People Power: Leadership hacks to save you time

Scott Stein, renowned business coach and author of Leadership Hacks, Clever Shortcuts to Boost Your Impact and Results, shares some tips to boost the productivity of you and your team.

By Nicola Field

You know the drill. Deadlines are getting tighter, resources are being squeezed and you need to motivate your people to do more with less. It can seem like a tall order, but Scott Stein says some clever hacks – or smart shortcuts – can make it happen.

Everyone’s busy. Our days are packed with different activities. But chances are, you’re not focusing on the right things. Try mapping out what you have actually done during the course of a day, and you’re likely to see a big gap between what you have been doing and what you should be doing.

In this article, Scott reveals some of the hacks that allow leaders to side-step the distractors and reclaim their time:

Hacks for your email inbox

Be disciplined. Schedule time to manage emails, then follow up with this simple four-step hack to save time managing your inbox:

  1. Give your inbox a quick visual scan.
  2. Delete what’s not relevant.
  3. Sort remaining emails based on importance.
  4. Respond.

Hacks for sending emails

When writing an email, think about what you are hoping to achieve. Use the list below to narrow this down:

  • It’s an FYI message.
  • You need to gather/share information.
  • You need to make a decision.
  • You need the recipient to take action
  • You want to arrange a meeting.

State the specific outcome you’re looking for at the start of the email including in the subject line. This gives the reader context and saves you (and them) time. Use bullet points, bold and underline in your email message to help the reader easily grasp the key points.

One-on-one hacks

Delegation is an important skill, yet leaders often don’t know how to delegate. It’s estimated that one in two companies is concerned about their managers’ delegation skills, but they don’t offer training for it.

The result? Leaders are often completing tasks that someone several salary bands below them should be doing – often because it seems quicker and easier to just do it themselves.

The fact is, delegation is a skill that can be mastered. Let’s break it down.

There are four levels to delegation:

  1. Do the task yourself.
  2. Coach your team member. Explain you need their help, describe the task and map out a plan of action together. Share ideas, sequence the steps, and set clear dates when you will check in on their progress.
  3. Explain the task to your team member, and ask them to map out how they’ll approach it. Check in along the way.
  4. Set the task, and ask to see the results when it’s complete.

A key problem is that many leaders head straight to level 4. If things don’t go well, after a few attempts they give up delegating and revert to level 1.

It’s important to use a level 2 approach in the first instance. Gradually progress to level 3, and then to level 4. It will save time in the long run.

Team hacks

Research shows executives can spend as much as 23 hours each week tied up in meetings. That makes meetings a prime target for team hacks.

Trying to combine different types of meetings is a waste of time. The discussion goes round and round, the same people do all the talking and no real result is achieved.

Instead, hack the meeting by first identifying its purpose. Then decide the type of meeting you need to achieve your purpose from the four listed below:

  1. Reporting and checking – for example, reporting sales results.
  2. Problem solving – you have a challenge that you need a broader perspective on.
  3. Decision making – you need to arrive at a clear decision.
  4. Strategy development – you need to plan for the future.

Be clear about communicating the type of meeting to your team. If everyone knows what the aim of the meeting is from the start, it gives the discussion focus and helps avoid detours.

Be prepared to shake up meetings a little too. Or maybe you don’t need a meeting at all. Reporting or checking in can often be done virtually.  The Vice President of Kimberly-Clark, a massive corporation, recently got rid of typical reporting meetings altogether. These days, they have a dashboard in the hallway that sets out KPIs, and the team has a 15-minute stand-up meeting – once in the morning, and then another check-in during the afternoon.

Find more leadership time savers and productivity boosters in Scott Stein’s new book Leadership Hacks, Clever Shortcuts to Boost Your Impact and Results (Wiley).

From side-hustle to second income in five steps

By Brian Dorricott FIML

So, you’ve been thinking and working on an idea – something that might bring some extra income. That would make life easier. And, you never know, might mean you could give up the day job and gain autonomy and control over your working life.

