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Sticky Learning Lunches #7: Get the Right Tech You Need When Working From Home For You and Your Productivity
Identify the tech you need when working from home and how to make it work, so that you can be more productive. Use your time working from home to become the very best version of yourself. This is a Virtual Classroom of 20-minutes, followed by a 10-minute Q&A.
You Can Read the Full Transcript Below:
Nathan Simmonds:
Good afternoon everybody. It is Thursday. I feel like it’s a Friday. It’s night. It’s a Thursday. Welcome everyone to today’s session. We get we are again, we’re just a little bit early. We’re just gonna wait for everyone to come into today’s session. So let’s make sure we’re setting everybody up for success. First things first, phones. Let’s make sure our technology, ’cause this is the thing that’s stopping us from doing good work.
Nathan Simmonds:
All your phones, let’s get your phones out. Flight mode only, zero distractions. Let’s minimize the technology while we’re using the technology, I’m sure that’s some sort of oxymoron happening right there. And also making sure we’ve got a drink available. We’re just waiting for a few more people to turn up. Just seeing if I can see how many people I can see here.
Nathan Simmonds:
Just gonna give it a couple more seconds. Make sure you’ve got pens, paper ready. I’m gonna be sharing a couple of different ideas and, and models here to really help you get that focus while you’re working at home. Make the most of it and make sure that this technology isn’t holding you back. Um, and that we’re not using it or having to create an obstacle which we’re not paying attention to because it’s very easy to get lazy with technology.
Nathan Simmonds:
But it’s the same models that we’re using physical uh, and working face-to-face as it is working with the technology. It’s the same models we’re using and when we apply them rather than getting lazy. ’cause the tech takes that, that effort out of it for us. So we think it makes it easier for us. We have to reapply those models with more vigor and more focus to get the best out of them. Let’s give it one more minute and then we’re gonna fly into this. Are ready.
Nathan Simmonds:
Brilliant. So we’re in. Welcome to the sticky, sticky learning lunches. It’s MBM, the Home of Sticky Learning. I’m just gonna take the screen share off so we’ve got that up there. Home of sticky learning. So we are soft skills provider to the UK grocery manufacturing industry. And these sessions are 20 minute micro learnings in these interesting times that we’ve got.
Nathan Simmonds:
And these are gonna happen for as long as you need them while you are working at home. And, and you need these, the, these tips and these ideas to help you get the best out of your environment, the best out of your situation and the best out of yourself so you can be the best version of yourself. Today we are looking at technology
Nathan Simmonds:
And actually how it’s holding you back. So we’re not gonna talk too much about the tech side, we’re gonna talk about how we work our way around it. So what’s the tech we’ve got, the first thing we need to make sure we got is a decent laptop.
Nathan Simmonds:
And we talked a little bit about this in space, making sure it’s ever elevated so you can see it so you’re not constantly hunched over and it’s not pulling you and push and putting pressure on the wrong parts of your spine as you are working because that pressure is gonna cause pain and that that pain is gonna cause distraction, which is gonna stop you from doing good work. Even a small amount of pain over a long period of time is gonna cause a, a depreciation in the value that you can add. Okay? So let’s be aware of this.
Nathan Simmonds:
Elevate your laptop, get comfortable. Mobile phones, huge distraction. I’ve got mine there, I’m aware of this. We need to be aware that it takes about 20 minutes for your concentration to fully engage in what you’re doing. And every time that you get a ping, a beep and a buzz, your concentration is gonna go back or that, that, that timer from maintaining your concentration goes back to zero and a snap and it takes time to pick up again.
Nathan Simmonds:
So every time we’re going into a meeting, we’re having a conversation, we’ve got pings and we’ve got beeps and we’ve got buzzes or even having this conversation with me, every time that happens your concentration is gonna drop. So again, it’s causing a barrier to that movement. The other thing that I wanted to point out as well is getting a booster. We talked about this a little bit before about building the space.
