Archive | December, 2011

Networking tips (5) Cementing the relationship: part follow-up, part imagination

16 Dec Meet

Hi! Here’s one more blog post on networking, and how you can make the most out of your professional connections.

There’s a lot to say on this subject, so I’ve broken it down into short, fifteen-minute blog posts. That’s my plan in this space: a short snippet, a single idea that motivates you. This blog is about work, purpose and time, and I hope it lights a fire under you to start making more connections and finding greater purpose and accomplishment at work.

So, networking. Lots of people tell you about how to do it, but few focus on the most critical part: following up.

That’s where some of the best introductions fall apart, because the high you might have been feeling about meeting a great potential business service provider or client becomes a low driven by false promises. Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

Networking tips (4) Gracefully ignore your colleagues and interrupters

15 Dec Biz networking2

Hi. I’m back to talk networking again, with the help of two experts I interviewed for a magazine article about this topic.

What’s your networking style? Do you tend to work the room methodically, or bounce around? Do you seek out people you know, or intentionally meet people you don’t know?

I tend to do the latter, introducing myself with a simple, “Hi, I’m Heidi, and I don’t think we’ve met before.”

I view networking as an essential aspect of my job, and I wear event nametags with pride. As a reporter for The Business Journal of Portland, I needed to know the who’s who of Portland-area real estate and development professionals.

As marketing and research director for Colliers International’s Portland office (the first of four roles I’ve held), I served on several professional association committees (including one that hosted “grip & grin” political events) and I was constantly looking for opportunities to build more bridges.

I recognize that networking is not easy. Continue reading →

Tags: , , , ,

Networking tips (3) Turn their event into your event

14 Dec Event

Hello! Blog post three of five on networking. Time to get out and meet some people!

But before you do, heed these warnings. Yesterday, I posted about ten tips on networking. Today, I’m adding a few more tips of what not to do, plus one big admonition about how to convert an event sponsored by, hosted by and paid for by someone else…into your own shindig. Really.

Here goes:

Don’t be anonymous. Wear your name tag prominently on your right-hand breast pocket, which is the location a person’s eyes naturally fall when shaking your had. Additionally, wearing a company logo lapel pin reinforces your company’s brand image. Visual cues like these help people learn your name and company faster—building your identity in the market faster.

Don’t be caught with your hands full. Food and beverages at networking events can make it hard for you to shake hands and exchange business cards. Juggle only one at a time (either a glass or a cocktail plate) to leave your right hand free for shaking and giving out business cards.

I always Continue reading →

Tags: , , , ,

Networking tips (2) Beware of the butt-shaped business card

13 Dec Net 2 Hello

Hi there! If you read my last blog post on networking, then I’m hoping you’ve already registered for an upcoming event aligned with your industry or professional goals.

I see a lot of networking events in my city, but my favorites to attend are those with a limited formal program—the more mingling, the better.

That’s the reason I prompted my company to sponsor the Fastest-Growing Private 100 Companies event run by the Portland Business Journal … it’s 700-plus business leaders attending a three-hour event with little more than a twenty-minute awards program.

It doesn’t get much better than that. But there’s strategy that goes into attending these enormous events, and I wanted to share some key mistakes I’ve seen. Today, I’m offering the first ten, with more coming tomorrow. Here goes:

Don’t run out of cards. Bring at least 30 new business cards and, for large events, bring extra. If it feels too bulky, you can leave a spare stack in your overcoat in the cloakroom. Consider that many events, such as those where vendors host booths, ask you to Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

Networking tips (1) How picking pink can help you meet more people

12 Dec Biz networking

This week I’m unplugging, taking my family to Hawaii for ten days of swimming, napping, swimming and more napping. Bliss.

But I didn’t want to disconnect entirely, because I have been thinking lately about networking. I recently ran into one of the most successful commercial real estate brokers in Portland at my son’s preschool (turns out, his kid goes there, too), and it reminded me of how disconnected I allowed myself to become.

For the year following the birth of each of my children, I chose to retire from extracurricular activities such as professional associations and serving on committees because I felt like I didn’t have a single.extra.minute to spare.

Running into the broker reminded me of the people and relationships I missed while away, and now that my daughter is one, I’m making a conscious effort to reconnect with these colleagues.

It’s a tough process. You have to make an effort.

With that in mind, I contacted a few experts on networking Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

Ten more work-from-home tips (what are you missing?)

2 Dec WFH coffee

I honestly couldn’t believe it when I sat down to blog for fifteen minutes on “work from home tips” how many would swiftly come to me. I ran out of time (the fifteen minutes per day I set aside for blogging) before I ran out of tips yesterday, so today, here are ten more:

