Feed: Manager Skill - AggScore: 57.5

While in Kenya, we visited a local private school called “Little Roots”.

It educates children from the ages of 2.5 years all the way up to 17 years.

We met the head teacher, Mary.

She says she’s 64. She looks 50!

Here’s some of the youngest children at the school:

Lovely Mary. All smiles. Loves her work, loves the children.

Mary tells us that some of the children live at the school, some come from afar, travelling for 1.5 hours just to get there.

School starts at 8am and finishes at 6pm.

With 1.5 hours travelling each way, for some of the children their school day starts at 6.30 am and ends at 7.30 pm!

We visit the youngest class. Twenty-five children aged 2.5 years and they all stand to attention, when we walk in.

Twenty-five pairs of beautiful eyes staring at us.

They start to sing.

My wife and I wanted to cry!

We took some sweets to hand out and they lined up one by one.

More classes were visited….

And more children singing the ‘Doctor’ song:

The children were proud. They were brave and eager to please.

We also took some pens, paper, pencils and t-shirts for the school. They were so grateful.

We loved the school and the children.

Next we visited a local village. Bacari was the CHIEF.

Bacari wasn’t what I expected.

I expected a big muscular man with his face painted, a loin cloth and bones through his nose.

Perhaps I’ve been watching too much TV.

Bacari was small, dressed in t-shirt and ‘puma’ shorts.

He showed us around his house – a mud hut.

He had a sitting room, and a bedroom and lived with his wife and 5 children.

The whole house was smaller than my bedroom, back in the UK.

Then we met the Witch Doctor!

He made his potions and medicine from the local natural ingredients.

He didn’t speak. Bacari did all the speaking. Bacari explained that the Witch Doctor could tell what was wrong with you by just looking at you.

He could ‘x-ray’ you and then cure you within 3 days, no matter what you had!

Here’s Bacari and the Witch Doctor:

Then the Doctor showed us his home brew. Coconut wine. We all tasted it. It was foul! Like milky vinegar.

Then we were treated to a village dance., Kenyan style. We joined in. It was energetic and fun.

The village dancers – I just loved the ‘trumpet’ sound:

We purchased some trinkets and gave a donation.

It was a great time. Nice to see a local village and how they lived.

Ten minutes later we were back at the hotel.

We had lunch, some beer and a dip in the pool.

That night, my wife and I slept in the largest bed you’ve ever seen. Almost as big as Bacari’s whole house. We had air conditioning. We had a personal chef who cooked exclusively for us.

A different world to where we were just a short time ago.

We told everyone what a wonderful time we had. It was one of the highlights of the holiday.

This is a post from: Manager SkillEver visited a Kenyan School?

We all live in a very busy world, don’t we?

We jump from one task to another to another with no spare time in between.

Many of us don’t enjoy time for ourselves.

If you look at the stats, the number of personal breakdowns is rising. The number of cases of divorce is rising

Why?

Because we don’t have time for ourselves or our other half.

People work and take care of their duties thinking that they don’t need a break. They find that finishing a task is more imperative than giving themselves a moment’s breather. They continue to trudge through life, until one day, they simply collapse and lose control.

I’m all for hard work and determination. Success can only be attained if these two traits are present. But we also need to know when to say that enough is enough.

Our minds need to rest, our bodies need to rest, or else they can fail us when we most need it.

If there’s one way to enjoy life, it’s knowing the importance of rest.

We are all blessed with friends and family. If we don’t give ourselves enough time to spend with them, then we may as well watch all our relationships crumble. No one wants this to happen to them. While many do go on vacations with their loved ones, they also take their work with them. This simply isn’t quality time.

So, how do we actually get to enjoy our spare time? Here are a few ideas:

1. Know that your friends, family and loved ones are just as important as your work.

2. Give yourself time to reflect on your life and work out ways in which you can balance everything.

3. Keep yourself surrounded with friends during your spare time to lessen the chances of thinking about your responsibilities.