However, leaving the day job is a big step. It could be very risky especially if you have responsibilities and dependants.

A step too far?

So, what to do?

The good news is there’s a process that you can go through to gain insights into how feasible the dream really is – and reduce the risk. Let’s look at five steps you can take:

  1. Users: Speak to people whose problem you are looking to solve. But don’t give away the solution. The key is to ask the right questions and explore the world of the person with the problem. Find out how they know they have the problem and what they have done to solve it so far. What language do they use to talk about it? Perhaps it is still unsolved. That’s a good sign.
  2. Problem: Assimilate all the information from the users you spoke to, identify who will be the first potential customers and what they need. Look at competing products or services. Why are they deficient in the eyes of your customers? Understand the problem in-depth.
  3. Solution: Remember how you started with an idea – the solution? Now it’s time to see if it would work for most people you’ve spoken to. Usually, this is where tweaks are made to the original design and you can start writing a product brief. The product brief is a short document that describes three people’s lives before your solution, during and after they have your solution. How did they find out about you? What impact did it make? Will they tell other people?
  4. Finance: Depending on your idea, you may need to take the product or service brief to someone who can create your solution. Also, find out the production cost. Check how to protect your idea – perhaps with a patent. Look at pricing strategy. Do a thumbnail finance plan. How much are you short? What funding options are available to you? Is a mix of personal money, government grants, and a crowdfunding campaign the way to go?
  5. Launch: It’s decision time. Up until now, you’ve spent very little money. Perhaps got some business cards printed. After launch, it’s a big time but now you know where the money is coming from and your first customers. Perhaps start with their money to launch your side hustle.

And all this can take just three months depending on your other commitments. It’s all about talking to people in the right way and creating a plan to solve their problems. Once you have, you’ve now created something of value that people are willing to pay for.

And when you’re confident about the income levels, then it’s time to swap one day job for another. Your own company!

Look out for the webinar on this subject coming in early 2019.

4 reasons why I got my management accreditation

Why become a Chartered Manager?

Why did I bother? After all, I already have a Masters in Management (MMgt), and numerous other accreditations in coaching and human behaviour assessments. Well, while that’s great underpinning theory, we all know that it’s hands-on experience, proven results, and continual learning to stay current that matters most.

Just like other professions, standards of practice vary. For example, there are bookkeepers, qualified accountants, and there are Chartered Certified Accountants. As a leadership coach, it concerns me that in the coaching industry, there are numerous life coaches, wellness coaches, transformational coaches – a whole raft of labels anyone can use. From attending a weekend coaching course, to completing a full Diploma in Coaching, credibility varies greatly.

1. Get recognition as a manager

When IML ANZ refreshed their membership brand, they heralded a deliberate intent to raise the bar in professional standards of managers and leaders, they had my immediate attention. You see, leadership is at the core of everything I do, and everything I help others do. Our company – Vital Leaders’ mission is to develop more dynamic leaders, so it sits well with the Institute’s re-energised, agile direction.

On 16 January 2018, I officially achieved the internationally recognised, designated status of Chartered Manager – CMgr. What’s that mean, you ask? Good question. It’s quite a new recognition pathway for experienced managers and leaders in Australia and New Zealand. In fact, it is recognised as the highest status you can achieve as a leader.

IML ANZ offers this globally recognised designation here in Australia and New Zealand, though a strategic partnership with UK’s Chartered Management Institute – CMI.

2. Learn more about yourself as a manager

Similarly, there are accidental managers who fall into the industry and struggle without support, there are skilled semi-experienced managers who manage operations and outcomes, and there are dynamic leaders who inspire change, ignite growth, influence positive outcomes, and are intentional role models and mentors. There IS a difference, but it is often overlooked in recruitment processes and shoulder-tap promotions.

The Chartered Manager assessment offers two routes, depending on what qualifications and experience levels you already have. I took the qualified route, which required me to submit a comprehensive assessment outlining how I manage change and lead others, outcomes and learnings, from over the past 18 months. I also had to demonstrate how I stay current, including outlining my professional development plan for next 12 months.

