Readers CornerJ Dawkins (1,126)    http://www.writemyreview.com How To Incoporate Play Into The WorkplacePosted Monday, October 29, 2007 (251 days 11 hours ago.) Viewed 95 times. Having fun at work is an important element in maintaining morale and boosting productivity. Sterile, dull and play free working environments are likely to lead to an increased turnover of staff, because staff like to socialise at work. This article examines some practical ways in which play can be incorporated in the workplace for the benefit of both the employer and the employee. Designate Play Zones One of the biggest problems with staff engaging in non work activities is that they can disturb other employees around them who are tying to work. Organisations need to designate zones where staff can switch off from work for thirty minutes without it impacting upon other employees. Consider creating a games room that can be equipped with pool tables, entertainment systems, sofa's and an ample supply of refreshments. By doing this staff will quickly associate their desk with work and are likely to be more respectful of those around them. Designate Play Periods A good employer will quickly realise the positive effect play has on staff morale and will seek to designate specific periods in the working day for this activity. Overworked staff are likely to try and take time out to have fun anyway but formalising it in this way reduces the potential for staff to waste further work time. The time that employees are least productive is immediately after lunch and scheduling thirty minutes non work time is a clever way of allowing staff to let off steam without effecting productivity. The other alternative is to encourage staff to take an additional thirty minutes time out when they decide they need it. Organised activities. Consider organising formal activities during staff breaks which employees can participate in. Pool competitions, running clubs, football games, aerobic workouts, yoga or pilates sessions or gym sessions can all help staff to let off steam. Exercise increases the heart rate which in turn boosts concentration levels and these organised activities can have a real positive effect on productivity and encourage team building among staff. Better still why not ask staff to volunteer to run these activities so that they take ownership of them. Charity Events These can be an excellent way of incorporating play into the workplace whilst boosting the organisation's image. Set a specific day each month, such as the last Friday in the month, and allow staff to dress down and wear casual clothes on that day if they pay $2 to a chosen charity. Invite local press to the event and get community groups involved. This way staff can enjoy themselves, raise money for charity and the organisation can reap the benefits of a positive corporate image, everybody wins. Facilities. Remember that staff only get involved in organised activities if they have appropriate changing or shower facilities. No one wants to engage in a physical activity in their work clothes and then sit sweating in the office for the rest of the afternoon 
Permalink Comments (0) How To Conduct A First InterviewPosted Monday, October 29, 2007 (251 days 11 hours ago.) Viewed 18 times. The key to conducting a first interview is creating the right impression of your organisation. An interview is a shop window for your organisation and dealing with interview candidates in a respectful manner communicates as much as what you say during the interview itself. Before the Interview: Keep Reception Staff Informed There is nothing more unprofessional and off putting to a potential employee than arriving on the day of the interview to discover that the reception staff have not been informed that they are scheduled to attend. Ensure that simple communication occurs between the interviewer and reception staff. Appropriate Environment Ensure that the interview takes place in an environment that is conducive to an hour long discussion. This means ensuring that the temperature is regulated appropriately, to avoid it being too hot or too cold. If you know that there may be a problem in this area make alternative arrangements or get heating/air conditioning units repaired immediately. Ensure that the interview room is free from odour, especially if a number of interviews have been taking place. There is nothing more off putting to an interviewee than being directed into a room that reeks of body odour or sweat. In relation to seating arrangements ensure that there is sufficient seating available and that it is good quality, not just a stool or an old battered chair with torn fabric. The room itself should be clean and tidy and it is advised that you briefly check that it is in good order before bringing the interviewee through in the first instance. Good Planning Conducting a professional interview takes time to master and only continued practice will hone your skills. Ensure that you plan a basic structure to the interview before it takes place, a suggested format is listed below to help you get started: - Introduce Yourself Take some time to think about five questions you want to ask during interview and have these written down ready. During the Interview: Greeting the Interviewee When you meet the interviewee for the first time ensure that you give a firm handshake. Don't crush their fingers, it's not a wrestling match! It is also important that they feel welcomed as this communicates something about the culture of your organisation, so smile and be positive, even if you don't feel like it. Make the interviewee feel that they are the first person you've interviewed today, even if in reality you have seen many more. Remember the more you can put the interviewee at ease, the more they will open up to you in interview enabling you to obtain the information you need to make the right hiring decision. Use of appropriate interview questions A good interviewer will aim to enable the interviewee to talk for approximately 65% of the interview. This is important because you need to find out as much information from