Today is Independence Day in the United States. It’s a day we celebrate our freedom from the tyranny of the British, dating all the way back to 1776.

I am thankful for those who came long before me, who paid a VERY high price for the freedoms I now take for granted every day.

Specifically, I am thankful for:

• Freedom of religion, press and expression – I am thankful for this freedom more than any. It allows me to write this blog and not worry about being out of bounds. I am thankful for this because it allows me to explore my religion, and it allows me to express myself in any way I feel best.
• Freedom to vote – If I don’t like the folks in office, I can work to get someone else elected and place my vote for whomever I wish.
• Freedom for cruel and unusual punishment – I am thankful if I commit a crime, I can’t be hung up by my thumbs in the town square.

Check out the whole constitution and think about what you are thankful for.

US Constitution No. 1 photo credit to Caveman_92223

Friend of Slacker Manager Scot Herrick is on vacation this week, so he asked some of his favorite Cubicle Warriors to share their insights with his readers. I was one of the contributors, with an article titled Managing from the Corner Cubicle.

I shared 4 reasons why it’s better to work in the corner cubicle than the corner office.

• Visibility
• Accessibility
• Knowledge gathering
• Dive in when needed

Read the details of Managing from the Corner Cubicle and leave a comment with your thoughts about cube life.

Cubicle Left photo credit to Kenner

Kevin Eikenberry is holding a fantastic contest to select the best leadership blogs of 2009. He’s picked the best of the best, and though I don’t agree that all blogs are leadership blogs, the ones selected are outstanding.

Without further ado, the nominees are:

• Leading Blog by Michael McKinney
• Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy
• Seth Godin’s Blog by Seth Godin
• Jon Gordon’s Blog by Jon Gordon
• Leadership is a Verb by John Bishop
• All Things Workplace by Steve Roesler
• Work Matters by Bob Sutton
• Leader Talk by Becky Robinson
• Next Level Blog by Scott Eblin
• Leadership At Work by John Baldoni

Vote for the best leadership blogs of 2009 today! Kevin is giving away 4 prizes worth $199!

Question: Which blogs would YOU nominate that aren’t on this list?

Image courtesy of Kevin Eikenberry

I recently had a webinar about my new book Help Desk Manager’s Crash course, and many of the participants wanted to know more about teambuilding. I thought it’d be nice to share my primer here, and then dive a little deeper into activities that work, and finally into how to teambuild with peers and up the organization.

Go first - As manager, you have to go first, show that you’re vulnerable, that you’re human, and that your team can trust you. If you aren’t willing to go first, why would anyone else want to contribute?

Share something folks don’t already know - Sure, it’s great to share the adversity story your team has heard 100 times…but not if you really want to build a team. Share something new, something surprising, that folks don’t know.

Let folks not participate - Some folks won’t participate in your team building activities. So WHAT! Make it safe for those who want to participate, and perhaps you can leave your non-players back to watch the phones or to do work while the rest of the team has fun.

Don’t play YOUR favorite game - Everyone wants to win, and everyone knows what the boss’ favorite game is. If you play your favorite game, you risk the trust of the whole team because folks either won’t play with you because they don’t want to risk beating you, won’t play as hard (and then will complain behind your back) or they’ll see that it’s your favorite game and try to ruin it for you. Not good outcomes. Instead…

Find out what your team enjoys (and play that instead) - Ask your team what THEY want to play–and then play their games. Let them set the rules, let them organize things, back them up so it’s safe to fail–and give them all the kudos if it’s a huge success.

Make it fun – Fun stuff is more apt to build teamwork than more work stuff. Make it fun, and folks will play. Just remember that everyone’s definition of fun is a little different.

Keep it simple – Simple stuff is more likely to get done than complicated stuff. Make it as simple as possible for folks to participate, and they will be more likely to do so.

Pizza is NOT teambuilding - Just because you bring in a pizza does NOT make it a team building exercise. Unless you’re making a pizza, or you’re eating pizza at Dave & Busters, pizza doesn’t equal teambuilding.

What are YOUR best teambuilding suggestions?

soccer practice photo credit to woodleywonderworks

If you were someone who won a copy of Rajesh Setty’s new book Upbeat, please send me a note at phil.gerbyshak @ b5media.com with your address. If you sent it already, I lost it. I tried to contact you, but I failed and it bounced back.

Thanks again to Raj for sharing your book!

Helen, who commented on Justin’s suggestion (in addition to another entry later in the contest): “It’s the GRATITUDE ATTITUDE — I LIKE IT Justin !!!”

Angela Marasco, who shared 3 tips: “I have three top ways of staying upbeat! 1. I have a “no negativity” office policy! Only positive thoughts and attitudes are brought through the door. Now…understanding that everyone can feel a bit negative at times, those negative thoughts must be channeled into a solution and voiced as a positive. This is sort of like the old interview question, “what are your weaknesses”! Everyone knows that you never voice a true negative…you take a negative and turn it into a positive! 2. Rid yourself of negativity and stay upbeat through proper diet and stress relieving exercise! This is considered a daily ritual. It’s amazing how much more positive you are when your body feels physically healthy. 3. Start to feel negative…take a moment…turn on some good music…and dance like nobody’s watching! This works for me every time!”

