How to Motivate Your Employees

Errand Solutions’ corporate office is located in downtown Chicago, so it’s no surprise that many of us happen to be Blackhawks fans. And with our team winning the coveted Stanley Cup this year, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about winning performances. The fact is: every successful business is dependent on their employees. But even if you have an outstanding lineup, without motivation, those players aren’t going to win an MVP award anytime soon. So how do you motivate your team members to win? Let’s break it down into three simple periods:

Period 1: Communication
Just like on the ice, a well-powered team needs communication. Even the most skilled player needs constant communication with its teammates to succeed. If your only communication with your employee is through emails, they won’t have the motivation to meet the goals you’ve set for them. Discussing goals face-to-face on a frequent basis is key. However, if your business is like Errand Solutions and has many remote locations, having weekly meetings and daily huddles over the phone is also effective. Wherever you are, your team should feel valued and constant communication is the best way to get that across.

Period 2: Empower them
How could Keith or Kane have made their winning goals if no one had given them the puck? To truly motivate your employees, they need to feel empowered. Whether you let them take over a project or ask for their suggestions and then implement them, there are simple things you can do to give them more authority. For example, in just my first couple months at Errand Solutions, I’ve been given full responsibility for a number of important tasks, including this website. The trust that my supervisors have for my abilities has allowed me to thrive in this new environment.

Period 3: Opportunities for advancement
The Blackhawks continued to dominate because they had a goal in mind: the Stanley Cup. Similarly, your employees need to know they are working towards something as well. If there are no opportunities for advancement in the company, they’ll have no motivation to work hard. Offering training for different skills they’ll need in the future is a great way to show them they’re not working a dead-end job. To fully get this across, it’s important to consistently promote from within. At Errand Solutions, we’re proud of the fact more than half of our leadership team started off in the field.

OT: Keep them happy
If the three periods aren’t enough, there’s always overtime. OT is the place for that extra last-ditch effort in order to get it done now. Incentives are a great way to do this, whether extra PTO or even just a gift card. Errand Solutions frequently has contests and rewards employees with gift cards or movie tickets. However, you don’t have to spend money to thank employees. One of our core values is the power of a “thank you”; simply thanking your employees for the work they do is an easy way to make them feel appreciated.

Another great way to keep employees happy is to help them balance their work-life a little better. Offering a program like Errand Solutions is great motivation, as they know that they can give their full effort at work without sacrificing their free time. For more information on Errand Solutions and ways we can help motivate your employees, give us a call at 312.475.3800 or email us at info@errandsolutions.com.

10 Tips to Increase Your Productivity

This is my first week at a new job and, shocker, it’s stressful. Not only am I just trying to figure out the lay of the land, but I’m being thrown into new projects and supposed to come up with all new ideas at the same time. In just a couple days, I’ve had countless to-do lists and they just keep growing. Luckily, I know I’m not alone in this.

Whether you’re a CEO or a brand new marketing associate like me, work can be stressful. Everyone has long to-do lists that never seem to get any smaller. While you could give up your social life and just stay at work all of the time, there are plenty of easy things to do to help make the most of your time at work. Check out these 10 simple ways to increase your productivity.

Organize your space.
Take a few minutes in the start of each day to de-clutter your desk. Having a nicely organized workspace helps you think more clearly and produce better results. A clean desk means you can find things more easily and can better focus on the task at hand.

Take short breaks.
Sitting at your desk and staring at a computer screen is not only bad for your health, but bad for your productivity. It’s suggested that a 10-15 minute break every two hours is incredibly beneficial. Use that time to walk around the office, grab coffee from a nearby coffee shop, or visit with a co-worker. Getting away from your desk will decrease eyestrain, improve circulation and give a new perspective when you return to a project.

Enjoy your commute.
Whether you drive or take public transportation to work, you should be making the most of that time. For public transportation folks, use your commute to read, write, knit or other creative projects. And for the drivers, how about listening to an audiobook? When you use your commute to do something you enjoy, you’ll be much happier, and therefore more productive, throughout the day at work.

Don’t check email first thing.
Unless this is required at your company, avoid checking your email right when you get to your office. Get done the biggest priority of the day first before dealing with requests and questions about other things. Then throughout the day, process your emails in batches every few hours. This will help you stay focused and accomplish things one by one without getting sidetracked.

Delegate and drop.
Do you have unimportant tasks on your to-do list? Delegate or drop them completely. When you get the most important stuff out of the way early, you can easily see what isn’t important and eliminate them from your list.

Focus on one thing at a time.
When you have a full to-do list, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Instead of jumping around from one thing to another, focus on one thing at a time. Focusing your time and energy on the task at hand will not only improve the quality of your work, but improve productivity as well.

Don’t be a perfectionist.
Almost everyone has the desire for their work to perfect. However, perfection isn’t always realistic. Instead of holding on to a project for a long time trying to get every last detail perfect, it’s time to let it go. It’s better to have a completed project than a project in the works for way too long.

Get the worst over with.
Everyone has that one dreaded item on their to-do list that they keep pushing back because they know it’s going to be awful. Instead of continuing to put it off, it’s better to just get that one out of the way first thing. By accomplishing that task in the beginning of the day, the rest of the tasks that day won’t seem as overwhelming and you can stop stressing about that particular one all day.

Plan for the week.
In the beginning of the week, as well as each day, it could be a good idea to sit down and write down the top few things that needs to be accomplished that day or week. Getting into a routine of planning ahead will boost your productive and ensure you stay on top of your workload.

