Taking Pause - Wise Words for Busy Meetings Industry Professionals

This article was written by Betty Healey of RoadSigns.ca, a firm specializing in Conscious Communication and creating healthy, human work environments.  Betty and her partner Jim have worked with our team here at Greenfield Services for nearly 10 years, helping us have a more engaged –and engaging – workplace.  We bring you this article because with the Canadian and US long weekends coming up, we believe we ALL could use a little pause in this meetings industry of ours. Enjoy...
  
We had been on I-81 for less than 30 minutes when I saw the SIGN -

I had the following reaction: Really! 

Sure enough, 5 miles later another SIGN: TEXT/REST STOP.

This is what it takes apparently to encourage drivers not to text and drive at the same time. As I assimilated this information, I looked to my left and sure enough there was a driver passing us and YES, he was texting. I was aghast as I find paying attention to the road and the other drivers enough of a challenge. 

At our first rest stop, I found myself sitting on the toilet listening in on the women on the toilet next to me having a conversation on her cell phone. Honestly, it felt like an invasion of privacy.

As I settled back in the car I remembered the vacations I took, pre 1995, when there was no internet, no cell phones, no access to the world other than what was right in front of you. I also remembered how these vacations rejuvenated me, how I would arrive home to see everything with fresh eyes and a new perspective, and I realized that today's escapes do not offer this same opportunity.

We arrived at our condo to discover that there was no WiFi - OMG. Near panic. No internet and we had chosen not to purchase an international plan for our cell phones. Of course you see the humour and the irony in this. I have attracted what I was wishing for. That said, there is a Starbucks, with WiFi, within walking distance. Whew!

BUT: When did life become so urgent, so immediate, so NOW?

Taking Pause
Vacation is of course simply a reflection of the life you have created, one dependent on being 'linked-in' to your devices, to e-mail,  Face book and Twitter or whatever social media you use. It has become part of a growing addiction, one to which I am not immune. I like my daily dose of connection through Facebook surfing. I have become reliant on it in many ways. AND I also resent the intrusion, the texting while driving, the cell phones everywhere, the need to be attached. I have forgotten how to unwind completely, disconnect, BE quiet, to take pause. I doubt that I am alone.

All of this has left me thinking, not only about vacation, but also how I build in the important 'take pause' time in my life, what I refer to as ME FIRST time.  I am left asking these questions, "Am I so addicted to doing, to being connected, that I have forgotten how to BE? When the NOW pre-occupies me, am I fully present to me?" 

Back to Basics
While I will not be texting while driving, I am not immune to the demands and expectations of today's reality. I am also aware that you and I can make choices to establish boundaries for ourselves and the degree to which we stay connected. A few suggestions:

1.   The 1% Rule
In ME FIRST, we recommend dedicating 1% of your day to YOU. Mathematically this represents 14.4 minutes, 15 minutes to make it easy. 
It is amazing to me the number of people who find this a challenge. Fifteen minutes just for me - what will I do? And therein lies the challenge as this is designed to be "BEING" time, not to be filled with reading, shopping, knitting or any hobby. It is a time designed for reflection, for taking pause. It is a time to simply check in with yourself, to breathe, to meditate, to daydream, to become clear regarding your intentions, to be grateful for your life. It is a time for you to be fully present to YOU.

2.    Big Rocks
This conversation has come up so many times recently, one that begins with, "there is never enough time", or "I am dancing as fast as I can and I still don't get everything done".
Here's the thing, you are not meant to get everything done. You are meant to get the important things done, what I refer to as the big rocks. The rest is filler, stuff that may not even belong to you or stuff that you are simply addicted to doing but when examined has little importance in the greater scheme of things. Use the 1% rule first thing in the morning and become clear on what is important for your day, name your big rocks, and plan your days accordingly.

3.    Time Expands
One thing I know for sure, is that my work, my busyness will expand to fill the time I give it. How many times do I look up to see that the hands of the clock on my desk are reading 6 p.m. and I am still in the middle of whatever. I have also reached the point of ineffectiveness as fatigue influences the quality of my work.
I also know that when I put time limits on projects, I achieve them. Lesson: be clear on your time boundaries and know that you can achieve what you need to within the time you assign the project.

