Jana Kemp :: Facilitator, Author, Speaker, Time Architect

Articles Archive

In Print: Jana Kemp has written articles regularly for University Review magazine, The Idaho Business Review, that Idaho Press Tribune and on special request for dozens of others. What follows is a selection from her over 200 articles.

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Facility Matters
By Jana M. Kemp

The entire Treasure Valley boasts under-construction zones for offices, housing, more retail shops, and of course the State Capitol Building. The Capitol is both an iconic building and a place of work. Having toured the Capitol renovation project a few months ago, I’m prompted to share some observations as the Idaho Legislature returns to the Treasure Valley to work.

The Capitol itself is a spectacular facility that very much deserves the renovation and remodeling work that is underway. Because the building is also a place of year-round work, during the years of construction, offices have been moved into spaces in multiple buildings in the vicinity of the Capitol. The Governor’s office, Secretary of State and some other offices moved to the Borah Federal Building just Southwest of the Capitol.

And the Legislature and its staff have moved to the old Ada County Courthouse, just to the East of the Capitol. All of this moving has required maps and signage to help people find the relocated offices. The moves have also required significant adaptations of buildings and of mindsets. For instance, the Legislative spaces are much smaller than the spaces that had become the brunt of complaints in the Capitol itself. And the smaller space must serve the state’s decision makers for two, possibly three, sessions of decision-making.

The Capitol moves provide a large-scale picture of just how much facilities do matter. The effectiveness of decision making, the ability to serve customers and constituents well, the ability to accomplish work, and the ability to remain polite while undertaking work is all affected by the spaces and facilities in which people work.

As you survey the spaces in which you work, determine which spaces are working well, which ones are creating inefficiencies, and which ones your company has outgrown. Sometimes a fresh coat of paint and new flooring improves productivity. Other times, like at the Capitol, a large scale remodeling project is appropriate. During facility changes, workspace gets displaced for a period of time, days or even years, and yet work must continue.

To ensure productive work happens during and after a change in facilities, plan ahead for all of the needs employees will have in the temporary space and in the completed new space.

Action Item: Survey your facility. Is it time for a remodel, an expansion, or a whole new space? Make plans now for what facility changes need to be made in the next 18 months.

BYLINE:
This article first appeared in the Idaho Press Tribune.
Jana Kemp is the author of the books “NO!” and “Building Community in Buildings.” And her newest release is: “Moving Out of The Box.” Her expert meeting facilitation adds to your workplace productivity. Reach Jana at jana@janakemp.com or 208-367-1701.

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Be True To You
By Jana M. Kemp

It’s a New Year. Maybe you’ve committed to creating a new version of you. Or, maybe you just want to be more resolute about being yourself.

Either way, being true to yourself means being the master of every decision you make and mastering the word “no.” In every decision making opportunity you have, take the information available, seek more when needed, and then make a decision.

As new information becomes available, you can always choose to make a new decision. However, until something changes, stick to the decisions that have been made and keep moving forward. Time is lost rehashing decisions that don’t need to be revisited.

Focus on what can be done now and what needs to not be done at all. With the dozens, even hundreds, of requests for decision making that you receive each week, the goal is to make clear decisions and keep moving forward.

So, when making an individual decision, ask the following questions. Is this tied to and true to my values and goals? Who can help me get this done? Does the timing of the request fit into my life? How do I really feel about the request? What will I become committed to doing?

When making an organizational decision, ask the following questions. Does it fit our mission and goals? Do we have the resources to accomplish it? Is the timing realistic? What does our gut-reaction and real-experience tell us? What responsibilities will we have?

These questions all come from the Power of No Model for decision making presented in the book NO! How One Simple Word Can Transform Your Life. The book, written by yours truly, was released in 2005 and has interestingly now been translated into Polish, Dutch, Turkish, Arabic, and Chinese.

The point of the Power of No Model for decision making is to know what you are committing to and know what resources and timeframes are available before making a final decision. This way, whether you say “yes” or “no” to a request or to decision you will more likely be true to yourself and in alignment with your goals and even your organization’s goals.

Action Item: Whenever you are asked to make a decision, be sure that you are being true to your organization and ultimately true to yourself and your values.

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Treasure Valley Events Inspire Innovation
By Jana M. Kemp

Students striving to better themselves and expand their educational experiences participated in testing, speaking, and interviews during last weekend’s regional Academic Decathlon. In addition to inspiring hope for our future, several of the student speeches provided helpful business messaging.

