Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, discusses how to make your technology work for you. … [Read more...]
Time and Again: the 2014 American Time Use Survey
Posted on 07/23/2015 by ·
Every June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the results of the American Time Use Survey for the year before. A regular publication since 2003, ATUS provides a fascinating glimpse into the habits of everyday Americans age 15 and older, from how much they sleep and watch TV to how many hours they work daily. In 2014, the BLS gathered survey data from interviews with 11,600 individuals all across the United States, in all walks of life. It turns out we Americans work harder than many people suppose, though a casual glance might suggest otherwise. Keep in mind, however, that the Survey sample included high school kids, the retired, the unemployed, the disabled, and those who hold part-time jobs as well as those who work full time. Some averages also include weekends, holidays, … [Read more...]
Instant Productivity: Break Your Routines
Posted on 07/20/2015 by ·
How productive is your team, really? You may think you're moving along just fine, until you encounter another team whose productivity just leaves yours in the dust. Even if you're genuinely doing fine, there are simple practices that can increase your productivity from the moment you implement them. Opting Offline Some jobs require constant Internet access, whether for answering customer chat and email questions or conducting research. However, many don't; and if you're like most people, you probably spend a little time daily checking personal email and social media. Even if you don't, some of your teammates do. Since 10 wasted minutes a day add up to over 43 hours a year, imagine how many workweeks your team's losing to the lure of the Internet annually. … [Read more...]
Stop Doing Everything at Once
Posted on 07/17/2015 by ·
On today's podcast, I talk about getting more done through focusing on one thing at at time. Listen now: … [Read more...]
The Motivated Coworker: How to Increase Team Productivity Even When You’re Not the Team Leader
Posted on 07/16/2015 by ·
“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.”—Zig Ziglar, American motivational speaker and author. Active, participative teamwork has become crucial to the modern business environment. Gone are the days when one person could anchor a team by doing everything well—or doing everything, period. Even superstar athletes like Labron James and Sidney Crosby depend on the talents and hard work of their teammates to excel. Modern business is too complex to know or do it all; this has necessarily led to specialization. We need capable people in multiple slots to accomplish specific business goals, no matter how narrow those goals—especially in this era of business agility. Ideally, your supervisor would tie you all together … [Read more...]
Playing By the Rules: Establishing Procedures for Resolving Team Conflicts
Posted on 07/13/2015 by ·
"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."—Albert Einstein, German-American physicist. With rare exceptions, first-time ballerinas don’t perform a perfect Swan Lake, inexperienced writers don’t produce their magnum opuses immediately, and brand new teams don’t slide effortlessly into perfect productivity. There’s always a learning curve, a period when individual members test their boundaries, discover where their jobs end and others begin, and yes, figure out the pecking order. You can expect some delay before high performance emerges, but you can speed the process by setting ground rules—specific procedures to ensure that all team members play well with each other. Effective teams know how to work towards mutual resolution, even when … [Read more...]
Avoiding Distractions for Greater Productivity
Posted on 07/10/2015 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, gives advice on dealing with distraction. (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Increasing Productivity at Work: A Modest Survey
Posted on 07/09/2015 by ·
"Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning." —Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Founding Father. Someone once told me, "This world would be a nice place if it weren't for all the people." He meant it humorously, but the statement stuck with me because of the grain of truth at its core. While we tend to work best as parts of teams, we also get annoyed with people who get in our way or won't listen to us. It's so much easier to take charge and just lay down the law than to compromise, but for most of us, that's not an option. In a recent survey, I asked my newsletter readers, "If you were going to increase your productivity at work, what would need to happen?" Although some admitted they needed to improve their work skills, a full … [Read more...]
Coworker Codependency: The Value of Teams
Posted on 07/06/2015 by ·
It's unfortunate that the term "codependent" has taken on such negative connotations over the past few decades, because otherwise it would be ideal for expressing the value of teamwork. Indeed, I would argue that all teams are codependent to some extent, in that each of us depends on our teammates to do their jobs promptly and professionally. In this sense, "codependent" works in the same spirit as "cooperation," since we help our teammates—our coworkers—function at the height of their productive abilities. Perhaps a less loaded (if less accurate) term for this relationship would be "interdependent." Each team member, from the leader down to the summer intern, engages with each other to produce the most product possible in the least amount of time. Ironically, teamwork is both the … [Read more...]
Fixing Instead of Finger-Pointing
Posted on 07/03/2015 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, discusses how to get to solutions instead of wasting time playing the blame game. (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
