In today’s workplace, if you don't control your schedule, it will control you.

How do you balance the necessary evils of meetings, email, team chat, and "busy work" with focused time for the things you truly care about?  We need concrete strategies to help us focus in a world designed to distract us.

Time blocking is a simple, yet effective way to take back control of your workday. 

Try time blocking if you...

• Juggle many different projects/responsibilities 
• Spend too much time in “reactive mode”, responding to email and messages
• Find their day chopped up by meetings
• Battle constant interruptions throughout the day
• Struggle to find the time and mental space for big-picture thinking

Time blocking is a time management method that asks you to divide your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task or group of tasks. Instead of keeping an open-ended to-do list of things you’ll get to as you’re able, you’ll start each day with a concrete schedule that lays out what you’ll work on and when.

The key is prioritizing your task list in advance. A dedicated weekly review is a must. Ask yourself what’s coming up for the week ahead and make a rough sketch of your time blocks for each day. At the end of each work day, review any tasks you didn’t finish — as well as any new tasks that have come in — and adjust your time blocks for the rest of the week accordingly.

With days that are time blocked in advance, you won’t have to constantly make choices about what to focus on. All you need to do is follow your time blocked schedule. If you get off-task or distracted, simply look at your schedule and get back to whichever task you blocked off time for.  

So start blocking time today.

Achieving success in sales isn’t easy. Rejection, disappointment, and frustration are constant companions on the road to sales success. 

That said, there are ways to get sales agents to produce more sales. The key is having a sales manager who has a variety of skills to lead their team. One of the most important skills is sales coaching.

What Is Sales Coaching?

Sales coaching is a one-on-one process where a manager and their peer work together to improve performance. Coaching emphasizes asking questions and helping a person to identify ways to improve. Rather than handing down advice, sales coaching helps the salesperson identify solutions which results in their motivation to take control of their next actions.  

Here are 3 coaching strategies:

Strategy 1: Start with Activity

Inadequate sales activity is the root cause of many sales problems. For example, a salesperson becomes consumed with addressing a complex issue for a current customer for a week. As a result, the agent’s good prospecting habits may become inconsistent. Also, salespeople might get discouraged if they receive a harsh response to a cold call or proposal.

Use the following question to coach salespeople to improve their activity levels:

• How many sales calls (emails, messages, etc) did you send this week? 
• How does that compare to the week before?
• How many sales appointments did you have with prospects last week?
• What is your process for completing follow-up?
• What strategies do you use to recover from disappointments?

As the conversation evolves, the agent may realize that insufficient sales activity hurts their results. If this is the case, ask the salesperson to set an achievable short-term goal (e.g., “I will contact ten prospects in the next two days”) and report back. 

Strategy 2: Coaching for Sales Technique

In other situations, the volume of sales activity is not the problem. You might see reports from the daily High Payoff Activity Guide or CRM that show high levels of sales activity. If that activity level is not paying off in appointments, reservations, contracts, or closed deals, sales technique may be the challenge.

Reference these sales coaching questions in your next one-on-one to help your agent improve their technique.

• What are some of the most common questions or objections you hear from prospects? 
• Do you have notes or a script to help you?
• How do you prepare for a sales meeting?
• What aspect of the sales process do you find most challenging or frustrating?

As you work through these questions, it is vital to listen with empathy. Asking a salesperson to speak about areas where they are struggling may be stressful. 

Strategy 3: Coaching for Well-being

Even with the best technique and numbers in the world, health difficulties make it tough to win in sales. That’s why sales coaching with well-being in mind is worthwhile. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 21% of all adults experience mental illness each year. 

Coaching for well-being is a newer strategy. Not all managers are confident in having discussions about mental health, and not all salespeople want to talk about it. Given these realities, an indirect approach to focusing on wellbeing and healthy habits may help. 

Put these tips into action to encourage your sales team to improve their well-being.

• Self-reflect on the example you are setting as a sales leader. Your team is watching how you work and talk to guide their work. 

Share personal stories and strategies when appropriate. In a oen-on-one setting, consider opening up about how you manage stress. For example, you might share how you’ve developed healthy routines like limiting caffeine intake and exercising to keep yourself in good health.

• Take the time to listen during one-on-one meetings. Effective sales coaching requires a fairly high degree of emotional intelligence. If you see your direct report looks unusually tired, they might have been up late dealing with a family crisis or another difficulty. In that case, it’s not the right time to dive into a detailed discussion of sales metrics. Instead, taking the time to listen and offer encouragement can be extremely helpful.

Sales Coaching Isn’t the Answer to Every Problem

There’s no question that sales coaching is powerful. When sales professionals and managers receive constructive feedback, there is every chance that you can improve. While sales managers should do everything to support their staff, coaching is not a magic bullet. In some cases, a person might not be a good fit for the sales profession.

