From the files of "we have more technology than we know what to do with it" comes a new tool so you don't have to listen to your voice mail. Services such as YouMail allows users to access voice messages in an e-mail or online. The idea is to minimize the time you spend retrieving voice mail. But remember, the more important the issue or the relationship, returning that call is essential. When you don't talk phone to phone or voice to voice details may go missing, tone of voice and visual cues aren't there and you just missed a valuable chance to create a relationship with your potential client, a colleague, or employee. My advice: talk person to person if at all possible. If it isn't, call and speak to your potential client in real time. The more you build the relationship, the more you profit. For more ideas like this look at my book "Talk Ain't Cheap... It's Priceless!".

So many people do so much for others, at work and at home, that they never have a moment to themselves. If this sounds like you then you then get out your planner. Schedule the following activities: Exercise 4-5 times a week. Go for a massage once or twice a month. Select a night for being with someone who warms your heart. Take in a movie once a month or find a great book to read and set aside time Practice your art—whatever that is. It refreshes your spirit. Get the idea? Schedule your stress relief and your fun in advance. Then if someone asks you to do something you don't have time to do then you can truthfully say "I'm sorry, I'm already full booked that day!"

In one of your desk drawers keep one or two hilarious photos that you love, some silly putty, yo-yours or a wind-up toy. Add anything that makes you smile... even under stress. When you need a brief break go into the drawer to look at the pictures or to spend five minutes playing with a toy that brings a smile to your face and lets you get back to work stress free! If you need supplies of fun toys visit your local Toys R Us.

Daily stress takes a toll. Long days at work in front of a computer can result in insomnia, stiffness, pain and headaches. In this three-part series we will explore a variety of ways of relieving stress that will help you get more balance in your life. Use computer software or a small , kitchen timer set to go off every hour to remind your to get up and stretch, get something to drink, or grab a healthy snack.

Want to become involved in advocating for family friendly policies in America? MomsRising is organizing millions of people to work together to change our culture and our laws to be more family friendly. Using the power of the Internet MomsRising is electronically supporting citizen involvement in creating policies that will support families at home and at work. For more information visit http://www.momsrising.org/

The June 2008 issue of Fortune Small Business published an interesting article entitled "How To Navigate Customer Service" by Jonathan Blum. Although it focused on the technology used by Kayak.com to route customer service calls and e-mails, I found the philosophy behind the routing more interesting. Kayak.com has no customer service department. Everyone in the company, including manager and senior leaders, answers the customer service telephones and responds to e-mail for about twenty minutes each day. The technology routes these incoming messages to the proper staff member. What a concept! Wouldn't it be impressive if every company, large or small, required their leaders to participate daily in customer service issues. Imagine the power of INFORMED leaders who have the frontline opportunity to understand what their customers like or dislike. What a powerful way to run a business!

Several years ago Oprah produced an entire show on the topic of saying "No.". Women are notoriously bad at saying no. Research done by Carol Gilligan from Harvard discovered that women make choices first for others and put themselves at the bottom of the list. We often don’t say “no” because we feel guilty, we’re afraid of offending, and sometimes, even afraid that it would reflect poorly on our work. Consider that an alternative to “no” might be “not now”. Being polite and helpful doesn't work if you're overscheduled and exhausted every day. If saying “no” or “not no” sounds too harsh, try this statement: "That sounds very interesting. Let me think about it and get back to you." This gives you some time to decide what's really important… more volunteer work or five hours of sleep at night. When you do get back to the person asking for help be firm and clear that you are saying no. Never use the word "maybe" and don't offer an excuse. Start protecting the time you need to take care of yourself. Remember, like a well, it must be filled for others to drink. When you are completely depleted by life's demands then you have nothing to give to life and loved ones.

So many times your open door policy has resulted in constant interruptions and last minute meetings that eat away at your day. You want your employees to be able to openly communicate with you but you also need to get your work done. What can you do? Start by systematizing and documenting information that can be easily answered in written form. Design an employee FAQ handbook or update the one you have to include the answers to questions that your employees routinely ask. Have an employee newsletter that goes out regularly and covers company news, changes in applicable human resources laws and new policy and procedures. Last, but not least, when an employee comes into your office to talk, welcome them and then schedule a convenient time in the future for the two of you to talk. This gives the message that you make their concern or questions a priority by setting aside uninterrupted time to talk. You can also have fun with this. Stick a RED card on your door or cubicle when you do not want to be disturbed and a GREEN one when you are available. It is possible you might also need to retrain yourself and others so that you are not bombarded by Instant Messages (IM) or unwanted e-mail. It’s a brave new world that can swallow a time capsule unless corralled at the start.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by your "to do" list, then it's time to decide what you really need to do and what you can release. For at least one week, keep a notebook with you at all times and record every activity from your day - both work and your personal activities. Your next task is to set aside some private time to sit down and go over your list. Start by crossing off completely unnecessary activities that don't enhance your life or career. Perhaps that extra twenty minutes you spend everyday traveling to the local coffee joint in the morning could be replaced with a coffeemaker at home that can be setup to brew automatically in the morning. Then add your favorite type of muffins to your grocery list. The next step is to identify what could be done by someone else. Errands, dry cleaning drop-off/pick-up, etc. should be delegated to a family member or you can hire someone locally to do this for you. Last, but certainly not least, go through the essential activities. Buy a planner for these tasks and schedule them into your day. Open your planner every morning and start at the top of the list… at work or at home… and keep going until you are done for the day. And remember—if you don’t get it all done, you probably put too much on that list. Besides, the only person who truly EVER had their work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe. (For those of you who never read the book- just check it out!

