HOW TO ATTEND A WEBINAR USING GoToMeeting app

The Parable of The Great Supper: EXCUSES

CONVENIENCE vs CREATIVITY

CONVENIENCE vs CREATIVITY by 'Wemen Ojo
" I regret any inconveniences this might cause you." Have you heard those words before? Inconvenience stretches our capacity to bear the status quo, and the usual. Living life in its opposite -which is the convenience- cuts short and curtails our creativity. There is a little more distance we must last in this journey of finding solutions to life's issues, career challenges, to mention a few. Sit back again, look deeper beneath the periphery; see through the stained glass from another angle. You might just perceive a glimpse of clarity of the whole issue now. Get dirty! Wipe them clean, therein lies your solution staring at you all along.
I don't regret the inconvenience this short note might have caused you because you are waking up the next time ready to stretch your creativity. A tremendous Tuesday to you.

Without A Plan, You Are Growing Nowhere | by John Maxwell Company

Triple A edition of PyramiDZone is Another Author's Angle where a guest's article is posted. And now:
 
WITHOUT A PLAN, YOU'RE GROWING NOWHERE
by: The John Maxwell Company

Personal growth doesn't happen by accident. It's not an automatic process. If you want to guarantee growth, then you need a plan—something strategic, specific, and scheduled. Motivational speaker Earl Nightingale said, "If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject." Isn't that incredible? It shows how far we are able to go when we have the discipline to make growth a daily practice.

A plan for growth requires you to…

1) Set aside time to grow.

For 13 to 20 years, depending on how long we stay in school, the educational system challenges us to learn. Yet upon graduation, many people almost never pick up a book. Going to the next level in your career demands that you take responsibility for continuing your personal growth.

To read more, click below:
http://cl.publicaster.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=8365%7c64402%7c622706%7c626779&digest=cHPac%2b2Rukh%2bKCLvbPGbCA&sysid=1

Without A Plan, You Are Growing Nowhere | by John Maxwell Company

Triple A edition of PyramiDZone is Another Author's Angle where a guest's article is posted. And now:
 
WITHOUT A PLAN, YOU'RE GROWING NOWHERE
by: The John Maxwell Company

Personal growth doesn't happen by accident. It's not an automatic process. If you want to guarantee growth, then you need a plan—something strategic, specific, and scheduled. Motivational speaker Earl Nightingale said, "If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject." Isn't that incredible? It shows how far we are able to go when we have the discipline to make growth a daily practice.

A plan for growth requires you to…

1) Set aside time to grow.

For 13 to 20 years, depending on how long we stay in school, the educational system challenges us to learn. Yet upon graduation, many people almost never pick up a book. Going to the next level in your career demands that you take responsibility for continuing your personal growth.

To read more, click below:
http://cl.publicaster.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=8365%7c64402%7c622706%7c626779&digest=cHPac%2b2Rukh%2bKCLvbPGbCA&sysid=1

4 WAYS OF ENHANCING TEAM'S PERFORMANCE ( ETP )

It's a new financial year, performance appraisals must have been done previous year Q4. Productivity bonus came with a cutback; it's obvious for poor performance. The song on the lips of management team is 'We need to improve productivity' Improving productivity whether employee, managerial or technological borders on the people that drive the business or operational systems. These systems are the configuration of activities and resources allocated to individuals, groups or teams, or departments. And more than often the common grid or closed loop  mandates individuals to work as a team.

What is a Team?

Perhaps it is needful I define what a team is for those who have not seen a football team or music orchestra before. I pretty doubt that! Together Everyone Achieves More acronymed as TEAM doesn't define the word.That only emphasizes the resultant of unity of behavioural preferences, diverse personalities, common purpose and connected passion. Unity doesn't come cheap. The product of it is wholesomely attractive. I am yet to see a successful business with just an individual. Someone said it  better: High-performing companies increasingly believe that teams, rather than business units or individuals, are the basic building blocks of a successful organization. Pardon my digress. A team is a group of people organized to work cooperatively for a purpose and a goal within a frame in time. This goal  or the objectives must be well defined and understood, and broken into do-able chunks of tasks- either operational or strategic functions. These tasks become the integral or wholesome parts of the metric for evaluating or appraising individuals or the team's performance. Appraisal is one thing as a precondition to enhancing team's performance. I also often consider building an effective team as a strategy for high-performance of a team.

