I have a signed poster from the show, Mary Poppins, hanging in my office. I saw the show on Broadway a few years ago and absolutely loved it. Something about the upbeat songs and the story of transformation and change is very appealing. It also reminded me of the very popular movie that I watched over and over again as a child.

It occurred tome recently that Mary Poppins is the ultimate culture change expert. Let’s see what we can learn from her to help with boosting engagement and creating a positive culture.

Just a Spoon Full of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

In organizations today, team members and leaders are dealing with what could be compared to “harsh tasting medicine” in the form of financial cutbacks, rampant change and the challenge of being connected 24/7. If we take Mary Poppin’s advice, we would be wise to add a spoon full of sugar. The “sugar” I’m talking about includes open communication, open-mindedness & generosity. Imagine if every leader & employee in every organization added a spoonful of these elements to their interactions with others all day long at work.

Let’s Go Fly a Kite

It’s springtime! Take a few minutes during your workday to go outside to fly your proverbial kite. Look up at the beautiful blue sky, enjoy the blossoming foliage, take a moment to listen to the birds (if you work at night – enjoy the moon and quiet time). You deserve a healthy dose of Mother Nature on a regular basis. Don’t say “I don’t have time” because that’s just not true. Make it a priority to get outside every day.

I Love to Laugh

Remember the scene in the movie when Bert, Mary, Uncle Albert and the kids all get together for tea? Things quickly fall apart and they end up on the ceiling howling with laughter. What can you do at work to lighten up and have more fun? Let go of old resentments, quit taking things personally, stop keeping score and HAVE SOME FUN! It will be okay if you do – in fact it’s a great way to create more WOWs at work.

Mary Poppins is truly a role model for being the Chief Paradise Officer of her job. Go and watch the movie again and you’ll learn all about positive culture change and engagement. Now that’s Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

As the webinar transitioned from my section to that of GroupCast, I was impressed at how their speaker, Paul Langhorst (VP of Marking) tied in with my concepts sharing that some workplace POW’s can be turned into WOWs with their system.

Paul shared that one of the chronic POW’s that healthcare organizations deal with is the need for urgent communication between the hospital and staff. Often times the need to communicate can be triggered by a POW such as the sudden need to fill a shift due to a census increase or by a worker calling in sick.  Trying to find workers on short notice can be very stressful (BIG POW), and Paul shared how the GroupCast system can be used to automatically call or text multiple off-duty workers with a shift need message.  WOW! No more “dialing for team members” – the system takes the work out it. Team members receive a message and call in.

This system also works for automating the process of contacting customers about appointments or letting parents of school children know about important information. I can see how a communication POW can be changed to a WOW through the use of their technology. Getting staff to the hospital when needed is a BIG WOW for the patients, leaders & other team members.

I am sure that many more examples of how POW’s can be turned to WOW’s through the use of technology exist.  However, I also believe technology if not used appropriately can become a POW.  The overuse of Facebook and texting immediately come to mind.  In an article in PC World.com, it was shared that “nearly 60% of work interruptions now involve either using tools like email, social networks, text messaging and IM, or switching windows among disparate standalone tools and applications”.  The article also found that “45% of employees work only 15 minutes or less without getting interrupted.” These stats are amazing and it is clear to see how social media is now a POW for many employees, employers and customers.

Technology is a wonderful thing if used appropriately. I am pleased to know that systems like GroupCast exist to help SHIFT POWs to WOWs. Gotta run…my new iPad is making a strange noise!

Fear comes in all shapes and sizes and when it comes to work a lot of unnecessary time and angst is dedicated to fear of the unknown. This all came to me in a clear-headed moment on the back of a very large horse named Marco.

My friends, “The Adventure Girls”, and I bought a Groupon® for horseback riding recently. It sounded tame enough – trail riding through bucolic fields and streams on friendly, easy-going horses. However, as the day approached, I found myself getting nervous about what might happen while we were riding. You see the last time I was on a horse was 27 years ago on my honeymoon in Jamaica.

To make a long story short, my horse ended up trotting away from the others and my helmet fell down over my face so I couldn’t see…oh you get the picture (and it’s not a pretty one). I was fine – just shaken – and swore I wouldn’t get on a horse again for many years.

The memories of this – and the accompanying fear of the unknown – kept me off of horses for a long time. Isn’t that ridiculous? I missed out on many opportunities for fun because of my unnecessary fear of the unknown.

Unfortunately, the same thing happens at work and this affects our ability to be satisfied, energized & productive. Someone volunteers for a project team and makes a mistake and then says, “I can’t do that again”. Or days before an important meeting, you start to worry about all the “what-ifs” that could happen.

