Get It Done! – Just Two Days To Go!

 

Mind Tools Newsletter 96 - Mar 18th, 2008 This newsletter is published by Mind Tools Ltd of 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, UK. You have received it because you have subscribed to our double opt-in newsletter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just click the links at the bottom of this email.

Contents: This Week's Articles Finding Your Allies In the Club A Final Note

Last week, we launched our new workbook, Get It Done, to help you "spring into action". So, before we introduce this week's newsletter articles, here's a quick reminder that there are just 2 days to go to get Get It Done free when you join the Mind Tools Career Excellence Club!

'Get It Done' Workbook Offer – 2 Days To Go

Get It Done is your springboard to achieving more at work and in life - it teaches the core skills needed to take control of your workload, break through your blockers and find the time for the things that really matter to you.

And the Career Excellence Club keeps up this momentum - it gives you the encouragement and day-to-day skills development you need to become truly successful with your plans. Our ready-made community of like-minded members is waiting to welcome you and mutually support you on your way. And with regular bite-sized lessons and more than 400 carefully-crafted learning resources in the Club, you'll continue, at your chosen pace, to develop the skills you need to excel!

Together, these make an unbeatable continuous development combination!

But do hurry - this free workbook offer closes on Thursday, March 20 (midnight PST) - that's in just 2 days time. Click here, and find out more now!

This Week's Articles

When it comes to getting things done, there is no question that other people can help us too - it really does help to team up with the right people and help one-another out when the pressure's on.

Now we're certainly not suggesting that it's who you know that counts, rather than what you know. Invariably we need the right skills and knowledge, and a lot of hard work too! But you can be less stressed and more successful if you build your personal networks and find "allies" in your workplace.

This week's featured article, Finding Your Allies, helps you build your network, and so smooth your everyday life. Read on, and find out more!

And so to our second article this week: Have you ever wondered Why the Rules are There?

Sometime, rules in life and at work are just grudgingly followed, and perhaps they are questioned only when things go wrong. This interesting article challenges you to think about why the rules are there, and understand their importance - or their obsolescence. Click here to read more.

Enjoy the newsletter, and remember to check out our Get It Done offer today!

James & Rachel

James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson
MindTools.com
Mind Tools – Essential skills for an excellent career!

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Editors' Choice Article:

Finding Your Allies

Building Strong and Supportive Relationships at Work

	Building strong relationships at work.

"A problem shared is a problem halved", as the old saying goes, and it's true in business as well. When it comes to working your way through the challenges that you face every day, it's a great help to be able to draw on a network of supportive individuals that you can work with to find a solution.

Allies are the people who give you backing, assistance, advice, information, protection, and even friendship. They are your support base. With strong, mutually beneficial relationships with your allies, you can survive and thrive in the corporate arena, and you can get things done quicker, and more smoothly.

Working together with allies simply helps you and them achieve more. (Here, we're using the word "ally" in it's positive sense - we're not implying that you're trying to circumvent proper channels, engage in politics or game-play, or create any kind of "us and them" culture. It is clearly wrong to behave in this way.)

Anyone and everyone who can help you achieve your objectives is a potential ally. Some are natural: These are people who share a common interest with you. The colleague who's been around for years and can offer an invaluable voice of experience, the team member who is always happy to be a sounding board for your ideas, or the vendor who is ready to accept seemingly-impossible deadlines; these people are your natural allies.

But you can find allies in unexpected places too. Alex in finance, who pulls together an extra report on your projects finances; Claire, the secretary, who tells you when the boss is in a good mood; or Simon, your ex-department head who is always available for advice. They too are important allies.

Allies can help you directly and indirectly. For instance, if you're running behind schedule on a project, your subordinate can help you directly by working longer hours, while your boss can help you indirectly by delegating another part of your workload to someone else.

Building Your Personal Support Base

This is one of the reasons that it's important to be open and supportive to others in the workplace, and why it's worth making at least some of your time available to help others out when they need help. After all, if you're a positive and supportive person, many other people will be equally supportive towards you.

So who could your allies be? Just your team mates? Actually, your list of potential allies goes much further than this!

The table below provides an example list of allies, with the support you might be able to receive from them, and the returns you might be expected to provide to them.

Possible Allies – And What They May Want...

