downtime. Instead of listening to a podcast or putting the game on ‘in the background,’ try turning the device off and letting your mind wander.

Use earplugs rather than earbuds. Instead of replacing unwanted noise with wanted noise, use earplugs or noise-canceling headphones. While music certainly has its benefits, research shows that it may actually decrease a person’s capacity for recall.

Shut your door. We often maintain open-door policies even when we need to concentrate.

(Adapted from Find Quiet (and Maybe Even Peace) at Work, by John Coleman)

Look at potential when hiring

Hiring great people used to mean finding candidates with the right skills. Today, it means finding people with the potential to learn new skills. Hiring managers should look for certain indicators of potential. Is the person genuinely curious? Does he seek out new experiences, knowledge and candid feedback? Ask how he reacts when someone challenges him, or how he invites input from others on his team. Tell him to describe a time he was determined to fight for a difficult goal despite challenges. How did he bounce back from adversity?

(Adapted from 21st-Century Talent Spotting, by Claudio Fernández-Aráoz)

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, August 25th, 2014