Effective Team Building

 

picture credit: dadstreet.com

Building a team can be cumbersome for reason of divergent personality compatibility. This can be a damper or danger to team performance and consequentially productivity. You know why? Incessant conflict and friction. Hence, doing the personality assessment of members or employees before joining any team or the company is contributory to the success of the team.You need to know the role you can play in a group. If your company hasn't done that for you, go online and do it yourself. I did mine in 2004. Permit me to recommend Meredith Belbin's team role for behavioural preferences of your team members. This can guide the kind of projects you take up and the role you'd play in a project team.  To know the role each member of your team can play download the Belbin Team Report. 

Recruitment Process,Training and Reorientation

picture credit: t2achieve.com

The professional competency level of the HR team mirrors the crop of staff the company hires. It is simple! That's the Law of Reproduction- everyone reproduces after its kind. HR must choose and develop the team leadership wisely.Certain leadership competencies must be in place for every team leader. This determines or defines the type of relationship the leader has with other members of the group or department, and invariably the team's performance. Some departmental heads have lost high- performing team because they just aren't trained in communication and occupational conflict management. Henri Fayol said," dividing enemy forces to weaken them is clever, but dividing one's own team is a grave sin against the business." Asides other technical training, such reorientations help to complete the competence. To read for 60 seconds on completing your competence, click here. It is also the duty of HR to collaborate with the departments and their respective teams to identify areas of training needs of the subordinates in such teams and train them.However for the reason of cost, the company cannot afford the specialized training outside the company, it is brilliant for the company to institutionalize a learning system within the organization maybe in the form of an academy( train the trainers), knowledge sharing or an online training portal on your intranet or the internet. You can't imagine the magic this will do- enhancing team's performance across board in terms of service delivery. Invest in your human capital yourself if your employer is not a learning company. Eventually it adds up to competence.

Reward System

picture credit: standardcharteredbank.com

Aside Human Capital Development, the organization culture along the direction of reward system( how they reward good performance) must be considered. Individuals in a team can cultivate this culture, too - especially team leaders. I got a lesson on the shop floor from a British septuagenarian boss some years back: touch a person's heart, you'd move the hands to work for you. It has always worked for me. Don't let ego get in the way of getting a better result from your team. If you are quick to find faults in your team members, you also should be generous with praise when they have really performed excellently. Even if they are yet to hit the peak performance, enhance their efforts with ' well done', 'thank you' , 'keep it up' or a pat on the back. Do it sincerely and you will see how better they'd get on the job. Even President Obama ' chops knuckle' on the street. I mean he engages in fist bump. These are a part of non- monetary incentives to reward performance.
As much as the organization appreciates,applauds and rewards individual brilliant efforts which could motivate employee to being innovative or intrapreuneurial, it is cautionary to encourage cooperation or collaboration in order to prevent unhealthy competition,rivalries and unproductive point-scoring among employees or departments. In short, reward excellent group. Publicly in your end-of-the-year party give each member of the group, team or department a Peak Performance plaque. Please don't give one plaque to a team of seven  employees. The question is: Who keeps it?

Tools & Technology Supplies

picture credit: nonprofitanswerguide.org

If you have worked in the factory before, you'd hear "we're downing tools" or you querried the  double-digit waste rate from a particular machine, and the operator says, " the machine broke down three times today, Sir." Right, functional tools and updated technologies cannot be compromised if you intend upping productivity. They are performance enablers. Or you have given your marketing team a target of getting 50 new customers this quarter. So they are tossed into the hot, scorching sun everyday with no result in the first month. How about ehancing their performance with some marketing automation software with the capabilities of attracting strangers, converting them into visitors to your website and generate more leads and customers for your business. Supply your team with the right tools, appropriate and needed equipments, software  and technologies to enhance their performance. High performance amounts to higher profit and revenue for the business.

Final Word
Effective team building, recruitment process, on-boarding, trainings and reorientation, tools and technology supplies, and many more add up to increase team's morale because they empower the team for better decision making on the job. Their skill sets are broadened invariably, and they also contribute to creating a better working ecosystem.