An assessor was assigned to me, and I had the privilege of meeting with her for my final assessment interview in London, while I was there visiting family. My submission piece was assessed against strict professional ethics and the CMI Code of Conduct and Practice.

Honestly, the process was more challenging than I initially thought it would be – but that’s a good thing. Achieving Chartered Manager status is more than a document of proof or a form-filling exercise. It required considerable introspective reflection on why I do what I do, and particularly, what I learn from each experience. It recognised the vast range of skills I use, often subconsciously, but always intentionally.

3. Credibility, currency and commit to ongoing professional growth

What being recognised as a Chartered Manager means to me is these three core things:
Credibility – International recognition of my high-level expertise as a currently practicing company manager, leader of change, trainer and mentor of aspiring leaders; formally assessed to rigid Code of Conduct and ethical practice standards (formal qualifications + experience + intentions + results + learnings).

Currency – acknowledged value of what I currently do, how I resolve issues by challenging the status quo and driving change, how I meet client expectations by using the latest practices, and recognition of positive outcomes achieved the last 18 months.

Commitment to continual growth – acknowledgement of my insatiable thirst for continual professional development [CPD], and commitment to research and learning, for which I will be held accountable each year through a CPD reporting process.

4. Stand out from the competition as an intentional leader

Embedded into our leadership development programs, is a trust formula for leaders, which is fundamentally about building credibility.

Character + Competence + Consistency = TRUST.

The Chartered Manager process gave me the opportunity to provide evidence of my ethical, honest and intentional character, my competence levels and achievements, and my consistent approach to continually learn and grow. Being awarded the Chartered Manager designation and proudly upholding those standards, means I stand out from the mediocre, and stand proud as an intentional leader – as a trusted role-model and mentor.

Yes, it’s means more than just another paper certificate.

Yes, I’m proud of being globally recognised for my achievements.

But above all that, I’m honoured to share my journey and what I’ve learned so that others can aspire, reach and grow.

Intentional leaders mentor and develop more leaders … and my intention is to keep doing that.
Leadership credibility matters.

Want to find out more about becoming a Chartered Manager? Click here.

By Jilinda Lee CMgr FIML, Director and Founder of Vital Leaders.

Too busy to lead?

How’s your to-do list looking for this week? Back-to-back meetings in your diary… in-box overflowing… staff appraisals overdue…

Most people in leadership roles would be fairly familiar with that state of affairs. When you’re juggling so many balls and being pulled in all different directions with day-to-day management tasks, how on earth do you find time to devote to that essential management task of leading? You know, pulling yourself out of the fray and actually taking a birds-eye view of your patch long enough to set a clear path for yourself and your team.

As someone who loves to help people, one of my steepest learning curves has been learning not to say yes to everything. After all, it’s hard to get the best quality out of yourself when you’re burdened by quantity. And while I’ve always felt I had a lot to offer, I now know that any strength, when taken to the extreme, quickly becomes a weakness.

This became crystal clear to me after winning silver at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. I was going for gold but didn’t even perform at my personal best and I was feeling really down on myself about it. But then I saw how I’d spread myself so thin in the lead up – I was completing the final year of my physiotherapy degree but getting credits instead of distinctions, working part-time, living out of home and saying yes to every opportunity that came my way, which made it impossible to be at my best during the 30 hours a week I spent training. I realised the hard way that I didn’t win gold because I was performing at a silver level in every area of my life.

So how did I go on to win gold at Athens in 2004? Well, that harsh reality ended up being liberating. I saw that in trying to check off so many things on my to-do list, I was compromising my commitment to something even bigger. The trick was to get really clear on my values and priorities and let those guide my yeses. I made deliberate choices rather than compulsively saying yes. In short, I became selective as hell!

Our values can tell us what to say yes to while our priorities provide the when. So even when there’s a lot to do, it may not have to be done right now. Like when I struggled fitting in charity work (which has always been really important to me) while training, I decided I could make time for that later in my life, which I now do.