Be focused. One young woman’s speech focused on communicating clearly and her preparation provided insight that applies to business thinking too. The more organized your thought, the faster and more effectively you can make your point. The less organized your thoughts are, the longer it takes to say something, and to potentially talk for a long time and still say very little.

Be first and be a role model. One young man’s interview conveyed that he will be the first person in his family to graduate from high school. His goal for finishing high school is both for himself and for his siblings and cousins to see that graduation can be achieved. While many of us take high school graduation for granted because it was expected of us, consider the innovation that can occur in this family when they see the first family member graduate.

And last Tuesday, Boise State University’s Centre for Creativity and Innovation sponsored their Fourth Annual Creative Economy Workshop. Speaker and author Art Gogatz came from work in Europe and Asia to share such be-creative tips as: keep childlike curiosity alive; take yourself out of your normal patterns; try on different points of view; ask provocative questions; and beware of bias and judgment. Gogatz also said “all creative acts break social barriers.” And he continued: “Being vulnerable is a part of being creative. So, try for more.”

Furby Inventor Caleb Chung was the second workshop speaker. Chung shared his belief that when art and science are brought together in a business setting, innovative ideas and products can result. Chung overviewed the process of creating Furby and his newest toy Pleo, a life-like dinosaur that learns and evolves. Ugobe is the company that has produced Pleo. Chung shared that Ugobe’s goal was to “intentfully open the door for artificial life and to serve as an ambassador” for technology that is likely to play a larger role in the world.

For more information about the innovation work at Boise State University and about future classes on innovation, visit: http://cobe.boisestate.edu/Create!Idaho/

Action Items: Volunteer for youth organizations to gain hope for our future. And, be curious about five things this week so that your creativity soars.

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When It All Falls Apart
By Jana M. Kemp

After several days of unplanned schedule changes, the other night on the way out the door to a meeting, the garage door spring broke, trapping my car in the garage. Thankfully a 24-hour response garage door company could send someone and I still made it to my meeting, late, but made it.

After a string of things not going right, it is tempting to think all the world is against us. On the other hand, when days on end fall apart, the message may really be “stop, take a look at what is not working and make some changes.” In fact, I’ve heard this said when people face unexpected health challenges too: “what issues need to be resolved so that you can heal and be well?”

In our workplaces, a quarterly check-up of sorts is appropriate in order to make course adjustments that improve our situations and prevent any ultimate breakdowns. Some of the questions to be asked in your quarterly check-up include: what is working well? What is working against us as we work to meet our goals? What is preventing us from delivering our best-possible products and services to our customers?

Ask everyone in the organization. Sitting in an executive office will not get you the detailed answers needed. Asking middle-managers will only get you part of the needed detail. Also ask front-line sales, service, and operations team members these questions. With all of the input, you’ll discover what needs to improve.

If you are feeling stuck in one of these three organizational domains, start with the one you are limited to and begin making improvements in your domain. If no one changes the company discussion to focus on improvements, then better days are not likely to come along.

In other words, we each have the ability to throw our hands up in despair or to claim our personal power to reframe the situation and declare what we can do to solve a difficult problem or to make improvements. When things fall apart it really is in the power of an individual response to make the whole situation turn around for the better.

Action Items: Assess what if anything is falling apart around your place of business. Make an action plan to prevent disaster. And, make an action plan for maintenance, repair, and of course for rebuilding.

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Television: Jana has also appeared on television (beginning in the 1970s) to present on topics of interest to the community and to employees focused on making their workday more productive. Boise NBC affiliate KTVB used Jana for a workplace productivity segment for two years. Sun Valley’s Channel 13 host of Sun Valley Today’s Sarah Curtis has tapped Jana for two years to teach viewers to successfully learn to say “no” and to regain their lives.

Radio: Jana Kemp originated and hosted the Momentum radio show that aired every Saturday morning for four years on KBOI’s 50K watt station in Boise, Idaho. The show focused on “managing the moment to moment challenges of daily business life.” Kemp also appears as a workplace productivity subject matter expert on such radio programs as Yolanda Smith’s XM Satellite show, the Business News Network’s Monday business show, and others who have invited her to talk about her book “NO! How One Simple Word Can Transform Your Life.”