Free online presence for voluntary and community organisations

Regular readers of the Enfys Acumen Blog will know I am a great fan of networking as a means of promoting business and pooling resources for the benefit of all.

We were recently discussing possible joint ventures with ComGem, a web solutions business in Wales and were thinking about how we might be able to do something together to support voluntary and community organisations (VCOs). We are not aware that there is an online facility that could provide a one-stop shop for VCOs to raise their online presence, promote projects, seek advice from kindred spirits, share news, make and receive donations, advertise for volunteers, you name it!


Although the technology to create this kind of facility is readily available it would take significant time to develop and promote, time that we would be willing to give freely. An initial facility would be available free to VCOs and enhanced features could be made available at a nominal cost to expenses incurred.


Before we proceed any further we would welcome the input of representatives of VCOs in Wales on whether or not our idea is a good one and should be developed and if so what features might be beneficial.


Please help us to help you and complete our simple questionnaire. If you know of any other organisations that might also be interested, please let them know.

To make sure you do not miss out on future opportunities of this nature, why not subscribe using the email facility on the left.

Performance management won't happen over night

Regular readers of my articles will know that I am a strong advocate for supporting businesses and organisations to develop a positive culture of accountability to ensure everyone concerned sees what needs to be done, owns it for themselves, has a role in solving the issue and goes off to do whatever is necessary to achieve the needed results.

In his own recent article Dan Martin expounds similar sentiments and asks:

“Is performance management simply about managing the way employees perform?”

“If you answered yes, you'd be wrong” writes Dan. “The process is actually more complex than the phrase suggests and as a result many organisations struggle to successfully embrace it.”

The Enfys Acumen model of organisational development has been addressing this for some time, but why is this approach so relevant?

In simple terms, performance management is the holistic approach to managing performance across an organisation. However, the term does require slightly more description. Angela Baron and Michael Armstrong, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and two of the UK's leading experts on the subject, define it as:

"A process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organisational performance. As such, it establishes shared understanding about what is to be achieved and an approach to leading and developing people which will ensure that it is achieved."

Monica Franco, research fellow at the Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management, says a key element is that the process should be linked to the direction an organisation is taking. "Performance management could be defined as the set of processes by which organisations manage their performance in line with their corporate strategy," she claims.

The experts agree then that where organisations fail on their definition of performance management is when they only focus on the practical processes used. While things such as employee appraisals, talent development and rewards are of course vitally important they are simply the tools which are used to help manage performance. Just having these tools in place is not enough. Effort above and beyond them is required.

As we have been saying, success in a business or organisation is very much about achieving a culture of accountability and this sort of thing just can’t happen over night that’s why a staged approach like ours is so valuable. We suggest that effective performance management needs a four stage process and a strong programme of coaching to ensure people stay on target and receive the kind of support they need and deserve.

Organisational development must be seen as a living process and not something written on a tablet of stone, organisations are after all organic, evolving, growing bodies.

To find out more about the Enfys Acumen organisational development click here or please get in touch we’d love to talk to you about it.

Mother’s Day and Lots More Too

Last Sunday’s Mother’s Day made me ponder even a bit more than usual.

Now, we all have a mother and a father and, of course, most of us remember them especially on their special days. Perhaps now it could be time to go beyond cards and flowers.

Do you remember in the 1980’s there was a trend for a range of what were on the whole rather twee A3-sized posters and often featuring a cutesy picture of a kitten, a puppy or some other baby animal with some words of wisdom or a pithy saying of some kind. Do you remember them?

I recall at the time most of them made me cringe, but one poster especially has stuck in my mind. It was given to me by my mother when I left home for the first time for teacher training college. It was a picture of an eagle soaring high above a fantastic mountain range and the caption said “The two greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings.” Brilliant don’t you think? It has always stuck in my mind, especially when I later became a parent myself.

I think there is a great message here however, not just for parents but for anyone in a leadership or management position.

In my coaching work I often come across people who would like to be able to give their team members roots of a secure business background and wings to explore the world and soar to the heights of their own potential. This is an ideal position and, alas, one that a great many people feel they have lost out on. Including myself for a greater part of my career.

It is interesting isn’t it that that many of our attitudes to work, relationships and life in general are coloured by how close our childhood came to this ideal. Any couple can become parents without any training, lessons or experience. Similarly, many people become managers and supervisors without any training or induction into the role. So it is not surprising that many fall short of the perfection that we might have felt was our due.