Perhaps there are things on your to-do list that, if you were to reassess in term of your broader values and priorities, are actually negotiable so that you can free yourself up?

Of course, sometimes we may not have control over the what or the when. So when you can’t delete or delay, the next best thing is to delegate. You don’t actually have to do it all. You can outsource it. Or you can use it to build competencies in your team which, by the way, is a key part of leading. Again, it comes down to adjusting your lens. Tweaking your definition of leading could make all the difference.

Look forward to picking up on this – and more – in May!

About the author:


Katrina Webb, Katrina Webb OAM MIML

Katrina Webb is recognised and acknowledged for her unique athleticism and outstanding success as a Paralympic athlete. She has won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in athletics at three Paralympic Games.

She was the first torchbearer to enter the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games and in 2006 Katrina was selected to present on behalf of the International Paralympic Committee to the United Nations in New York. In 2012 & 2016, Katrina was selected as a Paralympian Ambassador for the International Paralympic Committee at the London & Rio Paralympic Games.

Off the track Katrina is the Director of her own business Silver 2 Gold High Performance Solutions. As a qualified physiotherapist and a person who knows how to achieve gold medal results more than once, her business specializes in improving the performance and health of organisations, teams and individuals.

www.katrinawebb.com.au

 

Katrina Webb  will be speaking at the IML TEL Talk: Effective Habits of Daily Leadership Life on 10 May in Adelaide.
Katrina will draw from her experience as an elite athlete and professional businesswomen to demonstrate how leaders can use discipline to implement practical coping strategies into each working day.
This event includes lunch and refreshments.

Book now

 

 

The ‘Intentional Leader’ in the age of work/life blend

Way back in 1994 I took delivery of my very first (and sadly, only!) company car.

Naturally, I thought I’d made it! I thought I had finally arrived at the top of the tree. It was a bright red Renault 18 with lots of fancy stuff, like part leather seats, air-conditioning and electric windows. Oh, and a car phone. Yep, a car phone. The phone had been installed in the centre of the car between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat – where the central storage unit used to be. That had been removed to allow room for the car phone. The phone was absolutely huge. It was massive. It was the size of a small brick wall. And it was connected to its base station by a 2-meter curly, black plastic cable.

When I jumped into the car for the very first time, the very first thing I wanted to do was call somebody. Of course I did! – I had my first company car and it had a phone – albeit the size of a small brick wall jammed between the driver and passenger seats! The problem was that I had no-one to call. That was because back in 1994 almost no-one had a mobile phone. (To anyone reading this under the age of 35, this was what life was like ‘back then’. Back in the dark ages! It was very uncool and depressing). So, I called my mum at home in Manchester. She answered my call on the cream-coloured, dial-style home-phone that everyone had in 1994. My mum couldn’t believe that I was calling her from a car. A car! Whilst I was driving! It was like magic had actually happened.

If we fast forward a lifetime, we can only dream of not having someone to call and of not being ‘connected’ pretty much 24/7. Imagine that – no texting, no social media, no smartphones, no Facetime. The horror!

“As our work lives and our non-work lives become ever more entwined, connected and indistinguishable, two things are becoming very evident.”

It’s 2018 and this the modern world. Of course, it would be so much better for everyone if we could switch it all off and leave the workplace mentally at the same time as we leave it physically. I fear that the truth is that that ship has sailed. And it ain’t coming back anytime soon.

If anything, all evidence points to even more blurring of the now almost-indistinguishable line between work life and home life. Have you noticed, for example, how ‘work/life balance’ – the buzz phrase of the past decade – is fast becoming obsolete? And it’s just as quickly being replaced by a new concept and a shinier and more modern new buzz phrase; ‘work/life blend’.

As our work lives and our non-work lives become ever more entwined, connected and indistinguishable, two things are becoming very evident.

The first is the realisation that companies employ the whole person. That we aren’t two people. Revolutionary, hey! It seems silly to acknowledge that there’s work John or Joan and non-work John or Joan. But back in 1994 when I was cruising in my red Renault 18 with no-one to call, there was a clear line between work and home. That is no longer the case.