Nathan Simmonds:
I’ve had two boosters. The last one I’ve got is from bt. It’s amazing, okay? ’cause the moment I shut my door, the moment I change the location of my laptop, I’m cutting off the, the reception for my wifi. So unless you’ve got a cable, you need to be mindful of this. So this is as far as we’re gonna go into the tech side of this really. And I didn’t wanna go too deep on it ’cause I know the tech side and the space.
Nathan Simmonds:
I can be very technical side of things. Okay? Just diving into that first part, now we’re gonna break down a couple of models that are gonna help you do this. How many people here have meetings in their diaries? Back to back You can see some yeses and nos. Let’s see this in the, in the questions box. How many people have got meetings in their diary going back to back?
Nathan Simmonds:
Me? Yes. Okay, who else? Yes, come on. Who else? I plan a break in between Sean, you wise lady on occasions. Yes. How many? And this is right now we’re working at home in this space. How many people when they were working face to face in the office had meetings back to back? And I know the answer’s gonna be the same. You don’t have to answer that one.
Nathan Simmonds:
When we’re working face to face, we have this kind of, this, this misnomer in our head that we can finish this meeting at 12 o’clock and then we can walk across to the other side of the building and be in the next meeting at exactly 12 o’clock. It’s not gonna really happen is it? ’cause what happens is the meeting you are here maybe with someone really important, you finish that meeting but you finish it late ’cause they’ve got things to talk about and you want to wrap up and you don’t wanna seem rude to rush away.
Nathan Simmonds:
But then it takes you another five minutes to get to the meeting over here and you turn up to the meeting 15 minutes late. Now if that meeting is a one-to-one or a coaching session or a developmental conversation with one of your teams or or a member of staff and you are turning up 15 minutes late to that session, what are you saying to the individual open question to you guys?
Nathan Simmonds:
What are you saying to the individual If you are turning up to their one-to-ones and to their developmental conversations and you’re turning up 15 minutes late, what are you actually saying? Correct? What else are we saying? You are not important to me as one. Definitely. How does the person feel when we do this? Yeah, absolutely. You are not as important to me as the person, the previous person. You are not my priority.
Nathan Simmonds:
Your time is not as important as mine. Exactly this. And we do that face to face. And then what we do is we rush into the meeting and we say, ah, I’m really sorry I’m late. I was with so-and-so, and we were talking about this and the person goes, ah, it’s okay. No it’s absolutely fine. And then the head’s thinking no it’s not you don’t value me all my time.
Nathan Simmonds:
So we need to start thinking about actually how we plan our diaries and how we plan what we’re doing. Now the reason I say this is ’cause it’s even easier to fall into this trap when I’m sitting on g uh, blue jeans or Zoom or teams or whatever it is and I’m having a meeting with this person, I think I can press this button and I can press this button and I’m gonna arrive exactly in the right time.
Nathan Simmonds:
But we don’t because the meeting always overruns ’cause we structure it, um, without, we don’t put the elements in place to make it work. The other part is what we are not doing for ourselves is actually giving ourselves a chance to decompress from the previous conversation. So if you are in a, a really important meeting with a customer, a client, you are senior management, whatever it is, and you are sitting there and you’ve got loads of actions.
Nathan Simmonds:
And you’ve got all these thoughts racing through your head and you’re going from meeting to meeting, on a scale of one to 10, how likely are you to forget some of those elements that you needed to make sure you were taken away? If you are rushing straight into the next meeting, one being not at all, 10 being absolutely gonna forget some stuff, 10, 10, 8, 1 7.
Nathan Simmonds:
It’s about making sure we’re completely on point and we need to give ourselves a little bit of breathing space to decompress so that we can make sure we’ve got that thinking square in our head so that then when we walk into the next meeting, we are not carrying any baggage from the previous conversation. So when I walk into that meeting room at 12 o’clock, because that’s the time my one-to-one starts with this person, I’m walking in there and making sure that I’m focusing on them.
