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How to Get Ahead at the Office: Part Two

iStock_000008423429XSmallby Mike O’Mary

Note: This is Part Two in a series of sporadic commentaries on how to get ahead at the office. These tips may not directly apply to your career as a freelancer, but if you have corporate clients, it’s important to understand life on the inside.

Two weeks ago, I talked about working your way up the corporate ladder by attending lots of meetings. The key is to hang around just as meetings are beginning and don’t leave unless someone specifically tells you to.

But getting inside the meeting room isn’t enough. If you really want to get ahead, you’ll have to express “opinions” and “ideas.” New ideas can be pretty scary to some people, so I recommend sticking to opinions.

The first thing to remember is that no matter what topic is being discussed or how little you know about it, it is very important for you to voice your opinion. In the meeting room, it’s quantity, not quality, that counts. It doesn’t even matter if you express a series of opinions or just the same opinion over and over again. The important thing is to be heard — otherwise nobody will ever benefit from your unique experiences and observations.

If possible, try to monopolize the floor during the early part of a meeting. Use a loud voice to keep everyone’s attention, and don’t be shy about talking over others if they try to interrupt you.

If you happen to be at a meeting where somebody actually comes up with an idea, don’t be afraid. Instead, reflect for a moment, then say something like, “I think Jim’s idea might be worth exploring.” Jim will appreciate the support, and you will have taken a step toward establishing yourself as an authority figure.

Finally, as the meeting begins to wind down, it’s time to let other people talk. People like to hear their own voices, so if you let them talk, they’ll leave the meeting with a good feeling. The best part is, you don’t even have to listen. You’ve already given your opinions — and lots of them. So sit back and have another donut. You’ve earned it.

Next time: Part Three on how to get ahead at the office.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”

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For Once, Then, Something of Value

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iStock_000010019404XSmallby Mike O’Mary

“Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs/Always wrong to the light.”

You and me both, Bob.

In my last post, “How to Get Ahead at the Office, Part One,” I said I would post Part Two this week. I lied. I’ll do that next week. This week, I thought I’d provide some actual useful advice.

How do you keep in touch with freelance clients and prospects between jobs? One of the best ways to do that is to periodically provide them with “something of value” (SOV).

I first learned about SOV when I was working at a major HR consulting firm. It was a corporate setting, but essentially, everybody there was a freelancer because they were all consultants working for clients. It was sometimes hard to tell who the employees were more devoted to — the consulting firm that paid them, or the client that paid the consulting firm. And that was probably a good thing. The clients loved the fanatical devotion of the consultants.

One of the things the consulting firm did with new employees was to stress the importance of consistenly providing clients with something of value. It could be a recent study, a survey, a white paper, a “heads up” about an upcoming conference or teleseminar — anything to let the client know you are thinking about them and trying to help them. There is no charge for SOV, but the payoff comes when the client needs help — and maybe if you’ve been providing SOV all along, they will see YOU as the helpful person they need.

Maybe you’re already providing clients and prospects with SOV. If so, good for you. It beats the hell out of a cold call. But if you’re not in the habit of providing SOV to your clients and prospects on a regular basis, now would be a good time to start.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology of great customer service stories.

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Tips for Writing a Smashing E-mail: Part Two

Two weeks ago, I talked about why we should go out of our way to protect people’s identities and privacy in e-mail. Today I’m going to focus on the importance of the subject line.

How many times do you receive an e-mail without a subject line? I get them constantly. How difficult is it to write two or three words, to let the person you’re writing to know what your note is about? It will help him or her to prioritize the reading and response time for your message, and will add clarity to what you’re trying to say.

For example, if you’ve been writing back and forth with a topic that started out discussing Charlotte Bronte and your monthly book discussion group, but by the fifth response, you’ve moved on to talking about your upcoming vacation to the Bahamas, change the subject line to reflect that. It’s confusing to receive a note that says, “hairdresser” when the message inside is all about the BP oil spill. Be clear and pay attention to the way that your e-mail can change topics from the original one.

Unless the material below in ongoing conversations is critical, and someone may want to reference it, it’s thoughtful to delete the text. There’s nothing like clogging up the bandwidth with clutter. It just takes a few extra seconds to be the one who clears the previous, and now irrelevant, messages. But don’t do this if someone will need the info at the bottom of the page. Maybe it has a phone number, a meeting date or an important address. Check before you remove material.

And tune in on June 7th for tip number three on how to write a terrific e-mail.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, now available on Amazon.com. Read more at http://beyourowneditor.blogspot.com.

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How to Get Ahead at the Office: Part One

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Business Peopleby Mike O’Mary

This is Part One in a series of sporadic commentaries on how to get ahead at the office. These tips may not directly apply to your career as a freelancer, but if you have corporate clients, it’s important to understand life on the inside.