The idea that the organisations employ ‘the whole person’ has been creeping into management thinking for a few years.

“This ever-increasing blending of work and life is having another absolutely profound impact; it’s making management and leadership even harder than it once was.”

The funny thing is that the work/life balance revolution was focused mainly on the life side of the equation. Work was work and the workplace was the workplace. It was all about working from home, setting up a home office, taking days off for family reasons and ‘mental health days’. The new work/life blend trend is different. The focus is on the work side of the equation. Now that our homes are set up to mirror the workplace, the focus is on making the workplace more like our homes! As an example, I popped to see a Corporate Member of IML (an architectural firm) the other week and there were 3 dogs running around the office!

This ever-increasing blending of work and life is having another absolutely profound impact; it’s making management and leadership even harder than it once was.

Back in the day – in the day of car phones the size of small brick walls – managers were typically only required to manage ‘work John’ and ‘work Joan’. Not anymore. Today, we now need to manage and lead the whole person. We need to manage people who are experiencing illness, infertility, divorce, relocation, debt, alcoholism, issues with teenage kids, issues with pre-teenage kids, issues with blended families, issues with non-blended families, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, Gen whatever. The list is endless. The role of the leader is endless and boundary-less. Leadership – and leaders – have an impact on the whole person, not just on the person at work. As work and life have blended, so the role of the leader has become blended and blurred.

And all of this means that managing and leading today is bloody tough. It’s certainly not a 9-5 job that you can leave at your desk when you head off home. It’s a role – and a responsibility – that has become blended into what was once thought of as personal time. These days, as a leader we can’t simply switch off, leave the workplace and leave our ‘leadership’ on our stand-up desk. We take it with us. We carry it home. And this means something extremely important; it means that we must absolutely ensure that we are Intentional Leaders as opposed to Accidental Managers.

Look out for next week’s blog about the Intentional Leader.

 

 

By David Pich FIML, Chief Executive

Institute of Managers and Leaders

 

Time Management Is Dead…

Written by Christine Petersen FIML, Managing Director at Time Technology

 

It has served us well and it is now time to let it RIP…  

 

Peter Drucker a futurist and management guru wrote in the 80’s about the 21st century workplace saying –

“The single greatest challenge facing managers will be to raise the productivity of knowledge and service workers.   This challenge will ultimately determine the competitive performance of companies.”

 

A good definition of productivity is –

Producing valuable results through the conservation of time, energy and effort!

So what is the difference between time management and productivity?

 

Time management will focus on task and time – how much work can we squeeze into the time we have available and in an environment where there is too much work and not enough time, it is just not possible to achieve more; the work just keeps coming.    The balance between being proactive and reactive is now well and truly weighted towards reactiveness.

 

Productivity will focus on results and outcomes creating a dynamic workflow that is constantly being prioritised between existing work and new work, making sharp decisions about the investment of time and accepting that priorities will constantly change.    Simply put working smarter.

 

Companies are looking for ways to do more with less, which from a business perspective is a good aspiration; automation, process improvement, improving the client experience and so on.    Yet from a work execution perspective it’s somewhat of a disaster as it really means we need to work harder and we all know where that ends.

 

I’m a great advocate of Doing Less Work to Achieve Better Results.   By no means is this a new concept, it has been growing popularity over the last 2 years as the work continues to increase.  In reality, we are left with 3 choices, reduce the amount of work we do, increase the hours we work or throw more resources at it.

 

As we head into 2018 here are some suggestions to do less work –

 

  • Be clear about the difference between being effective and Effectiveness is tied to results and outcomes, where will I invest my time to achieve the best results.   Learn to let go of the non-value work

 

  • Slowdown in order to speed up. Have a dynamic plan by being strategic about the most important work – release the urgent work habit, most of us now believe that everything is urgent

 

  • Use technology effectively. There is an abundance of technology available to help us work effectively, yet so often poor usability limits the productivity gains that can be achieved

 

  • Respect time. We work in highly disruptive work environments, don’t just succumb, look for ways within the team to reduce interruptions and maximise focus to produce results.  It is well documented that the recovery time from an interruption is now 10 – 12 minutes.  How many times a day do we ask ourselves ‘now where am I?”

