Readers Corner

How To Incoporate Play Into The Workplace

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

How To Delegate Effectively

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.

How To Conduct An Exit Interview

Exit interviews are critical to any organisation as they offer opportunity for the employee to discuss their reasons for leaving and enable the organisation to review and improve staff retention policies.This article provides some practical tips for conducting an exit interview.

Adopt a Structured Approach

Don't treat an exit interview in a casual manner or as a formality, ensure that it has a structure and purpose to it. Remember that the more you can find out about why an employee is leaving the more opportunity this gives you to make improvements to the organisation to prevent further resignations.
Perhaps the most useful tool is an exit interview form which lists a series of questions you might want to ask. Take time to prepare your own exit interview form or download a template at.

Ensure Appropriate Staff Conduct the Interview.

Ideally you should always use a neutral third party, perhaps a member of the human resources staff or a senior manager to conduct the exit interview. This needs to be someone who is unconnected or has had little day to day contact with the employee rather than a direct line manager, to encourage them to be as open as possible.

Environment

Getting the right environment is essential to an open and honest discussion. Aim to arrange the interview in a neutral office away from the employees day to day workplace. Ensure that the room is not too imposing or confrontational. This can be done by arranging seating in a circle rather than having the employee facing a panel of managers.

Remember if the employee has been particularly hardworking it is better to leave them with a positive picture of the organization and to leave the door open for them to return if it doesn't work out at their new place of work.

Guarantee Confidentiality

Whilst the employee may be leaving the organization, it is important to guarantee confidentiality of their exit interview discussion to encourage them to be as open as possible. Staff will soon learn not to reveal their real reasons for leaving If they hear about why other colleagues have left from gossiping exit interviewers.

Arrange Exit Interviews in the Final Week of Employment.

Timing is important for an exit interview to be effective. Don't rush to conduct the exit interview as soon as the employee resigns as they may not be as open about their real reasons for leaving if they know they still have four weeks of work remaining. They may fear that information could leek to colleagues about their reasons for leaving or that they will be treated harshly for the remainder of their time with the organization.

Don't Get Defensive

During the interview their will undoubtedly be things said by the employee about the organization or working practices that you don't like. Don't become defensive as this will simply lead to a confrontational situation. Remember you want the employee to be as honest as possible so listen carefully. You can always seek to verify information after the employee has left and the details they provide may prove beneficial to improving staff retention in the future.

Keep a Written Record

Having a written record of the exit interview is essential to enable you to act on concerns raised to reduce the chances of other staff leaving.

Summary

Remember that exit interviews are all about understanding why employees leave so that you can take actions to improve organizational practices.

How To Manage Organisational Change

Change management is a difficult and demanding process to pursue within an organisational context, not least because employees often find it difficult coping with change. This article seeks to provide some clear practical tips for managing the change management process.

Encourage Employee Participation

One of the major employee concerns related to organisational change is fear of the unknown. Employees want to know whether their job is safe and how change will physically impact upon their day to day work life.

The biggest problem is that organisations regularly fail to recognise these concerns, but a good management team will encourage employees to participate in the process through focus groups and by consulting with and involving employees in the change management plans. This encourages ownership of the change process by employees which in turn reduces resistance to change and enables the process to move more swiftly.

Clear Communication

Management should seek to produce and distribute evidence to support change. If employees understand the reasons behind the changes then they are more likely to respond positively. Don't presume staff are unwilling to change. If for example the organisation is making losses and changes to operating procedures are required to ensure that ob losses don't occur, then most staff are likely to embrace changes to secure long term stability.

Appoint a Change Champion

Change Champions are simply individuals who are tasked with driving forward or championing, the change process. They need to be charismatic, approachable individuals with an ability to win over sceptics. This person can either be a respected employee from within the organisation or an experienced external candidate , but the most important factor is that they must be committed to the change process.

Timetable for Change

Producing a timetable for change is essential so that employees understand that is a carefully considered process rather than a knee jerk reaction to market events. Good planning and clear communication to staff of the timetable will ensure a smooth change process.

Copy examples of good practice

Organisations shouldn't feel that they have to reinvent the wheel each time that they implement a change program. Look for examples of good practice from previous successful change management programmes, both within or external to, the organisation. Use these examples to inform your change management plan.

Recruit Expertise in Change Management.

If it is the first major change management program that has been undertaken within the organisation, consider either hiring in expertise in the form of a management consultant or recruit an experienced change manager to implement the process. Whilst this may seem expensive in the short term, this should be contrasted with the cost of loss of productivity and de-motivation of staff caused by a badly managed change programme.

Don't change too many things at once

Employees need time to adjust to change so avoid changing too many things at once as this will lead to greater anxiety within the workforce, which is likely to negatively effect performance and productivity. Having a flexible timetable for change will enable a phased approach to change management to be adopted .

Consider a pathfinder change programme first.

This simply means trialling the change process in one area of the business or location first. It is referred to as a pathfinder programme because you can monitor the effectiveness of the change and use it as a guide for the rest of the organisation. Adjustments can be made before you roll out the wholesale change programme within the wider organisational context.

• Previous Posts:

• How To Incoporate Play Into The Workplace
• How To Delegate Effectively
• How To Conduct An Exit Interview
• How To Manage Organisational Change
• How To Foster Self Initiative In The Workplace
• How To Conduct Annual Reviews
• How To Write An Employee Handbook
• How To Tell If You Are A Good Friend

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