4.    Know what is yours to Own
Be very clear on your YESes, what you agree to take on for others. This has been a fatal flaw for so many of us - we agree to take on issues or projects that do not belong to us. Somehow we believe we can do more efficiently or better. Yes and, they do not belong to us.
Remember, your taking on responsibilities that do not belong to you has results: you become overburdened while the other person does not have to own their responsibilities. It is a disservice to everyone. Not only that, our apparent goodwill holds others back - when they don't learn responsibility you also cheat them of growing confidence and self-esteem.

5.    Understand your Addiction
I am very clear that my 'doing addiction' is highly connected to my sense of self-worth. I suspect I am not alone with this. It may be time for you to understand your addiction as well, whether this is doing, being connected, being responsible, and so on. The unfortunate truth is, none of these doings, which are external to you, will give you the gift of self-esteem or self-worth. Their effect is temporary.

The only person who can give this to YOU is YOU - you are the voice in your head and your heart, self-esteem comes from within. Staying busy is driven by your ego and your fear of simply stopping and listening. It is when you take pause that you have the opportunity to see the greatness of who you are and to begin acknowledging the difference you make to the world around you. It is in the quiet that the truth appears.

Final Word
At the Awakening Festival in April I spoke about 'Cultivating Your Diamond'. The busyness that we have come to expect of ourselves allows no time for this. I encourage you to take pause, to identify time in your life for you and step away from the many distractions that so easily take up your time. You are worth the investment!

And by the way, when you are on vacation, make sure to disconnect! 

Gratitude Post #3: To Our Partners

Throughout our 15 years of business at Greenfield Services, we have been blessed with wonderful relationships with partners, who have helped us achieve the level of success that we now enjoy.  

For some people these "partners" would in fact be vendors or suppliers. But we don't see them that way. They are caring individuals, working for caring organizations, who truly have given us not only great service, but also great advice and support. As part of our Gratitude Series, we recognize:

- Betty and Jim Healey, of RoadSIGNS:  We  have enjoyed the coaching and strategic input of this husband and wife team since 2006.  Through them we have learned so much about the Law of Attraction, being clear with our intentions, and being positive in our language.  In the last two years especially, Jim and Betty have enhanced our company's productivity by making us aware of how we interact with one another as well as with our clients, through conscious communications and the Lumina assessments.  Earlier this year, RoadSIGNS also became a client of Greenfield's, as we helped them develop a new website and enhance their online presence through SEO and social media.

- Mitchell Beer, CMP, CMM, of Smarter Shift.  Mitchell and I were colleagues through the MPI Ottawa Chapter and collaborated on the MPI Foundation Canada's first economic impact study of the meetings and business events industry in 2007. But our partnership with Mitchell really started to take form about two years ago, when we began our own foray into content marketing.  Mitchell has helped us with writing and editing numerous posts for both this blog, as well as the Membership Engagement blog, working with my colleague Meagan Rockett.  He also helped us analyze and document the last two annual installment of Greenfield's Pulse Report for Associations.  Mitchell's insightful writing on content marketing, membership-based organizations and the meetings industry has made him an invaluable partner to our online success.

- Colleen Francis of Engage Selling Solutions:  Colleen is a third partner we have been working with for several years now.  As a public speaker, trainer and coach on all things related to sales, she has helped us focus on our sales funnel.  Her views on client engagement and the sales vortex also helped us devise our approach to lead nurturing.  We enjoy her weekly e-enewsletters, her webinars and even her monthly coaching calls when she often kicks our butts!

- Martine McPherson, graphic artist:  Martine is a talented graphic artist, and we are so thankful that she chose to move her family back to her native Glengarry so she could design for us!  Well she didn't really leave Toronto just for us, but she makes us feel like she's always there for us, whether it's for a last minute magazine ad that we forgot to have designed, or for a nice new layout for our Pulse Report. 

- Sherryll Sobie-Cooke, Pixels & Prose: a newer partner for us, Sherryll is another great writer who has helped us with client newsletters and our new, soon-to-be unveiled website.  She shares our vision of working with people to make a difference, and not just make a buck.

- Pardot: I know Jeff Chabot, our Web and E-marketing Programmer, would be upset if I did not mention the support team at Pardot, the Marketing Automation software platform we use at Greenfield services.  We work closely with them to manage several instances, both for our own marketing and for clients.  (And they put on an amazing annual user conference where Jeff gets to display his break-dancing skills -- for real!).