Your contributions are welcome. If you like this article, be free to share it on your social media networks.
Like PyramiDZone on facebook or follow 'Wemen Ojo on Google + or @WemenOjo on twitter.

GOOD PARENTING Series: Responsibility And Responsiveness

Parenting comes with a huge price; it is not for folks with the fear of commitment. Commitment is always laden with responsibility or more of it. This is one of the privileges I honestly appreciate from God, to be called a dad or a father. Responsibility that lacks a higher authority often times adversely affects the socio-economic development of the environment. A few successes made with such scenario must have been out of a reason of self development prior the responsibility.

The products of such gross irresponsibility are hanging on our streets in the appearances of street urchins, miscreants, hoodlums and area boys. We have them in our businesses and our national politics, too. We must remind ourselves that responsibilities as parents is Transferred Ownership or a celestial child custody transfer – from God to us of which there is an authority figure to appraise our performance. It is a heavy job because He puts destinies of nations in our hands in the form of these children. We must tend them appropriately and uniquely like a garden with various flowers. This requires some special knowledge.

You probably as a parent are discouraged by what your first child turned out to be after all undivided attention nurturing the child. Don’t be weary with doing good. Discharge your duties with the capacity you have been given. God is taking notes and you will finish well because your children has glorious futures.

The pursuit of the glorious future always equips responsible parents with the ability to passionately respond to the pressing demands of the children.  The Bible says, “Spare the rod, and spoil the child.” Knowing when to spare the rod is very important for the child’s development. Children will always have needs and wants.

When a child cries, respond with a shoulder to comfort

When a child falls, respond with a hand to lift up

When a child excels in school, respond with a gift to appreciate it.

When my child misbehaves in class, her teacher takes her to the naughty corner filled with images of dogs, cats, and all those animals to scare her. I think I like that. So, we tried it at home; we created a naughty end in the hallway to treat her misbehaviors. If she starts being naughty and difficult, we remind her of the naughty corner, and she immediately behaves right. Ho! Ho!

We are getting better.

The contest for the FREE BOOK has been extended to Monday, March 3, 12 noon

see details below:

To qualify for the FREE book:
1. Like PyramiDZone on facebook if you have not liked it already.
2. Comment  on the discussion on facebook.
3. The comment with the most likes gets the FREE BOOK.

GOOD PARENTING series: CONSISTENCY

A teacher gave candy to every child in her class but a little girl. She said the little girl was  naughty. The poor little girl about three years old suggested to her closest  classmate to go to the toilet to pee, having done the same with the help of the teacher. So, the boy shouted to get the attention of the teacher," I want to pee." Hurriedly the teacher took the boy to the loo. Immediately, the poor little girl ran after them and locked them up in the toilet. The teacher yelled at her from behind the door. How manipulative and manipulative you'd agree the little girl was.
It was late Dorothy Law Nolte, a lifelong teacher and lecturer in family life education , who wrote, " Children Learn What They Live" in her poem. The little girl must have learnt being manipulative out of the differences observed in her parents. They obviously were communicating but not consistent in speaking the same language in every context as related to the child's affair.If  a child  grows up in a family  where the parents' view of issues are evidently divergent and different, lacking congruency and consistency, the child may tend to be manipulative. How do I mean? A child wants to play outside in the rain, and she  goes to the mother  but the  mom says, "No!" She wears  sad, flabby cheeks and drags herself  helplessly to her dad, and he says that it's ok you can play in the rain.
We, as parents must find ray area in things that involve creating values in our children. The next time she comes to me, I will tell her," Go and ask your mom; whatever she says, just obey." I struggle  with this sometimes  because I just want the little damsel to enjoy herself. But whatever indulgence we avail them, we should minimize their "wins" by closing up the consistency gap between us_ dad and mom. I agree with my wife about not raising a spoilt child.Hmmm.
We are getting better.