The most important thing to keep in mind as you attempt to work your way up the corporate ladder is that it is very important to attend as many meetings as possible. Attending meetings serves the dual-purpose of allowing you to network while also preventing you from having to do any actual work. What better excuse for being unable to assist with the latest corporate crisis than to say, “I’d love to help, but I’m tied up in meetings all day.”

So let’s say you want to attend more meetings, but maybe you’re a new employee. How do you work your way in to the inner circle?

One of my favorite strategies has been to be conveniently passing by a conference room with cup of coffee and notepad in hand just as people are beginning to congregate for a meeting. If you happen to know a meeting participant, stop and chat. If you don’t know any of the participants, just walk up to a stranger, introduce yourself and ask, “What’s up?” Nod with interest and prolong the chitchat until the meeting organizer says, “Let’s get started.” The key here is not to leave unless somebody specifically tells you to. If you prefer a more direct approach, look the meeting organizer in the eye and say, loud enough for all to hear, “Do you want me to leave?”

Occasionally, you’ll encounter a seasoned veteran who will stare right back at you and say, “Yes. Get out. Now.” But more often than not, the person will avert your intent, preferably slightly maniacal, gaze and mumble, “No. Why don’t you stay?” They might even apologize for not inviting you in the first place. Next thing you know, you’re drinking free coffee, eating donuts and doodling on your notepad. You’ve taken your first step into the inner circle.

Tune in next week for Part Two of this series and learn how to get noticed once you’re inside the meeting room.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”

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Running Sidehill on Loose Gravel

18 rock climbing iStock_000006307944Smallby Mike O’Mary

One summer, a friend took me hiking up 9,000-foot-high Decker Peak in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. The experience provided me with a strong sense of accomplishment, and the solitude, the view and the cleansing effort it took all combined to make the world seem less complex. At that moment, it seemed that it might, in fact, be possible for us to control our own fates.

When you descend from the Sawtooths, you can follow the stream beds down until they take you to a lake at the base of the mountains, or you can go sidehill around the mountain until you are above the lake, then head straight down. We decided on the latter.

We made good time until we came to some steep, vertical strips of decomposed granite, nature’s equivalent of silicone-coated marbles. Each strip was 20 yards across and stretched from the granite peak above us to as far down the mountain as we could see.

Crossing the strips required constant motion because as soon as you put a foot down, the granite started to slide down the mountain. The only way to avoid going down with it was to keep moving. We went sidehill on loose gravel for the next few hours until we were off the mountain.

I often think about that hike because when you’re a kid, you don’t control your own fate, but you temper that knowledge with the thought that someday, you’re going to grow up and the world will be your oyster. But the older you get, the more you realize most of us are just a bunch of big kids. We do adult things–we work, we make house payments, we pay taxes–but control is an illusory thing. It’s like running sidehill on loose gravel. In the end, people seem much happier when they stop pursuing control and start seeking meaning…because at that point, you begin to establish a foothold on solid ground.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, an independent book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”

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Tips for Writing a Smashing E-mail: Part I

       

            Over the last 10 or 15 years, e-mail has increasingly become a large part of our lives. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, most likely you write e-mail on a daily basis.  It is a special kind of life form that can multiply dramatically right before our eyes.  Because there is so much of it, and because the medium is so rapid, we often don’t give e-mail the respect that it deserves.  I’d like to offer a number of important tips that will make your e-mail stand out from everybody else’s, whether you are writing for work or for play. So, here is Part One of “How to Write a Smashing E-Mail.”

            1.  Let’s begin with the address line. Always protect your recipient’s identity.  If you have more than one recipient, create a group list in your Outlook Express or put additional parties on a blind carbon copy line. Some people are very particular about not wanting their e-mail address circulated.  Other people don’t care.  Be safe.  Better to err on the side of caution.

            2.  Never forward a personal e-mail to someone else, even if you send them a copy, without their express permission.  Forwarding is so easy that you’ll never know if the note that you sent from your neighbor to your best friend magically returned to the original sender (often this occurs when someone hits the “reply all” button instead of just “reply”).  Prevent unwanted surprises.  Make a habit of ensuring everyone’s privacy.

            3. Check and double-check to make sure that you’re sending your e-mail to the right person to avoid any embarrassing moments.  I was involved with a man named Ed for many years.  Right below Ed in my address book was the Editors’ Association of Canada!  I lived in mortal fear that I would accidentally forward an amorous e-mail meant for Ed to the association. How did I resolve that concern?  I changed his name in my address book and called him “Hot Boy.” Sound silly?  It was worth it to know that the Editors’ Association didn’t read anything naughty that wasn’t intended for them.

            Tune in on May 24 for Tip Two on writing great e-mails.

 

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, available on Amazon.com.  Visit her at sigridmacdonald@blogspot.com.