I once worked for a large financial services firm as a contractor. It was there that I met Reg (name changed). If you had to sum up Reg’s responsibilities, it was to produce a set amount of work, attend two meetings and notify people of the latest industry news.
He had his set weekly work done in around 10 hours, meetings took 4 hours and the industry update took him 30 minutes to compile. 14.5 hours per week. My job was to help boost output but it wouldn’t be from people like Reg who had no incentive to change.
So we did the dance around the subject. I listened to the delicate art of making what is quick sound way too technical for most people. I listened to a person who desperately wanted to keep his lifestyle and work at his current level.
My job wasn’t to get Reg to produce more but to provide help. It was an eye-opener to see how he had no incentive to produce more and had to work so hard to stay exactly where he was. Probably a big reason that I’m a freelancer, an entrepreneur and a business owner.
We’ve all been in the situation where someone is speaking in a meeting, sending chat messages or reeling off tasks over the phone. You’re grabbing for a pen, double-tapping to open your notes app or finding anything you can to try and not forget anything. By splitting out your communication into a clear channel, people …
I had this question recently and want to dive a little deeper into it that the standard list post of DIY online course platforms. Just in case, if you don’t have time to read the deeper why behind choosing an online course hosting platform, go and check out (in this order): Teachable (free plan then $39 …
Depending on the industry, scheduling takes on many forms: Via email “do you have time…” Via email (available slots) Via self service website Via website form then phone booking Via phone On-site post appointment Via multichannel bookings Via class bookings (regular) Via group bookings (min number) Triaged by other staff members Via scheduler (individual) Via …
How incentives get in the way of change
I once worked for a large financial services firm as a contractor. It was there that I met Reg (name changed). If you had to sum up Reg’s responsibilities, it was to produce a set amount of work, attend two meetings and notify people of the latest industry news.
He had his set weekly work done in around 10 hours, meetings took 4 hours and the industry update took him 30 minutes to compile. 14.5 hours per week. My job was to help boost output but it wouldn’t be from people like Reg who had no incentive to change.
So we did the dance around the subject. I listened to the delicate art of making what is quick sound way too technical for most people. I listened to a person who desperately wanted to keep his lifestyle and work at his current level.
My job wasn’t to get Reg to produce more but to provide help. It was an eye-opener to see how he had no incentive to produce more and had to work so hard to stay exactly where he was. Probably a big reason that I’m a freelancer, an entrepreneur and a business owner.
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We’ve all been in the situation where someone is speaking in a meeting, sending chat messages or reeling off tasks over the phone. You’re grabbing for a pen, double-tapping to open your notes app or finding anything you can to try and not forget anything. By splitting out your communication into a clear channel, people …
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