Scott C Griffin who offered this great tip, and a tale to help us remember it:: “One thing I do is to write it out - get it OUT of your system. It is more like self-therapy than anything else but you can then let it go and get on with your life. I also keep a poster that I made with some words of wisdom. The ‘words of wisdom’ came from my mother-in-law to my wife - a passing of a Native-American tradition for centuries. This is what my MIL passed on to the family - I read these words to make me think and re-focus …

Cherokee Wisdom

An elder Cherokee was teaching his grand-children about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me, a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf represents joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, security, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generos-ity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.” The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.””

Jeannette shared this tip: “I bought a puppy. She is my inspiration, she is always happy to see me, she always wags her tail. She doesn’t know there is a recession and it’s my responsibility to give her the best life I can! My drive comes from that, my positivity comes from that - I am invincible making sure she is well looked after. Know that what you do is for yourself and your loved ones! (Even though I have wet patches on the carpet sometimes!)” There were 15 more GREAT tips on how to remain upbeat as well. I’d encourage you to read them all, and go buy yourself a copy of Upbeat Now for yourself and a co-worker today!

Many years ago, I worked for a company in Menomonee Falls called Strong Capital Management, since acquired by Wells Fargo. It was one of the most interesting places I’ve ever worked, with as many unwritten rules as written rules.

I got a great background in the stock market, in customer service, and lifelong learning at Strong. It was the place that’s molded who I am more than any place else I have ever worked at. While I didn’t agree with everything the firm did, I am grateful for the opportunity I got to work there.

One of the biggest things Dick Strong, the founder/owner of Strong Capital Management instilled into all trainees early on was a simple credo:

Act like an owner

What does it mean to act like an owner?

• If you see a piece of trash on the ground, pick it up. Nobody likes a messy floor.
• Every job is your job. Nothing is beneath you.
• If you’re the last one in the room, turn out the light. Saving a little electricity is a good thing for everyone.
• Treat everyone you talk to with respect, regardless of their position. Today’s secretary is tomorrow’s millionaire.
• Always act professionally. You never know who’s going to hear what you’re saying or see what you’re doing.
• A little overtime won’t hurt you. Work until the job is done, even if it takes a little longer than you think.
• Read as many books and attend as many seminars as you can. It’s an inexpensive way to learn from the best.
• Always be on time for meetings Time is money and you wouldn’t waste money, so why would you waste time.
• Show up a few minutes early to relieve the next person from their shift. They’ll appreciate it and return the favor when they can.

What does it mean to YOU to act like an owner?

For Sale by Owner photo credit to sidewalk_flying

This past week we lost a role model for managers everywhere.

No, not Michael Jackson, though his music will be missed greatly.

I’m talking about Billy Mays, celebrity pitchman for such products as Kaboom household cleaner and the amazing Zorbeez, and a role model for managers everywhere.

If you’re wondering if I’ve lost my mind, I ask that you stay with me a little longer, and see the 5 reasons why Billy Mays was such a great role model for managers.

Contagious Smile - The first thing I always noticed about Billy Mays was the guy is infectiously happy. Any time you watch one of Billy’s infomercials, his smile always lit up the TV screen. If this guy was your manager, you couldn’t help but smile a little, even if you were just curious what made this guy so darn happy!

Enthusiasm - Watch any Billy Mays commercial, and you’ll know how enthusiastic the products he sells, no matter if it’s Mighty Putty, Laundry Balls, or whatever he was selling. How excited are you and your managers about what YOU do every day?  Take a little Billy Mays to work with you today, and get excited about managing again!

Clear communication style - Billy Mays always spoke loudly and clearly and in a manner that showed he knew what he was doing. Imagine if you could make say what your team needed to do that clear! You’d be even more effective!

Deep product knowledge - Nobody knew what Billy Mays was selling as deeply as Billy Mays. I watched a few interviews Billy did, and he knew everything about his products. As a manager, you may not need to get this deep in your knowledge, but imagine what would happen if you were?

Amazing eye contact - Billy Mays was the KING of eye contact. Every commercial he shot I felt like he was looking me right in the eye and talking to ME. If you’re speaking to your team in a meeting, try to look each person in the eye at least a few times to show you’re connected to them.

Billy Mays - management role model. May you rest in peace in the big infomercial in the sky.

What do you think about Billy Mays?

Image: Zuma Press

On Friday my team got reports of email that got placed in the spam filter from an internal address. I took some time to explain to the writer of the email why, and also how folks can rectify this by adding folks to safe senders. I thought it might be helpful to explain what goes in a “good” email that you send out beyond your team that DOESN’T get trapped in the spam filters…and that actually might get read.

