Perception creates reality in most people's minds, but this tendency can lead you astray. You set the tone for your team, so make a commitment to putting substance over style. Refuse to lock your team into rigid ways of thinking and doing, in which the company line matters more than the bottom line. Within ethical, moral, and legal limits, do what benefits your organization most and gets you closer to its goals. To wit: 1. Break Free from Bureaucracy. Many organizations settle on what they consider "best practices" and stay there indefinitely. But "best" changes with technology and culture. Don't become so hardened that you refuse to take advantage of new "bests" as they become available and the old bests become outdated. 2. Stop Confusing "Busy" with "Productive." Who cares how many … [Read more...]
The Zen of Teamwork: 4 Steps to High Efficiency
The greatest advantage of teamwork is that it achieves what individuals can't, through the medium of simple cooperation. Making personal goals secondary to group goals may seem difficult, but it pays off for everyone in the end. Instilling effective teamwork as one of your team's core val¬ues will make the team: 1. More Efficient. Typically, more efficient also means faster, since many hands make light work. Teamwork is much more effective when team members work together closely throughout the process. Many tasks have no clear-cut edges, so when people work separately, performing separate parts of a project in isolation and then piecing them together later, overlap and duplication may occur. On a team where the members inform each other of their progress, that's easier to avoid. Ongoing … [Read more...]
Plan For Chaotic Transition Periods
I've found that transition times can be the toughest. Here are some tips for making it easier! (C) 2016 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Looking Back on What Worked and What Didn’t: Conducting a Project Post Mortem
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result."—Attributed to Albert Einstein, German-American physicist. If the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term "post mortem" is a medical examiner or the novel by Patricia Cornwell, then you're in good company. But the term is useful for more than describing autopsies; it also has a long history of use as a business term, at least when applied to recently finished projects. The idea here is to examine the entire venture, from beginning to end, and identify two categories of actions: things you and your team did right, and things you did wrong. That said, don't treat a project post mortem as a blame game. Use the process as a teachable moment so you can move forward confidently, having … [Read more...]
Spring Cleaning: It’s Not Just for Home Anymore
"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?"—attributed to Albert Einstein, German-American physicist. Ah, spring, when a young person's fancy turns to thoughts of… well, spring cleaning. Once tax season has passed and your general anxiety level has settled down, you've got to find something else to keep you on your toes. In the old days, the fresh air and fine, bright weather of spring was the ideal time to spend a few days airing out the stuffiness of winter, cleaning out the closets, and scouring the home from top to bottom. Some of us still perform this annual ritual at home. For many of us, it's become a fixture in our workplaces as well. It makes sense to occasionally stop long enough to clean up your workspace and performance. You … [Read more...]
Organizing Your Kids Toys and Books
We collect so many things for our kids over time. How do you keep it organized? (C) 2016 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Filling Big Shoes: Living Up To and Surpassing Your Predecessor’s Reputation
"I've got big shoes to fill. This is my chance to do something. I have to seize the moment."— Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States. In just about every field of endeavor, you start out at or near the bottom (depending on the extent and quality of your education), and have to work your way up from there. According to the Peter Principal, you also rise to your highest level of incompetence; this takes quite a while for the best of us. When you're promoted into a new position, you'll most likely fill the gap left by someone who's either lost their job due to incompetence, or who was competent enough to win a rung slightly higher up. It doesn't really matter which; you still want to wow your superiors with your sheer ability and high performance levels. But on … [Read more...]
On the Ragged Edge of Exhaustion: How to Keep Going When You Can’t Take Time Off
"When you are overworked and exhausted, there is a kind of delirium … you are totally focused on the project." -- Dame Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-British architect. I don't think I've ever met a single person, no matter how much they loved their job, who didn't look forward to vacation time. It's an ideal way to rejuvenate yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally, and to recharge your creative energies so you're tanned, rested, and ready to tackle the world when you return. Two-week vacations work best, but even a week can cure you of your workaday blues. But we Americans seem to have something against vacations. In fact, the USA ranks at the bottom of the list when it comes to vacation days in the developed nations; workers in every country in the European Union get at least four weeks a … [Read more...]
You Can Not Be Productive While Falling Asleep
We don't do our best work while exhausted. Self-care is key! (C) 2016 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Leader as Visionary: 4 Ways to Bring Your Vision to Life
Clear communication is important in all directions, upward and laterally as well as downward. You'll have to learn to argue effectively and productively with others at or above your responsibility level—because no matter how good-natured people are, if you bring any two together, they'll eventually find something to disagree about. Here's how you can argue your point productively, so everyone can move quickly through the dispute phase and get back to work. 1. Get All Your Ducks in a Row. Prepare your arguments and have your facts straight. Run your thoughts by neutral people and ask them to shoot holes in your argument. You may find your position fails when other factors are brought up, or your view simply has less merit than someone else's. If this proves to be the case, admit … [Read more...]