What’s the skinny on the Daily 5 Minutes?

“Can we have one too?”

Conversation in the clouds by Swamibu.

The skinny is this:

Very briefly, the D5M is a simple habit. Each day, without fail, managers are to give five minutes of no-agenda time to at least one of their employees.

Your time is one of the most precious resources you have, and to give it as a gift to someone in the form of the Daily Five Minutes® just may be one of the best work-expressions of unconditional aloha there is.

We take each other for granted at work way too much.

We don't mean to... We just get so comfortable with each other always being around, and part of our everyday scenery at work, that we don't start up new conversations with each other often enough.

We assume a ton too, thinking, “Well, I’m sure they know… how can they not know?”

Well, fact is, a lot of times they don’t know, and they can’t possibly know unless someone tells them.

So why not have that someone who engages them be us?

Frankly, adopting the D5M as an expected work process forces us to do it, but the cool thing? It ends up to be a gift of attention we give, and that’s like the ‘forcing’ done with a narcissus bulb. Giving our employees the D5M is like saying, “Bloom! I know there is beauty inside you!”

Forcing Bulbs found on Flickr by hlkljgk.

Here are 12 Reasons to Adopt the D5M:

The flowering will be spectacular... When you give it, creating it as your habit and as your workplace expectation, the D5M does so many things for you:

1. It trains you to be a better listener, a better manager, and a better coach
2. It trains you to ask great questions, and get the full story
3. It improves communication effectiveness with its ease and regularity
4. It establishes great relationships with each person you give it to
5. It converts unproductive time into found opportunity
6. It eliminates workplace interruptions due to the ‘I forgots’
7. It teaches people to both give and receive time and attention at work, and
8. It assures that none of those people slip below the radar
9. It promotes inclusivity and collaboration, engagement and ownership
10. It improves your reputation as a ‘people manager’
11. It is straightforward and simple, employing something we all can do (just talk to each other)
12. Best of all, it’s quick! It only takes 5 minutes a day!

How can you deny yourself all these benefits if you are a manager?

Chinese Sacred Lily found on Flickr by Zanthan Photos.

Here is a how-to … This is the latest I have written on The Daily 5 Minutes, capturing the best of my links on the practice all in one post: The Daily 5 Minutes: 9 Questions.

The 9 Questions are designed to walk you through getting started with a full understanding of what the Daily Five Minutes involves, and the post includes a link to a PDF which is the D5M excerpt from my book. These 9 Questions come from a seminar format we teach the D5M with, when practicing via situational art role-play in our SLC classes for new supervisors. They cover what the D5M is, why it must be a habit and who it involves, what the how-to and benefits are for both givers (managers) and receivers (staff), and how to start and end it.

Why do I give it away for free?

I want you to do it. Within you is all the talent we need to engineer a workplace revolution of aloha, and I am convinced that the D5M can get you started.

Give the D5M to someone you work with today.

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From the archives: MWA Success Stories! The Daily Five Minutes®

Comments

[Steve Sherlock]

Rosa, is it just me or is there some irony to having to 'force' a narcissus? Actually as I check wikipedia, it is appropriate to use 'force' in this way. If the person is so self-focused, then it would take some shock to 'force' their attention to the world around them, and not just in the mirror where they love to live.

As I re-read this, I recall reading it when you published it. Maybe it was sitting in my idea land percolating until it was ready to bloom? Co-creation!

[Rosa Say]

Language is a fascinating thing Steve, and though I have been familiar with bulb forcing for a while, you now have me wondering too about why the word was chosen; there must be a larger story there to be uncovered...

And you know what? That comes back full circle to the D5M, and the notion that people have a lot to say, and so much to reveal about what's inside them. It is the deliberate care of another that makes it easier, and that's what the D5M is all about, caring enough to learn about others and all they have to offer.

[ADITI]

hi,i licked the articles here in this link.. i am not to clear with the concept daily five min.. how to find the link to PDF of D5M..
ITS GREAT

[Rosa Say]

Aloha ADITI, go to http://www.managingwithaloha.com/2007/02/the_daily_5_min.html
and the PDF link will be the first one in that article.
Rosa