Productivity Keynote Speaker Leadership, Sales, & Team Productivity Expert
Maximum Results. Minimum Time.®
303-471-7401

You are here: Home / Archives for Performance

Call Him, Email Me, Text Her: The Many Methods of Business Communication

Posted on 08/31/2015 by ·
Call Him, Email Me, Text Her: The Many Methods of Business Communication by Laura Stack #productivity

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said." – Peter F. Drucker, Father of Management Theory Recently, I read an article discussing how, in addition to basic methods of written and verbal communication, savvy workers also learn to decode non-verbal communication. While I agree that represents a valuable ability and an interesting subject, it struck me just how many different methods of language-based communication the average business has access to nowadays. Less than 30 years ago, we had just a few. All you Millennials now moving into management and starting businesses of your own have access to an amazing array of communication methods, whereas I can still remember the days before CDs and desktop computers (floppies, word processors, and interoffice mail). The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity, Personal Productivity · Tagged: ,

Managing the Unpleasant Tasks of Your Job

Posted on 08/28/2015 by ·
Managing the Unpleasant Tasks of Your Job

How do you handle those tasks that just aren't pleasant? Listen today and find out! (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity, Podcast · Tagged: ,

Happy (Work) Days: Appoint Yourself the Team Morale Officer

Posted on 08/24/2015 by ·
Happy (Work) Days: Appoint Yourself the Team Morale Officer by Laura Stack #prductivity

“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance, but by our disposition." – Martha Washington, America's first First Lady. Few things are more depressing than working in an environment where the negativity just grinds you down. I suspect most of us have experienced this, and many still do; otherwise, the percentage of engaged workers would be higher. But does unhappiness arise from the job itself, or do the workers bring it with them? If you see work as a penance you must perform to pay the bills, you just might be the latter. Even if have a horrible job, remember: with few exceptions, you choose where you work. If you can't find anything else, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: ,

Accomplishing More by Doing Less

Posted on 08/21/2015 by ·
Do less, accomplish more.

Do less but get more done? How does that work, exactly? Tune in to my podcast today and I'll tell you! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity, Podcast · Tagged: , ,

Quietly Toxic: How to Deal With Team Members Who Couldn’t Care Less

Posted on 08/17/2015 by ·
Quietly Toxic: How to Deal With Team Members Who Couldn't Care Less by Laura Stack #productivity

“If you can't get rid of a toxic team member, isolate them.” – Dan Rockwell, American business blogger at Leadership Freak.   Few things kill productivity faster than a toxic teammate—someone so awful they poison the workplace environment. (click to tweet) You can work around or repair a lack of resources, poor training, terrible leadership, an uncertain future, shoddy work processes, even micromanaging; however, toxic workers destroy from the inside out. Like a cancer, their dissatisfaction and distrust eventually metastasize to others, leading to a sick team that nothing short of radical surgery can save. A bad attitude is contagious and spreads quickly. Unfortunately, team-wreckers aren't always obvious. Gossips, saboteurs, and unhappy loudmouths usually make themselves … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity ·

Yakkety-Yak: Top Ways Coworkers Waste Your Time

Posted on 08/10/2015 by ·
Yakkety-Yak: Top Ways Coworkers Waste Your Time by Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE

"Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about."—Sakya Pandita, 13th century Tibetan spiritual leader. The gift of language is something like being your own boss, in that the good news and bad news are basically the same. In this case, the good news is, we humans have the capacity to communicate more effectively than any other species on Earth, and we can use it for great good. The bad news? We have the capacity to communicate more effectively than any other species on Earth, and we waste it on stupid things. During a recent survey, I asked my readers about the things their coworkers do to waste their time. My goal was to raise awareness about unproductive … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: , ,

Testing an Assumption: Are Happy Teams Really More Productive?

Posted on 08/06/2015 by ·
Testing an Assumption: Are Happy Teams Really More Productive?

“The driving force seems to be that happier workers use the time they have more effectively, increasing the pace at which they can work without sacrificing quality.”—Daniel Sgroi, British economist. We tend to take certain things for granted in the business field. For example, we once assumed—because we’ve seen it again and again—that successful entrepreneurs almost always fail before they succeed in a big way. But research published in the Harvard Business Review proved this a myth years ago. Indeed, previous failure does not determine future success. Some entrepreneurs succeed on their very first try, and those who’ve failed before succeed no more often than those who haven’t. But I’m happy to report that another “everyone knows” fact actually enjoys support from the research … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

Using Stress Productively

Posted on 07/31/2015 by ·
Using Stress Productively by Laura Stack, CSP, ,CPAE

We all have stress. How can you make it work for YOU? Listen to this week's podcast by Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro! (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity, Podcast · Tagged: , ,

Getting the Job Done: Five Secrets of High-Performance Teams

Posted on 07/30/2015 by ·
Getting the Job Done: Five Secrets of High-Performance Teams by Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE

“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.”—Joe Paterno, American college football coach. In business, we both expect and encourage teamwork. Teams understand the importance of working together on goals that align with organizational goals that move the whole organization forward. Most people make serious efforts to accomplish this, but somehow, a few teams always seem to outshine the rest. Why is this the case? Manfred Kets De Vries, writing in the European Business Review, calls teams and organizations where people consistently perform at their best “authentizotic.” The term derives from two Greek words, authenteekos and zoteekos, that translate to English as “authentic” and “vital to life,” respectively. Applied to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

Ask or Act? The Different Levels of Initiative

Posted on 07/27/2015 by ·
Ask or Act? The Different Levels of Initiative by Laura Stack #productivity

“When you believe in what you're doing and use your imagination and initiative, you can make a difference.”—Samuel Dash, American law professor and chief council of the Senate Watergate Hearings in 1974. For decades—in article after article, book after book—business and motivational writers have urged you to take more initiative in your work. They tell you it’s the only real way to become 100% committed to your organization and “own” your job. High engagement ensures high productivity, as long as you make sure you maintain a healthy work/life balance. I think most business leaders genuinely believe this. But we must be doing something wrong, because time and time again, pollsters point out that fewer than 35% of white collar employees are fully engaged, with another 50% not engaged … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity, Performance · Tagged: , ,