A DISC Profiling System identifies the behaviour characteristics of an individual.  The DISC Profiling System is based on four areas of influence including:

1. Dominance - the person's ability to get their point across in a challenging environment, which range from Passive to Aggressive.  They can be competitive, aggressive, decisive and results orientated.  They can at times be impatient, overbearing, rude, not good listeners and prone to making snap decisions.
2. Influence - Their ability to persuade others, people rating high are friendly and suited to customer service or sales.  They are talkative, sociable, optimistic and lively, however, they can be inattentive to details, overly talkative and emotional.
3. Steadiness - They like to remain in one job and don't like a lot of change or variety, this is a good trait for data entry jobs.  They are calm, helpful, patient and modest but can require stability and security.  They can also be indecisive and stubborn.
4. Compliance - Their ability is to follow rules.  They are a stickler for regulations and guidelines and have little flexibility.  This is good for auditing, standards or accredition.  They are precise and logical, analytical and careful.  They can get lost in analysis and can possibly be critical, distant or pessimistic.

Most people are a blend of two of the above personality traits.  Different personality traits have different benefits for different roles in the organisation.  The key is to get the right personalities in a team, with each individual working in roles reflective of their personality traits.

What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?

Emotional Intelligence is about being guided by your emotions and thinking intelligently.  This will enable you to perceive, express and understand other people's emotions as well as your own emotions.  You will express your emotions in a professional and effective manner.

What are the Benefits of EQ?

By identifying and understanding the EQ of job candidates, management and staff, the results will be:

1. Better identification and response to EQ
2. Better communication between staff, management and clients
3. Management of emotions in the workplace more productively
4. Management and Employees will be less likely to suffer from negative emotions

How can EQ be Utilised in the Workplace?

 

Managers and leaders can utilise emotional intelligence in the workplace by better understanding the needs of customers and employees and being better able to represent their organisation in the public light.  These leaders set employee morale and have empathy towards the needs of their employees.

Different jobs require different levels of emotional intelligence.  Sales staff will need to understand a customer's mood and know the best time to make a sales pitch or when to keep quiet.  People working in solitude have an individual self discipline or motivation which is emotional intelligence.

According to studies, generally women have a higher sense of empathy and social responsibility; however men have higher levels of stress tolerance and self-confidence.  Men and women are equally emotionally intelligent; they just have emotional intelligence skills in different areas.

Steps to Utilise EQ in Your Workplace

1. Assess the EQ of staff, management and job candidates
2. Identify the EQ of these individuals
3. Understand how best to manage these individuals
4. Demonstrate the use of EQ in the workplace
5. Encourage these individuals to utilise EQ in the workplace

Email is something we use all the time, and you want to make sure that your message gets read in the myriad of emails and responded to, so here are some tips to help you to improve your emails.

1. What is the purpose of your email?  If it is to give the person some information about something that is of interest to them and it contains a lot of detail, then you may need to send an email.  If you require some feedback immediately from that person, then you may be better off giving them a call.
2. Summarise the objective of the mail message at the beginning and if it is long, explain it step by step.
3. If you need something to be done, inform the recipient of any due dates.
4. If you are intending on copying anyone, ask yourself if that person really needs a copy.
5. Attach the sender's message or reply to their message so they know what it is in relation to.
6. Avoid long, drawn out email conversations, a face to face conversation or phone call may be better.
7. Use the invite attendees feature in the Calendar to schedule a meeting instead of writing and sending an email invitation.  It sends the attendee an email invitation which they only have to click yes or no to save them time.
8. If available to your system, request a read receipt for a message instead of calling the person to confirm that the message has arrived.  In the e-mail, click the button and select "Request a Read Receipt for this Message".
9. If you don't get a response from the email, follow up with a phone call.
10. Proof read your email before sending.  Did you write your email in an angry manner or was it polite and the reader will understood the email?
11. Will your email be understood by the other person?  If they are unable to respond to you face to face, they may not understand your motivation behind your email.  In this case, it may be better to call the person.
12. Delivery is not guaranteed.  For whatever reason, sometimes your email does not get to the intended recipient, sometimes they just get lost in email land.  Requesting a Read Receipt will alleviate this if you have the function available and the recipient chooses to send you a read receipt.
13. Be concise as extra waffle may not be read or understood; if possible write ideas or topics in bullet points.  Can you write your email in an effective way with the most important information first?  You may even want to write the email in bullet points to make the email easier to read.
14. Out of office replies need to be taken notice of as your recipient many not have read your email yet.  You could possibly follow up with a phone call at a later date when the recipient is available.
15. Be clear about what you want them to do.  Do you want them to call you, do some work for you or sign up for a product or service?
16. When sending emails within your organisation, use task requests to increase the commitment to a task if this feature is available on your system.
17. Let them know that you are available to answer their questions and the numbers that you can be contacted on.

