I read an interesting article about music, “Music as medicine: Docs use tunes as treatment“, and I began thinking about what impact, if any, that music has on our work performance.  The article shares research that hospitals are compiling on how music affects patient recovery time following surgery.  They have found that certain types of music speed recovery time for patients.

According to the article, “Sound waves travel through the air into the ears and buzz the eardrums and bones in the middle ears. To decode the vibration, your brain transforms that mechanical energy into electrical energy, sending the signal to its cerebral cortex — a hub for thought, perception and memory. Within that control tower, the auditory cortex forwards the message on to brain centers that direct emotion, arousal, anxiety, pleasure and creativity. And there’s another stop upstairs: that electrical cue hits the hypothalamus which controls heart rate and respiration, plus your stomach and skin nerves, explaining why a melody may give you butterflies or goose bumps. Of course, all this communication happens far faster than a single drum beat.”

I’m wondering how this applies to our lives at work.  There are work environments that incorporate music and some that don’t.  Some have harsh, loud music (often found in retail stores like Hollister and Abercrombie) and others play soft Muzak (doctor’s offices, dentists, etc.)  Office work environments may allow employees to play music softly at their desk or in their office.

Effects On Daily Performance

The fact that certain types of music can stimulate areas of our brain that affect perception and memory is fascinating.  There are so many companies that struggle with ways to improve employee performance, yet not once in my career have I ever thought about how incorporating music into the work environment may positively impact employee performance.

Think of the possibilities.  If you have a design company where creativity is valued, playing music to stimulate that attribute could be very beneficial.  Perhaps in a professional services firm you would want to play music to relieve anxiety and send positive messages that improve memory and attention to detail.  The opportunity seems endless.

How many of you play music at work?  What kind and how do you think it affects your performance?

*reworked from the dusty archive…

I was listening to a talk radio show a couple weeks ago on my way to work and the caller was talking about the differences in visual spatial skills in men and women.  He didn’t go into any depth but it was interesting enough that I made note and wanted to learn more.  I read up from theorists such as Louis Leon Thurstone, Jean Piaget, and Howard Gardner.  After reading many articles and scientific studies about visual spatial awareness, spatial acuity, spatial memory, and the like, it’s not clear to me that it’s an issue of gender, but of what type of learner the person is.

http://worknotes.com/NY/Scotia/SPACE/ap4.aspx

There are two ways that our brains attempt to organize information:  visual-spatial and auditory- sequential.  Let’s take a moment and think about what it means to have visual spatial preference.  This is a holistic view or approach.  People who lean to this type of thinking tend to see the big picture.  They are able to pick out the finer details from that picture too in order to understand the whole.  It is a non-linear way to think in which time may not restrict the idea or solution.  These are the people who can come up with creative solutions to problems.

People who favor auditory- sequential learning will be the ones who need to know a timeline and then follow steps, in order, to get to the solution.  They will use deductive reasoning to analyze the information they are given or that they collect.  It is a highly structured way of looking at solutions. Most of us use a combination of these in order to solve problems each day.  But, in order to get the truly innovative and revolutionary ideas, you will need to find someone who can lean to the visual-spacial side more.

Let me give you a personal example.  When I was in the 4th grade, my class was put through testing to find out who could be part of the STRETCH class.  This class was made up of 4th- 6th graders who would spend time each day exploring creative solutions to world problems.  One of the test questions was to take a circle and add lines to make something.  Most of my peers added lines to make the circle look like a clock.  I added curvy lines on each side to make mine look like a lemon.  I’m not sure if that was a “right” answer, but it helped get me into the STRETCH class.  I’d like to think it was because I was able to see something that many of the other kids didn’t.  They went with what was a more logical answer.  I went with something more creative.

In the workplace, we’re given problems to solve and projects to lead.  Can you imagine that the type of thinking the leader has will have a direct impact on your solution?  It certainly will.  And, the team that the leader puts together will also have a strong impact on the method used to find that solution in addition to contributing to the creativity (or lack of) of the solution.  Think that through the next time you have a task or project to assign.  Here are some questions to ask:

• What type of leader will you need on the project?  Do they need to be more creative, or find a more traditional solution?
• What are the time constraints?  If that is critical, you may need to choose someone who has a stronger auditory- sequential focus.
• Are you trying to “best” your competition?  Choose a visual-spatial leader here because he/ she will think big picture and foster more creativity.

