So, with all this discussion about habits, I hope it is apparent that as you consider what habits you might add to your life that you might consider which habits would help you in the work place.

I have a few to suggest:

1. You could focus on listening well. Most of us don’t listen as often or as well as we could. Our communication as a company would improve if we all listened better.  The key to listening well is recognizing when the opportunity to listen intently arrives (cue) and developing a routine.  A list might include:
2. Getting in the right kind of posture.
3. Maintain great eye contact
4. Resist verbal response until the communication is fully understood.
5. Put away distractions while communication is taking place.
6. Focus on summarization of a message before adding thoughts, ideas or questions.
7. You could have a “lock-out, tag-out” habit. We have a detailed “lock-out, tag-out” process for every job location in our plant.  But, it’s something that we don’t always emphasize as well as we should.  Again, thinking about the cues which trigger the beginning of the lock-out, tag-out routine is critical to this becoming a habit.
8. The habit of a “quick start” at the beginning of a shift or as we return from a break. The horn blowing is the cue.  What has to be done to assure that you have a great first hour every day at your production post?  Drifting into a start is the wrong habit.  Working to develop a routine that brings focus, pace and urgency to every beginning of a shift is the habit of winners.
9. Have the habit of “engagement”. PalletOne people “happen to the world”.  They enter every situation hoping to make it better, because they showed up.  Again, that doesn’t happen without our intention to make it so.  What’s your strategy for “engagement”?  I’ll share mine tomorrow.

Building habits that make a constructive difference is the way of those who report joy in life. Many of these cross over to everything you do.  I hope to hear in the years to come that things improved for you as you embraced the idea of forming better habits.