Nathan Simmonds:
Because when you are having a one-to-one with someone, when you are giving someone feedback, when you are doing a coaching session with one of your team, who’s the most important person in the conversation? Open question for you. Them, them, them always. So if I’m walking , oh si just to, to be difficult. So when you are walking into that meeting and you’re still carrying baggage from that previous conversation, when you are walking in there late, you are always telling them that they’re not the most important person. It’s all about you. So the first thing that we need to do when we are looking at these parts,
Nathan Simmonds:
You set up our agenda. So we’re gonna use a model. Hope you can see that. No, that looks terrible. So the first thing part of Ace is the agenda. We wanna set up our agenda to make sure that we’ve given ourselves enough breathing time to actually go into the next session. You do not have to book every single one of your meetings from 9, 10, 11 and so on and so forth with zero breaks. Zero gaps. Give yourself small intervals. And in fact when you’re using meeting rooms, small trick, actually book your meeting rooms off time, off hour.
Nathan Simmonds:
So you don’t book them at the hour or the half hour. Book them at 10 past or quarter pass. And it may make your outlook look a little bit clunky, but you’ll find that people only book to the hour. So even if they overrun by 10 minutes, you are not gonna be late getting into the room ’cause you booked it at quarter past or 10 past. And actually if you finish your meetings at at five past or 10, two, sorry, five, two or 10, two, you know you’re gonna overrun anyway.
Nathan Simmonds:
So it will run until the next meeting and actually just gives you a few minutes to then play with to make sure you’re getting you, you’ve got the right mindset to finish your meetings, move into the right one. The other part of agenda, so it’s booking the right time as number one, especially when we’re using Zoom or whatever when we book in our, our meetings and Outlook, is making sure that we are setting a clear agenda for those sessions.
Nathan Simmonds:
And I cannot tell you how many training courses there are out there just for this one piece of information. It is vital that you are giving people the right information before they come to the conversation. I have, uh, I’ve been guilty in the past of having half a conversation in my head and then when they go and speak to that person, I drop into that conversation halfway through even though they weren’t physically present for the first half.
Nathan Simmonds:
So when we book the meetings, we make sure that we’ve got a clear agenda of what’s gonna be spoken about. We do this at MBM making business matter. We make sure that those sessions, we have a clear agenda if we haven’t got one before we go in, we make sure the first thing we talk about is what we’re gonna talk about and we make sure that we keep it on 0.5 minutes of booking that into someone’s diary. Gives them actually a whole world of opportunity to come to that session and deliver good content.
Nathan Simmonds:
So making sure you actually document or write an agenda before or at the beginning, the second part of ACEs to capture. So make sure that you are capturing what the agenda is, you are working out which one’s are gonna come first and who’s gonna document that stuff. So the actions are really clear, super easy point on this, not about making, making sure that you’ve got um, a note take or someone taking notes all the way through, but what the action point was, what’s on the agenda and who’s got the agreed action. That’s it. Super quick. The last part though of this
Nathan Simmonds:
Is to evaluate. He says, checking the time when you get to the end of the session, don’t think that the, your meeting when if it finishes at one o’clock, you play up to one o’clock and then you do all your niceties and your tune magging and your chatting and then, uh, whatever it is afterwards. That then causes the session to draw out, aim to finish your meeting 10 minutes before you’re actually due to walk out of the room.
Nathan Simmonds:
That then gives you enough time to evaluate what’s going on. And then you can ask some key questions about the meeting, about the conversations, about the approaches, about the way the, the feedback or the, or the coaching was delivered or the way that the meeting was facilitated. And we can go into this. I’m gonna go really very quickly through a model that I teach as part of the coaching. I’m gonna leave the ace up there so we can see that still.
Nathan Simmonds:
It says, so this model is called 3D. 3D thinking leads to 3D mastery, just cliche as I can get. So the first thing that we want to do when we wanna do an evaluation process, and you can do this with an individual about their sales performance. You can do this with an individual about how they handle the client conversation or how you handle the meeting. And you can do it with yourself or you can do it um, with someone else. So the first D is to deconstruct
Nathan Simmonds:
And we ask some clear objective, open questions. What worked, what didn’t work? That’s it. What are you working on? So this would be the meeting that you’ve just had, what worked, what didn’t work? Splendid. So now we’re starting to see the, the two elements here. The second D is the design.
