Make a great first impression

Your relationships and interactions will be a lot easier if you start off strong. Here’s how to do it:

— Do your homework. Know who you’re talking to, what she cares about and the problem she’s trying to solve.

— Exude confidence. It’s normal to be nervous, but you don’t want your anxiety to show. Your body language should be confident and comfortable.

— Engage and be engaging. Draw out the other person. Listen to what she’s saying. Ask thoughtful follow-up questions.

— Follow up. To ensure your first impression sticks, write the person a thank-you note or send an article related to the conversation you had.

(Adapted from How to Make a Great First Impression, by Rebecca Knight)

Get some perspective on your stress

You don’t need to get rid of stress to live a happy, fulfilling life. But you do need to separate yourself from your stress. This doesn’t mean you pretend the stress isn’t there. It means you identify less strongly with the emotion. Instead of thinking ‘I am stressed’, try ‘I feel stressed’. This subtle shift helps you step back so you can gain the perspective needed to move forward. To do this effectively, you have to understand why you’re stressed. Interrogate the feeling, considering the reasons behind your stress, the people who might be causing it and the qualities of the stress experience. How do you behave when you’re stressed? What do you tell yourself when you’re feeling anxious? Recognise the patterns in your responses.

(Adapted from How to Use Stress to Your Advantage, by Susan David)

Combine your customer and employee feedback systems

A lot of insight can be gained from connecting your customer feedback to your employee feedback systems, especially if you flag interactions where your customers’ and employees’ perceptions diverge. So in addition to asking your customers questions like ‘Was your problem solved’ and ‘Are we easy to work with?’ ask your employees ‘Did you solve the problem?’ and ‘Was it easy to access the tools and resources you needed to do it?’ The combined answers will give you more insight into your customers. And managers can use the information to coach employees, assess whether they had the right resources and identify people with innovative ideas and leadership potential.

(Adapted from Listen to Your Employees, Not Just Your Customers, by Beth Benjamin)

How to leave your job gracefully

There are only downsides to burning bridges or destroying relationships. You need to make a graceful exit. So once you’ve given notice to your boss, do the following:

— Create a plan with your boss. Lay out who you’ll tell about your departure and when and how you’ll hand off your work.

— Be positive. Don’t bring up past grievances on the way out. Focus on where you’re headed, so you’re seen as a person seeking new growth opportunities rather than as a disgruntled defector.

— Work hard until your last day. Go out on a high note by making sure that your projects are transferred in a timely and organised fashion.

(Adapted from What to Do After You Tell Your Boss You’re Leaving, Carolyn O’Hara)

Make delegating easier

All managers know they’re supposed to delegate, but too many of them are still doing too much themselves. What’s an overburdened manager supposed to do? First, pay attention. If you’re swamped, and especially if you find yourself having to say no to new work, this is a sign that you may not be delegating enough. Come up with a process that lets you delegate something and be done with it. Delegating well requires efficient, clear communication. Minimise time spent in meetings, but not to the point that you need to have the same conversation twice. And don’t forget to have processes in place to check your staff’s work so that you can trust it. Invest in resources that will make delegation easier. If there’s a new technology that lowers coordination costs and makes collaboration easier, don’t skimp.

(Adapted from Research: Delegating More Can Increase Your Earnings, by Thomas N. Hubbard)

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, December 26th, 2016