 

  • Don’t always default to e-mail. Good communication is when we are understood.  If a communication is complex or we are coaching, use face to face; this can be via Skype for Business, Facetime or actually in person.   If clarification is required or building rapport, pick up the phone, email is not a building rapport tool.

 

  • Have good e-mail protocol. Team e-mail accounts for around 45% of total e-mail communication.  Have a best practice strategy within the team.   Only Cc team members when it is of value to them.   How can we reduce the e-mail traffic within the team?   Be creative.

 

  • Most important of all is thinking time. In an ever-changing work environment where ‘disruption’ is more commonplace, we need thinking time and not just doing  How many times have we said to our children ‘you need to think about what you are doing’.

 

  • Embrace change, in a world driven by change, resisting change has little value. No doubt change can be uncomfortable and it is very easy to slip back to old habits.  Now is the time to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable.  Adopt an apply, test and correct and try again attitude.

We live in very interesting times which finds most of us on the same journey, sit back and enjoy the ride.

For more on time management and business agility – check out our webinar packages and recorded webinars here

The Quiet Life

 

The Adelaide Hills are alive with the sound of serenity, says Mandy Toczek McPeake FIML, executive manager of consumer services at Carer Support in Adelaide

 

I’ve always been a city girl but one day my husband and I went for a drive in the Adelaide Hills and stopped in Callington. We’d never been there before and we saw this lovely little house for sale – an 1850s miner’s cottage. We weren’t at retirement age but we thought, “This ain’t gonna be here for us when we do get to retirement age!” We bought it straight away. That was three years ago.

About 45 of these cottages are still lived in. Some of them need renovation, but fortunately ours had already been a labour of love, so we haven’t had to do anything to it. Callington is about a 45-minute drive from Adelaide, where I work as executive manager of consumer services at Carer Support, which provides services mainly to unpaid family members in a caring role.

Callington is an unusual little place of about 350 people. We’ve got a local store, a primary school, a footy oval and a pub that’s being renovated at the moment. It was in a pretty desperate state and it was bought by some people who already have some other pubs in the Adelaide Hills and they’ve got big plans for it, which is lovely. We look forward to it opening again.

We walk our dogs early in the morning and we go past the sheep and horses and cattle and everybody who drives past waves at us. It’s very friendly. After moving here, I joined groups such as the Callington and Kanmantoo Landcare Group and I discovered there was a local writers’ group, so I’ve been doing a bit of creative writing. I’m also turning my garden into a native garden with advice from the Landcare Group.

Callington was originally a copper mining town with Cornish miners and German landowners. The copper mine [in neighbouring Kanmantoo] is still quite a big local employer but now it’s overwhelmingly farming. A lot of the landowners also seem to breed dogs now, so we’ve got poodles and short-haired pointers and terriers down the road.

Callington is located between Murray Bridge and Mount Barker, which has lots of lovely cafes. Murray Bridge is also a place to do river cruises. I personally think Callington is a secret nobody knows about and that people would be fascinated to look at all the old houses. I think the town could do with promoting itself more in that way.

 

CALLINGTON FACT FILE

LOCATION: Located in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, 60km east of Adelaide

POPULATION: 387

LEADING INDUSTRIES: Callington was named after the copper mining town in Cornwall, UK. The town’s Bremer mine was established in the 1840s. While mining is still a major employer, cattle farming is now the major industry.

Transitioning To Retirement

 

 

Employment specialist Peter Barber FIML talks to Nicola Heath about how to make retirement and semi-retirement work for you.

 

 

What makes a fulfilling retirement?

It’s a question Baby Boomers, the five million or so Australians born between 1946 and 1966, are having to face as they reach retirement age.

