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Sharing For Success: Smashing Data Silos and Breaking Up Fiefdoms

Posted on 07/15/2014 by ·
Sharing For Success: Smashing Data Silos and Breaking Up Fiefdoms by Laura Stack #productivity

"Data are becoming the new raw material of business." -- Craig Mundie, Head of Research and Strategy at Microsoft. Given the importance of information technology (IT) in the modern business environment, IT terms have inevitably leaked into the common parlance of today's office. For example, "data silos" occur when incompatible systems lack an interface through which they can share data. Databases become isolated from each other, and it becomes increasingly difficult to collect all the data needed to make effective decisions. Often this becomes institutionalized. Groups within the organization consider themselves isolated entities, with no need or desire to work together. Some even compete for limited resources. Ultimately, productivity stagnates due to lack of cooperation, … [Read more...]

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Effective Persuasion: How to Sell an Idea at Work

Posted on 06/19/2014 by ·
Effective Persuasion: How to Sell an Idea at Work by Laura Stack #productivity

"Persuasion is often more effectual than force." –- Aesop, ancient Greek storyteller. Every innovation—from the fishhook to the miniskirt to the Space Shuttle—started with a simple, intangible idea. In business, new ideas help us improve everything from mechanical and work processes to our product lines. In a very real sense, businesses depend upon ideas to survive. This does not mean, however, that those who operate those businesses are invariably open to new ideas. They may prefer sticking with what they know, rather than taking a chance on something unproven. You can yank up your ideas like weeds before they have time to mature. This may be a good thing, but may also prove bad if you can't—or won't—distinguish between the true weeds and the flower seedlings. There may come a time … [Read more...]

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Bitter Reality: Making the Wrong Decisions vs. Making No Decisions At All

Posted on 06/10/2014 by ·

"It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions." –- Jim Rohn, American motivational speaker. By the time you reach management, you certainly know the consequences of paralysis analysis. This "vapor lock" of the brain can kill a project through indecision and perfectionism as surely as pulling its funding. In fact, pulling a project's funding represents a cleaner fate, because the project dies suddenly, rather than flopping around like a fish out of water, pretending to be viable for months or years, causing damage to the entire organization. One of my clients, a massive consumer products organization, has a highly “collaborative” culture, which is code for taking forever to guy buy … [Read more...]

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Challenging Your Best: Dealing Proactively with the Bright But Bored

Posted on 05/22/2014 by ·
Dealing Proactively with the Bright But Bored by Laura Stack #productivity

"We must accept life for what it actually is -- a challenge to our quality without which we should never know of what stuff we are made, or grow to our full stature." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist. America has enshrined the concept that we're all created equal into the very foundations of our culture. As such, there’s also “the American Way,” which has unwritten ground rules around certain benchmarks of education, work ethic, intelligence, and drive. However, these expectations of equality doesn’t mean we're all the same, though many people misinterpret it that way. Certainly, some people are unequal, in the sense their average is a notch above the mean. You probably fall into this class yourself, since you’re reading this article. I didn’t say that as an attempt at … [Read more...]

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Workplace Conflict: Some Surprising Benefits of Office Friction

Posted on 05/08/2014 by ·
Workplace Conflict: Some Surprising Benefits of Office Friction by Laura Stack

"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means." -- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States. Many workplace leaders consider conflict between employees a dangerous thing, and it’s no wonder. We've all seen the results of clashing personalities and company politics: distraction, discontent, resentment, gossip, lost jobs, resignations, and other productivity killers. As a result, some managers go to great lengths to avoid conflict. But overcompensation can prove equally dangerous when it devolves into complacency, or worse, groupthink—where everyone thinks alike and disagreement can't or won't be tolerated. "Yes men" have doomed more than one company, especially when the groupthink became tinged with arrogance (think Enron). For a … [Read more...]

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Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Why Good Enough Usually Is Good Enough

Posted on 05/01/2014 by ·
Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Why Good Enough Usually Is Good Enough by Laura Stack #productivity

Perfection is a lofty goal, but it rarely happens in the day-to-day workplace. And why should it? In most things, striving for perfection represents a waste of resources better used elsewhere. No one really expects you and your team to do everything exactly right every single time. Most of the time, good enough really is good enough—as long as you achieve the minimum requirements necessary and maintain your forward momentum. While you do owe yourself, your team, and your organization a consistently high level of performance, there's a certain point in all everyday tasks where attention to detail turns to perfectionism and, worse, to micromanagement. Both practices inevitably stall productivity. Exceptions to the Rule Admittedly, some tasks require a higher standard. When it's … [Read more...]

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Four Ways to Make Your Business Trips More Productive

Posted on 04/24/2014 by ·
Four Ways to Make Your Business Trips More Productive by Laura Stack #Productivity

As long as there have been business travelers, we've struggled to make our travel time more productive. At one time this involved little more than reading and annotating paperwork, so little could be done while on the move. A bit more was possible with access to a telephone in a hotel, but not much more. The electronics revolution changed all that. With smartphones, laptops, and WiFi, there's no excuse not to be productive while on the go. That said, you can tweak your productivity higher with a few logical preparations before you even step out the door. Try these tips: 1. Prepare well in advance. When you return from a trip, prepare for the next. Unpack your back and refill toiletries as necessary. Reorganize your spare cables for your electronics and recharge as necessary. Pack a … [Read more...]

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Guest Post: Forget Perfection – Strive For Optimization

Posted on 04/22/2014 by ·

Everything you do in your business is a process. From customer service to sales and marketing. Being successful in business is all about optimizing these processes as much as possible. Optimization is such an important area of business, but this critical area is often overlooked by business owners and CEOs amidst cries of “I’m too busy!” or “I don’t have the time right now—I’ll get to it eventually...” Inevitably, some of those people never find the time and they simply continue along their trajectory, completely oblivious to the fact that they could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table. But the concept of optimization is simple: “Maximum results for the time with the minimum risk, the minimum effort and the minimum expense.” - Jay Abraham. Optimization just means … [Read more...]

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Three Synergistic Partnerships

Posted on 04/15/2014 by ·
Three Synergistic Partnerships by Laura Stack #productivity

Sometimes, separate components can come together to form something far more valuable than the sum of its parts: a new chemical, a cake, a family, a business, a partnership. We call this "synergy." It's like the miracle of compound interest, if you think about it: one plus one equals way more than two. We've recognized the value of synergy throughout history, but it was only in the twentieth century that the great Buckminster Fuller created a term for it. We often see synergy in teamwork situations, where individuals lend their strengths to a collaborative framework in such a way that the contributions slot together perfectly, growing into a greater whole that expands beyond their limits. Ideally, this is what we're all reaching for as we build and shape our teams. When conditions are … [Read more...]

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Make Low Employee Productivity a Thing of the Past

Posted on 04/10/2014 by ·
Make Low Employee Productivity a Thing of the Past by Laura Stack #productivity

"The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity." -- Tom Peters, American business author. Teamwork rules in the corporate environment. As the leader of your team—whether it consists of a small group, a division, or an entire corporation—the team's success ultimately rests on your shoulders. While the stress of maintaining high productivity may "roll down the hill," so to speak, you can divest yourself of only so much responsibility for your team's performance. Guaranteeing high performance may seem a daunting task, but it basically boils down to prevention and maintenance. Maintenance takes place when you have to jump in and fix something when it goes wrong. Preventive measures are put in place in the beginning to prevent breakdowns from … [Read more...]

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