If you would like some more tips on organising your emails and writing emails to people you know and don't know, subscribe to this website to get emails to work effectively for you.

Everyone would like more time to complete everything that they need to do in a day.  This article will help you to identify where your time is being wasted and how to improve efficiency and complete tasks more quickly through developing your own time management system with time management techniques.  We will provide our top 10 ways to effectively manage your time.

1. Plan your day - Quickly go through what has to be done and write a list of activities that need to be completed urgently.  Estimate how long it will take to complete each activity and indicate whether you can delegate any tasks to someone else.  Leave the non-urgent tasks to be reviewed after you have completed the urgent tasks.  The Task Manager tool is available by subscription from this website which will help you to develop your own time management system.
2. Check your Calendar - To develop your time management system, fill in all your meetings for the week and slot in tasks that need to be completed before the meeting.  Slot in your tasks in the time you have left.  Include all activities in the calendar, such as picking up the kids from school or having a lunch break.
3. Have a lunch break, believe it or not, this is a great time management technique.  You will be more productive if you have a break from work, at least 30 minutes will give you an opportunity to have lunch, read a magazine or catch up wit the day time soapies.  If you are able to, get out of the office and get some fresh air or meet a friend for lunch.  A mid-day break will leave you feeling refreshed when you get back to the office. If you are planning on going out for lunch, put your break in the Calendar and commit to a time that you will be back in the office so that your lunch does not run over time.
4. Paper shuffling - When you are picking up papers on your desk only handle the paper once.  If it needs to be filed, put it in a filing folder.  If it needs to be entered into the computer, put it in the data entry folder.  Put any rubbish in the shredder or bin straight away.  If your paper shredder is not located in your office, put it in a folder labelled to be shredded.  Sort all papers as you touch them to reduce your paper shuffling time.  Add this technique to your time management system.
5. Don't answer all your emails immediately - if you are completing a task, glance at the email to see if it is urgent and then go back to your work.  Once you have completed the task you are on, then check your emails.  If you find it hard to do this, then turn off the email notify function so you will not know when emails come in, then check your emails periodically (after you have finished a task).  Be sure to inform your Manager that you have turned off your email notifer to become more productive and that if the matter is urgent, can he/she call you?  Develop this time management tool as a part of your time management system.
6. If you are working on a challenging task and you are stuck, have a break.  If your back is getting stiff, nature calls or you need a drink, chat to other staff wandering the corridoors, visit your boss if you need a chat and then get back to work.  Your mind will be refreshed and the task you are working on will not be as challenging.  This is a great time management technique to improve your productivity.
7. Come to work early and leave late - It is amazine how many Managers winge about their staff running late and leaving early.  If you come in 10 minutes early and leave 10 minutes late, you will be amazed at how more efficient you will become and you will feel less rushed.  The coffee machine will be free and you will be settled by the time you are due to start work.  You will have a better mind set as you won't feel so rushed.  Build this tool into your time management system.
8. Negotiate your own timetable - If your Manager allows, arrange to come in half an hour later to drop the kids of to school and miss the rush hour traffic.  Leave half an hour later to miss that rush hour traffic again.  You will arrive at your destination more relaxed.  Also, there will be less staff in the office after 5 pm and you will be able to complete more tasks.  If this suits you, build it into your time management system.
9. Negotiate to work from home - After you have proven yourself in the office, you may be able to negotiate working from home.  But beware, you will have to be very organised and work the hours you have negotiated.  Fill in your Schedule weekly with time set aside to work from home.  If your family and friends know that you are working from home, let them know about your schedule so that they may contact you at appropriate times.  This is a great time management system.
10. Review your systems and processes into a time management system - Can tasks be completed in a more efficient way or can they be delegated to others?  Set aside time for certain activities like leaving one day a week to do book-keeping.  Keep all the expenses in a folder and once per week, enter them into the system.

If you utilise just 2 or 3 of these ideas, you will be amazed about how more efficient you will become.  You will also feel less stressed as you will be able to work out when you will be completing certain tasks.  If you feel overstretched and unable to complete a project, you will have supporting documentation to ask your Manager for an extension, or delegate the task/project to others.

There are more tools on this website to assist you with your time management strategies.  Please let us know through this forum how you are going with those tools.