the interviewee in the short amount of time you have with them. To enable you to do this use open questions designed to give the interviewee plenty of scope to talk. Example Open Questions - Tell me about your current role - Tell me about your team leading experience - How did you go about dealing with difficult customers? Closed Questions Try to avoid closed questions, which are designed to ensure a specific response. Whilst these can be useful for verifying qualifications or checking exact experience levels, they will quickly stifle discussion if used to excess. Example Closed Questions - Are you James Turner? - Do you have a degree? Avoid Leading Questions Leading questions rarely have a place in an interview because more often that not they are based upon imposing the interviewers stereotypes and values structure upon the interviewee. They are also confrontational and are demeaning to the interviewee and may quickly lead to a formal complaint being lodged or offer grounds for appeal under anti discrimination legislation. Example Leading Questions - I presume you applied for this position because you're unhappy with your current employer Ask for Specific Examples. The key skills that differentiates a good interviewer from a great one is the ability to encourage and extract specific examples that evidence the skills of the interviewee. Whilst it may be beneficial to ask an interviewee what they did in their last job it is much better to ask more specific questions that evidence skills required for doing the doing. For example if you are looking for an IT project manager the key skills to do the job may include - Ability to plan and co-ordinate So why not ask specific questions around these core skills, for example - Can you tell me about a time when you had to manage a project, what did you do? - Can you tell me about a time when you were responsible for managing staff, what happened? - Tell me about a time when you had to manage a complex project, what did you do?<br> Summary Conducting a first interview can be a difficult process but this article has attempted to provide practical tips and examples to enable you to get off to the best possible start.
Permalink Comments (0) How To Delegate EffectivelyPosted Monday, October 29, 2007 (251 days 11 hours ago.) Viewed 30 times. Lets face it, in an ideal world we would all like to do everything to the highest possible standard, but in reality work pressures and deadlines mean that we have to become professional jugglers of our workload. If used wisely delegation can help us make the best possible use of our time as well as nurturing the skills of colleagues by giving them opportunity to gain different experiences. This article provides some practical tips to help you delegate with confidence. 1. Is the task or project suitable to delegate? Successful delegation can only occur if the task is suitable for delegation in the first instance. Think about the experience of your staff and the scale or complexity of the task. Are you setting a more junior employee, up to fail by delegating a task that is simply to large for them to handle? 2. Clearly describe the task and check understanding It is always important to communicate delegated tasks to staff in a clear manner and remains your responsibility to check that they have understood what is required. This avoids time being wasted correcting errors caused by poor communication. Always provide a written brief of the delegated task to avoid confusion. 3. Explain why the task needs completing and why you chose a particular employee Employees work better when they can understand why they are undertaking a task. Take time to help them understand why they have been given the task, perhaps to help them develop their experience or because of your complete trust in their abilities. Doing this will improve their commitment to the task and boost its chances of success and ultimately their respect for you. 4. Hand over control, but maintain responsibility It is important to hand over the control of a delegated task and allow the employee to adopt their own approach to completing it, but you must retain ultimate responsibility. This requires you to make clear to the employee that you are available to offer support and advice to keep them on track, but that you trust them to achieve the objective through the most appropriate means. There is nothing worse than having a task delegated to you only to have continued interference on how it is carried out. 5. Set a timescale Always set a timetable for achieving the task, but be willing to be guided by the employee as to whether this is realistic. 6. Delegate to Develop Whilst there will be times that repetitive or dull tasks need to be delegated to free up your time, look for opportunities to delegate more interesting tasks to help employees to develop their skills. A good manager will seek to empower staff and increase their experience by selective delegation and observe how they respond. This can be a really useful tool to help identify future managers. 7. Spread the Risk If you are required to delegate a particularly complex task, consider whether it can be broken up into a series of smaller tasks to enable a number of staff to complete the work. This may be particularly beneficial if you are unsure whether one employee is capable of managing a complex task and it reduces the risk of failure by sharing it between a number of competent employees. 8. Progress Reports Once you have delegated a task ensure that you agree regular review periods for progress reports. This is essential to ensure that the task is progressing as expected and allows for corrective action to be taken if required or for timescales to be re-negotiated. 9. Allow for mistakes to occur Don't expect too much of an employee to soon and expect that they are likely to make mistakes on a delegated task along the way. Remember that it is not so much the mistake that is important but the way in which they overcome the problem and learn from it. A delegated task is rarely problem free.
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