Let’s continue with the parents and family analogy

The key to overcoming any resentment or regret is forgiveness. After all, what has been done cannot be undone and you are what you are. You are also what you think, so Mothers’ day is a great time to eliminate any negative thinking about your parents or even about bosses who you feel have let you down in the past.

Everyone does the very best that they could with the knowledge that was available to them at the time. Just like you, they only discovered what they didn’t know when they needed to know it - so it is hardly surprising that they may have made a few mistakes along the way. I have to exclude parents who wilfully mistreat their children and bullies on an ego trip from this general observation. These individuals will require a greater effort for forgiveness but it is an effort well worth making.

Some of my coaching clients are held back in achieving the great things in life because there is simply no room to let them in. I see it like this: If you harbour a grudge or resentment it will fester and impact on everything else that you do and that is like trying to cycle uphill with the brakes on. The way to release the brakes is to just let go. If it becomes apparent that a client is being held back by some imagined past injustice I ask them three simple questions:

• Could you let that feeling go?
• Would you let it go?
• When?

Their answers invariably lead to the client becoming aware of the way forward and going for it. This process also has a positive impact for clients who are parents or leaders or managers themselves. In understanding their own parents, they find a greater understanding of their children. In understanding their managers, they find a greater understanding of their own skills and work ethics.

I am always happy to discuss this or other aspects of my approach to coaching, absolutely free of any cost or obligation. He can be contacted during usual office hours on 01633 769657 or through our website.

In the final analysis we all have a choice. We can carry negativity and bitterness with us to the grave or we can decide, right now, to let it go and replace it with happiness and love. Share that love, especially with your parents before it is too late.

Start standing up to the monsters that are holding back your success

Did you know that there are three monsters lurking about in the heart of our shadows and lonely corners of our lives and businesses:

The first monster is fear.

It is simply not the done thing today to name our fears and deal with them now is it? All of us are afraid of the unknown, but instead of telling the fear like it is, we hide and blame others or say that something is impossible to do.

In the safe pair of hands of a good coach you can make magical things happen, what seems impossible suddenly becomes achievable.

The second monster is control.

Many of us are in roles in which we are expected to take control of a situation - parent, carer, teacher, youth leader, manager, business owner, whatever? Effective leadership today however requires people to give up control and share power with those who have been denied it in the past. The first step here is to invite those who have been out to join us at the table. By asking the problems to be part of the solution, we will enter into powerful partnerships for change. We need to support everyone to see what needs to be done, to take ownership of the situation, to help solve the problem and go off to take control over whatever it is that needs to be done. By sharing control we empower both ourselves and our new partners. Everyone wins.

Using organisational development tools can help you face up to the Control Monster.

The third monster is change.

Change, though inevitable, scares us all. We fear change. We are always more comfortable with the status quo. Through working with the Enfys Acumen you can make the change you want explicit, face the fear and then give up the old controls that stop you from moving forward.

Don't let these old monsters hold you back get in touch with the Enfys Acumen today. It does not matter where in the world you are, we can offer you an organisational development and coaching programme that can meet your needs.

The Guy in the Glass

I've just stumbled across this poem. Isn't it great?

The Guy in the Glass

by Dale Wimbrow, (c) 1934

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,

And the world makes you King for a day,

Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,

Who judgement upon you must pass.

The feller whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear up to the end,

And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,

And think you're a wonderful guy,

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

Is procrastination holding you back?

As a coach there are two issues above all others that I am asked by people to help deal with more than any others – the first is work-life balance (or life-work balance as I prefer to call it) and the second big issue is procrastination. Perhaps you are not surprised? Perhaps you are a procrastinator yourself? Don’t worry you are in good company and the habit of putting things off until another day is something we all do at some time or another.

So what exactly is procrastination?

How often do you come into your office, you grab a coffee, sit at your desk and there it is. That task you were going to do yesterday, or was it the day before, or even longer. Every time you see it now, you start feeling the pressure of not having done it. So what do you do? You check your emails, you count your paperclips, your restack a pile of papers – that’s made you feel better hasn’t it? But the important job is still there, waiting for you to get on with it… and so is the pressure and guilt. Ring any bells? That’s procrastination.

How often do you decide to lose some weight? This time you say it is going to be different. You just need to cut out the chocolate biscuits for the next few weeks. Your colleague comes by and offers you a HobNob “Would you like one?” “Oh I shouldn’t, maybe just one won’t hurt.” Ring any bells? That’s procrastination.

