If you were given another 24 hours, how would you spend them?

Whenever I ask people what they'd like more of at work, it’s more often than not 'TIME' that tops the most wanted charts. They want time to finish projects, to get to know others, to fit in teambuilding and development, to think things through or even the time to finish work early and pick their children up from school.

So how can you create more time? Well obviously time management courses are available and doing less of the things that do not add to your life will give more time to do those that do add value. Perhaps the single biggest gain in saving time at work is in relationships. We all know the expression, ‘If I have told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times’. Well, if we communicated clearly, appropriately and in a way the other person understood, we would only need to communicate the message once, thus saving the time to repeat ourselves ninety nine more times. Of course when misunderstanding occurs it cascades through to other people and affects motivation, performance and productivity costing even more time and often considerable amounts of money. Surveys show that some 25% of a managers time is wasted at work to unwarranted conflict, personality clashes and misunderstanding making this the biggest reducible cost in business today. 

There is no doubt that huge savings in time can come from developing soft skills and creating rewarding relationships with colleagues and clients, not to mention additional benefits such as increased productivity and sales. But here’s the predicament that so many people face, to invest in relationships and soft skills in order to create more time and a great place to work, requires time.

Guess what? This year is a LEAP year so you can actually have an extra 24 hours. You can take the 24 hours as a one off, or even spend then over a few months. Having one extra day in a year is a tiny difference, but when invested wisely can make a staggering difference in life! Here are some ideas on how you could spend your ‘free’ 24 hours;

If you want to create an even better place to work with increased trust, leadership, respect, understanding and productivity, then invest in our proven Rewarding Relationships programme featuring the amazing SDI tool which is used to develop self awareness, communication skills, understanding, motivation and engagement that will help you and your teams to develop key relationships to great effect. One client with whom we worked found that staff engagement doubled after they put their 600 employees through this programme.

Learning the five key ways to creating an outstanding team is just one feature of our Outstanding Teams day. Outstanding teamwork combines workshops and activities designed to develop the hallmarks of an outstanding team and deliver the difference back at work. Ongoing monitoring and coaching of these hallmarks can have a notable impact on team performance, raising success and outcomes. Add to this a motivational activity to try out the five hallmarks, such as playing Polo at a top British Club, and you will multiply the feeling of celebration, the memory and the ‘value’.

Sailing is probably the best natural teambuilding activity available to corporate clients. It offers so much in the way of real team challenges and naturally tests all your resources including communication skills, leadership, team work and attitude. Based on the Solent we have access to some of the best yachts, skippers and sailing waters in the UK. Challenge your team to a day sailing or a company regatta and experience the benefits first hand. For a real challenge designed to take team work, leadership and trust to the next level, push the boat out with a 24 hour Sailing Challenge incorporating night time navigation, man overboard activity and cooking!

For those of you who are more community spirited, why not add something to the community whilst you’re developing your team by supporting a worthwhile cause? Giving 24 hours to help other people through community projects can change lives. In the past our clients have planted trees, cleared and refurbished a playground, re-homed tigers and built a board walk to protect sand dunes of special interest. The National Trust said of one company's magnificent efforts that what they achieved in a day, would have taken many months to do normally.

Spend a day with your hero and turn a conference into an event. Themed conferences with a motivational speaker can transform your business and really motivate your staff. Who would inspire your team? Sir Steve Redgrave? Ellen MacArthur? Bob Geldof? LEAP can organise celebrity speakers and have their own qualified and experienced speakers in sailors, world record holders and hosts. It’s your event, you choose.

Personally, with an extra 24 hours, I would love to undertake another World 24 Hour Endurance Powerboat record. I had the pleasure of being part of a British team that broke the 24-hour world record round the Isle of Wight that was originally set in Dubai. How would you like to join me?

What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours. In this LEAP year you have the chance to make a big difference by utilising those 24 little hours. How will you use yours? Ring us today on 01590 642886 or click on www.leapplc.com to find out more ways you can spend them to help your team to make that performance LEAP.

PJ Stevens, Director, team build expert, motivational speaker, soft skills trainer and lover of speed.

www.leapplc.com