Potential Ally	What He/She Could Do for You	What He/She Might Be Expecting in Return
Team Members	Assist you with regular tasks Be loyal Be a sounding board	Assistance with regular tasks Loyalty Recognition Credit – given both publicly and privately
Boss	Protect you Champion you Help you in career advancement	Loyalty Support Assistance with his/her tasks Commitment Willingness to go the extra mile Image building
Senior Management Members	Protect you Champion you Help you in career advancement	Loyalty Support Commitment Willingness to go the extra mile Image building
Support Staff	Willing performance of day-to-day functions Cooperation	Appreciation Attention Recognition
Gateway People (Secretaries, Executive Assistants)	Provide you with access to crucial information and people	Appreciation Attention Recognition
Family	Provide moral support, appreciation, understanding	Moral support Appreciation Understanding
More Experienced Colleagues	Provide expertise, perspective, contacts, knowledge	Respect Recognition Attention
Networking Allies	Keep you abreast of the general buzz Provide you advance information and background knowledge Provide you contacts Alert you to emerging trends and patterns	Advance information Background knowledge Contacts Alerts about emerging trends and patterns
Interest Groups	Build influence Mobilize support Provide you with data	Assistance for their cause
Community Members	Build influence Mobilize support Provide you with data	Assistance for their cause
Press	Build influence Mobilize support	Information
Government	Build influence Mobilize support	Assistance for their cause
Clients	Provide inputs for new product development initiatives Provide referrals Provide preferential status	Preferential status Willingness to go extra mile Business leads Referrals
Vendors	Provide extra assistance Provide preferential status	Preferential status Business leads Referrals

 

Tip 1: Don't be naïve in the way that you approach people - be aware of people's interests and duties, and understand that these may conflict with yours. Also, recognize that they may not be able to help you, for a variety of possible reasons including a very heavy workload. And with all this talk of mutual help and information sharing, make absolutely sure that you keep confidential information confidential! Tip 2: Allies can't help you if you're not doing your job properly. Make sure you make time to look after your allies, but make sure too that you do your job to the best of your abilities.

Nurture your allies, and you'll find that you can be so much more effective at getting things done. What's more, things will get so much easier and more pleasant at work!

In the Career Excellence Club...

Every working day, the club brings you a new career-building resource like this "Finding Your Allies" article, and you can see the last two weeks' resources below. If you're already a member, simply click on the links provided below to access the recent resources in the list. If you are not yet a member, take our tour to find out more about the Club.

17 Mar Mon	Developing People One of the key jobs of a manager is to develop the individuals in his or her team. Find out how to do this in this Learning Stream. Premium Members' Learning Stream Premium Members' Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
14 Mar Fri	Finding Your Allies (Featured in this newsletter.) Things are so much easier when people help and support one another at work. Find out how to build your own support network. All Readers New Tool All Readers Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
13 Mar Thurs	Don't Take It Personally Do you take criticism to heart? Find out how to deal with other people’s comments more objectively and constructively. All Members' Coaching Clinic Members: Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
12 Mar Wed	Why Change Can Fail – Knowing what not to do Change is complex, and knowing what NOT to do is just as important as knowing what TO do! Find out more in this article! Premium Members' New Tool Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
11 Mar Tue	How to Avoid Decision Making Paralysis When you know you have to make a decision, but just don't know which option to choose, the tools you'll learn in this lesson will help you. All Members' Featured Favorite Members: Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
10 Mar Mon	Executing Your Strategy, by Mark Morgan, Raymond E Levitt and William Malek One reason why business strategies can fail is that they've been poorly implemented. Find out about a tried and tested approach to implementation. Premium Members' Book Insight Premium Members: Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
7 Mar Fri	Why the Rules are There (Featured in this newsletter.) Do you react negatively to workplace rules? Learn why you need SOME rules, and make sure the ones you have serve their purpose. All Readers New Tool All Readers Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
6 Mar Thur	Building Influence Most of us need to influence others in order to get things done. Find out about how to do this – with or without formal authority, and then practice applying your leaning in three specially-written scenarios. All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ Members: Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>
5 Mar Wed	Surviving a Downturn - Managing your career in an unstable economy No one wants to think about a downturn. But ignoring reality won't help if things go wrong. Learn what to do now to prepare for this possibility. Premium Members' New Tool Read More >> Take the Club Tour >>

A Final Note from James

I'm sure that when you reflect on your career, some of the happiest and most productive times have been when you've felt surrounded by friends and allies, and there's been a real spirit of give-and-take in your teams. Unfortunately, this can be one of the first things to go when people feel overloaded and "under the cosh": The last thing people want to do is help others out, when they've already got too much to do.

This is why we all need to manage our workloads well if we're to have a happy, positive atmosphere at work - if we're out of control, we've no time for building positive relationships, and we can quickly end up isolated and unhappy. It's also why team leaders need to be careful about piling on too much pressure if they want teamwork to flourish. As ever, it's a matter of finding the right balance between focused effort and positive interaction!

In two weeks' time, we'll be back to ask "How good are your motivation skills?" and help you manage competitive tendering successfully.

Until then, enjoy the website, and why not meet us in the Career Excellence Club? Just remember that the 'Get It Done' free workbook offer closes in just 2 days time!

Best wishes

James

James Manktelow

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Essential Skills for an Excellent Career!

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