4. Learn how to organize your life.

5. Learn to ask for help when you have difficulty sorting something out.

The most important thing to know here is that we’re not alone.

We all have people we can count on, as long as we also know when to help a person in need. Your friends are there to help you. Life just seems less tough when you have someone to lean on.

Remember, as we enjoy our spare time, we need not feel guilty. We simply are enjoying life and we are giving ourselves a chance to recharge and bring back the enthusiasm we have for work.

How do you find time to enjoy your spare time? Share your views in the comments below.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is a post from: Manager SkillWhen are you going to start enjoying your spare time?

Not matter what office you work in, it is stressful. Whether you work for Google or a small 5-man business, it’s something that you simply cannot avoid.

Nowadays, the world puts so many demands on us that we sometimes have to find a balance between work and play.

We rush here, we rush there, we work longer hours, we have the family chores to do, we sleep and we want to have fun as well, don’t we?

Unfortunately, work is taking over our lives and that impacts our lifestyle. Some of those that decide to put their lifestyle before their work can end up losing their jobs and that’s wrong but in today’s work environment, it is unfortunately true.

But that doesn’t mean you have to ignore your personal life just so you can continue to climb up the ladder of job success.

To have a happy fun lifestyle and a great job career, you have to manage your stress.

There are ways to relieve the stress while you are at work. The secret is to not wait for the stress levels to go up.

Here are a few tips that can help improve your work and life balance:

1. Start living a healthy lifestyle. With the right amount of nutrients in your body and the proper exercise, you will find that you have more energy, and with more energy, you are able to achieve more things with the amount of time we are all given in a day.

2. Manage your time by making a schedule. Trying to cram far too much in a short amount of time is the worst possible thing you can do. Having a schedule to follow enables you to know how much you can allocate for a certain type of work. Read this post to Optimise your Time

3. Keep a happy and healthy attitude. Smiling helps you relax. This may sometimes be the most difficult thing to do, especially when pressure builds up. Trust in yourself and in your abilities and smile!

4. Avoid procrastination. Know that the more you put off for later, the more it piles up. Think time. Think Money. Time is of the essence and every minute spent doing nothing is a dollar wasted. Read this post and remove procrastiantion once and for all

5. Clear your clutter. Signs of clutter are generally perceived by the mind as a distraction. Being organized helps you find things more easily, and time spent looking for a file is also time wasted.

What’s your view on getting the right work/life balance? Please share your ideas in the comments below.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is a post from: Manager SkillHere’s how to Improve your Work and Life Balance

the hotel pool

The welcome at our hotel was great. Everyone welcomed us with big smiles and an ice cold cocktail!

A simple check-in and we were in our room. It was immaculate. Three minutes later our suitcases arrived.

We unpacked. We showered.

We walk excitedly towards the pool. It’s 27 degrees C. Lovely!

Loads of free empty sun beds.

We settled down and enjoyed the sun.

Literally within minutes, a smiley waitress appears.

“JAMBO!”

“Drink?”

Drinks by the pool, followed by lunch by the pool.

Then a little siesta under an umbrella.

A cheeky monkey having a drink right outside our hotel room:

That night we had drinks in the beach side bar and a beach bar-b-q.

During the beach bar-b-q, some Masai Warriors came through the bar-b-q in their beautiful distinctive outfits, all in red, pointing big sticks at the eaters and shouting warrior type commands.

The big sticks are properly known as rungu.

Rungu’s are typically about 18-20 inches in length with a long narrow shaft for a handle and heavy knob or ball at the end in the manner of other “ethnic” cudgels such as the Irish shillelagh.

It was part of the entertainment but also quite frightening.

The Masai warriors came and danced for us. It was great fun.

Then they rolled out their goods to sell. We all looked and several purchased.

One last nightcap and we walked, hand-in-hand, slowly back to our hotel room under the clear sky and stars.

Paradise! We had another two weeks!

This is a post from: Manager SkillArriving at our Kenyan Hotel

Thought I’d have a bit of fun today and share with you 50 things you didn’t know about me.