Before you replace an under-functioning salesperson, take some time to reflect on the situation. For example, ask yourself if the situation might have gone differently if you had asked better questions in the recruiting process or provided better feedback.

Gen Zers define themselves by their work, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. These individuals are digital natives who deeply value face-to-face contact.

So, what does this mean for your training programs?

It means a shift that incorporates the latest technologies, but also fulfills a desire for human contact. Your Gen Z training must acknowledge that while these new workers crave information, they also know how to find answers. They’ll be easily distracted if your training isn’t informative and engaging.  So, what do you do?

1. Engage through cross-training

To engage learners, Gen Z training has to do more than match a job description. They want to continue to accumulate a variety of skills, so offer training that extends their capabilities. For example, provide your sales trainees with marketing training, and your data people with sales skills.

Cross-training also fits perfectly into a future of work. The type of diverse training programs that Gen Z demands will prepare your entire workforce for what’s to come. They’ll be more flexible, adaptable, and better positioned for the future.

2. Use videos 

Gen Zers love Instagram and Snapchat, and Tiktok is one of their favorite apps.  They watch an average of 68 videos a day. That means Gen Z training has to be visual. Videos are especially useful for online training, particularly when it comes to how-to instructions.

3. Create immersive learning experiences

Gen Z is not a passive generation, so training can’t be passive either. They’re independent and adept at getting the answers for themselves, and they want hands-on training they can fully immerse themselves in. 

4. Leverage bite-sized learning

The real challenge of training Gen Z will be capturing and keeping their attention. Used to switching between devices (smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, and tablet) and spending 6 to 9 hours consuming entertainment media, you’ll have to work hard for that attention.

Microlearning can help. Deliver learning in quick, tightly focused bites that can be consumed in minutes rather than hours. This type of training feeds both the Gen Z need for instant information and their wavering attention span.

5. Add a human touch to your training

Gen Z appreciates human connections, and they are masters at networking. Seventy-two percent of them actually prefer face-to-face communication at work.  

Gen Z sees virtual environments as a natural way to extend their relationship with others, and so should you. Mentorship programs, either in-person or virtual, could help connect younger generations with your more experienced workforce.

Conclusion

Training Gen Z is a challenge, but meeting that challenge can have tremendous payoffs for your entire workforce and the growth of your company. Adjusting your training to meet the needs of Gen Z won’t just engage your Gen Z employees, it will help your organization prepare to be a workplace of the future.

“Millennials” have been a frequent topic of discussion for many managers over the last few years.  It’s hard to believe that some millennials have been in the workforce for over ten years.   

If you’ve hired inexperienced employees recently, chances are you have a few twenty-somethings currently on your team. There’s a lot of bad press about this age group, so I’d like to talk about how you can successfully hire and manage these team members.

As a consultant, I often hear about how challenging it is to integrate young people into the work force. Armed with the right attitude and fresh knowledge, it doesn’t have to be difficult at all. Here are five tips to get moving in the right direction:

1. Don’t make assumptions or believe stereotypes. A big shift has taken place in the world of work. The Millennial generation—those born roughly between 1980 and 1998—is now the largest demographic in the workforce. This trend will continue, with immigration adding more numbers to this group. The Millennial population in the United States is projected to peak in 2036 at 81.1 million.

Take a minute for that to sink in. 

In addition to overtaking the Baby Boomers in population size, twenty-somethings are more racially and ethnically diverse than the other adult generations. Once you factor in the diversity of life experiences, along with personality variations that occur across all populations, it becomes clear that managing them as individuals is the best approach.

2. Know who you are and how you are wired to manage. Just as individuals bring their motivations and experiences to work, so do managers when interacting with and leading their team. The better awareness you have of your own management style, the more effective you will be working with your team members.

Instead of thinking, “I’m from Generation X/a Baby Boomer and am different from the younger generation,” think “I have my own set of motivations, strengths, and inhibitors, just like this person who is new to the workforce. How can we best work together and complement each other’s styles?”

3. Learn as much as possible about your applicants. A whole industry has been created around helping job seekers shape resumes and cover letters to conform to keyword searches, and they are seldom written by the applicants themselves, so you’re often looking at a product rather than at a document that gives insight into the person’s potential. The good news is that tools exist to balance things out in your favor.

Behavioral interview guides give you a preview of how applicants will look on the job, and pre-employment personality assessments uncover intrinsic motivators such as detail focus, customer service orientation, and self-direction.

Knowing this information not only helps you make informed hiring decisions, it enables you to develop targeted and productive coaching and development plans. 

4. Evaluate your job descriptions and be detailed about entry-level responsibilities. When was the last time you updated the language in your job postings?

Business is in a constant state of flux thanks to rapidly-changing technologies and consumer demands. It follows that jobs themselves evolve and requirements change. Younger applicants may not have the experience you’re looking for, but they might be just who you need in terms of skill sets. However, no one will know if the job requirements haven’t been updated in 12 years.