The contest is still on till Saturday Midnight on PyramiDZone Facebook page for the FREE BOOK below

GOOD PARENTING series: COMMUNICATION

Have you wondered why after some weeks or months after your child's delivery, the baby stops crying when you rest the child on your chest?
Aside  the biology of family, a relationship is established by communication. This discussion transcends the verbal communication. The non-verbal type is more important than the other as it helps with seeding the cognitive development of a fragile, growing child. Examples of such are the voice tone, eye gaze, postures, body language, touch, appearances- our physical environment and dress style- and distances we keep with our children, amongst others.
this has been a big problem with parents especially those who are working. Stress from the workplace coupled with the dreadful traffic going back home can create in us some emotional hang-out that negatively affect how we communicate with them. I agree this is not intentional as no parents set out in a day to deliberately destroy  their child.
Jack Canfield, the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul said, " It takes an act of courage and consciousness to break the negative  and destructive patterns that may unconsciously control our interactions with our children and to choose to live consciously and intentionally with the purpose of raising healthy, happy and well-adjusted children.
We are getting better by the day.

I intend this to be interactive for the benefit of all of us- myself inclusive.This will go on for the whole week. One day for one topic. There is a prize for the best contributor- A book on parenting.
To qualify for the FREE book:
1. Like PyramiDZone on facebook if you have not liked it already.
2. Comment  on the discussion on facebook.
3. The comment with the most likes gets the FREE BOOK.

Note: This GOOD PARENTING CONTEST opens by 12noon Tuesday, February 25, 2014 and ends 12 midnight Saturday, March 1, 2014.

GOOD PARENTING: (CR)²G

GOOD PARENTING: (CR)²G
Parenting has always been fundamental to the outcomes in our societies. But how many parents are taking conscious, deliberate efforts to good parenting. Most of us were raised with instincts of parents.Some of us turned out good and some of us  bad, too. But our choices of parenting must go beyond instinct, let's embrace information. How many books on parenting have we read since we got married.It is what you digest as a parent, you invest in your children.
Permit me to share what I learnt from a doctor's presentation last Saturday with you.It's might not be new and spectacular but could be a reminder to us parents and those intending to be.
(CR)²G.
1.Communication
2. Consistency
3.Responsibility
4. Responsiveness
5. God.
I intend this to be interactive for the benefit of all of us.This will go on for a whole week.One day for one topic.
There is a prize for the best contributor- A book on parenting. See you tomorrow. Enjoy your day.

NDDC SCHOLARSHIPS 2014

Hello,

This information I am about
to share can be for you, or
child, loved one, friend or
collegue. 

Please read it and pass it on to someone
who needs it. You could be changing
someones' life forever, just by sharing this
information:

NDDC is giving out scholarships
to those who already have admission
with foreign Universities.

To qualify, you must have your
admission letter in your hand plus
you must submit some required document.

The application is closing 28th February,
here is the website below where you'll find
all the info: http://www.nddc.gov.ng/

culled from my mail.Please broadcast to everyone.Thanks.

LIVE OUT LOVE, everyday

LIVE OUT LOVE, EVERYDAY

It's Valentine's Day. Yes, the frenzy cannot be denied; it's everywhere. Even our skies are painted red. I woke up with a memory in my head- the encounter I had in 2005 with my brilliant wife before we got married.
She just uncontrollably lost her cool while bargaining the price for a commodity at Oshodi Market.She felt I was taking side with the trader, so she walked away with an undaring fury. I got really embarrassed. I couldn't imagine those rusty, poisonous arrows of discouragement thrown at my heart by the lousy lips of those unpolished market women of Oshodi. Do you want to hear them,too? " This is not a lady to take home to your mother","She can never be a wife." I froze. I was at a crossroad. I just decided the relationship is over because I've had enough. I hadn't walked seven steps away when I heard the softest words querried my heart: "By what do you show you truly love?" I turned back immediately and ran up to 1 kilometre across the Oshodi-Agege Motor Road to beg her.
These words have been my guideline and grace for every relationship I engage when it's becoming rocky with conflict. Be it a relationship with my parents, siblings, colleagues at work, a business partner, neighbors and strangers. I keep running back. Don't get me wrong.Some relationships must suffer natural, quiet death for peace and dignity to be intact for both parties. If I'd walked away that night, I would have missed a marriage that has shown me tremendous love all the time.It hasn't been loveydovey all the time.
Love is not seasonal. It shouldn't show up or run away only on Valentine's Day. I understand it can be hard to love when people are always difficult. Think of this: the tone of love sounds the more in repulsive, disgusting moments. Remember it was love that saved a sinful world.Christ died for love. It's hard to do, but stretch yourself to love the more in horrible moments of life. Stretching to do this cultivates a loving spirit in us to the point we LIVE IT OUT LOUD everyday. Love doesn't hide its persona. Live Out Love, everyday.

