Micromanagement is a productivity killer. How do you avoid it? Tune in today! (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Looking Ahead: Acting as Your Team’s Visionary Thinker
Posted on 09/17/2015 by ·
"The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world." – Malcolm Gladwell, Canadian writer and theorist. Over the last two decades, authors have written hundreds of books and articles about how and why leaders must be visionary thinkers, able to pull reasonable expectations of the future out of their crystal balls and implement plans to guide their teams appropriately. But why don't more publications urge all team members to act as visionaries? This lack of initiative probably stems from fossilized ways of thinking. Both leaders and business theorists have begun to realize the roles of team leader and average worker have begun to converge, at least within the white-collar sector. Leaders more readily consider worker ideas nowadays; increased power and … [Read more...]
Laura Stack’s Weekly Productivity Pro eNewsletter – September 15, 2015
Posted on 09/15/2015 by ·
Here is the weekly roundup of activity from Laura Stack’s blog, columns, podcast, and other featured articles. Scroll down to read the complete roundup of productivity resources to help you create Maximum Results in Minimum Time. This week on the Blog Quick and To the Point: Texting and Instant Messaging Protocols in the Workplace Communication may be the most important factor in any partnership, and it’s certainly a glue that binds a team together. But it comes in many forms, especially in the workplace. Two of those are texting and Instant Messaging (IM), which are common means of modern business communication today. How do we make the best use of each in a teamwork environment? Read the full article. This week on LinkedIn: Pairing Up: The Advantages of a Team of Two at Work Though … [Read more...]
Assessing Your Productivity Status Within Your Team
Posted on 09/11/2015 by ·
Teamwork is essential to productivity. How does your productivity affect the team and vice versa? Listen in! (C) 2015 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Pairing Up: The Advantages of a Team of Two at Work
Posted on 09/10/2015 by ·
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller, American deaf-mute activist. Though we rarely think of them as such, a duo is still a team, and it can have many advantages. When your team is only two people, it’s much easier to communicate and agree on everything, from project requirements to what to have for lunch. Small(er) teams also tend to produce more per capita (per the two-pizza rule). However, two-person teams must be more careful about avoiding groupthink and poor decision-making. Some business duos have become household names: just a few examples include Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in computing, Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg in social media, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (the silent partner) in investing, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page in … [Read more...]
Weekly Productivity eNews – September 8, 2015
Posted on 09/08/2015 by ·
This week on the Blog The 15 Characteristics of a Productive Team: What Matters Most In the 25 years since I started my company The Productivity Pro, Inc., I’ve worked with literally hundreds of teams on improving their performance and collective productivity. Here are the 15 characteristics I’ve seen in those that are the most successful. This week on LinkedIn: Respectful Creativity: Encouraging Different Viewpoints on Your Team Effective teams are most often led by leaders who expect innovation and therefore encourage diverse viewpoints. (click to tweet) This is no secret, despite the fact that—as cynics will surely point out—we rarely practice the concept adequately, and I would agree. However, we also let pettiness, bureaucracy, groupthink, disengagement, laziness, and other … [Read more...]
The 15 Characteristics of a Productive Team: What Matters Most
Posted on 09/07/2015 by ·
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” – Paul J. Meyer, American motivational speaker In the 25 years since I started my company The Productivity Pro, Inc., I’ve worked with literally hundreds of teams on improving their performance and collective productivity. Here are the 15 characteristics I’ve seen in those that are the most successful: Productive teams celebrate social events like holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries in order to increase cohesion. They also celebrate their wins, especially when they complete a tough project. Committed to results vs. activity. It's easy to confuse busyness with productivity. Only outcomes and results matter. Running around being … [Read more...]
Creating a Reputation for Being Reliable
Posted on 09/04/2015 by ·
Podcast Are you someone your clients and team can count on? Listen to today's podcast to find out why it's vital to create a reputation for being reliable. … [Read more...]
Respectful Creativity: Encouraging Different Viewpoints on Your Team
Posted on 09/03/2015 by ·
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say." – Bryant H. McGill, American self-improvement writer and speaker Effective teams are most often led by leaders who expect innovation and therefore encourage diverse viewpoints. (click to tweet) This is no secret, despite the fact that—as cynics will surely point out—we rarely practice the concept adequately, and I would agree. However, we also let pettiness, bureaucracy, groupthink, disengagement, laziness, and other failings hinder our creativity and slow us down. Business as usual runs down and crushes flexible creativity. When I think of respectful creativity, I think of Steve Jobs and Apple. Steve Jobs was no saint; he had his flaws, but that just makes his story all the more amazing. The … [Read more...]
Call Him, Email Me, Text Her: The Many Methods of Business Communication
Posted on 08/31/2015 by ·
“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...]
