Al Argo is an expert on Personal Effectiveness, so much so that he's running a workshop on this topic on 2 October. Here is Al giving us some tips on how you can be more effective at work.

One popular author defined insanity as: "Doing the same thing that you have always done, while expecting a different result." Wouldn't you agree with me that if we really want to get better results, we have to do things differently than before?

Here are 3 ways you can immediately become more effective:

1. Make the decision to be more effective. This is the first step toward improving, changing or becoming more more effective. Many people are satisfied with the results they are already achieving - but successful people are always trying to improve, get better and grow! Personal effectiveness begins with a decision!

2. Manage your time, energy and resources effectively. Once you make this powerful decision then you should really begin to focus on managing those things which you can control - your time, energy and resources! Time is fleeting; once it is gone it is gone forever! Use it wisely, watch it, monitor it, audit it, and make the most of it. In the same way most people are limited in some way on their personal energy and available resources. As we learn to become better managers in these areas, we will become more efficient.
3. Make the most of your relationships. The most effective and efficient people in the world know how to win with people! More valuable then anything are your relationships with your boss, clients and family. Business around the world is built or broken based on trust and relationships. As you invest your time, energy and resources in your relationships, you will see your personal effectiveness soar.

So, I challenge you to make a simple decision to become more effective, invest in learning how to manage your time, energy and resources more effectively, and do your best to make the most of all of your relationships. As you and I do these three things, our personal effectiveness and efficiency will continue to improve.

If you want to learn more about how to manage your time, energy and resources, why not attend Al Argo's workshop 'Personal Effectiveness for Secretaries and Support Staff' on 2 October 2007. Make the decision and sign up today! Download the registration form here.

Here I am with Alison Lester, who is conducting her workshop 'Creativity at Work' on 1 October. Alison is an expert in creativity and confidence. In this article Alison talks about a phrase we often hear: 'thinking outside the box'.

I have a problem with 'thinking outside the box'. With people who use the phrase lightly, I mean. We hear it all the time these days, but so often the people who say it don't stick around to explain what this box represents, so nothing changes. "Think outside the box" sounds like a positive statement, and people feel they are motivating their colleagues by encouraging such behavior, but in fact what people often hear is, "You are incredibly conservative and unproductive, and I'm frustrated with you."

While I know for a fact that this is indeed what many managers feel, using the phrase "think outside the box" may not be the best way to change matters. Why? Because the box that has been built around our thoughts is our education, our upbringing, and, to a certain extent, the wiring of our nervous systems. So when I'm told to think outside the box, it can actually feel like I'm being told to question my past, disrespect my parents, and give up on the me I know and might even be comfortable with. Not that I haven't done all these things. I have, and I've benefited from all of it! But I probably wouldn't have if I'd had a boss telling me to do it all the time. I would have changed jobs, or at least developed my passive aggression.

One of the reasons improvisation exercises are so helpful in the pursuit of creative thinking is that no one ever, ever talks about the box thing. Developing any type of communication on the spot requires not that one looks around for answers in the ether outside one's experience, but rather that one digs deeper than usual into oneself for relevant material. Instead of the box, I prefer the image of a great big sack, like the one Santa carries. I tell people to imagine that this sack is always with them, full of everything they've ever seen, felt, heard, read, tasted, loved, hated, hoped for, investigated, recoiled from or flung themselves at. It contains everything they have to offer. If the perception is that there isn't enough in their sack, then, the answer is not to encourage them to think outside it, but first to learn to trust its value and also to put more into it - more movies, more art, more travel, more books, more animals, more people, more conversations that dare to venture into the obscurest corners of the heart.

For the manager, it seems to me that opportunities for developing staff creativity exist above all in two areas:

1. The first is in attitude. If there is anything you can do to make your staff feel safe offering you their ideas, do it. (Try smiling when they walk in your office, for a start.) Tell them you're interested in their sack of toys. If they don't pick the right toy for you right away, encourage further digging. If you tell them you know it's in there, they're much more likely to find it!
2. Secondly, look around at the office. Is there anything at all of interest to look at there? Some people who study creativity believe that it is actually impossible to change the way people think from the inside, and that environment is the number one key to creative thinking. Give your staff something to look at, something to stimulate their brains, something to put in the sack. The box concept will slowly break down and go the way of all cardboard. Good riddance!

Learn more about Alison's 1 October one-day workshop 'Creativity at Work'. After one day with Alison, you will soon start making the most of your own Santa's sack! Download the registration form here.