So, here’s how to overcome the biggest internal POW of all. Stop worrying.

Ha – easier said than done, right? It doesn’t have to be! SHIFT that worry to a sense of calm knowing. Replace the stories you are telling yourself about impending doom with hopeful and helpful stories. After all, the “event” hasn’t happened yet, so who says it can’t have a happy ending?

Let’s say, your shift is starting and you’ve been assigned the “tough patient” on the unit. Instead of dreading the day, take a deep breath, harness your knee jerk reaction of worry and assume that the day will go swimmingly. With a child like curiosity, you begin to think; “I wonder what interesting things I’ll learn from this patient today?”

Or maybe you are in a leadership role and you need to have what you think will be a tough conversation with a team member about his performance. Instead of tossing and turning the night before, simply picture the meeting going well. When you start to feel the nagging worry, take a deep breath (or two or three) and picture the end of the meeting when you’ve agreed on next steps and the employee says “Thank you”.

The worse case scenario in both of these examples is that things do go badly and you have a rotten day, right? Well you’re just compounding the rottenness if you worry about it all in advance. The best-case scenario is that it all turns out to be nothing and you have a wonderful day at work.

Let fear of the unknown be one of your old friends. Let go of the worry and doubt – at least until you’ve proven to yourself that it’s really a valid fear. It worked for Marco and me. What fun we had – especially when he started trotting after the horse in front of me. What a giddy feeling! WOW!

I’d like to share some fascinating information from the results.

• Employees “own” their own engagement – 74% of you said that you are MOST responsible for your engagement (second and third choices included “My Manager” and “Executive Leaders”). About a dozen people commented that all three groups are equally responsible and I couldn’t agree more. Remember It Takes 3™! (Click here if you missed that blog post)
• Open Communication rules the day – 91% of you said that when it comes to the organization & executive leaders, open communication is very important. The other top two answers are “Work Environment” (77%) and “Compelling Mission/Vision” (61%). Communication is two-way…are you communicating openly every day?
• Support is key for managers – 90% of you said having a manager who supports you is very important to your engagement followed by 87% saying open communication and 85% noting the importance of a positive relationship with your manager. What could you do today to be a more supportive manager or to better support your own manager?

I’ll share more information from the survey in the next newsletter.

Now – here are the 5 lucky winners of free books. Congratulations to you all!

Denise Strickland, Mark Sydlo, Robyn Bonsky, Margarita Gore, Jose Rodriguez

Don’t despair if you didn’t win, just click HERE to get your own copy today

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The part that frustrated me was the focus on what organizations and leaders need to do to improve engagement, without talking about what employees themselves need to do. Based on my recent survey, it looks like you agree!

The Survey Says…
Thanks to each of you who responded to my quick survey last week (if you missed it, click HERE to take it now).

Here’s the question I’m referring to: “Please rank in order of importance who is MOST (1) to LEAST (3) responsible for YOUR engagement at work“ (choices for the answers included Organization/Executive Leaders; My Manager; Myself). (232 people responded to this question)

72.8% ranked “Myself” as #1 (most responsible)
61.3% ranked “My Manager” as #2
57.6% ranked “My Organization” as #3 (least responsible)

So, of those who weighed in on my informal survey – you agree that YOU are most responsible for your own engagement. This is great news!

It Takes 3

To be fair, employee engagement does take ALL three of these elements (NOT in order of importance)

1. The organization supporting engagement at a strategic level
2. Leaders supporting engagement at the tactical level
3. Each employee supporting engagement at a personal level

That’s Not Fair!
Sure, I can hear some of you saying, “You don’t know how clueless my boss is” or “No one listens to me at my job.” Well, that might be true. I agree that organizations and leaders do impact engagement – they are a key part of the “It Takes 3″ equation. Unfortunately, they are also out of your span of control.

So the good news is you don’t have to wait on others to be engaged at work today. You can reap the benefits of positively connecting to your job…time will fly, your connections to others will improve and you’ll enjoy your

Here are 7 things engaged employees do differently.

1. Know what gets you satisfied, energized & productive and seek out opportunities to do more of those things.
2. Identify your own work beliefs that help/hinder engagement and get rid of the troublesome ones.
3. Minimize internal mind chatter that causes worrying before problems even occur.
4. Maximize positive connections & opportunities to be engaged.
5. Convert your own challenges into opportunities by using the SHIFT steps (click on blue SHIFT to access an overview of the steps).
6. Convert team challenges into opportunities using the SHIFT steps.
7. Take personal responsibility for your own engagement everyday.

