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Click Board! After Action Review Source The After Action Review is a extremely highly effective technique that helps teams and organizations learn how to achieve excellence. This .pdf file has the basic idea. http://www.fireleadership.g ov/toolbox/after_action_re view/aar.pdf The Art of Conversation Here is a guide for the shy person. What do you say after you say hello? What would you say after you said hello to Paul McCartney? Michael Jordan? Be prepared. http://www.entertainmates. com/experts/conversation. asp |
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Well-Spoken
"Good teaching is
one-fourth preparation
and three-fourths pure
theatre>"
Gail Goodwin
"No one realizes how
beautiful it is to travel
until he comes home
and rests his head on
his old, familiar
pillow."
Lin Yutang
"Good teaching is
one-fourth preparation
and three-fourths pure
theatre>"
Gail Goodwin
"No one realizes how
beautiful it is to travel
until he comes home
and rests his head on
his old, familiar
pillow."
Lin Yutang
ManagerZine Favorite:
New College Graduates: How
Do You Like The Real World
Of Work?
At the end of the wonderful French movie, L’Auberge
Espanole, a young college graduate is shown showing
up for work in a tomb-like, corporate glass and steel
office. His new boss awkwardly crushes him with an
embrace in his stiff, new suit, the drab office workers
enthusiastically describe what the different color folders
on his desk mean and then exchange opinions about
the best setting for the air conditioner. “Two” seems to
be the consensus.
When the workers look up from adjusting the
thermostat, the new employee is gone. The next scene
shows him frantically running…away.
New college graduates are coming into a world of work
that is purposeful, efficient and frequently relentless. It’s
surprising that more of them don’t leave after their first
morning. The transition to adult employment is abrupt
and, for many, a dismal and permanent change to their
lives.
Doesn’t it make sense for employers to look at the
impact this transition has on graduates? It would be
helpful to know what those “thermostat” moments are,
making it easier to soften the landing.
In our study of recent college graduates, we asked
these new workers to identify the biggest surprises and
disappointments they experienced when they settled
into their cubicles. What they said was interesting, if not
provocative.
Probably the biggest surprise about going to work was
how hard life had suddenly become. To many, just
getting a job had been a long and difficult process.
Some reported taking work in a field they didn’t want
and didn’t plan to stay in “for the rest of my days.”
When graduates did get a job, there was little free time;
people reported they were not used to being anywhere
for eight hours at a time and actually heads down
working for the whole time. One person found it hard to
get his mind around the idea that he had to be at work
“no matter what.” “Someone was expecting me to be
somewhere at a certain time with no flexibility and no
rescheduling. That’s different for me,” said a new worker.
Another said that the magnitude of projects and amount
of work that had to be done was something he was
“totally unprepared for”. Indeed, life had changed; new
workers didn’t have the energy they had at school, they
didn’t exercise as much, they came home pretty
exhausted. No more naps during the day; no more
schmoozing with friends. Work schedules found former
night owls needing to get to bed early and forgoing a
social life for the sake of getting up with a clear head.
Work had taken time away from their lives.
Of course, instead of being overwhelmed by the
change, these new hires can chose a productive
response. They can build exercise into their schedules,
ask for help or offer their time on an interesting project
and figure out how to adapt to the loss of so much free
time. Action, although perhaps hard to take on during
overwhelm, is hard. At the same time, it is what will make
a difference in easing the transition from student to
employee.
And, what are we, people who have been in the
organization for years doing to recognize the
“thermostat” syndrome and help them?
New College Graduates: How
Do You Like The Real World
Of Work?
At the end of the wonderful French movie, L’Auberge
Espanole, a young college graduate is shown showing
up for work in a tomb-like, corporate glass and steel
office. His new boss awkwardly crushes him with an
embrace in his stiff, new suit, the drab office workers
enthusiastically describe what the different color folders
on his desk mean and then exchange opinions about
the best setting for the air conditioner. “Two” seems to
be the consensus.
When the workers look up from adjusting the
thermostat, the new employee is gone. The next scene
shows him frantically running…away.
New college graduates are coming into a world of work
that is purposeful, efficient and frequently relentless. It’s
surprising that more of them don’t leave after their first
morning. The transition to adult employment is abrupt
and, for many, a dismal and permanent change to their
lives.
Doesn’t it make sense for employers to look at the
impact this transition has on graduates? It would be
helpful to know what those “thermostat” moments are,
making it easier to soften the landing.
In our study of recent college graduates, we asked
these new workers to identify the biggest surprises and
disappointments they experienced when they settled
into their cubicles. What they said was interesting, if not
provocative.
Probably the biggest surprise about going to work was
how hard life had suddenly become. To many, just
getting a job had been a long and difficult process.
Some reported taking work in a field they didn’t want
and didn’t plan to stay in “for the rest of my days.”
When graduates did get a job, there was little free time;
people reported they were not used to being anywhere
for eight hours at a time and actually heads down
working for the whole time. One person found it hard to
get his mind around the idea that he had to be at work
“no matter what.” “Someone was expecting me to be
somewhere at a certain time with no flexibility and no
rescheduling. That’s different for me,” said a new worker.
Another said that the magnitude of projects and amount
of work that had to be done was something he was
“totally unprepared for”. Indeed, life had changed; new
workers didn’t have the energy they had at school, they
didn’t exercise as much, they came home pretty
exhausted. No more naps during the day; no more
schmoozing with friends. Work schedules found former
night owls needing to get to bed early and forgoing a
social life for the sake of getting up with a clear head.
Work had taken time away from their lives.
Of course, instead of being overwhelmed by the
change, these new hires can chose a productive
response. They can build exercise into their schedules,
ask for help or offer their time on an interesting project
and figure out how to adapt to the loss of so much free
time. Action, although perhaps hard to take on during
overwhelm, is hard. At the same time, it is what will make
a difference in easing the transition from student to
employee.
And, what are we, people who have been in the
organization for years doing to recognize the
“thermostat” syndrome and help them?