Two of the highest costs for any organization are people and real estate. In the current economy it makes sense to maximize the return on your facilities by making sure that your space supports your staff and your long-range goals without incurring substantial costs.

Lois Goodell, IIDA, who heads the largest interior design practice in Boston at CBT, shares seven easy to implement changes that will improve morale, productivity, and position your organization for the post-recession future at little or no cost:

Reconfigure: If cutbacks have emptied workstations and created dead zones in the office plan, reconfigure the space to increase the density. Fill empty seats and arrange workstations to improve workflow and visibility, which improves communication and morale.

Redeploy: Increase the density of workstations to open up other areas on the floor. Use “found” space to create room for collaboration. Keep the furnishings, redeployed from across the office, simple to encourage informal meetings.

Readjust: As individuals take on additional work when staff is reduced, they may require more filing space or different surfaces to support their new responsibilities. See what’s needed to be effective and adjust the workstation components accordingly.

Rethink: Senior staff responsibilities are increasing, too. Configure private office furniture to facilitate communication, mentoring, and accessibility. With travel budgets slashed, it’s time to have IT install a webcam.

Restack: More costly than re-planning a single work area or even an entire floor, the investment in restacking several floors to achieve more effective adjacencies delivers surprising paybacks. Improved communication across business units addresses shifting demands — speed-to-market, new products and services, or streamlined operations.

Reinvigorate: Take advantage of the public spaces to raise visibility. Multi-function rooms, cafes, and conference rooms can be used to bring people together for training, to host events for clients, colleagues, or community.

Refresh: For a small investment paint provides a big return. Used strategically, color can bring a professional polish to the office or just refresh spaces that are showing “wear and tear.”

Whatever changes you make now should anticipate further change. Evaluate your resources holistically — your facilities, your inventories, your requirements, and your budget. As Goodell notes, “Smart moves today provide positive, short-term impact, and the opportunity to position for the long-term.” Focusing on improved efficiencies, flexibility, and cost-effective solutions for your facilities fosters a workplace culture that is agile, collaborative, and sustainable.

Source: Lois Goodell

How does a commencement speaker inspire graduates to soar into their future? Here is some advice from Toastmasters, the public speaking experts.

Tammy Miller, professional speaker and former member of Toastmasters International’s Board of Directors, says to pick a topic with a clearly defined theme to make the audience remember it. She developed the acronym BRIEF to help commencement speakers make a first-class exit from junior high, high school or college:

B – Brevity – Speak for 10-20 minutes. This will force you to focus on the most important aspects of your message while helping to make the overall event more bearable for the audience.

R – Relate to the audience -It doesn’t matter how many accolades you have or how many letters are behind your name. As the commencement speaker, you are there for the members of the audience. At Duke University’s 2009 commencement, Oprah Winfrey offered personal stories about the ways other people touched her life. One of her stories centered on a woman who told her she was pretty when she was a girl. Winfrey said, “And it made me see myself differently from that day forward,” which she followed with advice to the grads, “…If you can be generous enough to say kind, affirming words to those who may long to hear them, you will be a huge success.”

I – Inspire and offer hope -Inspiring a graduating class is an awesome responsibility, but it can also be a fantastic opportunity. Leave them with a tidbit to ponder. School textbooks don’t teach feelings from the heart. The Dalai Lama addressed this beautifully in his 1998 Emory University commencement speech, “Education and the Warm Heart,” when he talked about a “good, warm, compassionate heart” combining with a person’s knowledge to better the world.

E – Engaging – Audiences relate to stories about real people. Steve Jobs, in his 2005 Stanford commencement address, “Find What You Love,” used three personal stories to illustrate his points. Each short story offered a valuable life lesson that resonated with the audience. He spoke about his early life as an adopted child, dropping out of college, and his battle with cancer.

F – Fun – Interjecting humor is an important element in getting your message across. Actor Tom Hanks spoke at Vassar College’s graduation ceremony in May 2005. His speech entitled “The Power of Four” described how any four actions, people or things can change the world. He discussed four letters: h-e-l-p. Then he played it as only a great actor could: “Help. HELP. HEEEELLLLLLPP!” he pleaded. Fun and humor is not about cracking jokes, but about making the situation lighter. Humor helped Hanks connect with his audience, lightened heavy concepts and made his message more memorable.

Source: Toastmasters International

Excerpted and updated from The Pink Slip and How to Avoid It

1. Serve your company faithfully, aggressively and tirelessly, just as you once served your country. But, the first day you sense even a hint of your being expendable, finalize your battle plan. Your next day, start looking for a new job – inside or outside your company. Discreetly, of course.

2. Develop one or more powerful internal company mentors as allies both to protect your flanks and enhance your intra-company image.

3. Develop and foster professional relationships with an external mentor who is a guru in your professional field or function. If promoted to a new department – for example, from sales to marketing – find an external mentor versed in your new field.

4. “Join” your company’s Board of Directors. Learn to track earnings just as your board members do. Learn to spot signs that a staff cut may be imminent.

5. Watch for unfamiliar “buzz words” in emails and company communications. Like calls for the team to be “more entrepreneurial” (meaning “produce or leave”). Or a “business check-up,” (meaning cost reductions, e.g. layoffs are on the way).

6. Know the danger signs and develop defensive postures accordingly. If excluded from meetings you’ve always attended … or you can’t see your boss as often as before … or you’re sent on “special assignment” during reorganization – you are vulnerable.

7. Beware of consultants or unfamiliar professionals who show up. Management often turns to outsiders to look “objectively” at how best to boost productivity – and reduce head count.

8. Make yourself more personally attractive. Pay attention to the preferences of those who evaluate you, on dress, behavior, work habits. Wherever you differ – adjust accordingly.

9. Develop a personal and professional “wow factor.” Every company has one. Learn it and exercise it.

10. Adjust your personal “time clock.” If the boss is “AM,” so should you be. If he (or she) is “PM,” stay until dark – especially when things get shaky.

11. Cross-train to improve your value. Like learning Russian, or what competitor companies are doing. Learn to play the piano or golf, as a counter-balance to work stress. Golf is great because maybe you’ll play with your boss.

12. Become a “corporate Baptist” and “self tithe” no less than 10 percent of your time to self-promotion and name recognition. Use outside sources to influence your value to internal management. Follow the lead of the “Big Boys” in building community, political, organizational, and volunteer relationships.

13. Paranoia isn’t all bad. Maintain a private diary, including memos you receive, to record events which later may be challenged. Act like there is an imaginary gun to your head. If you’re in a staff role, transition to a revenue-producing role.

14. Develop the perception of financial independence. Those who wield the career knife seem less likely to sever the individual who is not going to miss the paycheck.

15. Don’t be complacent. Put these survival tactics into play, now. Before it’s too late to get started.

Wes Poriotis is founder and Chairman of the New York-based Center for Military and Private Sector Initiatives (aka Veterans Across America), a nonprofit that helps veterans, especially wounded and disabled veterans, compete for quality employment. He is also author of The Pink Slip and How to Avoid It. Dr. Ray Healey is the co-founder and Executive director of Veterans Across America, and a former head of editorial communications for Forbes magazine.

Source: Veterans Across America