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Are You Seeing Your Offerings Through Your Customer’s Eyes?

Posted on 02/02/2016 by ·
Are You Seeing Your Offerings Through Your Customer’s Eyes? by Laura Stack #productivity

Three weeks ago, I was working with 25 sales leaders of a large financial services corporation. We were discussing workflow and how to create an effective task management system. Seeing that they were all furiously taking notes, I told them they could instead download a free eBook I’d put together with screenshots and step-by-step instructions on how to use Microsoft Outlook Tasks correctly (text the word PRODUCTIVITY to 41411). They excitedly pulled out their phones and followed the instructions. So far so good. About two minutes later, a man furrows his brows in confusion, looks over at his neighbor’s cell phone, and starts whispering to her. At the break, I wander over to see what the problem is. He shows me his cell phone. He successfully opted in and confirmed the autoresponder. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged:

The Battle Trance Concept: Enforcing Collective Identity in Your Workplace Team

Posted on 01/26/2016 by ·
The Battle Trance Concept: Enforcing Collective Identity in Your Workplace Team by Laura Stack #productivity

"Within this moment I am for you, though better men have failed/I will give my life for love, for I am winterborn./And in my dying, I'm more alive than I have ever been/I will make this sacrifice, for I am winterborn." – Winterborn, by American rock band The Crüxshadows Here is the roundup of activity from Laura Stack’s blog, columns, podcast, and other featured articles. Scroll down to read the complete roundup of productivity resources to help you create Maximum Results in Minimum Time. This week on the Blog The Battle Trance Concept: Enforcing Collective Identity in Your Workplace Team Recently, I ran across the battle trance concept: an idea well known in the military environment where I grew up, but only recently defined in psychology. Essentially, it involves the subsuming … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , ,

The Shadow Knows: Tapping Job Shadowing to Cover Critical Tasks

Posted on 01/19/2016 by ·
The Shadow Knows: Tapping Job Shadowing to Cover Critical Tasks by Laura Stack #productivity

"When job shadowing, the individual sees the actual performance of the job in action … the participant also sees and experiences the nuances of how the service is provided, or the job performed." – Susan M. Heathfield, American Human Resources expert. These days, roles in most white-collar teams have become so specialized, no single person can learn everything needed to keep the team's work processes running smoothly. Usually, the team lead has a good idea of the overall structure, but leaders have their own roles to play. A good leader hires for at least a slight overlap of skill sets, so the team can survive if a crucial team member falls ill, goes on vacation, or abruptly quits. Of course, team leads don't always have full say on whom HR hires, or may inherit a team lacking … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , , ,

Laura Stack’s newest book, Doing the Right Things Right: How the Effective Executive Spends Time, Hits Bookstores January 18!

Posted on 01/14/2016 by ·
Doing The right Things Right by Laura Stack #productivity

As an MBA student, Laura Stack was inspired by Peter Drucker’s classic 1969 book The Effective Executive. But a lot has changed since it was written. And while Drucker’s advice on what to do remains brilliant, he didn’t give much detail on the how. After 25 years of working with leaders, Stack’s new book is written for the 21st century executive, detailing precisely how today’s leaders and managers can obtain profitable, productive results by managing the intersection of two critical values: effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness, Stack says, is identifying and achieving the best objectives for your organization—doing the right things. Efficiency is accomplishing them with the least amount of time, effort, and cost—doing things right. If you’re not clear on both, you’re wasting your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , , , ,

Impromptu Meetings: Cutting Down on Drop-Ins and Got-a-Minutes

Posted on 01/11/2016 by ·
Impromptu Meetings: Cutting Down on Drop-Ins and Got-a-Minutes by Laura Stack #productivity

"I wonder if you've got a minute." "I have many minutes, all of them used toward a common purpose." – Jodi Picoult, American novelist; quoted in Plain Truth. Here is the roundup of activity from Laura Stack’s blog, columns, podcast, and other featured articles. Scroll down to read the complete roundup of productivity resources to help you create Maximum Results in Minimum Time. This week on the Blog Impromptu Meetings: Cutting Down on Drop-Ins and Got-a-Minutes There's a statistic going around the business world that claims that something interrupts or distracts the average office worker every three minutes. Many people find their time nibbled away by otherwise well-meaning co-workers, who drop in unannounced at our cubicles or stop us in the hall to ask, "Got a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: , , ,

Match Your Task To Your Energy Level

Posted on 01/06/2016 by ·

How do you decide which tasks to do when? Match your tasks to your energy level and get more done! (C) 2016 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast · Tagged: ,

Activating Yourself: Converting Thoughts and Ideas into Action

Posted on 01/05/2016 by ·
Activating Yourself: Converting Thoughts and Ideas into Action by Laura Stack #productivity

"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." ― Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Here is the roundup of activity from Laura Stack’s blog, columns, podcast, and other featured articles. Scroll down to read the complete roundup of productivity resources to help you create Maximum Results in Minimum Time. This week on the Blog Activating Yourself: Converting Thoughts and Ideas into Action You see it everywhere, from corporate boardrooms to Hollywood: the constant recycling and refining of the same ideas, with anything unique usually plowed under before it has time to bloom. We're on, what, the third reboot of the Batman movie franchise in 20 years? And … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: , , ,

Resolutions: Boosting Productivity in the New Year

Posted on 12/29/2015 by ·
Missing in Action: Coordinating with a Boss Always Out of the Office

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes." ― G.K. Chesterton, English writer and philosopher. Here is the bi-weekly roundup of activity from Laura Stack’s blog, columns, podcast, and other featured articles. Scroll down to read the complete roundup of productivity resources to help you create Maximum Results in Minimum Time. This week on the Blog Resolutions: Boosting Productivity in the New Year I don't know about you, but I find it difficult to believe it's nearly 2016. Not so long ago—or so it seems—the Year 2000 was the epitome of the future, a delightful and distant date that seemed extraordinarily meaningful, since we were transitioning from one millennium … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: , ,

Missing in Action: Coordinating with a Boss Always Out of the Office

Posted on 12/22/2015 by ·
Missing in Action: Coordinating with a Boss Always Out of the Office by Laura Stack

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." – John C. Maxwell, American author and speaker. Most managers do a decent job of wrangling their teams, maintaining training schedules, keeping track of projects, and providing the overall guidance their teammates require in order to complete their assigned projects—and typically, they do it in person, from the same location as their team. But in any large organization, you'll find the occasional leader who, through no fault of their own, isn't often around. (<--Click to Tweet.) Sometimes they just don't work in the same office as the rest of the team, or can't come in often for various reasons. This may include leaders who work from home, who have to travel constantly for work, who prefer a hands-off attitude, or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , , ,

Stand-Up Guys: The Virtues of Standing Meetings

Posted on 12/15/2015 by ·
Stand-Up Guys: The Virtues of Standing Meetings by Laura Stack

"One of my favourite tricks is to conduct most of my meetings standing up. I find it to be a much quicker way of getting down to business, making a decision and sealing the deal." ― Sir Richard Branson, British businessman Here is the bi-weekly roundup of activity from Laura Stack’s blog, columns, podcast, and other featured articles. Scroll down to read the complete roundup of productivity resources to help you create Maximum Results in Minimum Time. This week on the Blog Stand-Up Guys: The Virtues of Standing Meetings In the white-collar world, sitting down all day is both a blessing and a curse. Sitting makes it a lot easier to focus our intellects, since we're basically in a resting but erect position; this also allows us to work interrupted for longer periods of time. But there … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: , , ,