Every year, BizBarcelona features dozens of amazing educational presentations. From building a startup company in 48 hours to online marketing, any entrepreneur can find something to take away from this business fair. This year, one of the speeches stood out as especially valuable, because the information you take from it could benefit you not just in entrepreneurship, but any work environment and even non-professional areas of your life.
The presentation, made by Active Development, featured 60 Management Errors You Should Never Commit (los erores de gestion que no tienes que cometer). The first 40 errors are featured on YouTube for viewing anytime. Errors 41-50 were “the real big deal”. But the real jackpot was tips 51-60: 10 brand new management errors “between friends.”
Since we are all about building a community of like-minded, growth-oriented people, we will share these “errors” with you in the form of positive management lifehacks and provide our own 2 cents and experiences on how they can apply to improving your life.
Management Lifehack 51: Make Decisions Based On Attitude
Ever made a decision because it logically seemed to be the right choice, but you ended up wishing you chose option B? Sometimes life seems easier if we could turn feelings off and make decisions based purely on logic, but even Sheldon Cooper realized that a purely logical approach doesn’t cut it.
Feelings can be stubborn little things. If you do something because it’s “the right thing to do” but not what your heart wants, the latter will make sure to bug you about it incessantly. It’s much easier to make an important decision work if you feel very passionate about the option you chose – picture all the teenagers who pick a different career path than the one their parents envisioned, sometimes causing significant tension in the family as a consequence. When you have to make decisions, weigh the pros and cons and analyze the situation, but don’t forget the little creatures living inside your mind. You only get tired of something that you’re not passionate about.
Management Lifehack 52: Don’t play the victim
Blame, justifications, complaints… these are all ways of venting negative emotions, but instead of getting rid of negativity you just propagate it. (Imagine a vacuum cleaner that sucks in dust but then shoot it out into the air). When something unpleasant happens, you can either look back in pain or look forward with strength. The first option keeps you in the position of the victim, the second one lifts you up from it. Which one would you prefer?
Management Lifehack 53: Invest in your relations
Life in 5 dimensions
When students start attending University, countless professors and graduates tell them, “you get out of it what you put in.” If that counts for students, why not for everyone else as well? Your life has 5 basic dimensions: health, spirituality, friends, family, and work. To make each of these aspects healthy, you have to invest time and effort into them, and then they will give back to you in the form of happiness and healthiness.
Management Lifehack 54: SMILE!
Fun is a serious management tool! Smiling even when you’re not having fun can trick your brain into thinking that you’re having a good time, leading to a subconsciously more positive outlook. According to the speaker, optimism can increase your performance by 65-100%. All it takes is 17 muscles!
Management Lifehack 55: Never Stop Dreaming
The moment you stop dreaming is the moment you give up on your dreams. No matter how great a workplace or work-team is, it can always benefit from creativity, positivity, and imagination. Remain open to improvement no matter what level of greatness you’ve already achieved, and make it clear to your employees that you welcome fresh ideas. As the world is constantly evolving, great things must evolve with it.
Management Lifehack 56: Groom your hair!
At BizBarcelona, this slide was actually meant as comic relief to wake up the audience in the middle of a long and intensive presentation. But we can still take something from this (apart from the theory that great hair makes better success). Even a serious movie has some comedic moments. Allowing some comedy into your work life (and personal life) will make people like you more, your employees will be more relaxed around you, and consequently they may feel more comfortable approaching you for help or problems. Obviously, you shouldn’t turn into a laughing clown, but occasionally—make em laugh, make em laugh, make em laugh!
Management Lifehack 57: Overcome your fears
We’ve all heard the advice: “do something everyday that scares you”. We laugh at it, then ponder it, then cringe. When it comes to putting this tip into practice, it’s much easier said than done. Fear exists to warn us from things that could be harmful to us, so why should we tempt fate on a daily basis? The reality is that we’re often afraid of things that are not harmful at all—that would even be good for us. We’re afraid because of internal walls that we put up, memories from the past, or just inertia that has us set in our old ways. These are the kinds of hurdles that you want to leap over. Just remember, don’t worry too much about life, because no one comes out alive anyways!
Management Lifehack 58: If You’re unhappy, change!
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. Unhappiness comes at an expensive price: according to the speaker, it can cost you 22-30% of your income. One of the worst things that could happen to you is success in a job you hate.
Management Lifehack 59: Learn how to say no
Saying yes to every possible opportunity might have worked for Yes, man! (or some would argue), but this ain’t a movie. Some things will be toxic, frustrating, or a waste of time with no comparable benefits. When you can see this ahead of time, just SAY NO. We have all been told no on several occasions in our lives – by bosses, friends, family, or partners – if we could handle it, so can other people. They will appreciate your honesty and you will save frustration for everyone involved.
Management Lifehack 60: Don’t sell your life
On their deathbeds, people regret the things that they didn’t do rather the ones that they did. Stop counting years in your life, and start giving life to your years instead. People have said it in countless ways: carpe diem, YOLO, take a chance… if you wouldn’t marry a person you don’t love, don’t tie yourself down to a job you hate either. Mephistopheles learned the hard way, that the long term can’t be thrown under the bus for the sake of the short term. Just remember it goes the other way too!