The answer is not endless rounds of golf, says Peter Barber, principal facilitator at Follow Your Star in Melbourne.

A happy retirement hinges on finding meaningful things to do, he says. “It’s being able to feel as though you’re making a contribution to your own well-being, to your partner’s well-being, and in some ways, to the community.”

Planning for retirement is often limited to seeking advice about superannuation and other financial matters. “The question most often asked is, ‘Will I have enough to live on and will it last?’ rather than ‘What do I really want to do next and how will I do it?’” he says. “Most people put more planning into a holiday than they do into their retirement.”

Today’s ageing professionals can expect to live for another 20 or 30 years after their retirement. Without appropriate reflection and planning, retirement can become a challenging time for someone who is accustomed to a busy life that derives meaning and fulfilment from work. Take away nine-to-five employment and you have a lot of time on your hands. “That definition of who you are is suddenly removed,” says Barber.

At Follow Your Star, Barber offers career planning for people in all stages of their lives. The ‘New Horizons’ program focuses on the transition to retirement. Barber helps his clients do two things: write a purpose statement that defines their direction for the next three to five years, and to identify their personal drivers, or “what makes them make choices, make decisions, choose one activity over another? That helps them define what they want to do.”

Barber has first-hand experience of the challenges that come with transitioning to retirement. Retrenched during the GFC when he was 58, Barber suddenly had to decide what to do with the rest of his life. He eventually started a business, which now occupies 20-25 hours of his time each week.

Work remains a fundamental part of Barber’s life. He says he is currently enjoying his ‘unretirement’, a mix of meaningful professional activity, creative pursuits like writing, music-making and performance, and pro bono work, which allows him to contribute to the local community.

So, what are the options for someone planning a fulfilling retirement? Travel and leisure activities are often high on people’s lists, but at best they are short-term strategies. “They’re finite,” says Barber. “A three-month holiday in Europe comes to an end – and then what?”

Peter Barber FIML

Family

Retirement is an opportunity to focus our attention on our important relationships. As we age, “networks tend to shrink rather than expand,” says Barber, who believes a happy home life will help create an overall sense of wellbeing.

It’s common for retirees to devote time to caring for grandchildren to help their children juggle the demands of work and parenting. In Australia, 937,000 children are regularly cared for by their grandparents.

 

“Most people put more planning into a holiday than they do into their retirement.”

 

 

Semi-retirement

Increasingly, professionals who have enjoyed rewarding careers are choosing to keep working, albeit in a scaled-down capacity, once they reach retirement age. “The main trend is that people my age, in this demographic, are saying ‘I really don’t want to stop doing something,’” says Barber.

Some, like Barber, establish businesses using the many skills they have acquired over their working life. Part-time work, consulting and freelancing are also popular options. Leaders interested in giving back to the community can explore the possibility of joining a board where their experience and expertise can be put to good use.

 

Study

In 2014, 93-year-old Lis Kirkby became Australia’s oldest university graduate when she completed a PhD at the University of Sydney’s Business School.

Many use the free time of retirement to go back to school, whether through formal study like Kirkby, or short courses offered by U3A and other adult education institutions. Since retiring, Barber completed his Masters and is planning to start doctoral studies next year. His wife is not resting on her laurels either; she is currently studying creative writing at Swinburne University.

 

Volunteering

A 2014 survey found that people aged between 65 and 74 were among the age brackets with the highest rates of volunteering in the country, with 35 per cent giving up their time through an organisation or group. The same survey calculated that volunteers contribute 743 million hours of work each year to the community. Philanthropic work also comes with health benefits: one study found that volunteers had lower blood pressure, while another found they lived longer. Join a local community group or look for volunteering opportunities online.

Are you managing staff approaching the transition to retirement, looking to transition yourself or have retired? 

Join us at this Victorian TELTalk: New Horizons where Peter Barber FIML shares his whole of life approach to retirement planning and explains the personal and corporate benefits of providing transitional support for employees moving into retirement.