You are your own boss, you rely on networking to create more business. You went to a breakfast event and met someone who is interested in what you do and they encouraged you to give them a call. You return to your desk and you intend to follow them up, but you’ll give them a couple of hours to get back to their office – the next thing you know it is 7pm and too late to call. No problem, you will do it tomorrow. Ring any bells? That’s procrastination.

If these scenarios strike a chord with you, you’re not alone. In fact, many people procrastinate to some degree – but some people are so chronically affected by procrastination that it stops them achieving the things they are more than capable of and can severely affect their careers.

The key to overcoming this destructive habit of procrastination is to recognise when it starts, understand why it happens (even to the best of us!) and take some active steps to effectively manage your time and the outcomes you achieve.

Procrastination is evident in individual people and it is also evident in businesses and organisations – quite often I have come across whole cultures of procrastination. Teams of people can get into the rut of putting things off.

So why do you procrastinate?

Procrastinators work as many hours in the day as other people (and often work longer hours), but they invest their time in the wrong tasks. Sometimes this is simply because they don't understand the difference between urgent tasks and important tasks, and jump straight into getting on with urgent tasks that aren't actually important.

Sometimes, procrastinators may feel that they're doing the right thing by reacting fast. Or they may not even think about their approach and simply be driven by the person whose demands are loudest. Either way, by doing this, they have little or no time left for the important tasks, despite the unpleasant outcomes this may bring about.

Another common cause of procrastination is feeling overwhelmed by the task. You may not know where to begin. Or you may doubt that you have the skills or resources you think you need. So you seek comfort in doing tasks you know you're capable of completing.

Unfortunately, the big task isn't going to go away - truly important tasks rarely do.

Other causes of procrastination include:

• Waiting for the right mood or the right time to tackle the important task at hand

• A fear of failure or success

• Underdeveloped decision making skills

• Poor organisational skills and

• Perfectionism - "I don't have the right skills or resources to do this perfectly now, so I won't do it at all"

How can you overcome procrastination?

Whatever the reason behind procrastination, it must be recognised, dealt with and controlled before you miss opportunities or your career or business is put in jeopardy.

First Step: Recognise that you are procrastinating

If you're honest with yourself, you probably know when you are procrastinating. To be sure however, you first need to make sure you know your priorities. Putting off an unimportant task is not necessarily procrastination, it may well be good prioritisation. You might find it helps to check this out with someone whose opinion you trust and respect.

Some useful indicators which will help you pull yourself up as soon as you start procrastinating include:

• Filling your day with low priority tasks

• Reading an e-mail or request that you've noted more than once, without starting work on it or deciding when you're going to start work on it

• Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make a cup of coffee or check your e-mails

• Leaving a task for a long time, even though you know it's important

• Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list

Second Step: Work out why you're procrastinating

Why you procrastinate can depend on both you and the task. It is crucial to understand what the reasons for procrastination are for each situation, so that you can select the best approach for overcoming your reluctance to get going.

Common causes of procrastination were discussed in detail above, but they can often be reduced to two main reasons:

• You find the task unpleasant; or

• You find the task overwhelming

Third Step: Get over it!

If you are putting something off because you just don't want to do it, and you really can't delegate the work to someone else, you need to find ways of motivating yourself to get moving. The following approaches can be helpful here:

• Make up your own rewards

• Ask someone else to check up on you. Peer pressure works! This is the principle behind slimming and other self-help groups, and it is widely recognized as a highly effective approach

• Identify the unpleasant consequences of not doing the task

• Work out the cost of your time to your employer, your business or your customers or clients. As people are paying you to do the things that they think are important, you're not delivering value for money if you're not doing those things. Shame yourself into getting going!

If you're putting off starting a project because you find it overwhelming, you need to take a different approach. Here are some tips:

• Break the project into a set of smaller, more manageable tasks. You may find it helpful to create an action plan

• Start with some quick, small tasks if you can, even if these aren't the logical first actions. You'll feel that you're achieving things, and so perhaps the whole project won't be so overwhelming after all

The cost of procrastinating in your personal and professional life is real and very high:

• Lost relationships, which lead to
• Lost opportunities, which cost you
• Money - all of which creates
• Stress
• Guilt
• Feelings of inadequacy
• Anxiety and
• Low self esteem
  

Sometimes it too difficult to beat procrastination alone, if that is the case for you, the Enfys Acumen can help, why not get in touch for a free taster session.