Nathan Simmonds:
So we wanna work out what do we want to bin, keep or tweak? What do we mean by this? Well now you know what works and what didn’t work, the things that worked, keep doing them. It’s quite obvious if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. The things that didn’t work, we need to take those things and make some adjustments to them.
Nathan Simmonds:
As Einstein said, you know, the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting to get a different result. Result. By doing this model we can create two very clear pools of information of actually how we can improve things. When we see those two things, if it doesn’t work, get rid of it, bin it, stop doing it.
Nathan Simmonds:
If it does work, keep doing it. And if there’s something that kind of works but maybe needs an adjustment, tweak it and then try it again. Out of this, we then start creating actions. What are we gonna do? What do I get rid of? What do I repeat? What do I keep doing forward?
Nathan Simmonds:
The third step is always an action step is deliver. Do it. So we’ve seen what works, what doesn’t work in these meetings and in these conversations we’ve analyzed it. What do we bin, keep or tweak? And then we’ve had a look at it, we now know what the next action is. So the next time that we have the meeting.
Nathan Simmonds:
The next time that we book in our one-to-one, we can then make sure that we put those things in place to make sure that this meeting is really on point, is delivering the right information is engaging and helping us to take those forward steps, which is gonna push us forward and help us deliver, especially in these testing and challenging times for our businesses, for ourselves and for our families. 3D thinking leads to 3D, mastery, D deconstruct, D for design, D for deliver. Just do it.
Nathan Simmonds:
And that’s how you can evaluate any situation. I know I’ve used this model previously in other companies. I’ve also called it the 600 K model as well because I took one team from two point, uh, 1.6 million to 2.2 million in six months using this model. And it takes less than 10 minutes, three times a week with each of the individuals in your team to get those sorts of results because you’re continuing to create those compound improvements over a course of time.
Nathan Simmonds:
Very effective, very powerful and very quick to use, especially in high paced environments. Splendid coaching model to use that was quite high paced today and I wanted just to drop some key information there and give you some structures in, in how to improve certain situations. So I was also put on here, use the Smartsheet instant sharing, no ambiguity, trackable, easy access to all.
Nathan Simmonds:
Absolutely. So you can even document it on on smart. You can take the 3D model, put it into an evaluation sheet and start preparing that and and start reviewing that stuff very quickly. So when you get to the end of your online meeting to your session, it’s using some of those coaching questions to get the best possible view on what you are doing that’s gonna help you get a better result. It’s very easy to say, oh we’ve got some new technology.
Nathan Simmonds:
Oh I’ve got Zoom, it makes it easier to do this, da da da. There is a challenge that it makes us lazier and when we go into these conversations, when we are using the, the, these new equipment, it’s still the frameworks of the coaching thinking of the leadership, um, methods and and ideas that are gonna help us um, to continually improve what we’re doing.
Nathan Simmonds:
Not just get reliant on the, on the tech and the software and the apps that get added on very similar to the stop start continue. It is very similar to that and as I say though is when we use the stop start, we’re making sure we’re highlighting what works, what doesn’t work, then looking for those bits we want to adjust and then we’re making sure that we’re taking action on it.
Nathan Simmonds:
And the the challenge that I’ve seen with the stop start continues is often we use those as part of the 360 feedback mechanism or a yearly review potentially. And it becomes a nice to have in a bit of a box ticking. Whereas this, when you’ve done it on point, you are creating action and you’re setting a clear intent to get that action and make it move. I went at hot quite a lot of speed today. I was keen to get as much of this information to you all as possible.
Nathan Simmonds:
What’s been useful from today? I’d love to see what’s in the chats so far for today. What’s been useful from what I’ve covered and how’s it gonna help Absolutely focus on continuous improvement. The fo and I also, when I’m teaching this as well, Colin, it is the focus on continuous self-improvement. This is the model that I use on myself on a daily basis when I’m doing a podcast interview, when I’m doing these sessions, I then go into that session reflect what did I include?
