Many companies encourage employees to “go above and beyond”, and banish the phrase “it’s not my job”. It’s a well-meaning attempt to encourage collaboration and customer service, but sometimes it can become too much of a good thing. Unbeknownst to some eager employees, there is a right and a wrong way to go above and beyond.
Continue reading “When Going Above and Beyond Becomes a Problem”
I have tried a few times to write about time management, but have struggled with it. This isn’t because I struggled with time management itself, but with trying to unlock my own secret behind developing a reputation of never sleeping (when in fact I sleep quite a bit!).
It wasn’t until I stepped back and looked at how I was managing my team’s time and supporting their work-life balance that I realized time management isn’t about protecting your time, scheduling your work or being more efficient.
The real secret to time management is being able to master prioritizing how you use your time. Continue reading “Prioritization: The Real Secret to Time Management”
Hidden deep past the second page of search results for my maiden name is a reference to an entry I contributed to an encyclopedia of pseudoscience. My involvement in pseudoscience is fodder for another blog post. What I want to explore here was the impact of being published, and how that shaped my goal setting.
When I was growing up, owning a set of Encyclopedia Britannica was a badge of honour and a source of amazement. I didn’t have to go all the way to the library to get information about the amazing world we live in. I could simply flip through the pages of faux-leather bound volumes to get information about some semi obscure topic. This was a time when we still used catalogues of index cards to find books through the Dewey Decimal System. It was a land before you had a worldwide network of information a handheld computer that also lets you make phone calls. Continue reading “Raising The Bar”
Most people who know me professionally know me as a Business Analyst who is fanatical about managing her time and stubbornly determined to fulfill promises. With nearly a decade of defining problems and delivering solutions, my work history is filled with projects I’ve turned around and efficiencies gained despite diminishing resources.
I’ve recently had conversations with people who are re-evaluating or starting on their career paths. They were surprised to learn that once upon a time, I wanted to be a sculptor. Or a screenwriter. Or a movie director. Or work in the field of gerontology. Or work in the field of clinical psychology. Or become a copyright lawyer.
So how on earth did I end up as a Business Analyst and remain dedicated to the practice for so long?
I recently read Drive by Daniel H Pink on the recommendation of our VP of HR West at Intact, Angela Champ. The book itself is a perspective-changing read on motivation and leadership. If you haven’t read it, there is a great 5-minute video that summarizes it’s concepts in YouTube:
One of the things the book reminds me of is a question a hiring manager asked me early in my career as a Business Analyst: What motivates you to do a good job? Continue reading “Motivation and the Job Search”
I was first introduced to overtime at my first job out of university. It was a contract position with a decent starting salary, but no medical coverage and no vacation time. The only way for me to either earn money to cover additional expenses, or to get banked vacation time, was to work overtime.
A few months into my contract, they offered me a permanent full-time position that came with medical coverage and vacation days. Overtime became a careful option for me when my manager requested it from the team. I had to balance between my need for a bit of extra money and my need for time to feed my first love, stone-sculpting.
One week, I was asked to be available on-call for the weekend. They were frantically looking for someone on Thursday, and I offered to do it because I didn’t have plans and my co-workers had families to tend to.
A few weeks later, they again asked for someone to be on call–this time, making the request a few hours before the end of the day on Friday. I reluctantly agreed to help out again, wanting to be a team player.
Continue reading “Overtime: Will It Help Or Hurt Your Career?”
We start blogs, articles and books with an introduction, right? I suppose it’s a good a place as any.
This is actually my third blog. Both of the previous ones are no longer online, except perhaps deep in the bowels of The Internet Archive.
My first blog was a personal one I started before Facebook was a common tool for people to keep in touch with friends and family. Run on Geeklog, it was my first experience with building and hosting my own website.
My second blog featured commentary on visual arts and copyright law. I can’t remember if this one was run off WordPress or Drupal, but I do remember it capturing my attention much longer.
I stopped both blogs after they were no longer relevant. So why start another?