To each and everyone of you, from all of us at Greenfield Services, thank you for being there for us. It's been great doing business with you!

Gratitude Post #2: To the Greenfield Team

This is the second post in our series to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We now call this our "Gratitudes Day" or "Grati-Tuesday" post.  (We're still debating which name is best... You can read our first installment here).

In general in our work life, I find that too seldom do we take the time to express our thanks to those who make a difference.  So Heinz and I wish to recognize our employees for the difference they make for our clients and their fellow teammates, each and every day.

This post is for:

- Lorna, our longest-serving Business Development Specialist, who has been with us for 11 years!  Not only is she a skilled relationship-builder on the phone, she helps us find new team members whenever we need to hire.  We affectionately refer to her as "The Godmother of Alexandria." (And the reason behind this might be the topic of another future post...);

- Meagan, our Director of Client Solutions, who started with us 8 years ago, and climbed her way from Client Care Specialist to Team Leader, Project Manager, Director of Project Operations... As she's preparing to take over the world, we're happy she's on OUR team!

- Pamela, our Business Development Specialist, who is also known to her friends and teammates as as Miss Sunshine.  Aside from generating leads, she is also our Law of Attraction expert, always quick to remind us that our words can attract or detract -- so why not attract positivity?

- Tanya and Stacey, our Team Leads Extraordinaires, who have risen to the occasion in taking over the the project management reins.  They still work those phone lines and communicate with clients over email, and take care of our scheduling, staff coaching and client reporting.  They have been maximizing their respective strengths and complementing one another to make projects tick, on time and to our clients' expectations.

- Kiwi, our Quality Assurance Coordinator, who works remotely in Oshawa and is an integral part of our team as if she was right there with us, every day.  She also has taken on more responsibilities this past year, continuing to keep us error-free and helping us get client projects organized and onboarded.

- Jeff, our Web and E-Marketing Programmer, who can not only code, but also decode geek-speak for the rest of the non-technical (normal) world.  He gives great presentations too, always the master of puns and quick with the repartee...

- Gwynydd, our Social Media Coordinator and Business Development Specialist, who is delightfully analytical and thorough with anything she takes on.  A great writer and engaging tweeter, she keeps us straight by asking the right questions.

- Frank, our part-time IT Guru, who swoops in a couple of times per week to keep our network clocking, and our systems computing the way they should.

- Amy, our Client Care Specialist and Quality Assurance back-up, who sweetly but stealthily can convince any hard-core business executive they really ought to help us out and take that survey.

- Jennifer, our Client Care Specialist, who is a dedicated collaborator, always graciously recognizing her teammates and reliably making human-to-human connections.

- And Candace, our newest team addition and Client Care Specialist, who unknowingly was an inspiration for this whole gratitude idea to begin with.

We truly appreciate your dedication and look forward to earning your trust and loyalty.
 

October is Gratitude Month at Greenfield

Every morning just before we all get on with the numerous tasks at hand, the Greenfield Services team gathers for a quick stand-up meeting.  We provide project statistics, information on upcoming projects, and the like.  We end this meeting with each person's Positive Focus when we each report a pleasant outcome or "win" from the day before. This helps us focus our minds on positive situations, so that we begin our day feeling happy and confident.

Canadian Thanksgiving is later this month of course, but this year we wanted to get a head start. On this first day of October we challenged our team to elevate their Positive Focus to a statement of gratitude.  From experience we know that expressions of appreciation are uttered only rarely in business.  Yet a practice of gratitude is a simple way to nourish our spirit at work.

So for you, dear readers, we will be publishing a Gratitude Post each of the five Tuesdays this month.

To start us things off, we are grateful for our Clients!  Greenfield's driving passion and purpose is to "help our clients, our employees and our community GROW and prosper."  And clearly without customers who trust us and allow us to do what we do for them, we wouldn't even be writing this post.

To name all our cherished clients over the years would make this too long, so we'll keep this to our two largest customers for now: our largest association client, the Certified Management Accountants of Ontario and our our largest hospitality/meetings industry client, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International.  We thank you, from the bottom of our collective heart, for partnering with us and allowing us to use our capabilities and our  creativity to help you get to where you need to be.

We truly appreciate your vote of confidence.