Nathan Simmonds:
What didn’t I, how do I make it better for the next one, 3D model for my learning interventions. Absolutely. And when you’re working with an individual, um, for yourself or someone else just using this, this, this, this framework to hang the conversation, both models which can be used really simply and quickly to make positive change. Absolutely Sean. Amazing. They are super easy when you’re setting your meeting up, make sure you’ve got your agenda in mind before you go in. Give people the, the ability to prepare so they can bring the best of themselves.
Nathan Simmonds:
Very often when people don’t have this, they get stuck. Um, and they won’t have all the answers. ’cause sometimes people need to reflect and build up that momentum before they get there. And you’re giving people the opportunity to do that capture document what’s going on and then evaluate how you can make it better for the people in your teams. Do carry along, don’t, don’t, don’t, uh, do or don’t carry along dead weight. That doesn’t work.
Nathan Simmonds:
Don’t be afraid to tweak or leave it. Absolutely. It’s imperative that something we we, we find ourselves going down the wrong path, the wrong track. And as human beings, it’s very often that we are afraid to admit that maybe we we went the wrong route and that we need to maybe backtrack. Often though we don’t have to backtrack and it’s like a spider’s web.
Nathan Simmonds:
When you see all the, the, the spokes coming out and you see the connecting bits of web, often when you’ve gone down a track, you don’t have to come all the way back to the beginning. You just take one of the loops across and go to the next track and keep moving in the direction you want to go. What it does take though is the ability to admit that maybe you did take the wrong action, you may have failed, you may have learned and you just keep moving.
Nathan Simmonds:
Home is a new canvas, but we also need to look and see if I am the best I can be always. It’s very easy to get potentially complacent or to sit back and, and not take those actions. Definitely. Last one I can see on here is really excited to use this with my team to encourage a whole team mindset shift. Agreed, please test it with them often. We’re gonna talk about this next week.
Nathan Simmonds:
So the other thing I want to drop in with you people if you have not signed up for next week, next week we are going to be looking at the grow coaching model. Start to finish Monday to Thursday. Um, Sarah’s gonna share the link for that in just a moment. Monday we are gonna start with goal setting and how to use the, the coaching cards, the, the the coach, um, the coaching cue cards that we’ve designed at at MBM.
Nathan Simmonds:
So how to use some of those questions, how to set goals and some of the importance around some key mindsets around goal setting that we don’t always know or we don’t always get taught. So I’m gonna teach some of that on Monday. So if you can get the link for the goal setting next Monday. Make sure you are signed up who’s already signed up for Monday. Let’s see who’s already in there.
Nathan Simmonds:
Uh, what else have we got? And the other thing of the reason I say that as well, um, Sean, is we think that coaching has to be 60 minutes in a room with somebody it doesn’t. Coaching can be three questions in 10 minutes. Coaching can be one question at the printer because coaching and developing people is as much a skillset as it is a, a knowledge as much as it is a behavior.
Nathan Simmonds:
So when we coach people, it’s not coming up with the right questions and having them available so we can develop those people around them. Ah, good. And this takes 10 minutes a day, three times a week, 10 minutes a day each individual phenomenal results. Spider webinar analogy. Thank you Ivan, appreciate the the feedback on that. All four, good appreciate, I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Nathan Simmonds:
Colin. Not yet waiting for the link. So the link I think is gonna come up. It’s already at the bottom there. Sign up for Monday. Make sure you are in that room ’cause we’re gonna be talking about coaching skills. Thanks for the feedback from today. What questions have you got about the models, about the approaches for me right now so I can help you strengthen these results that you are guessing? What questions have you got for me?
Nathan Simmonds:
He says, while people are typing that as always, we’ve talked about the coaching cards, the mental health cards are now available. I know that some of you have already bought ’em. Very grateful for that. Also wanna be talking about the, the virtual classrooms that we also share. So some of the longer, um, courses that we can deliver through MBM making business matter. Also gonna share the link for the virtual classroom.
Nathan Simmonds:
So if you’ve got teams, if you’ve got businesses that wanna develop these skill sets, then we will provide the link. Go and have a look at the virtual classrooms, see what’s appropriate for your team, see what support your team needs. And maybe it is some more in-depth knowledge around working from home. Maybe it is some mindset shifts around how we approach our work and and goal setting. These sorts of things. Have a look at the virtual classrooms if they are a benefit, click through.
