In today’s busy world with lots of things on the go and with most people working in open space offices, it is often difficult to stay focused and to be fully present with another person before the next interruption comes your way.  On any given day in open space, you are likely to be interrupted 54 times by people who walk up to your desk to tell you something or ask for ‘a minute.’  It takes roughly 3 minutes to regain your focus on the task at hand, culminating in roughly two hours of wasted time every day. 
 
You definitely have to work harder to keep yourself focused and fully present.   This is why many people really enjoyed working from home during the COVID lockdowns – describing their work as more efficient and effective, largely because of minimal interruptions or distractions.  Now that people are back in the workspace, many have fallen back into the same old pattern of trying to stay focused, yet not fully present on most things.
 
In my conversation with Carley, we covered the following questions:​

1. We often hear the terms, ‘being present’ and ‘having presence.’  Are those two things connected in any way?
2. Given the new reality of working ‘virtually’ from home, do people have to work harder to be fully ‘present’ with their colleagues? 
3. For a person to be fully present with someone else, what are some things they can do to make that happen?

People are people, which means the dynamic on a team will fluctuate around the different personalities, as well as be influenced by different circumstances that a team Faces. 
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Whether you lead a team, or are a member of a team, you should keep your eye on the team’s health and occasionally do a WOF to see if anything needs adjusting -- i.e., the team is firing on all cylinders, where everybody is reasonably engaged and committed, and where you’re getting good results.  

Here are some symptoms of a dysfunctional team:

• Polite conversations, especially after everyone has been together for a while
• Very little vulnerability
• Conflict is seen as a bad thing
• Meetings that happen either before or after the scheduled team meeting
• Inability to see the whole; focused instead on ‘my part’
• An inner circle:  in group/out group dynamic
• Trust equates to loyalty
• Very little affirmation going on
• Little or no accountability

Below is a link to my conversation with Mel Homer on Magic Talk Radio where we discuss the topic dysfunctional teams and what can be done if we find ourselves on one.

At work, and in life, building a strong personal brand is important. It’s also a choice. Even if you don’t care about how you come across to others, the people around you make all kinds of assumptions about who you are – based on each and every encounter they have with you. 

If you have a poor reputation and your brand is weak, you won’t have as much impact in your work – especially if you want people to hear your ideas.  So it really does pay to devote some time and effort to build a strong personal brand – with every single opportunity that comes your way. 

If you don’t look after your brand, you leave yourself open to being passed by, or even worse, being avoided by people around you. Can you really afford to have that happen?

When thinking about personal brand, there are 5 questions to ask if you want people to be drawn into you. They are:

1. Are you good at what you do?
2. Are you consistent?
3. How well do people know you?
4. Are you spending enough time being vs. doing?
5. Are you your authentic self when connecting with others?

This is my conversation with Mel Homer on Magic Talk Radio where we discuss the topic of building your personal brand at work.