Remember – It Takes 3 for engagement and the place to start is yourself.

As I travel and work with clients I hear managers complain about direct reports who aren’t on board or taking responsibility for leading positive change for engagement. I also hear from team members who say their manager just doesn’t “get it” – and that they can’t do it on their own.

From my perspective, both groups are right. They just aren’t happy. The way I see it, there needs to be a meeting of the minds (and actions) between team members and managers if wholesale, transformational culture change is to occur to improve employee engagement.

Here’s what you can do if you are team member:

1)     Role model being a Chief Paradise Officer (CPO) every day at work. Don’t let the “Chain Gang” members (those stuck in Professional Prison) bring you down or recruit you to their point of view.

2)     Start a conversation with other CPO’s who work with you. Strategize about how you can stick together to create and maintain a positive work culture.

3)     Support your manager. Ask how you can help in this transformation.

Here’s what you can do if you are a manager:

1)     Role model being a Chief Paradise Officer (CPO) every day at work. Don’t let the “Chain Gang” members (those stuck in Professional Prison) bring you or the team members down or recruit folks to their point of view.

2)     Round daily with your team members. Use the Traffic Light Check-in – found at this LINK.

3)     Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with each team member – a quick overview is found a this LINK. 

4)     Hold monthly team meetings to have a two-way dialogue to discuss where you are and where you want to be and the steps you are taking to get there. Celebrate success!

Pointing fingers doesn’t work. Digging your heels in to prove you’re “right” doesn’t work. Open communication, transparency and a plan for change that everyone agrees to works. That’s what I call a meeting of the minds.

Ironically, when I got in my car after exercising, my tire pressure alert was on as well (it was a balmy 23 degrees by then). In the case of our tires, more pressure needs to be added. The opposite seems to be true for the folks I’m talking to in workplaces today. Of course these team members and leaders want/need less pressure.

It got me thinking…wouldn’t it be helpful if people had a check pressure alert so that we didn’t go “flat” at the worst possible time?

Well maybe we do have such an alert built in but it’s just not as obvious or clear as a dashboard warning sign. I think the following are signs that if we paid a little bit more attention to we would recognize as pressure building signs and we could preemptively lower our pressure to a level that is much healthier.

• Frequent illness
• Sleepless nights due to worry
• Crankiness
• Impatience
• Sluggishness
• Obsessive thinking patterns

You’ll recognize these as the classic signs of stress. They are in essence the alert or warning signs from your body that your pressure is off. You can use the five SHIFT steps for managing the acute stresses of work (visit the Free Resources tab at www.VickiHess.com for more information about those).

For coping with recurring or systemic stresses, you’ll need to take your self care up a notch by doing more of the things that folks share with me as effective stress managers. The suggestions you have shared with me include: exercising, eating right, getting enough sleep, meditating, volunteering, singing, dancing, praying, reading, spending time with family, watching funny movies, etc. I’d love to hear what works for you.

Don’t wait for a “flat” to slow you down. Keep up with the self-maintenance and listen for your inner pressure alerts today.

“What else about strategic employee engagement would you like to share?”

In this case, the CEO said (and I paraphrase from my notes)…everyone benefits from a heightened awareness of our own behaviors. Even modifying behaviors 5-10% everyday can have a big impact. Each positive behavior change cascades through the organization and creates a different (aka better) culture.

He went on to talk about leveraging positive change into sweeping change through incremental steps. I like that idea. It doesn’t seem so BIG or overwhelming – especially since we all have so much on our plate these days.

So, as you begin 2013 with refreshed energy and enthusiasm (hopefully that’s how you are feeling), take a look at how you could make a 5-10% change to positively impact your work.

• What you could do 5-10% more of, less of, better or differently?
• How could you be 5-10% kinder, more respectful, accommodating?
• In what ways could you make a 5-10% improvement in your communication – either talking or listening?
•  How could you be 5-10% more flexible, understanding, or open-minded?

The next time you see a big change coming your way, break it down into chunks. Think about how an incremental change could drive a sweeping change over time and enjoy the process of adapting to our new world.

PS – If you are on LinkedIn – please reach out to connect to me and also be sure to join my newly formed group, Engagement, Every Step of the Way group for healthcare staff and leaders. It’s a private group so we can have productive discussions without the advertisements and job postings. I look forward to you joining in the discussion!