Avoid Facebook.
Everyone knows that Facebook is a time-suck. You think you’re going on just for a minute, and before you know it, five minutes have gone by and you’re still scrolling through your news feed. When you feel you need a break, leave your computer and take a walk instead.

In addition to all of these tips, another huge one is using Errand Solutions. Our goal is to help increase your productivity to ultimately live more purpose-driven lives. Whether it’s taking care of your dry cleaning or planning your next vacation, we can do it all. Give us a call at 312.475.3800 or email us at info@errandsolutions.com to find out how your business can take advantage of our one-of-a-kind service.

Make Each Day a Happy One

March 20 is the International Day of Happiness! And since it’s Friday, and the sun is out here in Chicago, and Pharrell Williams is playing the background, I decided it was a good time to see what other people are saying about happiness. On a related note, if you need a pick me up, just head over to Google and do a search for “happiness” (and while you’re there, click the link for the Global Happiness Party). Go ahead. I’ll wait.

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Good stuff, isn’t it? It’s nice to see that the happiness movement is really a global phenomenon. Tons of research has been done about the science of happiness. In fact, “recent research has shown that only 10% of our happiness is due to our external circumstances. A full 90% is based on our inner environment. 50% of our happiness level comes from our genes and 40% comes from intentional activities like self-reflection, mindfulness, and gratitude.” (Project Happiness)

While we can’t help with your genes, we can definitely impact the other 50%. We’ve actually been talking a lot lately about how Errand Solutions can help you to live your best life. I urge you to ask yourself “What would make me happy? What would make my family, friends and co-workers happy?” Then come to us with the list—we’ll figure out a way to make it happen.

Now it’s back to the Global Happiness Party for me. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Horror in the ED

My exuberant five-year-old son and I are no strangers to an emergency room. One night Max developed a cough and was having trouble breathing. So I bundled him up and headed off to the nearest hospital. I assumed it was the croup it’s a chronic problem for him, but I wanted to be sure, and was hoping the doctors would be able to do something to help him catch his breath. To my relief, there was no one else waiting and we were led back into an examination room almost immediately. The nurse was pleasant as she took Max’s vitals and then we sat behind a curtain to wait. On the other side, I heard a brief exchange between the nurse and the person I presumed to be a doctor. He rushed in with no introduction; ripped up the back of Max’s shirt; listened to Max’s breathing and then rushed out. He handled Max roughly and never made eye contact with me. My kid is a rough and tumble sort of guy and not much phases him, but I was appalled. I wanted to comment and ask for feedback on Max’s condition. But instead, we listened to the nurse’s personal telephone conversation on the other side of the curtain. Every time I tried to get her attention, she averted her eyes.

After an hour with no communication of Max’s status, with his breathing getting significantly worse, I was forced to interrupt her and ask for assistance. A ventilator was placed over Max’s mouth by a person I had not noticed earlier. She seemed like she could have been an EMT, fresh off an ambulance based on her appearance and dress, but she did not introduce herself either. She just rushed in and made a comment about getting his breathing a little more regular and rushed off again. I wanted to know what kind of medication was being administered through the mask, but when I peeked my head out, I saw no one.

We sat there for another hour with no further communication, while Max’s breathing improved and he got more and more hyper from all the sitting and waiting. Finally at 2am the doctor reappeared and said, “Well it’s just the croup and his breathing is much better so I am going to discharge him”. I asked if he should have some steroids or a nebulizer – two items frequently prescribed in the past – and he told me no. The nurse, who had also finally reappeared at this time, asked the doctor if he was sure. Then I chimed in with a comment that Max is a chronic sufferer and those two items have helped him in the past. He told us both to stop overreacting and to get Max home.

So I left. Frustrated and exhausted and angry, four hours after we had arrived.

I wish my personal story was the exception to the rule, but I hear ED horror stories all the time. Many are much worse than the one I just described. Could this have been prevented? Definitely.

It starts with compassion. And if you don’t have it in ALL of your clinical staff, then you may need to find it elsewhere. Check out this study about the amazingly significant impact compassionate non-clinical workers can make on your ED satisfaction scores. Let me know if you have any questions or would like some more information.

Let’s Continue the Conversation

I had an amazing time at the Cleveland Clinic Innovation and Empathy Summit! I came back to Chicago more inspired than ever, after sharing so many best practices with hospitals from around the country. It was great catching up with some of you and hearing about challenges and successes you are currently experiencing. Here are the top five things I learned:

1. Fear and Love do not coexist. When caregivers come into the room of a patient and exude confidence and compassion and expose their own personal character, it sucks the fear out of the room and allows love to enter. In order for a caregiver to do this effectively, they must make the choice to be present, positive and connected.

2. Many cultural transformations begin when patients tell their doctors that they don’t like them – and the doctors listen. Simple things like scrub uniformity, scripting, eye contact, and customer complaint resolution with staff empowerment go a long way toward making a cultural change.

3. What works? Purposeful hourly rounding, responding immediately to call lights, keeping things quiet at night, effective service recovery and universal scripting. Set regular goals as a team and celebrate when they are reached and exceeded.

4. Having the right people in the right seats on the bus is key. Define the need, match the roles and find the resources. Start by hiring to match your culture. Positive changes can also be made by observing employees in action and using them as examples when they’re in alignment with the vision of the organization. Write thank you notes!

5. Every organization has their own acronyms – but one kept popping up in multiple situations: CARE.

How does your hospital teach its staff to CARE? How can we help? At Errand Solutions one of our core values is Empathy Squared, and we truly believe it is the key to understanding and improving the patient and employee experience. Let’s continue the conversation! We look forward to hearing from you!