Also, thinking back to intrinsic motivation, be sure to spell out exactly what is expected, task-wise. You’ll attract more appropriate applicants with accurate breakdowns of job duties than with arbitrary demands of experience.

5. Share your company’s culture and work environment. We hear a lot of chatter about “what young people want,” which can be viewed as a false narrative. No group of people so vast and diverse can possibly be put in one box. People of all generations are different from each other, twenty-somethings included. There’s no need to wonder, “How can I reorganize things so this company looks more appealing to the new generation of workers?” and go chasing after an elusive, all-purpose explanation of what such people want.

A better approach is to take a serious look at your company culture and your work environment and highlight it when you promote the company. Is it a supportive setting that emphasizes teamwork? Or a competitive one where self-reliance and independent thinking is valued? 

Instead of sifting through thousands of applicants trying to figure out which ones are viable candidates, take an honest look at your culture and share your insights. This is the most effective way of hiring people who will fit your environment. Embrace the fact that your work force will be made up of twenty-somethings, and adjust accordingly.  

Meghan works in janitorial services at a major hospital, and she takes great pride in her work.

One day, she pairs up with a new team member to show him the correct way to clean rooms. However, he seems ambivalent about his new job, and about the importance of following strict cleaning procedures.

So, Meghan explains why their team's job is one of the most important in the hospital. When they do thorough work, there are fewer germs in the operating and patient rooms. Their diligence reduces the number of secondary infections, which, in turn, helps to keep patients healthier. Potentially, their work could save lives.

Meghan's story is an inspiring example of how people can find purpose in their work; that is, they can see the full impact of the work that they do. In this article, we'll look at how you can help your people to find purpose in their jobs, and why this matters.

Why Is Purpose Important?

No matter what you do, your job exists for a reason. When you know that reason—and when you fully understand how your efforts make the world a better place for someone else—you've found your job's purpose.

In their 2010 book, The Why of Work, Dave and Wendy Ulrich explain that there are many advantages of helping people to find purpose in a job. 

On an individual level, people who understand their job's wider purpose are happier, more engaged, and more creative. And, from an organizational perspective, when employees see how their roles fit with the company's goals, staff turnover goes down and productivity rises. People work harder, use their initiative, and make sensible decisions about their work. In turn, the company can operate more efficiently. Everyone, from the CEO to customers, feels the positive effects.

Helping Your Team Find Purpose

If you work for a nonprofit or service organization, it may be easy to help people find the deeper meaning in their work. But what if you work in a bank, a call center, or a software company?

It's essential to realize that every job provides a service to someone else – if it didn't, it wouldn't exist. Keep this in mind as you work with your team members to help them find meaning in their work.

Step 1: Write a Meaningful Mission Statement

Your organization's mission statement is a good place to start. It should help you identify customers' needs, the ways in which the organization will meet them, and how success will be measured.

You may not be in a position to change your organization's mission statement, but you can write a mission and vision statement for your team or department. This statement should define the deeper purpose behind your work.

Use the 5 Whys Technique to kick-start this process. Ask the simple question "Why does this team or department exist?" and keep following up with "why" questions until you've uncovered your team's deeper purpose. Think about organizational objectives as you move through the process: what needs are being met?

Next, use this insight to write your team's mission and vision statement. Display this where everyone can see it.

Step 2: Link Personal Drivers With Team or Organizational Goals

Your next step is to connect your team members' personal goals to organizational ones.

To start, meet one-on-one with each of your team members, and use McClelland's Human Motivation Theory to help them understand what really drives them.

Next, encourage each team member to reflect on how they can connect their motivations with the goals of the organization. Remember that your role in this process should be that of a facilitator; try not to influence others too much with your own values or beliefs.

Finally, use the Management by Objectives approach to link your team members' personal goals to those of your organization.

Step 3: Uncover Strengths

When you do work that uses your strengths, you slip into a state of flow. You're so engaged with your work that time seems to slip away. You often do your best work in this state.

The same is true for members of your team. If you can help them to discover their strengths, and the tasks that lead them to slip into a state of flow, you'll help them find greater personal satisfaction in their work.

Encourage team members to explore their strengths using the StrengthsFinder assessment, which will help them to uncover their top five strengths.

You can also use the MPS Process with them to uncover the tasks and responsibilities that bring them the greatest happiness and meaning.

Once you've understood each person's strengths, use job-crafting strategies to incorporate more of the tasks that use these into your team members' work.

Step 4: Build a Positive Work Environment

A healthy, positive working environment brings out the best in everyone. So, make sure that you're giving your team the chance to be the best that they can be.