What type of learner are you?  Are you a blend, or do you tend to lean one way or the other?  Share in the comments because I’d like to see if you think that has an impact on the type of leader you are.

Oh, and if you want to try some fun games to test your ability on being a visual-spatial learner, check out Happy Neuron.

**Sharing this post from last year**

Too often in my career I have the discussion with a manager that starts off, “Trish, my employee won’t listen to me.  He is disrespectful and undermines my authority.  He doesn’t do his job.  Tell me what I can do to get him to comply.”  To this, I explain to the manager that the approach should not be how to change that person.  Managing others is about YOU:

• You have to give a critical look at how you interact with this employee.
• You have to take ownership for what is working as well as what is not.
• You have to figure out when and how to modify your behavior to elicit different responses from your staff or colleagues.

You cannot change others, so don’t focus your time there.  If you rethink your approach to the person and try another way, it will elicit a different reaction.  It still may be a negative one, however, a majority of the time it throws that person off enough that they are more likely to actually show more respect or at least listen to advice on how to perform better at their job.  They ultimately have to take personal ownership for their behavior.  Managing others is not about how we get someone else to change.  It’s about how we change and adapt our approach for maximum success with many different personalities.

I want to share a story with you.  It may not be a “real”, but it is certainly a story that nearly everyone can relate to.

The story is about you, a mid-level manager at a large organization.  You’ve worked there for eight years and you are doing ok from a performance standpoint.  You meet most of your targets, you attend the mandatory training that HR makes you attend to learn leadership skills, and sometimes, you try to apply what you learn with your team.  Mostly, you don’t.  Your view of the business world is that it’s just work and that is why they pay you to be there.  You’re a hard worker, but you don’t feel passion for the work or for the mission of the organization.  After all, you just need the paycheck.

You’ve been managing a team with average turnover for the last five years.  Lately, one of your long-time employees has been taking a nose dive in the performance area. She seems generally disinterested at work, she misses deadline after deadline, and her colleagues have grown tired of trying to cover for her.  Today, it’s taken a turn for the worst. She has lost her temper with a client on the phone and now you’re having to pick up the pieces.  You’re feeling like you’ve had enough.  You cannot think of one positive thing she has done.  You want to fire her.

But should you?

Here’s where the decision gets challenging.  On the surface, the answer could be yes.  But, are you missing something?  I think you are.

The positive thing she has done today is SHOW UP.

Yes, that’s it.  She may have been late, missed yet another deadline, and even been rude to a client, but she is there.  That IS a positive.  She could have made many other choices such as calling in sick, lying to cover her tracks, or even quitting.  And, while she definitely needs to make major improvements, the mere fact of her showing up may be all she can muster today.  And, let’s face it, you haven’t been doing all you can to manage her.  From an attitude standpoint, you are not setting the example.

So, what can you do differently to attempt to turn this around before you throw in the towel?

• Show sincere interest- You may have missed opportunities to connect with this employee in the past, but no longer.  Sit down with her and have a real heart-to-heart.  Be honest in your feedback but without making it a personal attack.  Ask ALL open ended questions.  Tell her you’ve noticed the change in her performance and ask her to just talk to you about what is going on.  Don’t make any judgments in this initial conversation.  Tell her you are just there to talk to her about any issues and that you’ll think about what she tells you.
• Team to find the solution- Schedule a follow up meeting to address the issues.  Work together with her to brainstorm ways to address them.  DO NOT come at her with a bunch of solutions.  Make the employee tell you what she thinks will work.  Then, incorporate that with your ideas.  If she doesn’t buy into the solution, she will not have any chance of being successful.  Refer her to EAP if any of the issues are more personal in nature.
• Give a realistic deadline for improvement-  I am always interested when managers want to terminate long term employees when they have not improved in a week after being talked to.  That is not enough time.  Give at least 30- 60 days to start seeing steps to consistent and sustained improvement.  By then you will really know if this employee wants to turn it around or not.  Tell the employee up front that you want her to succeed and will help her, but it is ultimately up to her.  Be a support during the review period.

It can be so easy to write someone off.  Be sure that you are looking for the positives…even if it is just ONE small thing.  What do you think?