Issue 85
Inside this issue:
Audie McCarthy founder and president of Marrek Solutions Inc. Click here for Audie's bioLisa Dennie Training Associate Click here for Lisa's Bio
Sherry Pelkey Marketing Coordinator & Trainer Atlantic Canada Click here for Sherry's Bio Contact:
63 Southmeadow Cres. Stoney Creek, ON L8G 3E6
Phone:
905.662.3407
Email:
Web:
As the Holiday Season approaches and your activity level increases, your stress level can creep up at a pace that is hardly noticeable. Before you know it, you are stressed out and not enjoying the beauty and wonder of this special celebration. This is a favourite time of year for many of us and we don’t want the stress of trying to do it all interfere with the magic! Our approach should be to make a conscious effort to find time to relax and enjoy the company of loved ones and to share the gifts we have been given with others.
In her article “Create a Very Merry Holiday Season”, Susan Heathfield says you can thrive over the holidays by simply doing four things:
- Keep your expectations rational,
- Take care of yourself,
- Take control of your time and limit your commitments,
- Embrace your family and friends.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/fortheholidays/a/holidayworktips.htm
If you find yourself trying to get together with everyone you have not seen all year, you may want to rethink your holiday strategy. We love seeing friends and family over the holidays but try and plan at least a couple of those get-togethers for January. Once the holiday hype dies down and the cold reality of the next few months of winter weather sets in, friends and family always welcome an invitation or a visit.
Take care of yourself, and enjoy this family time. Remember the spirit of the season:
“Peace on earth, good will toward all.”
Please see the Tips section below for help in de-stressing and enjoying this special time of the year.
Have a very happy holiday season.
Audie, Lisa, Sherry, Lindsey, Jennifer, Sylvia & Marlee
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Business After Hours
January 9th, 2008
Holiday Inn Select – Bronte Rd
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Free for Chamber members and first time guests
$10.00 for second time guests(no pre-registration required)
More info: | Email: brendan@oakvillechamber.com
Boost Your Business
Thursday, January 24, 2008
4:30 – 6:30
Audie will be speaking on The Art of Networking
More information to follow.Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce Presents A Luncheon
January 24th, 2008
Guest Speaker: Richard Koroscil
President & CEO Hamilton Airport
Location: Galileo's Gardens
Time: 11:30 am - 1:15 pm
RSVP Required
Contact Connie at 905 664 4000 for more information.
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Workshops
Mohawk College- (Tools for Business Series)
The T4B Fall Calendar is now available on line..
Stress in the Workplace – January 4 – Fennell Campus
The Marrek Group is now offering this powerful half-day course to help participants learn to manage the build-up of everyday stressors to become healthier and more productive.
Time Management – January 4 – Fennell Campus
Combine “Stress in the Workplace” with this second half-day workshop to learn how to manage your time more effectively and get more done to support and manage your organizational performance.
Successful Selling Techniques – January 9 – Fennell Campus
This one-day introduction to sales workshop is intended to help improve your sales results through the use of the six-step selling process helping you discover personal strengths and how to use them to connect with customers and secure repeat business.
Effectively Assertive – January 10 – Fennell Campus
This one-day workshop outlines the characteristics of the three styles of assertive behaviour. You will determine your own personal style and begin to understand the impact of your style on your business.
Dealing with Difficult Behaviours – January 14 – Fennell Campus
This one-day workshop is intended to help you understand and deal effectively with difficult behaviours by developing a greater understanding of the actions of others and learning strategies to encourage positive behaviour.
Coping with Change – January 15 – Fennell Campus
This half-day workshop helps employees look at change and its impact both personally and professionally. You will explore approaches to change, resisting change, benefits of accepting change and the skills required for change.
Creating AMAZING Customer Service – January 17 – Fennell Campus
This one-day workshop is designed to improve customer service skills by focusing on areas such as projecting a professional image and understanding the negative impact of providing poor customer service. You will learn techniques to maximize the customer’s experience.
Problem Solving – January 21 - Fennell Campus
This one-day workshop addresses two major factors of problem solving: flexibility and creativity. Participants will use these factors to examine key problem-solving techniques, such as examining assumptions, modeling, shifting paradigms and drilling down.
Mastering Communications with Personality Profiling – January 22 – Fennell Campus
This one-day workshop explores the communication process and provides an understanding of the communication skills required to effectively interact with fellow employees and staff. You will gain an understanding different personality types, and what motivates each personality to engage in effective communication.
Managing Performance – January 22 – Fennell Campus
This one-day workshop guides participants through employee motivation and goal-setting, coaching and performance feedback. Participants have the opportunity to practice coaching and providing employee feedback in a non-threatening environment.
Inspiring Multi-Generational Teams – January 24 – Fennell Campus
If you are managing more than one generation of workers, this one-day workshop is for you! You will learn to effectively motivate and inspire all of the generations and distinguish between managing and leading to help all your team members work together effectively.
Developing Cohesive Teams – January 25 – Brantford Campus
This one-day workshop explores steps for effective team building. You will learn about recruitment selection, team dynamics, and performance evaluation. You will identify critical success factors in team building and how to use the techniques to help your team pull together to reach its full potential.
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Tips for Less Stress and More Fun Over the Holidays
- Maintain your exercise program (exercise is a great antidote for fatigue, depression and overindulging).
- Don't drink too much (alcohol depresses the central nervous system).
- Don’t procrastinate (complete your preparations early in the month and enjoy the festival itself).
- Share a holiday meal with someone who needs a surrogate family, or volunteer to help out at a shelter or hospital (giving holds great rewards).
- Set your priorities (do what is most important to you).
- Cut corners (purchase food items instead of making everything yourself).
- Change your expectations for togetherness (spend some time with loved ones and some time away from them).
- Set a schedule (know where you want to be and when, to avoid conflicts).
- Breathe! (Deep breathing is a great way to control your stress response and recharge).
- Live in the moment and enjoy yourself (everyone will be all the better off for it – including you).
Tips Have a Merry Holiday Season! __________________________________________________
The Marrek Group respects your privacy, if you have received this email in error or if you no longer wish to be on our email list please click here to unsubscribe or email us at audie@marrek.com with remove in the subject line.
Dec. 15 , 2007
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“The best Christmas of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another.” |
