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What’s Your Back-Up Plan? How to Prepare for Anything

Posted on 08/08/2014 by ·
What's Your Back-Up Plan? How to Prepare for Anything by Laura Stack #productivity

"It seems to me that everything that happens to us is a disconcerting mix of choice and contingency." -- Dame Penelope Lively, British author. On the morning of February 15, 2013, a fireball ripped through the sky above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, exploding 18 miles up after leaving a streak of fire tens of miles long. The minor asteroid, which was about the size of an apartment building, was actually the second to have visited the Siberian region in a little over a century: 1908's Tunguska meteor, which was about the same size, fortunately fell to Earth in an uninhabited wilderness, blowing down and charring 800 square miles of timber. The people of Chelyabinsk were lucky, because the meteor entered the atmosphere at a shallow angle. According to modeling done by Dr. Mark … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Management · Tagged: , , , ,

Butting Heads: How to Argue Productively

Posted on 08/05/2014 by ·
Butting Heads: How to Argue Productively by Laura Stack

It’s been said that every person brings joy to others: some when they enter a room and some when they leave it. The latter disagrees just to be disagreeable. But no matter how good natured people are, if you bring any two human beings together, they'll find something to disagree about eventually. The strong personalities inherent in any business endeavor can result in people butting heads at all levels. You might find yourself at odds with a team member, another leader, or with your own superior. When you find yourself at loggerheads with someone for any reason, you’ll want to find the most efficient way to resolve the issue quickly, so you can move forward with the business at hand. Needless to say, I'm not talking about small opinion issues that don't matter in the long run, like what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: , ,

Fighting Your Corner: Protecting Your Team in a Competitive Workplace

Posted on 07/24/2014 by ·
Fighting Your Corner: Protecting Your Team in a Competitive Workplace by Laura Stack #productivity #leadership

"The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above average effort." -- Colin Powell, former four-star U.S. Army general and Secretary of State. As Tarzan liked to remind Jane after a hard day's work, it's a jungle out there. The business world has become more competitive than ever, given the global market and the exploding Chinese and Indian economies. While that also provides more opportunity, because the pie has grown bigger, we still have to scramble for our slices. We all require agility, efficiency, and speed if we're to get what we need. But it's a jungle in here, too. A large organization by necessity consists of numerous teams, often competing for their chunk of the company slice. With limited internal resources, if you don't fight for your team, you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: ,

Gearing Up For Success: Preparing for a Quantum Leap in Productivity

Posted on 07/22/2014 by ·
Gearing Up For Success: Preparing for a Quantum Leap in Productivity by Laura Stack #productivity

"Doing is a quantum leap from imagining." -- Barbara Sher, American speaker, author and goal achievement guru. In physics, the term "quantum leap" refers to an electron's sudden jump to a higher energy state without, apparently, passing through the intervening distance. At subatomic scales, things happen that would never happen in our “big” world. Yet, it’s still such a fascinating and attractive notion that people have taken to using the term “quantum leap” when referring to spectacular feats. While it doesn't quite mesh—quantum effects can't really manifest at human scales—it does serve as a useful shorthand for sudden improvement in performance or productivity. But unlike an electron's quantum leap, the productive equivalent leaves clues as to how it happened. Let’s look under … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: ,

How to Lead By Stepping Back: Five Steps to Delegation

Posted on 07/17/2014 by ·
How to Lead By Stepping Back: Five Steps to Delegation by Laura Stack #productivity #leadership

"The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." –- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States. If you're a reader of my blogs, newsletters, and Tweets, you'll know I've returned repeatedly to the topic of delegation over the years—and for good reason. As a leader, there's no more effective and productive way to handle all your responsibilities. Leadership positions come weighted down with more than their fair share of tasks, because by definition a strategic initiative is more than one person can handle. Effective leaders must parcel out that work and a good deal of the associated authority, so they can continue to think strategically and get things … [Read more...]

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

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...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: , ,

Brushing Up On Your Personal ROI: Improving Your Leadership Skills

Posted on 07/10/2014 by ·
Brushing Up On Your Personal ROI: Improving Your Leadership Skills by Laura Stack #productivity #leadership

"Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." -- Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father. Despite what some seem to believe, few of us leap into our careers with our abilities fully formed. Yes, exceptions exist: writer Robert A. Heinlein sold the very first story he ever wrote, then proceeded to rule as one of the Big Three science fiction writers for close to 40 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a child prodigy, seemed capable of plucking melodies out of the air. But they were exceptions, and as the saying goes, the exceptions prove the rule. Most of us must grow into our jobs—even leaders. Leadership may come easily for you, but it’s always good to brush up on your skills: 1. Continuous use. Complacency ruins teams, killing productivity. Rather than issuing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork ·

The Top Five Workplace Time-Traps

Posted on 07/08/2014 by ·
The Top Five Workplace Time-Traps by Laura Stack #productivity

Remember cartoon character George Jetson's grueling two-hour workday, which earned him a deluxe apartment in the sky? Whatever happened to that future? Instead of enjoying a shrinking workweek due to better technology, as we've expected for decades, the average American workweek has actually grown to nearly 60 hours! How is it that we have less discretionary time and work harder than ever, even though technological breakthroughs have made us all incredibly productive? To be blunt, some of it's due to simple inefficiency. I've been a productivity expert for two decades, and I see my colleagues and clients battling the exact same dragons over and over again. In this month's column, let's take a look at the five biggest time-traps that drag down our productivity, and how to deal with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Management · Tagged: ,

The Need of the Hour: Managing vs. Coaching

Posted on 07/03/2014 by ·
The Need of the Hour: Managing vs. Coaching by Laura Stack #productivity

"Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference." -- John Wooden, American basketball player and coach. Despite what some people may think, being a manager is no walk in the park. In fact, the combination of mental work, social interaction, project juggling, time management challenges, high pressure, responsibility, and variability makes it among the more demanding types of work any person can take on. The hours are terrible and the stress is inevitable. But if organizations expect to accomplish anything of consequence, they must have managers, from the front line supervisor on up. While a manager may not directly produce whatever it is an organization makes, they do facilitate and organize team productivity, clearing the way for others to … [Read more...]

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

Lifting Your Spirits: Pumping Up Productivity with Pleasant Surroundings

Posted on 07/01/2014 by ·
Pumping Up #Productivity with Pleasant Surroundings y Laura Stack

"We are what we see. We are products of our surroundings." -- Amber Valleta, American actress. While there are jobs that take place in harsh environments, if you're reading this article, I doubt you do. However, perhaps it’s sterile, or uncomfortable, or hot. Poor working conditions can lead to decreased productivity and inferior performance. For example, we know that poor ergonomics cause repetitive motion injuries, so addressing these issues costs less in terms of insurance costs and lost productivity. Nowadays, desks tend to be at the right height, computer screens at the right distance to avoid eyestrain, and keyboards easier to use. What are some other ways you can make your office a better place to work? 1. Bring a little of the outdoor world inside. Did you know that in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: ,