Just about every major company or non-profit has a mission statement for the organization. I almost despair sometimes at the inane missions: "Be best in class". "Increase shareholder value" "Become the gold standard of the industry". So who doesn't think that? What company aspires to be bottom of the heap? Rather than work on the larger organization, I've decided that individual mission statements could very well be the building blocks for the larger organization. After all, an organization is nothing more than a collection of individuals. What would happen if rank and file, top to bottom, decided what could be a worthwhile, bigger-than-life outcome that would use their individual talents and make a contribution to the whole? You'd have your personal mission statement within the context of the company. I would have mine. Then, we'd see where our missions joined together to create synergies. If you want to try this, here are some general guidelines: See this organization as your work of art. What picture-what future outcome-would you find so compelling that the very thought just makes your spirit soar? Don't be hampered by today. A mission is an aspiration-an optimistic view of possibilities. What talents could you use and/or develop to make this outcome a reality? What behaviors would you commit to in order to make this mission come closer to reality? Make the above three answers into one clear, no-doubt-about-it statement. Write in present tense and to create a mission statement that is quickly read while sitting at your desk. Share your individual mission statement with others who have created theirs. Decide how you overlap and where you can support each other. Now you're ready to write short term, action filled goals to move toward this preferred future. Visioning isn't just for big corporations and highly paid leaders. To get the best from yourself, from your employees, encourage personal missions and then help each other follow through to make a collective reality.

Are your teams coming up with the same old tired solutions to new problems?  Do they drag their feet when a decision has to be made?  Is there a definitive lack of new product or service ideas that will affect the bottom line in the coming months?  Instead of replacing employees or placing pressure on teams to come up with new ideas, consider training your people on how to tap into their innate creativity.  Here are a few, pardon the pun, creative ideas you can use to get your staff moving in the right direction. 1.  Bring in a creativity coach to work with the team to teach them new ways of thinking. 2.  Hire a local artist to bring in supplies and spend the afternoon creating and working on a piece of art while employees watch.  Have the artist discuss their thinking process. 3.  Have someone come in and teach your staff to meditate and ask them to spend some time meditating every day. 4.  Put teams in a room with poster board taped on every piece of reachable wall.  Hand them colored crayons and markers and ask them to brainstorm ideas for products for services… no matter how silly their ideas might be. 5.  Hand out beautiful, personalized company journals to employees and ask them to write down any and all ideas they have throughout the workday and bring the journals to read out loud at brainstorming meetings.

In one day, I experienced the following: a store clerk who looked like she was bored stupid and begrudgingly took my money for an item. a waiter who got our order wrong, never apologized, and never thanked us when we left. a customer service rep who told me how many barrel hoops I’d have to go through to get an answer, never explained why, and never once said, “would you please…” All of these are examples of bad manners. Plain and simple. And obviously a forgotten skill. It is certainly true that company leadership and corporate culture affect not only the bottom line but the customer experience as well but there are other factors involved.  Companies can create a memorable customer experience without much expense by teaching employees the rules of etiquette. Unfortunately, it seems that schools and families have abdicated the teaching of any of these rules so it is up to the company to teach employees themselves. Following are a few basics to help you get started.  Rather than make these rules, make them tips and make them fun.  Send out a few every month in the employee newsletter and catch employees using what they learned and praise them.. 1. Remind employees to always smile and look customers in the eye when speaking to them. 2. Employees who deal with customers over the phone should answer on the first or second ring, ask permission before putting a caller on hold and make sure that the customer is not left holding for more than a few seconds. 3.  Even when a customer is red, hot mad an employee should always keep their cool, be polite, agree that the situation is frustrating and do everything they can to find a solution. 4.  Remind employees that they should never carry on a  personal conversation on the phone or in person with another employee while customers are waiting to be served. 5. Please and thank you are small words with huge impact. Try it!