Behavior Matters!

Day 2: Anyone Care for a Cuppa Tea?

On December 7, 2009

Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink

Welcome back and welcome new readers! Glad to have you along on my adventures. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Here is a recap so far of the 12 Days of My Mug and Me:

Today’s Travel Mug use is an old classic. If you or your colleagues are not coffee lovers but enjoy a good cuppa tea than today is just for you. I actually enjoy both, my dentist is never very happy with me because I enjoy drinking the top three bad beverages, soda, coffee, and tea. But I say life is short- viva la beverages!

Ok I digress; we were talking about tea right?

What’s in the Mug?

A wonderful Peppermint Tea from Trader Joe’s. I would not have believed it if I had not tried the Trader Joe’s tea but it is wonderful. They have great quality tea for a great price. My personal favorite is the Earl Grey but tis the season for Peppermint so I enjoyed a nice deviation from my normal routine.

Did you know?

The Irish consume more tea per capita than any other group in the world
In one day, an experienced tea picker can collect around 70 pounds of tea. That’s enough tea to make 14,000 cups.
There are four main types of tea: white, green, oolong, and black

(Source: http://www.the-color-of-tea.com/tea-facts.html)

Great Gift Idea

An RU Motivated Travel Mug, several boxes of your gift recipient’s favorite tea, and for an extra special treat add in a tea cozy. What is a tea cozy? It is a wonderful invention that looks like a toaster cover. But it works very well, it is placed around a pot of freshly brewed tea and it keeps the tea warm for at least an hour.

Thank you for tuning in for Day 2, tomorrow it is time for a road trip. See you tomorrow!

Susan and T- Mug

http://lanterngroup.com

(Pictures: Travel Mug “I am Motivated to Defend My Ideas” with Tea Cozy and Trader Joe’s Peppermint Tea, Close Up of the Travel Mug and Peppermint Tea, the Gift Package add in more boxes of tea, and Grand Finale – Travel Mug, Tea Cozy, and boxes of tea, yum!)

See the full gallery on posterous

Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink

On December 4, 2009

See the full gallery on posterous

Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink

Welcome to Day 1 of the 12 Days of My Mug and Me series.

I enjoy finding the perfect gift for my friends and business colleagues but sometimes I get stuck on what to get them. So this series is geared towards sharing economical, fun, and imaginative ideas to help you with your holiday gift list.

How many different ways can you use your Travel Mug? Well during the next 12 days you will discover 12 different ways to use your Travel Mug some conventional and some not so conventional.

Now get ready to travel with My Mug and Me, as we discover great gift ideas for you and your colleagues this holiday season.

What’s in the Mug?

Today it is a delicious Mint Mocha Coffee from Dunn Bros Coffee. I splurged today and had it with whip cream – Yum! The Travel Mug keeps the coffee nice and warm and the lid prevents me from having any embarrassing whip cream moments on my upper lip.

Did you know?

When you bring in your own mug to your favorite coffee shop you are not only helping the environment by reducing the amount of paper cups, coffee clutches, and lids you use but you are also limiting the temptation to go for the BIG coffee drink saving you money and calories.

Great Gift Idea

An easy and great gift for any coffee lover is an RU Motivated Mug and a gift certificate to their favorite coffee shop. If you think your colleague is really cool then add in a pound of their favorite coffee beans, chocolate covered coffee beans, and a big red bow!

I hope you have enjoyed Day 1, I wonder where my adventures will take me on Day 2…Check in on Monday and see!

Susan and T-Mug

(Pictures: Susan driving off to the local Dunn Bros with her “I am Motivated to Defend My Ideas” Travel Mug in hand, Outside Dunn Bros Coffee, Travel Mug with Mint Mocha Coffee and a Dunn Bros Gift Card, Closer look at the yummy whip cream!)

Great Motivational Gift Ideas for Your Colleagues or Yourself!

On December 3, 2009

We have had a lot of fun creating a new line of motivational gear. We are not graphic artists, unless you count some really cool stick people drawings that we have done, so we partnered with Nate Johannes of Blue Grape Design.

Having seen and utilized many of the current motivational items in the marketplace today we noticed that there was something missing – where was the slightly irreverent but all in good humor motivational gear? Never ones to take ourselves too seriously we embarked on the journey of creating a line of motivational images that spoke to those of us who are just a little bit ‘cheeky’.

We are excited to partner with Café Press for our store front and we have a variety of fantastic items for sale including t-shirts, hat, journal, stickers, coffee cup, ceramic travel mug, SIGG water bottle and more!!

If you are looking for something cool and different for yourself or your work colleagues this holiday season check out the store and place your order today: RU Motivated Store

We would love to hear your motivational one-liners – drop us a line and let us know What Motivates You!

P.S.
Still need more gift ideas? A new series will be starting tomorrow that will provide some fun gift ideas featuring yours truly and a traveling mug. Day 1 starts tomorrow – come along for the journey!

Susan

3 Tips for Surviving Project Withdrawal Syndrome

On November 30, 2009

After the turkey has been consumed and the thanks shared around the table there is a lull in the frantic storm.The days of planning, preparing, cleaning, and cooking are crazy busy and yet there is a sense of purpose, a sincere drive to make this the best Thanksgiving ever. The day arrives and the day seems to fly by and before you know it Thanksgiving 2009 is done. The question is now what do we have to look forward to?