The list is on my ’sister’ blog. Here’s the link:

Make a blog income

Thanks for looking!

______________________________________________________________________________________

This is a post from: Manager Skill50 things you just didn’t know about me

Our hotel awaits us!

To successfully get through the Kenyan customers, we had to complete 5 different forms.

Five!

Each one of them asking for similar information including passport number and place of stay while in Kenya.

But it didn’t actually take that long to get through the customers. It was pretty efficient and within an hour we were on the coach with our suitcases.

But I must tell you about getting our suitcases on the coach.

No exaggeration!

Ten meters before the coach, a holiday rep took our cases, handed them to the driver and said, “Give me tip”.

The cheek!

The front!

The courage!

I gave him a tip.

“And for my friend” he said referring to the driver who took the cases from him.

“Share the tip”, I replied!

We sat on the coach and watched the reps.

Without fail, ten meters from the coach, they take over your suitcases, put them on the coach and put out their hands for a tip.

They must have made a fortune.

The trip to the actual hotel was 90 minutes but it went so fast.

We enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Mombassa town.

Watching the people, watching the traffic. It was great even if it was 8am and we’d been travelling for 15 hours or so!

This is a post from: Manager SkillArriving in Kenya

Management delegation is a vital manager skill that, once mastered, frees the manager from stress and pressure and enables them to be more successful.

A great manager knows about effective delegation. They know what tasks to delegate, picks the right delegate, and follows up on the jobs which have been delegated.

Delegation can:

• Increase your own job satisfaction

• Increase your own productivity

• Improve your team’s morale

• Give delegates a chance to develop

• Manage your job instead of letting the job manage you

Here are the 7 steps to effective delegation:

1. Explain exactly what needs to be done and provide, or agree, specific timescales for progress and completion.

2. Explain the background and the larger context. This is crucial for developing pride in high standards of work. Someone who considers themselves to be an essential part of the team effort will have higher self esteem and will perform accordingly.

3. Break down the task to be delegated into small chunks. You could write these down in a coherent order, creating a step-by-step guide which will be useful for everyone who is involved. It’s normally best to do this with the person taking on the task.

4. Check each step to ensure that the person taking on the task has the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out the task successfully and arrange for training if necessary.

5. Give the person taking on the task the opportunity to carry it out with an experienced person, using the step-by-step guide you have created. The experienced person (ideally yourself) needs to check for understanding and answer queries fully and patiently.

6. When you are both confident that the new jobholder is able to take on the task successfully, hand it over fully. Remain available to provide help or reassurance if needed.

7. Assess the progress of the task at agreed stages, these will become less frequent as the new jobholder gains confidence and experience. Use these progress meetings as an opportunity to encourage and reward the new jobholder.

Here are the warning signs of ineffective delegation:

1. Analyse your irritating interruptions. If people are constantly coming back to you with queries after a task has been delegated you may have missed one of the 7 vital stages of delegation.

2. Think about the workloads of yourself and your team. Are you snowed under while they have time on their hands? This is a warning sign, it means that people are under-utilised and probably bored.

3. Are you confident that your team members are fully competent in all areas of their work? If the answer is yes, then they aren’t learning anything new. Delegate to develop and to keep people interested.

4. Do you reel off the answers whenever a technical query arises? Giving them the answer only resolves the immediate problem. Explain how and where to find the information for themselves to enable them to deal with future queries without your help.

5. Consider whether those people that report directly to you are delegating effectively. You are their role model and any problems with your own delegation skills could be mirrored in theirs.

Getting management delegation right is a ‘must-have’ manager skill.

What are your experiences of delegation or being delegated to?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is a post from: Manager SkillIs the best manager skill management delegation?

This post has nothing to do with Management or anything like that but I just had to write it.

Last night on British TV was a programme that was sad, shocking and truly inspirational. It’s the first time, I have written about such a TV programme but just had to.

If you saw the program you will understand why.

It was about a beautiful young lady called Katie Piper.