Real from line: Make the email from a real person, not system administrator, not your department, and definitely not from an email address NOT in your company’s global address list.  FROM a real person will get opened, even if folks don’t know who the person is sending it. Hiding behind some other mailbox makes it look like spam, or worse, like someone from outside the organization is trying to fish for information. I find folks are more likely to open a message from a real person than some corporate mailbox. I have all correspondence that my team gets calls about come from me or a manager above me. If you’re worried about folks getting inundated with replies, change the replies go to setting to be someone who can actually respond.

Real subject line: Please include a subject line, and make it relevant to the rest of the email. You’d be amazed at how many emails I get that have no subject line, or that after I read the message make me scratch my head and wonder “Now how was that relevant?”

Short paragraphs: 3-5 sentences per paragraph is plenty for email. More than this, and you probably should link to a full article or hold a meeting to explain what you’re trying to say. Folks like to scan…so make it  easy for them to do so.

Not just photos: I don’t care if you are sending an invitation to the annual company picnic, making just a photo invitation is never good practice, as folks on many mobile devices can’t see it, and it’s hard to scan and harder yet to search for that email later on down the road. 

Bulleted lists: If you have more than a few points of 1 line text, include a bulleted list. Again, easier to scan than before.

NO ALL CAPS: I still get a few emails a day from folks who use ALL CAPS. Please don’t do this. It hurts my eyes and it hurts my head. Please don’t scream at me in email. Save that for in person

Use bold for key points: I do this when I write Slacker Manager so you can quickly get the gist of my articles. I do this in email for the same reason. Scanning is all folks have time for. Help me scan.

Keep it short: Keep things short and concise, at 1 to 1.5 screens long. More than this, and folks will stop reading before they get to the end. the shorter, the better.

1 topic: Keep your emails to 1 topic or folks will get confused about what they are supposed to do with your message..

Real signature: Sign the email with a real signature, don’t leave it hanging out there as though nobody really wrote it. Take some ownership and include a name, a phone number, a  department, and even a link to your internal department website if appropriate. 

What are your best tips for writing email that gets opened?

Email photo credit to Mzelle Biscotte

As a manager, I find the happier I am, the happier my team is. As we’re a client facing team, it is my best interests to be as happy as I can, as often as I can, for as long as I can. So I’m always on the lookout for new tricks, new tips, new tools I can use to keep my spirits and my energy at a high level.

One of my favorite bloggers is Gretchen Rubin, who writes the blog (and next year the book) The Happiness Project.

Gretchen has an awesome Happiness Manifesto that I refer to frequently when I fall out of focus. Here are some of my favorite parts:

• To be happy, you need to consider feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
• One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
• The days are long, but the years are short.
• Happiness is other people.
• What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you, and vice versa.
• Best is good, better is best.
• Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have.
• You can choose what you do, but you can’t choose what you like to do.
• You manage what you measure.

Simple stuff we can all use to keep things in perspective and be a better manager and a better person for your team.

Recently, Gretchen put together a Happiness Project Toolbox, and I am signed up!

Cool things inside the toolbox include:

• Resolutions
• Personal Commandments
• Inspiration Board
• Happiness Hacks

And so much more!

I encourage you to create your own Happiness Project Toolbox and see what happiness inside and out can do for your management and  your team!

Happiness photo courtesy of jaja1985

One of the best ways to create a team atmosphere is to play with your team, and let them play with you. It’ll let them see a more personal side of you, and see you as the fallible human being you are, instead of the robotic machine managers sometimes can be perceived as.

Play requires you to be vulnerable and let your hair down. It may be uncomfortable at first, and it may feel forced.

DO IT ANYWAY!

How can you play with your team?

Trivia Days - Send out a trivia question (no Googling allowed) and give the first correct respondent a coffee beverage of their choice, or a small gift card. Winner asks the question next week (but you still buy the coffee!)

Flashback Friday – Share your favorite song from your childhood, and encourage the rest of the team to share theirs.

Name That Tune – Take Flashback Friday up a note and  see who can figure out the title and artist…and let someone go home early for guessing the most right.

Share Your <insert personal tidbit here> – One of the best things my team has every done was during a morning meeting (at 6:30 AM), we shared a personal note about ourselves. Things like what we liked, what we don’t like, where we went to high school, favorite movie, biggest fear, stuff like that. Send out 10 questions and encourage folks to pick 5 they are comfortable answering…and YOU go first!

Two Truths and a Lie – Instead of just sharing information, turn it into two truths and a lie, where folks share 2 odd facts and 1 that SOUNDS close but is a lie, and have folks guess at what the li was.

All of these things are easy to do, but they require you to give up control, to be a little vulnerable, and to let your team take things where they are comfortable.

WARNING: If you’ve never been vulnerable and open with your team before, they may wonder what’s wrong with you. DO THIS ANYWAY!

What’s YOUR best team building tip? Please share it in the comments below.

Photo credit to silwenae