Jacob Ahmadzai – Page 109 – STL

Why is it down to managers to solve problems?

After all staff are taken on to do specific jobs within their remit, which might include coming up with new ideas. The manager is the one who finds solutions and implements them. It is defined within the performance criteria of their role. The need is to find solutions. If traditional methods have not worked, what can you do next?

Finding solutions to problems

Do all problems have a solution?

Many leading psychologists maintain that if a problem exists, there must be a solution. It’s the natural way of the Universe. Edison said, “I have not failed 700 times. I’ve succeeded in proving 700 ways how not to build a light-bulb.”

However, using an advanced visualisation technique called Quantum Jumping (QJ) one could access the information for the solution more efficiently. QJ supposes that everything exists at once, in multiple dimensions therefore the solution must exist somewhere in one of a thousand different dimensions or “Universes”.

Who came up with that crazy idea?

Mystics throughout history have informed us that time does not exist and that everything happens at once. If this is true, we must be resident in, and have access to, any number of realities where we are in different existences at the same time. There must be one dimension where the relevant answer is already present.

Taking this perspective, Burt Goldman, and elderly gentleman well-practised in hypno-therapeutic techniques, uses powerful visualisation to help quicken the outcome of any dream or desire by finding the solution in another dimension or realm.

Imagine that you wanted to be a concert pianist, you could access the dimension where that part of you exists. You could “download” the steps that the other ‘you’ took to achieve the status of concert pianist and integrate them into this life.

Have you noticed that when you tell the mind you are ready for something, the avenue opens up to you.

How does this work in day to day work situations?

The business world demands that we are productive, efficient and performance-orientated. QJ means slowing our thoughts, meditating and mindfulness, expecting to be led to what we are seeking. Research at Harvard University proved that mindfulness can change brain activity and documented reductions in stress and increased productivity.

Learning the various techniques of QJ you can ‘jump’ to a ‘doppelganger’ of yourself who applies the answers to the problems you’re trying to solve. The key is trusting yourself to find the answers.

Can I learn this stuff?

The ideal solution for a problem is a new perspective! There are links on YouTube to QJ which will enable you to practise the techniques and see how they can suit you. Visual personalities will find it easier. Who knows which one of ‘you’ has just the answer you’ve been looking for?

Why minute taking is hard

A Local Council once asked me for ideas to help their secretaries Council meetings perform better when taking minutes. They were greatly experienced, and the agencies involved met regularly. But concentrating on taking minutes for a four-hour meeting is difficult. The mind will struggle to stay focused. It starts to wander.

In so many cases, minute takers struggle to read their notes, simply because they have attempted to record every word quickly. Often though, there is no need to take down what is said ‘verbatim’, with the exception possibly of legal cases. It can be a time-consuming affair. There is a tendency to also believe the role is passive. It is not.

Tips for taking minutes in a meeting — Taking minutes of a meeting can be hard but minute taking courses can help!

Why the minute-taker should take charge

Most minute takers follow a handy Government Guide. They organise and send out the invitations to those attending. Often afraid of taking the lead from the Chair, they are the second most important person in the room because they can manage agenda and timings.

The minute taker should inform all attendees that the act of raising a hand would indicate to whoever is speaking to slow down. This signal improves the ability to directly manage the meeting.

How to keep order of what was said

Often when a motion is tabled there is much debate. It is almost impossible to record multiple speakers at once. Let’s say you are minute-taking for a meeting of eight representatives. The meeting comprised of the Judge, the CPA, the parents, as shown below. It’s hard to record legibly what everyone says – and keep chronological order – if everyone jumps in at once.

A time saving idea is to get an A4 block pad printed where each page is divided up into eight colour segments. The segments each represent a different person at the meeting, e.g., the top left-hand square might represent the Judge; the green, the council; yellow, the child; pink, the CPA and so on.

Use this grid to make note-taking easier

Solution: The eye works quicker with colour

Go directly to the colour box that represents the person speaking and start writing what they say.
Work through the entire pad in this way, writing in the appropriate colour box whenever a person speaks. When finished you may find some pages of the pad only have one box filled in.
Worry about adding full names and initials when you come to write up your notes.

Instead of ploughing through pages of scrawl to see where the judge has spoken, we can simply look at his colour box to find out what he said.

To make sense of who said what sequentially, start with No.1) for the first speaker, then 2) in the box of whoever goes next and so on. By joining up the numbers you get to record in what order statements are made. Simple!

Get more tips to help taking minutes in meetings in our infographic: