Wall Art: 3 Ways to Torture Your CFO
Inspired by great discussions I’ve had recently with finance folks. Download the doc here: Back Office Mechanics – 3 ways to torture your CFO.
How to Gracefully Pull Rank
Here is a piece I wrote for the folks at the Job Box Report. The topic is especially relevant for operational and back office professionals whose skills are being increasingly commoditized in the workplace.
Thriving professionally is about leveraging our unique assets to deliver results and shine at work. But in this crazy job scarce economy, it has morphed into a race to see who can work the longest for cheapest.
Unfortunately, the “cheap hire/long hours” game is rigged in favor of the pre-KMAP (kids, mortgage, aging parents) crowd. And frankly, it is also a race with no winners. Too many hours in the cubicle make you fat and sick – both of which will significantly impair your career and personal life.
It’s true.
Hiring managers are prejudiced against those who are overweight, and on the love front, women need more education in order to compensate for extra pounds. (Obese men, on the other hands, must earn more to make up for the bulge. Um, can we say vicious cycle?)
So, if you want to break from this race to the bottom, it’s time to dust off that past experience and put it to work because you’re still king of the jungle. Here are three small ways to gracefully leverage prior work experience to help you collaborate better with colleagues, solidify your own credibility and maintain your unique competitive advantage at work.
- Act Your Age. Experience breeds an air of self-assurance that is impossible to fake. Don’t downplay this for fear of being labeled as an old-timer. Signal your depth of experience through confidence and composure. How do you carry yourself? Seasoned professionals are polished. Their gestures are measured, and their presence exudes deep knowledge. Obviously, if you are 55 and work at MTV, it’s best NOT to act your age. But that’s not the case for most of us.
- Legitimize a Good Idea. You gain an ally when you support someone else’s good idea by sharing a similar success story from the past. As an added bonus, it also serves as a public reminder of your know-how and expertise. And let’s face it: One company’s new and untested idea is often already tried and true somewhere else. So chances are you won’t have to reach too deep into the past. Have you supported anyone lately?
- Share Your Network. You may not think your network is all that special. But the thing about YOUR network is that other colleagues can benefit from the friends you’ve made in past jobs. Every career expert talks about building your network before you need it, and the way we build it is by giving first. Let others access your contacts. Don’t be embarrassed about not knowing some of your LinkedIn “connections” well enough to make an introduction if asked. It’s normal to not know at least 30% of your social media contacts. Who are you connecting?
Feeling the Love, Big Time.
A reader’s comment on my shortest, sweetest best practices list ever on account reconciliations.
Hi – I really liked your Wall art! It’s really cool! we are doing an Acct Rec improvement drive in our company and wanted to check if we can get these printed and circulate as fliers to all the staff.
When was the last time you got this excited about best practices? Maybe mine will help.
Listen
By Jane Clifford
Recently on my drive to work, I was listening to a public radio interview of a Detroit factory worker. For many years, this woman performed the same repetitive tasks, day in and day out, as she assembled automobiles. And during this time, this employee had many ideas that she wanted to share with her employer on how to make better cars in a better way. After all, she was in a very good position to identify opportunities to improve the job that she had personally performed over thousands of hours. Each time that she brought her ideas to her managers, she was met with a similar response, “Just do your job. We don’t want your new ideas.” She gave numerous examples of the same exchange. I have not stopped thinking about her experience.
You see, I was very fortunate and had a very different experience working for another manufacturer. My employer actively solicited and rewarded our contributions to improving our jobs and the business. We were all part of the team. Our ideas mattered. We made a difference! My employer attributed much of its strong financial performance to its nationally recognized innovative and positive people practices. They made it to No. 4 on FORTUNE‘s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America”.
I am struck by the difference between these two company cultures and it has made me stop and think. How many times do we, as managers, want our staff to “just” prepare their journal entries, reconcile their general ledger accounts, create the monthly financial schedules, or roll-up the budget because the status quo is easier or because we are too busy and don’t “have time” to make improvements or test new methods and processes?
As many of us are being asked to do more with less, I would argue that we have to make the time to not only listen, but to actively ask our staff and try their suggestions on how to do their jobs better.
Start small.
After the next month-end close, ask each accountant for one idea to simplify their most time-consuming monthly journal entry each month. Perhaps they can “test drive” their improvement during the next close.
Make your staff part of your process improvement team. Listen to them. Empower them. They will likely be inspired to bring you more ideas. And before you know it, you may be closing the books more accurately and more quickly! And with happier staff.
Am I creating a culture that encourages new thinking and innovation?
Link Fixed (Mini Excel Course in Chicago)
That’s how you know I don’t get paid to promote stuff. Someone just told me that the RSVP link is broken. Link is now fixed.
Mini Excel Course…Don’t Bring Your Laptop (Chicago Only)
A programmer friend of mine is finally opening up a mini-version of his proprietary Excel course to the public for the first time. I’d like to think of it as the “cute baby” version.
This will be no ordinary Excel course. For one, the 4-hr session will be live and in person at the Gleacher Center on March 3 — no webcast, no dial-in allowed. Also, no need to bring your computer (unless you’re like me whose laptop is chained to the wrist), because you won’t need it. The cult, I mean, class can only accommodate 14 people, and interested parties need to RSVP before March 1st.
This course is unique in its teaching approach. Most Excel courses, whether for free or for fee, shows you the mechanics of doing stuff, i.e., how to do a vLookup. The instructors for this course, on the other hand, deeply understand what business professionals need to accomplish everyday in spreadsheets. They will show you how to tackle common business situations from an Excel standpoint, why you should or shouldn’t do things a certain way, and how to avoid common pitfalls.
It’s very much like a critical thinking and problem solving class using Excel as a primary tool. If you are a manager who relies on your staff for robust analytics, sign your team up for this mini-class. It will be time well invested.
RSVP Here. It’s free and comes with lunch!
The group is piloting the mini-course to further refine their material. So be prepared to give feedback.