Katie was a model, a TV presenter and simply enjoying life.

Then while out one day, a ‘stranger’ threw sulphuric acid in her face.

Only a few weeks before the incident she had started dating a guy. She wanted to end the relationship. He didn’t.

He decided to hire someone to scar her for life and that’s what led to the sulphuric acid episode.

At first after the attack, she was unable to speak or see and wrote notes like “Where am I?” “Am I blind?” “Am I dead?” “Help me!” and “Kill me!”

Her face was rebuilt. She had endured many operations over 14 months of hell and now wears a transparent pressure mask 23 hours a day to reduce scarring.

Katie says, “I now have more medical supplies than I do shoes and handbags. I’m really boring, aren’t I?”

But, besides everything Katie has gone through, she is bright and cheerful. She has a bubbly infectious personally that no amount of sulphuric acid can dampen.

Katie is a truly amazing young lady, an inspiration to us all and a beautiful person.

The video below shows Katie before and after the terrible incident. If you are squeamish don’t watch.

This is a post from: Manager SkillKatie Piper – A beautiful young lady

My wife, Joy and I. Our first night in Kenya.

I have mentioned a few times that this year my wife, Joy and I are celebrating 25 years of marriage. Well some of you have noticed I have not been blogging as often as normal over the past few weeks and that’s because my wife and I have just had our celebratory holiday!

We decided to go to Africa. Kenya to be more precise and include a safari.

We booked the holiday in February this year. The 7 months to the actual holiday soon passed.

As it got nearer and nearer the more excited we got but also the more apprehensive.

What shall we take with us?

How much money do we need?

Will the kids (well adult kids – 20 and 22) be OK without us?

Will the house still be here or trashed when we return?

We booked “all inclusive”, so we didn’t need to take much money with us.

We looked on-line to check what was needed for the safari trip.

And we told the kids to behave themselves!

And what about our on-line business?

I was working even longer hours to fit everything in and keep my blogs active while on holiday.

The departure date arrived.

We packed.

We were ready.

We took the train to Gatwick. We were on holiday!

We checked in.

The holiday company gave us free access to the ‘first-class’ lounge. That was nice of them.

A nice comfy lounge. Free snacks. Free drinks. It was a great start to our celebratory holiday.

The flight was full.

A nine-hour flight ahead of us.

Now before I go much further, I want to tell you how much this holiday cost us. $10,000. Just have that in mind.

So we get on the plane.

The seats are bigger than normal and the legroom is good.

We have these little TV screens in the backrest of the chair in front of us.

We get settled. We try and relax but we are excited.

First thing the air hostesses do?

Try and sell us a drink.

$5 for a coke.

$6 for a coffee.

They want us to pay for drinks!

I just paid $10k for this holiday!

Next thing. Would you like to upgrade your film choice on the TV screen?

Another $10

“No thanks”

Three hours into the flight. It’s now 11pm.

At last, we are served our in-flight dinner.

I cheekily ask, “Is it free?”

“Of course! Chicken or beef?”

“Chicken or beef what?”, I ask

“Don’t know”

“You don’t know?”

“No, we were just told ‘chicken or beef’”

My wife and I both chose chicken.

It was OK.

We also had a free coffee!

WOW!

Then they come around and try and sell you duty free goods.

Then breakfast.

The breakfast boxes were just dumped on our flight tables.

No smile.

No eye contact.

Where’s the customer service?

They need training I thought.

Unless I can help it, I’ll never fly with this company again.

I can tell you the holiday got much, much better!

This is a post from: Manager SkillThis is how our holiday started

I recently had an article accepted over at Career Adventurer – Charting a course to inspiring work.

My guest post is about NOT getting that promotion.

Agree with it or not, but not everybody would like a great successful career. Not everybody wants to get a promotion and earn more cash. So check out the post, follow the suggestions and I guarantee you won’t be promoted.

Here’s the link to the post:

How NOT to win that job promotion

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is a post from: Manager SkillHow NOT to win that job promotion