The Telework Enhancement Act, which President Obama signed into law last month, is expected to give about a million more feds the opportunity to telework. Here are some tips for successfully working out of the office without losing your status in the office: * Make a written agreement with your supervisor, as the law requires, about the mechanics of your teleworking. For example, will you regularly telework on the same day every week, on different days every week, or only occasionally? Will you be permitted to telework several days in a row? And remember: Don’t push your telework privileges too…
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Whenever you write a speech, lecture or presentation, apply the “less is more” principle. In general, the simpler your words are, the more your audience — no matter how sophisticated it is — will understand. And the shorter your talk, the more likely you will be to maintain your audience’s attention to the end. Two memorable speeches that incorporated the “less is more” principle: The Gettysburg Address. Delivered by President Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, to dedicate Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa., the address was short — perhaps because Lincoln had not been invited as the main speaker. Instead,…
Just as the mantra of real estate is “location, location, location,” the mantra of the federal sector should be “relationships, relationships, relationships.” Here are some ways to strengthen your business relationships and reputation: • Treat everyone well. No matter where in the hierarchy you are, and no matter how much you dislike or disrespect other individuals, treat everyone with courtesy and respect. You will look best by taking the high road, and you never know if another professional has the ear of a manager whose support you may need. For example, I am aware of numerous job hunters who either…
Like most things in life, the more you put into a relationship, the more likely you are to get what you want out of it. Here are some tips on how to make the most of a relationship with a mentor: Consider recruiting a team of mentors, something akin to your own personal board of directors. If you want to develop the broad range of skills required in most leadership positions, you will probably need assistance from a group of individuals that offers those skills, not just from one individual with limited skills. Mentors do not have to be in…
Amicitia Maloon-Gibson, an executive coach and co-author of the best-selling book “Stepping Stones to Success,” recommends you begin a mentoring relationship with two documents: a worksheet/questionnaire for your mentee and a set of binding agreements between you and your mentee. The worksheet/questionnaire is intended to help your mentee conduct a rigorous self-assessment of his strengths, weaknesses, short-term goals and long-term goals. The resulting information should help you both identify the focuses of your future coaching sessions, which skills you should help the mentee develop and which obstacles you should help him conquer. For example, suppose the mentee’s worksheet reveals that…
If you become a mentor, you too will benefit will probably be repaid in spades for your efforts. Here’s why: * You will gain satisfaction from contributing to a worthy professional’s success. Take it from someone who has mentored hundreds of professionals — if not thousands, through individual sessions and seminars — it is exhilarating to help hard-working, smart and persistent professionals succeed, and then to rightfully take part in the resulting celebratory high-fives, back slaps and toasts. * As most educators say: The more you teach — and mentor — the more you learn yourself. Any type of teaching, including mentoring, helps…
Aside from the obvious — work hard — here are 10 get-ahead tips: 1. Follow the money, power and controversy. Unfair though it may be, employees who work in front offices with senior executives and political appointees almost always climb the career ladder faster than comparably productive employees who work almost anonymously in back offices. Why? Because front offices usually have the power and funding to promote worthy employees. Pick projects that involve interacting with or working in front offices. 2. Be proactive. Don’t wait to be assigned ho-hum projects. Instead, design and ask to complete projects that would advance…
My Aug. 23 column reviewed some of the formal awards used to reward high-producing feds. Here are some informal, creative and low-cost ways to honor star producers: • Show them that they have earned your trust by loosening the reins and giving them work-at-home and alternative work schedule options. If appropriate, give them more discretion and less day-to-day supervision. • Thank them for their contributions in public forums, such as staff meetings, and explain to attendees what was special about their work. • Invite them to serve in acting positions that would give them more responsibility, broaden their skills and…
Countless blue-ribbon panels, reports and training classes have addressed methods to discipline wayward feds. But much less airtime and ink have been devoted to rewarding prized employees. So, to help even the score, here are descriptions of the most common types of awards you may give to honor your star players. • Grade increase: Most grade increases for General Schedule employees are computed under the “two-step” rule: First, determine the salary two steps higher than the employee’s current step; then, at the next higher grade, find the two steps in the GS range that straddle the employee’s “two-stepped salary”; the…
There’s an adage for public speakers: “Tell your audience what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said.” A similar principle holds true for change managers. If you plan to steer your staffers into new territory, you should initially tell them about their new destination or goal, repeatedly describe it as they approach it, and then applaud them once they reach it. Some ways to help you do so: * Present a compelling case for your new goal — whether it is changing your office’s procedures, rearranging your office’s division of labor, adapting new technologies or…