The New Year's Revolution: GOAL-SETTING STACK™

 The New Year's Revolution:

 GOAL-SETTING STACK™

Congratulations to you for reading my GOAL-SETTING STACK™ | template for triumph. It's obvious you made it into the new year. I hope last year was fulfilling. Did you know that more than 50% people don't have their new year's resolutions achieved? You can attribute this to a commitment challenge. It is hard to commit to wdownloadu don't understand how to achieve. Like the game of football, you don't get enough goals to win an opposing team when each player's role is not defined.

Goals & Roles

It is very important to know the roles you intend to play this year. This will guide designing your goals. Take for example, if you want to be a better father and husband, come up with atleast three major goals.These goals should stem out of the values identifiable with a tremendous, loving dad and husband. These values could be quite challenging because they would stretch you a little bit. Suffice to say you do a SMART check on your goals.

By SMART check, I mean you ensure the goals are:

S= Specific

M= Measurable

A= Attainable

R= Reliable

T= Timely

Time won't permit me to expatiate on this acronym.However, you can dig up more information on a "SMART goal" on Google.

There is a usual inclination or tendency to bloat your ego by designing many goals- jack of all trades. Don't crowd your list with unrealistic agendas and portfolios. The fewer the goals, the easier you'll commit to carrying out your role.

Your roles should be fashioned out of the important needs and significant purposes. An example of a role is an author. Perhaps you have a blog already but you are yet to write a compelling book; it is obvious one of your goals won't be to own a blog. The need level will shift to designing goals that increase traffic to your blog and engage your audience, or build an email list for your newsletter, and start writing your first book. For me, I draft my roles- not more than four- out of these three following categories:- Faith, Family and Finance. Just get your roles from your preoccupations, but don't play too many roles.

See the GOAL-SETTING STACK™ | template for triumph at the end of Duties & Deadlines.

Duties & Deadlines

Theory without strategy is a static failure because it lacks executable functions. A good goal-setting system must have not only a do-function ( DUTIES) but a when-function ( DEADLINE ). Split the specific goal into smaller doable chunks of tasks. Remember these are your duties, hence you are obligated to execute them according to plans- daily, weekly or monthly. I remember while working as a Technical Superintendent in Dunlop (2006), every Thursday we held Strategic Meeting to discuss and review our performance and how it affected productivity. An inch every night- so the rat bores a cave in your home. You must work with deadline for each duty.

Deadlines direct and conserve our energies for the end in mind. It can be used as a performance metric to monitor how you are carrying out your duties. You can review your deadlines too if you are not getting the expected results or success.

You can grab online several simple templates like this that assist in documenting your goal plans.This and many others will be insufficient and still useless for any successes or triumph in your goal setting, if you are yet to understand our present livelihood. Our livelihood has transitioned or changed into a digital life. Is it not hard to separate you from your mobile phones? This digital revolution can be milked for a better life, better decision-making and more, if you are smart enough to appropriate and maximize its capability in the direction of productivity- goal planning inclusive.

See this GOAL-SETTING STACK™ as mini-toolkit with the capability when synchronized with time management apps ( Google Calender, TO-DO, amongst others) on your smartphones to assist in overcoming commitment challenges, and help deliver your desired results or goals.

A good planning system is integrated, mobile and personalized ( Source: Franklin Covey ). Don't just limit to the wall in your bedroom the printed copy of this template having written your roles, goals, duties and deadlines on it. It is being objective when you integrate it with a TO-DO reminder app on your smartphone. Carry the GOAL-SETTING STACK™ everywhere you go.

for FREE download of this template, mail mypyramidzone@gmail.com with subject code- GSS