  1. Buy a beautiful water pitcher, put cut lemons or cucumber in it, and put it in your line of vision to help you instill good habits (drinking lots of water).
  2. Make your walls work, too. On a wall near your workspace, install a magnetic white board, use it to write up key projects or things you’re thinking about. I also like long, magnetic strips that I can easily clip papers to. Don’t forget to hang professional certificates, plaques, etc., just like a “real” office. The more real you make it, the more it will serve your purpose: inspiring work.
  3. Avoid housework during the day, or just schedule yourself thirty minutes to do it. I sometimes tidy up the kitchen while waiting for my lunch to cook, but little else. I have a housekeeper come every other week so I can maintain my focus where it belongs.
  4. You probably won’t take a lunch break, so take a SOMETHING break. When my daughter was tiny, I scheduled a mommy-baby outing, like meeting other moms or taking the baby swimming once per week for two hours, instead of going out to lunch once per day for a whole lunch hour. (Here, I laugh, thinking of how infrequently I did that when I was in a corporate office.)
  5. Eliminate distractions. Don’t even consider trying to work with kids around. Your work will be sub-par because your focus just won’t be there. Don’t work with TV on in the background. I love reading blogs and playing on Facebook, but I focus that time in short, 15-minute spurts during a break.
  6. Shop for food carefully. You have the freedom to eat anything in your fridge, not have to pack lunch, and cook your lunch. Use it and shop accordingly and help your diet along, then you can splurge a bit extra when you go out.
  7. Have happy hour with friends often. It makes you stop work and gets you out. Also, be sure to schedule regular coffee dates, lunches, and attend networking events to stay connected to professionals in your area.
  8. Walk 10,000 steps per day. One of my best mentors is a strong advocate for this, but it’s easy to walk only 1,000 or 2,000 steps per day if you’re working from home, because even the walk from the parking garage to the office counts as exercise from those who don’t WFH. Get a pedometer to keep track, or find another physical challenge. You must make it a point to exercise and be active.
  9. Connect with your colleagues. Use every tool you can—email, IM, Skype, social networks like Yammer, webinars and desktop sharing to be as connected as possible to your work people by communicating proactively about projects. I am obsessive about being on time for meetings to ensure folks feel that I am here, present and without distractions.
  10. Put everything in the cloud, so when your laptop dies, you’re not toast. I love the integration of Dropbox with my iPad, iPhone and PC laptop.

Finally, here’s one bonus note: Working from home is an enormous privilege, and one I don’t take lightly. I started doing it because I couldn’t physically move to Seattle to accept a job promotion, so it was a compromise to stay with my company.

Therefore, when I do travel for work, I do my best to never complain. Sure, I have my share of drama en route when I travel to our global headquarters office in Seattle on a regular basis, and I hate spending nights away from my family. However, I will gladly take these hassles on a monthly or twice-monthly basis as a great trade-off for the hassles of commuting on a daily basis.

If you’ve worked from home, I’m sure you have more tips and ideas. Share them in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Busting the myth of “PJs, soaps and bon-bons” for work-from-home

1 Dec WFH laptop

Hi! I’m here with another fifteen minutes about work, purpose and time.

I’ve been thinking a lot about productivity, especially since I work from home and am always trying to make a greater impact with the hours I have. Ultimately, I am not judged by how long my rear is parked in my chair, but by the quality and quantity of my final deliverables.

Perception vs. reality - this might be how some people imagine working from home, but the reality (at least for me), is and must be intensely focused.

Often, when I tell people I work from home, they say, “Oh, that must be nice. Working in your PJs, setting your own schedule.” The implication is that it’s easier than working from an office.

But after five years of doing this, I conclude that’s it’s just the opposite. Although WFH creates tremendous freedom, it comes with a price: tremendous accountability.

That means if you beat your head against a brick wall for forty hours trying to produce something that really should have only taken eight, that’s what you get credit for. Eight hours. And no matter how hard you worked on that forty-hour project, everyone will assume you spent eight hours working and the other thirty-two watching soaps and eating bonbons.

It’s often a can’t-win situation. So, if you work from home sometimes or all the time, here are a few tips I’ve developed to help me make the most of my time.

  1. Establish a work schedule. Since I generally need to end my workday by 5:30 or 6:00 because that’s when daycare closes, I often do extra work in the evenings after the kids are in bed.
  2. Set limits. I am willing to answer my office and mobile phones outside of work hours, but I don’t answer during dinner, don’t obsessively check email while away, and I rarely work weekends to maintain balance.  
  3. Jealously guard your workspace. Make it the prettiest, tidiest, most user-friendly area in your house. I painted my office terra cotta orange, bought a custom desk, got dimmer lights and more.
  4. Keep up appearances. My home office is in a very large bedroom—so large it accommodates a 13-foot L-shaped desk, two monitors, two printers, four filing cabinets, two book shelves, a white board and two cork boards. It looks like a real office. The problem is, the room is so large that we put an extra bed on the opposite side (we have a separate guest bedroom). Since my webcam is set up on my computer monitors, it points away from my great desk and office space, and directly toward the bed. It looks like I’m attending a meeting from a bedroom (so tacky!). So, I hung a small curtain rod in the middle of my ceiling and bought two beautiful silk drapes. Now, on videoconferences, I look like I’m in a studio.

    Do NOT work from the couch. It will kill your back.

  5. Invest in your space. Buy a space heater, foot stool, cozy blanket, coffee warmer or whatever to keep yourself comfy and at your desk. Don’t work from your couch, it will kill your back and arms.
  6. Establish a hygiene routine. For me, it works to get up, immediately review and reply to e-mail, check my daily calendar, then go get ready, shower, change and eat breakfast.
  7. Think differently about wardrobe. Instead of a workweek/weekend division in your clothes, your closet will morph into ultra-casual (think yoga pants) for WFH, cute casual (jeans and jackets) for any reason to leave your home, and dress-up (for office visits/going out). Keep your PJs as PJs (that is, always dress for work, even if it’s just yoga pants), and always dress well when leaving the house or having people over.
  8. Dress nicer than necessary when visiting an office. They’ll think of you that way even when you’re at home in yoga pants.
  9. Open your windows, be sure you get a lot of sun and connect to the outside. Otherwise, you might start to feel like a mole underground. My desk overlooks my whole backyard and some seriously busy squirrels.
  10. Light a candle while you work. Let it be a centering reminder of what’s important. I also use a handwritten task list to keep me focused.

I’m out of time, but not out of tips. (Again, working from home demands I’m strict with myself about time management.) Tomorrow, I’ll be back with ten more ways you can improve your work-from-home experience and productivity.

What is your work from home experience? What tips do you have to share? Comment below!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: