Mel Kettle | Business consultant

Mel Kettle

Phone: +61 404 600 889

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• Consultation agency
• Business consultant
• Motivational speaker

23.01.2022 Creating a tech policy at work will help you and your team be more intentional about how you use your personal and professional technology at work. It can also lead to strengthened personal relationships at work particularly if you encourage people to have conversations rather than always relying on email. Your work tech policy might include: having phone zones and no-phone zones create device free times... turn your phone into flight mode for a few hours a day when you want to focus on deep work or spend time with your loved ones phoning people instead of having long conversation over SMS or instant messaging app email free Friday create a culture that discourages work outside of your work times set up Outlook so it defaults to your calendar not your email lead by example and don’t spend all your time on your phone. What could your #work tech policy look like? #leadership #employeeengagement #organisationalculture

23.01.2022 Charlie Chaplin said A day without laughter is a day wasted. My friend Emma shared a post on Facebook recently saying that when we are children we laugh 400 times a day. And now as adults we laugh an average of fifteen times a day. What happened?! When we laugh we feel good about ourselves. Laughter improves our physical health and it can definitely improve our mental health. When I was diagnosed with mild depression in my late 20s, one of the recommendations from my doctor... was to go to watch comedy on TV or DVD for at least 30 minutes a day so I would laugh more. Laughter helps us relieve stress and boredom, boosts engagement and well-being, and spurs not only creativity and collaboration but also analytic precision and productivity. Laughter is also essential at work as it enhances morale, resilience, and effectiveness which leads to a happier, more productive work environment. Research has even found that after watching a comedy clip, employees were 10% more productive than their counterparts. How much laughter is in your life? #communication #leadership

21.01.2022 One of the things I love most about Covid is that it’s normalised video calling. And spending hours a day on video calls is one of the things I like least about Covid! I know, I know As leaders we need to be conscious of how much we use video calling vs a regular phone call vs other forms of communication. Make a conscious decision about how you talk to people is video always necessary? Can you turn some video calls into regular phone calls? Or vice versa? How are you using video calls? #leadership #communication #101ways

21.01.2022 One of the biggest causes of distractions today is the constant ping on our devices when we get a message. It could be notification of an email, of someone liking your Instagram post, replying to your tweet, a private message via one of the many apps or something from one of the many other apps you regularly use. Did you know it takes eleven minutes to get back into the workflow once you’ve been distracted? That’s a lot of wasted time if you constantly have notifications fo...r every app popping up on your phone, tablet and computer! Consider which apps you really need regular notifications from and turn them off for all the rest. One of my clients did this recently at the start of one of our mentoring sessions together and she was shocked by how calm she felt after only an hour of not having those constant distractions! What notifications could you turn off? #communication #organisationalculture #leadership

20.01.2022 To have biases is to be human! We are all shaped by our past experiences, as well as our values, beliefs, education, people who have influence over us and more. As leaders we need to be aware of what our biases are, in particular those that are unconscious. The first step is to acknowledge we all have biases. Then we need to identify what they are. Once you are aware of what your biases are, you can start to take steps to remove them. Are you aware of what your biases are? #leadership #communication #101ways

19.01.2022 The average person spends around 5 hours a day on their phone. And yes, that is A LOT! Smartphones today allow you to access real-time reports on how much time you’re spending on your phone and which apps are being used the most. Yes, this will be scary for some of you. As you can’t manage what you don’t measure, work out how much time each day you’re using your phone and which apps are taking the bulk of your time. Set yourself a goal to reduce this over coming days and week...s. When I first checked my screen-time a few years ago I was spending around six hours a day just on my phone! I’ve worked hard to reduce that to below two hours, however in the early days of COVID it crept back up to 4-5 hours a day. One way to decrease your screen time is to look at which apps you’re using the most. If they aren’t helping you achieve your goals, perhaps remove them. I removed Facebook from my phone and it’s been liberating! Others I know have removed email, Instagram and games. What does your daily screen-time look like? #communication #wellbeing

19.01.2022 Empathy is one of those qualities that can be difficult to describe and taken for granted, but when you don’t see it, it’s obvious! We can learn empathy from others and one way to start is by spending time with people who are empathetic. Some of the qualities to look out for include: A curiosity about other people Good listeners and observers of body language Not afraid to show their own vulnerability... Aware of other people’s needs. Who do you know who demonstrates empathy? #communication #leadership #101ways