This is a similar scenario that is played out in organizations. You have a team that is focused on a project and they are motivated to deliver the end deliverables and day-to-day they are consumed by timelines, resources, and budgets, oh my! But once the deliverables are completed and the project is closed out there is typically a lull. The common focus and drive that existed for the team no longer exists. So how do you keep a team that was humming along motivated during the down times?

Here are a couple of tips:

Project Close Out Meeting

During a project things are hectic and busy so take some time to reflect once the project is complete. Conduct a lessons learned meeting to capture what worked well, what are some areas of opportunities, what skills were in high demand, what were the surprises, and what do you want to remember for the future. Going through this type of exercise allows for closure and celebration.

It’s Ok to Regroup and Reenergize

Give the team permission to reenergize – it is ok to take time between projects to regroup, this could mean cleaning and filing all of the piled up papers on one’s desk or reconnecting with colleagues who were not on the project. It is important to pull up from the project and look at the big picture again and remember that there is life after a project and to regroup and reenergize before the next project begins.

Share With Your Team What’s Coming Up

It is important that the team knows what is coming up for projects so if there is anything that they would really like to work on they know about it early enough to let you know in advance of the project starting. This gives the team something to look forward to and something to strive for if they know there are some projects coming up that may tap into their skills, talents, and passions.

These are just a few tips that will help a manager or project manager survive project withdrawal syndrome. Just like we survive Thanksgiving withdrawal by looking forward to the Holiday Season, great teams will survive project withdrawal by looking forward to what is on the horizon.

Susan

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You!

On November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You!

Recognition is a key motivator for your employees. Customizing it for each person is key as everyone has a unique recognition formula that works specifically for them.

Do you know what the recognition formula is for each of your employees? How about your colleagues?

Thanksgiving Day is a great reminder to not only appreciate your friends and family but also taking time to appreciate your employees and colleagues. I encourage you to take some time in the next few days or early next week to recognize your employees and colleagues.

Sometimes a sincere and timely thank you can go a long way in motivating and encouraging your employees.

Susan

A Note to Our Readers:

Thank you for all of your support, encouragement, and readership during the past 6 months. We are grateful that you share your precious time with us and we look forward to providing you with more great articles in the months to come. Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Kurt and Susan

Pink Glove Dance Motivated by Breast Cancer Awareness

On November 23, 2009

There are probably many good reasons why Providence St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, Oregon was named as one of The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals in the Nation. The video below visually provides an insight into how a common cause can be a strong motivator for bringing workers together from a variety of backgrounds. In this case, breast cancer awareness was the common motivator.

I wonder what would happen if the healthcare workers at Providence St. Vincent banded together and took on the healthcare debate in Washington D.C. – motivation is a powerful thing!

Susan

The Four Drive Model, Blind Management, and Putt-Putt Golf – All in a Days Work

On November 19, 2009

In Employee Motivation, Four Drive Theory, Teambuilding, Uncategorized

Yesterday, Kurt and I, (along with our good friend John Hall) facilitated two experiential teambuilding events, Blind Management and Build Your Own Course with 50 enthusiastic participants. It was wonderful to watch the different motivational drives in action.

Here are some of the ways the motivational drives showed up:

Drive to Acquire & Achieve:

Teams worked together to not only acquire the perfect materials to create their own putt-putt course but they also wanted to achieve success by creating an innovative 3 hole course

Drive to Bond & Belong:

The teambuilding events allowed the participants to work with individuals they did not know very well in activities that were specifically designed to help create an experience that fostered bonding. By working together the individuals started to become a “team”. This is an incredibly important component that the participants can utilize back at the office – to utilize their new network of colleagues.

Drive to Comprehend & Challenge:

The activities provided unique Challenges where the participants had to work together to both understand the challenge and complete it successfully. For example, when creating a putt-putt course from scratch and with limited materials, the team needed to come together to answer questions that provided them points to purchase materials, design the ultimate course, build their hole, and then make sure the overall design worked.

Drive to Defend & Define:

The teams believed in their courses and many felt the urge to submit complaints and challenge the judges scoring results. They had Defined that their putt-putt design was better than everyone else’s and they were passionate about enrolling others to their cause.

If you have an upcoming teambuilding event I encourage you to see how the Four Motivational Drives show up amongst your teams.

What are the dominate Motivational Drivers?

We would love to hear from you, share your comments below.

Susan

Today I am Inspired by What Gives Life Meaning and Purpose

On November 16, 2009

Last Friday, I heard an amazing speaker, Richard Leider(http://richardleider.com). He has done a lot of research on what gives life meaning and what are the qualities of living the good life. All lofty and sometimes seemingly unreachable goals but he offered up two questions to start the journey of discovering what gives life meaning and purpose.

1) What keeps you up at night?

2) What gets you up in the morning?

What about you?

We would love to hear what keeps you up at night and what gets you up in the morning, share your inspired thoughts or pictures.

Have an amazing afternoon!

Susan

Today I am Motivated by Posterous

On November 12, 2009

Today I am motivated by Posterous.

What?

Well, here is the deal when a fun new toy is looking at you from a far and it is bright and shiny how can you resist the urge to run up to it and play with it? Posterous started to shine brightly in my face about two months ago and I have been patiently waiting to unwrap my new toy and play with it. Well today is the day to rip off the wrapping paper and play.

Raise a glass – “Here is to my afternoon motivation of learning a new toy!”

What about you? What is motivating you this afternoon? We would love to hear from you, post a picture, share your story.

Cheers,

Susan