For instance, to help people build good work relationships, encourage them to socialize before meetings, or outside work. Give people more autonomy over their work, and provide learning and career-development opportunities. Promote values such as integrity, honesty and humility by praising employees who demonstrate them.

When you create a work environment that's uplifting and supportive, it will be easier for your team members to stay connected to the deeper meaning in their work.

Step 5: Use Feedback to Boost Positivity

Positive feedback is a highly effective motivator. It reminds us that our work is noticed, and that it’s making a difference.

Provide regular feedback, and share stories from customers or clients that show how your team is making a positive difference. This can be a powerful way to inspire your team members, and to keep them connected with the people that they’re helping.

Key Points

Most people want to know that their work has meaning – that it helps someone else or makes the world a better place. When people understand the deeper purpose behind their work, they're likely to be more satisfied and more productive.

Take the following steps to help your people find purpose in their work:

• Write a meaningful mission statement.
• Link personal drivers with team or organizational goals.
• Uncover strengths.
• Build a positive work environment.
• Use feedback to boost positivity.

As a leader, it's important that you provide regular feedback, both from your own viewpoint and from that of customers or clients. This will help your people to see that their work really does make a difference.

 Having a sense of purpose for your life is Important.

“Purpose” is defined as the reason for which something is made, done or used.  Having a sense of purpose is important to your physical, mental and emotional health.

So, what’s your purpose? According to William Damon, author of A Path to Purpose, it’s “a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at the same time meaningful to the self and consequential for the world beyond the self.”

That meaningful intention can help you stay focused on the things that matter most—your family, friends, and career. It helps you prioritize your life, allowing you to walk away from certain people or activities that don’t serve your purpose. It’s the main reason to stay motivated when things get tough, so you can set and meet short- and long-term goals. It makes you feel like you are making a difference in the world.

When you have a sense of purpose, you tend to have:

• Increased optimism, resilience, and hope
• Experience feelings of joy, happiness, and satisfaction
• Better physical health
• Increased career satisfaction
• Being a leader in the workplace
• Higher income

Damon believes people fall into one of four categories when it comes to having a sense of purpose:

1. Purposeful: You’ve found something that is personally meaningful to you that contributes to the greater good. You’ve sustained interest over a long period of time, and you can clearly articulate your “why.”
   
2. Dreamers: You think about, and express, great ideas, but you have not yet taken any practical action.
   
3. Dabblers: You’ve engaged in potentially purposeful activities without committing to one in particular or sustaining your efforts over a long period of time. You may struggle to articulate your “why.”
   
4. Disengaged: You don’t have a sense of purpose in life and don’t have any desire or need to find one.
   

Which category do you think you fall into at this point in your life? Purpose is not something we simply “find” and we're done with it. It’s a journey. And on this journey, we are taking action to better understand and fulfill our purpose.

Every personal vision statement varies depending on the goals, values, and priorities of the person writing it. There are many parts to include in your statement:


• Your personal vision statement should include both short- and long-term professional goals. For example, a short-term goal could be to find a career that aligns with your passion, while a long-term goal could be to own a company that aligns with that same passion.
• You’ll want to be clear on the principles and values you wish to uphold when working towards your goal. 
• Desiring to contribute to your community or your organization should be included in your personal vision statement as well.
• Your vision statement should also include what you are most passionate about. For example, maybe your long-term career goal is to become a teacher because you are passionate about education. Including your passion will help keep you motivated.




How to write a personal vision statement

Here are steps you can follow when crafting your personal vision statement:

1. Determine your top strengths. Identifying your strengths and determining how they can help you achieve your goals is an important step in the process of writing your statement. List out your skills and then narrow them down to the strengths that are most relevant and useful to your career goals. Use these strengths as stepping stones to making improvements in your professional life.
   
2. Write down your values. Make sure your values align with your career goals. If they counter each other, you may want to re-evaluate your career aspirations.
   
3. Choose the career you want to pursue. Getting specific about the career you want to pursue is important and will allow you to create actionable steps you can take to get there.
   
4. Write your personal mission statement. Using the above information, compose a 40- to 60-word mission statement that encompasses your goals, values, and skills. The first sentence should include the career you want to pursue and the specific job title. The second sentence should include your reasoning for wanting to go after this career. For example, you may want to pursue a career to follow your passion.
   




How to use your personal vision statement

Once you’ve crafted a mission statement, it’s time to use it. Here are a few ways to use your vision statement:

1. Read it every day. Keep your personal vision statement somewhere close by where you can see it regularly. You could write it on a small piece of paper and carry it in your purse or wallet, or tape it to your computer so it’s within your sight daily.
   
2. Use it when making decisions. If you’re searching for a new job or making another important career decision, you can use your personal vision statement as a reference to ensure you’re taking the steps to get where you ultimately want to be.
   
3. Tell someone else about your personal vision. Consider telling a close friend or relative about your personal vision. This will help hold you accountable for following through on it.