A POW is something internal or external that feels like a heavy blow. External POWs are the result of uncontrollable situations or other people’s actions. They happen to you instead of within you. Examples include a traffic jam that makes you late for work, a copier that breaks down minutes before you need the copies, or a cranky customer or coworker who challenges you or is annoying.

Conversely, internal POWs are self-inflicted, created by you. They often start with the mean voice in your head that says “What if…?” or “Are you sure…?”. They originate in the part of your mind that worries about things before they even happen or doubts yourself. These are internal POWs.

One type of POW that I frequently encounter at work is the Preventable POW. As the name implies, this is something that happens that can be fixed or avoided. Procrastination is a perfect example. Putting something off until the last minute, and all the stress associated with doing that is preventable. YOU can do something about it. Procrastination is a Preventable POW in every respect.

A common external Preventable POW is interdepartment conflict. It’s sad that when I worked as a nurse on a Post-partum unit, we used to get frustrated with the Labor & Delivery nurses when they would call in report at shift change or send us a couple of admissions at once. We were only seeing things through our eyes and never stopped to think about what was going on in their department. With some interdepartment communication and team building we could have shrunk that POW once and for all. Unfortunately, I hear the same complaints today from sales/service teams; manufacturing/sales teams and the list goes on.

The shortcut to shrink a Preventable POW is to 1) recognize it as something that is preventable; 2) determine the root causes, and 3) make an effort to fix the underlying problem. The process doesn’t have to be long and protracted, think shortcut, not “long way”.

POWs stink! They are like negative ripples in a pond – their impact extends beyond you to affect coworkers, customers, teams, and even entire organizations. As you embark into 2013, the goal is to shrink the POWs before they become too big and really ruin your day (or week or month).

Remember as Ben Franklin said…”an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

And of course, this has me thinking about the lessons I’ve learned from my bosses.

1)  My first real boss taught me about trust (or lack thereof). I was selling copiers to small businesses and this was long before the days of smart phones. He would have us call during the day so he could check-in on us. I resented this “babysitting”. I did very well in my job and met or exceeded my sales quotas (at least that the story I remember now) every month.  So just to show him, I would break away from watching “General Hospital” with my roommate (who also reported to him) to call from the pay phone across the street from my house in downtown Baltimore so he would think I was “on the streets” doing my work. He didn’t trust me and I think my behavior met his expectations. Not proud, just reflecting.

Years later, after working for someone for almost 10 years, she took the side of our company’s leadership and didn’t want to pay me a commision I was due after I resigned and moved away. She had been a fabulous boss, mentoring me, giving me tremendous opportunities and letting me fly.  Yet, in a moment of bad judgement, she sat across the table and acted like it was okay to not pay me what I was due. I saw 9+ years of trust disintegrate in the course of a few months.

Great bosses trust their team members – maybe even before they “deserve” to be trusted.

2) My last official boss taught me the value of time. Liz Dunne was my boss at LifeBridge Health in the Education Resource Center. Liz taught me the value of conducting one-on-one meetings with her team. Being on the receiving end of these meetings, I always appreciated the uninterrupted time Liz spent with me. We talked about goals, aspirations, frustrations and other important stuff. She listened, advised, laughed and even cried with me. Her time meant the world to me.

She also taught me and my team members that time spent away from work was important. She role-modeled work/life balance (if there really is such a thing) by arriving early and leaving at a reasonable hour each day. She would tell us that the work would always be there and it was fine to leave to be with family, go to school, etc. Of course we all had late days to finish important projects, worked night shifts to support those team members, and even took work home on the weekend. We knew that it wasn’t the norm and Liz was very fair when it came to our time.

3) I’m my own boss now and everyday I’m learning the value of honoring my talent. When you work for yourself, it’s easy to spend time focusing on what’s going wrong or mistakes you’ve made. This is definitely not helpful or kind. So to counteract what can be a mind-numbing focus on the need for second guessing or constant improvement, I’m learning to be grateful for my talent on a regular basis. I do this by sharing my strengths (I had two calls last week to help two newbies in nursing and speaking with their networking skills cause that’s a talent of mine). Sharing my strengths through this blog, my new LinkedIn group, my SimpleSTEPS newsletter and my speaking are all ways that I’m honoring and sharing my talent.

As a boss, your team members are looking for you to share your own talent. They want you (as Marianne Williamson so wisely says) to “let your light shine” and help them with theirs. Sharing your talent and recognizing and honoring talent in others is a real gift.

So as I reflect on lessons learned from bosses on this foggy Monday morning, I realize that I learned the value of trust, time & talent from my managers along the way. Thanks managers!

I’d love to hear what you’ve learned as well.