No press ups required: habits from the Army for everyday use

Assault courses, precision marching and stabbing sand bags with bayonets. They make a great recruitment advert but these notorious army skills would struggle to find a place in your average office.

Of course, there are plenty of skills that are useful: leadership, teamwork, determination, commitment. But there are a lesser known batch that are rarely shouted about but are equally important.

That's because we don't consider them as skills. They are habits.

There is nothing special about what I am about to highlight, and everyone would have heard and spoken about these basic characteristics in all manner of workforces. The difference is that while some may speak about them, in the army we actually do them. All of them. All the time, every time.

They may not be as sexy as fast-roping out of helicopters but when you perform these functions as religiously as we do, then they start to benefit everyone, in and out of uniform.

If you're not five minutes early, you're five minutes late

Granted, we have a habit of taking this one to the extreme. In training I would loath standing outside the armoury at 0600 knowing it didn't even open until 0630.

Furthermore, knowing that everyone is turning up five minutes early can create a domino effect. Soon, the five minutes before becomes the ten, fifteen or twenty minutes before that in a vain attempt to get ahead of the curve.

But being a bit early for meetings, visitors and other engagements is no bad thing. It gives you time to conduct final preparations, take a moment for yourself, prevent others from waiting, and helps maintain the schedule.

Rule of thumb? Turn up early enough that if you forgot your notes you could rewrite them, if the presentation crashed you could find it, and if you don't have a cup of tea you can make one.

Eat together

Every lunch time across the forces, we stop work and go and eat together. Some have strict mess rules about not entering the dining room until the senior officer turns up. Others simply head to the canteen knowing their cohort will be there. Either way, we leave our desks and "head to scoff".

Why? Getting away from the desk and taking some time to sit down and eat a proper meal boosts energy, increases productivity and improves morale.

Sure, a lot of people enjoy the alone time and getting away from their colleagues for a bit. But you don't have to do it every day. Now and again, taking half your lunch break to share some food, not talk shop, and get to know your colleagues outside of the work environment strengthens bonds and benefits the team.

Never point

It sounds strange, but no one in the army points. Ever. This anomaly comes from map reading when using your finger isn't accurate enough. "Oh, you wanted us to strike that house? I thought you were pointing to that one!"

Therefore, whether in the field or around the office you will see soldiers reaching for all manner of "pointer" - be it a pencil or freshly plucked blade of grass.*

Using your finger to bluntly stab your point across is lazy, inaccurate and rude (especially when directed at someone). This is also true beyond our shores, in multiple countries and cultures around the world.

Using a pointer - even if it's just your pen - looks professional, shows you care about detail and prevents cultural faux pas.*

Take a Condor moment

The rounds are coming in, the pressure is mounting and there is a real risk the situation is about to spiral out of control. It's the perfect time to go and sit behind a tree and enjoy the calm.

Well, not quite. But we are taught that when everyone is losing their head, you need to keep your control. How do we do this? In the army we call it "taking a condor moment".

Coined from the old pipe tobacco adverts, it essentially means take a moment to yourself. This will slow down the tempo and stop events accelerating out of your control.

It sounds obvious but very few people do it in practice, instead launching forward in a haze of adrenalin and making rushed, poorly formed decisions. Before the next big presentation, meeting with the boss or interview phone call - take a few deep breaths, maybe a sip of water and consciously gather your thoughts.

Of course, if the situation is urgent you may not have time to slip off somewhere quiet. But through practice you can learn to distill the Condor moment into a few seconds. Look down, close your eyes and steady yourself. Look up and you're good to go.

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*Need to point to something far away? Then adopt the "Sandhurst Chop". Flat palm, fingers together and chop towards your desired objective. Simultaneously ridiculous and brilliant - especially if done atop a horse.

Edward Owen-Burge