18.01.2022 Did you know it takes eleven minutes to get back into the workflow once you’ve been distracted? That’s a lot of wasted time if you constantly have notifications for every app popping up on your phone, tablet and computer! #productivity #leadership

18.01.2022 When Margot Robbie was promoting the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, she said one of the reasons she loved working with director Quentin Tarantino was because he acknowledged the small wins as well as the big milestones. Quentin’s response to this was that we all do this job every day, we should make sure we enjoy it and have fun. So often we get caught up in the day to day of work and life that we forget to celebrate the small successes. In the Harvard Business Review a...rticle The Power of Small Wins by Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, they remind us that the power of progress is fundamental to human nature, but few managers understand it or know how to leverage progress to boost motivation. When did you last celebrate a small win? #leadership #communication #101ways

17.01.2022 A personal tech policy is a policy you create to help you control how and when you use your phone/tablet and other tech. In 'Digitial Minimilism: Choosing a focused life in a noisy world', Cal Newport suggests a #technology philosophy in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimised activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else. A couple of mine are no phones at the table when we’re e...ating together, no TV in the bedroom and no Netflix etc in bed. Your personal tech policy might include: create a device free zone in your bedroom, at meal times, when you’re sitting on the couch, when you’re in the car with other people (obviously as a passenger, because if you’re the driver your phone should be OFF) create device free times an hour or two before you go to bed, when you’re playing with your kids or socialising with friends, a few hours on weekends (hint put your phone in flight mode on weekends so you can still use the camera function, but not be distracted by alerts) turn your phone into flight mode for a few hours a day when you want to focus on deep work or spend time with your loved ones phoning people instead of having long conversation over SMS or instant messaging app reading hard copy books instead of e-books on a device during COVID-19 I’ve also made more of an effort to talk to people using the phone rather than yet another Zoom call. What could your personal #tech policy look like? #leadership #communication

15.01.2022 Do you spend too much time on your phone? It's an easy habit to fall into! Find out how I'm reducing my reliance on my phone on the blog: https://bit.ly/3msUNQB

14.01.2022 I can’t be the only person who has turned up to a new job and immediately thought I’ve made the wrong decision. First impressions are everything and this includes day one of a new job. How do you make your new hires feel welcome? A few simple things you could do are: Have a welcome banner on their desk... Give them a personal tour of the office and introduce them to the key people Take them out for coffee and/or lunch either alone or with the team Make their first day a Thursday or Friday, knowing that the first few days are EXHAUSTING! Be available for questions. What was your best (or worst) first day experience? #leadership #communication #101ways

14.01.2022 I was surprisingly nervous to present at the launch of Leading Edge, a bespoke leadership program created by Annie Bryce for all of Edge Early Learning’s Centre Directors over the weekend. Not only was it my first in-a-room workshop in six months, it was in front of women (and one man) whose colleagues played such an important role in my life many years earlier. It was when I was in pre-school that I first discovered the joy of cooking and a love of simple yet delicious foo...ds. As 4 year olds we sat in a circle and took turns shaking a jar of cream, until, at the end of the circle, it started to become butter. And then we ate it on fresh bread. Over 45 years later butter on fresh bread is still one of my favourite foods! As leaders we often forget to look after ourselves - it's so often in our nature to put everyone else first, that we forget about what we need to stay healthy and vibrant and excited about our work. The session I ran was part of my connected leadership series, manage your mojo - with practical strategies and tactics to get back energy and feel enthusiastic about life. While I'm enjoying presenting virtually, nothing replaces that buzz of being in the room and hearing laughter and conversation! #earlychildhoodeducation #leadership #connection

12.01.2022 Practicing gratitude for as little as 30 seconds a day can reduce your stress hormones, increase the flow of oxygen to your body and make you happier. One simple way to do this is to keep a gratitude journal either use a hard copy notebook or create a new file on your computer, or use something like Evernote or OneNote. It doesn’t need to be fancy. At the end of the day write down at least three things you were grateful for that day. If you’re not sure what to write, start ...with the simple things that you have a roof over your head, a safe place to live, clean water, wholesome food. Did you know that 2.4 BILLION people around the world don’t have access to a toilet? Earlier this week I ate something dodgy proceeded to spend way more hours in the bathroom than I needed to. I can tell you I was very grateful I didn’t need to squat over a fly-infested hole in the ground that day! As well as having clean water to drink, a comfortable bed with clean sheets and a roof over my head. What are you grateful for today? #communication #leadership #employeeengagement