Nathan Simmonds:
Let’s have a conversation. Questions. So what advice would you have to not spend too much time on design and then up not getting actually actual doing? Good question because a lot of people get caught in the analysis paralysis thing where we go, oh, let’s go and get all the data, let’s get all the design part and not take the action. That’s why it’s always only ever three steps with me.
Nathan Simmonds:
The first part is we want to do that part of what work, what doesn’t work? Get the headlines. The one thing if you’re working with a group of people is maybe ask ’em, tell me one thing that did work. Boom, tell me one thing that didn’t work. Boom. We just get singular answers. We kind of, we funnel the responses design. Okay, so based on those two responses you’ve given me, what do you want?
Nathan Simmonds:
Bing, keep or tweaked or that didn’t work. Get rid of it. That did work. Okay, I wanna keep doing that. Okay, well how do you do more of that? What else could you include that’s gonna make you take more action? So rather than getting lots of um, lots of answers and spending a lot of time in those responses, we funnel the individual down, including ourselves into one or two responses. And then we work on that for 24 hours, then we go again, then we go again, then we go again.
Nathan Simmonds:
And over the course of five days, 10 days, 15 days, you’ll see that compound interest of the personal development, uh, kicking in. Are there any questions which would be used within the deconstruct in 3D model? Three questions. And that’s how, that’s one what’s what keeps it so focused and intentional? The three questions and they always start with what, and we’ll cover a little more bit more about this when we look at the growth coaching model, what are you working on?
Nathan Simmonds:
So you are super clear on what the thing is you, you know, the element you wanna improve, especially if you are in a sales environment or training environment. What’s the one thing you wanna work on today? So if you are working in contact center, it might be your handling time on your calls, it might be, um, your sales ratio. It might be your quality on your phone call or your dispatch, whatever it is. What one thing do you wanna work on today?
Nathan Simmonds:
Great, from the last phone call from the last dispatch, the last order, whatever it is, the last team meeting. What worked? That’s question two. What worked document out on the other side of that? What didn’t work? So we just ask three questions and keep it super focused. We don’t wanna go in and start drilling down too much, we just wanna get really clear answer the part that makes it really, uh, another partner that makes it really work as well.
Nathan Simmonds:
So it’s making sure you, your, your teams and people know that you’re gonna do this. I’m just gonna ask a few questions that really focus down on the, on a single improvement on one element and, and teach people the model. Share it with them and, and preface to them signpost it. You’re gonna ask a few pinpoint questions just to make one small improvement. ’cause I want to help see where we can make this better and I see where we can get a better result as a team.
Nathan Simmonds:
I wanna see how I can better lead you or coach you in order for you to get more successes for yourself. And I’m gonna use this model, I’m gonna use these three questions to start that off. Very welcome. Absolutely appreciated. What other questions do we have right now? Steely silent.
Nathan Simmonds:
We’d love to get your feedback right now. On a scale of one to 10, how useful was today’s training session One, not at all, 10 magnificently. So on a scale of one to 10, how useful was today? Ten eight. Good. Nice spread. Six. Thanks I for your honesty. I really appreciate that. 9.459. Another bar stomach. Thank you Colin. Good. Thank you very much for your time today. Um, really appreciate your input, appreciate the engagement. Have a look at the coaching cards.
Nathan Simmonds:
If you haven’t already, have a look at the virtual classrooms as well. Please make sure you know if this stuff is gonna help you, your teams, your businesses right now and we can come together in that conversation. Let’s do that. Super important that we’re helping each other out here. Have a phenomenal rest of your day. We haven’t got a training session tomorrow because it’s Friday.
Nathan Simmonds:
We are gonna kick this off again on Monday. So it’s the goal setting, part of the grow coaching model on Monday and looking forward to this. Very passionate about coaching and leadership development and looking forward to seeing you all there. Thank you so much. Have a lovely rest of your week. Have a lovely weekend and I’ll catch you all on Monday at one o’clock.
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