08.01.2022 What professional boundaries do you have? Similar to personal boundaries, setting professional boundaries allows us to be more focused on what’s important to us at work. There will be similarities with your personal boundaries, particularly when it comes to how you expect to be treated, spoken to, touched etc. Your professional boundaries might also include:... The hours you work Where you work for example, when I was an employee I didn’t want to work anywhere that took me more than 30 minutes commute time Who you work for people, companies, industries How much you expect to be paid. With many people working from home during #COVID19, there seems to be a blurring of the boundary lines - especially when it comes to hours worked. If you’re finding yourself working longer hours, and this is encroaching on your boundaries, perhaps it’s time to revisit what’s important to you. #leadership #communication #performance #womeninbusiness

08.01.2022 Join me for my first Mojo Monday - 2pm (Brisbane time) today - a regular one-hour masterminds where we examine what YOU need to do to reinvigorate yourself, so you feel more energised. You can join one or many - up to you! Register here https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/mojo-mondays-tickets-127690 #MojoMonday

04.01.2022 In episode 47 of This Connected Life, I sit down with international facilitator, speaker and coach, Leanne Hughes, who loves creating unpredictable workshop experiences, that predictably work. Listen at https://bit.ly/2ZZxwMy . #thisconnectedlife #communication #leadership

03.01.2022 There are still a few spots left for next week's small group networking event where we are discussing Strategic Communication for Leaders. As leaders, it’s more important than ever that we know how to communicate so we genuinely connect and engage with our people. And we need to know how to communicate effectively both online AND offline. While it might seem like we are more connected than ever, ironically, we are more disconnected than we have ever been before. As our love o...f screens flourishes, we often forget it’s the human relationship that is most important. Many leaders I talk to tell me they are struggling to be influential, engage their staff and earn trust in their market. The number of ways we communicate today is overwhelming - meetings, events, social media, intranets, internets, newsletters, video, podcasts. The list is endless. However, by refocusing on human to human relationships we will reconnect at work, be better at engaging our people and have stronger relationships with our marketplace. At this event we will explore how you can use social and digital media to create stronger connections with your workforce and your marketplace. We will discuss why it’s so important for leaders to have a clear personal communication strategy incorporating social media, as well as other online and offline tactics, and we will share practical examples and simple tactics that will help you become more trusted. This event is for leaders looking to increase their influence, build trust, and increase the engagement of their people. http://bit.ly/39z3jqf

03.01.2022 There are many reasons why people have daily rituals to reduce decision fatigue, to achieve greater outcomes, to reduce anxiety, boost confidence, improve #performance and create the right mindset. Part of Steve Jobs morning routine was to ask himself If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?. If he said no on too many consecutive days, then he made some changes. This helped set his mindset for the day ahead. Common rituals inc...lude: Having a morning routine mine includes having a cup of tea and doing a Sudoku before I sit down at my desk Having an evening routine I read for 30 minutes before turning out the light most nights Reading the news headlines in the morning or afternoon Planning your day American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault writes down three things he wants to accomplish the following day Reflecting on your achievements at the end of the day Leaving work at a specific time. Rituals take the decision away, which can really help with reducing some overwhelm. What are some of your rituals? #leadership #success #womeninbusiness

02.01.2022 New episode on This Connected Life! Tune in to hear Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen empower others to embrace #technology and to use it to their advantage. Listen at https://bit.ly/35jAn6y

02.01.2022 In her book, Daring Greatly, Brené Brown describes vulnerability as "uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure." It often shows up as that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when we step out of our comfort zones. Some of the ways we can be more vulnerable include: Expressing our true feelings... Speaking up against popular opinion Asking for what we need Slowing down and being present Acknowledging our innermost thoughts and fears. What could you do today to be more vulnerable? #leadership #communication #101ways

01.01.2022 When I first bought a mobile phone (in the mid-90s) it cost me 20c to send a text message of 160 characters or less (if my text was 161 characters it cost me 40c!). I used text messages sparingly, and usually for quick messages such as I’m running late, see you in 10 minutes. If it looked like a conversation was going to mean three or more text messages, I would call the other person it would usually be cheaper! Today I have long conversations using one of the many messag...ing apps available. While there can be some advantages to this, I still prefer to pick up the phone and have a quick chat. It’s more personal, it’s easier and quicker to give or ask for more explanations if it’s a complex situation, and you can pick up on the verbal cues that are lost when texting. If you have to deliver difficult or bad news, ALWAYS do it over the phone rather than a text message (and that assumes you can’t do it in person, which is the best way). How often do you talk to people compared to messaging them? #communication #connection