Stop sending, start talking
One of the challenges facing businesses today is the sheer volume of e-mail we send and receive and dealing with it. It’s easy to send an email asking a question to get something off our to do list and into someone else’s, but it does two things. It creates more work for you AND the receiver. They have to deal with your request in some way, even if it’s just reading it, and you have to ‘pick up’ the conversation when you get the reply. It stretches the response time. Unless the other person has their email open waiting for …
Is it necessary?
Ever had one of those days or weeks where meetings and appointments just seem to be one after the other? Regardless of whether someone is taking minutes or notes, there is often no time to reflect on what happened and your actions items. It can seem like you have no time to get any actual work done! The default timing for meetings, particularly face to face, has traditionally been an hour. Rather than schedule or participate in a regular meeting, if it is in your control it is worthwhile considering: Is the meeting necessary? If it is, could a mode …
What’s your release valve?
Sometimes it feels like we could work 24/7 and still not catch up! Whilst working long hours may be necessary in the short term to meet deadlines, in the long term losing the balance of having life outside of work can be damaging to product as well as our physical and mental health. Having a release valve, an activity that releases stress and frustration is vital to enable you to recharge and bring you back to a productive state. It could be as simple as time with family, walking your dog, or a boxing class. Whatever allows you to get …
Get Out of the Forest!
If you’ve ever gotten frustrated when madly looking for or trying to do something, only to find that when someone else does it, they find it or do it easily, you know what I mean!! It often isn’t until we ask someone else to look at something that we are exposed to a different point of view. One generally without the emotional attachment normally associated with a looming deadline. One of the simplest ways move out of that “stuck” place is to connect with colleagues. Recently I was working with a client who had a specific challenge with an Excel …
Leap of Faith
Ever been on the edge of making a decision but a bit fearful just in case it doesn’t work out to plan? A timeless technique my mother used to always do was balancing the pros and cons. What are the positive things if all goes to plan, and contrasting it with the negatives? Sometimes the simple act of getting things out of your head and onto paper (or your preferred device) allows you to logically consider which way to go. How does this make you productive you might be wondering? When you have ideas, thoughts, fears or worries running around …
Ask for Help
I started a conversation with Sarah, a woman I was sitting next to at an event last week. She told me a little about her job and the fact that she loved to help others but didn’t like to receive or ask for help back. When I asked her why, she said it was because it didn’t feel right to take from others. I asked her how it felt when she gave someone help. She said, it feels wonderful. It makes me feel like I am contributing and am needed. It’s like giving a gift. It was something I could relate …
Letting Go of Control
I like to control my workflow, my environment and my day. However, for many people, it can be a challenge each day, week or month to sit down and consider what you need to do. Rather than think about what tasks, projects and goals will you be undertaking in the upcoming period, what resources you need and then allocating realistic timeframes to complete them, it can be easy to simply go with the flow. Then before you realise it, here comes performance review time and you haven’t met your business milestones! It can be particularly challenging if you are relying …
Correct, Perfect, Enhance
Ever read an email and wondered why or what? Why was it sent and what, if anything, are you supposed to do? Before email existed, we used to write letters and memorandums (memos). Aside from the facsimile machine (fax), letters and memos were the main way we communicated or confirmed things in writing. Letters were laboured over. Spelling mistakes corrected, grammar was perfected, and the clarity of the message was enhanced before it was sent out. Today email is the primary method of written communication in business. It’s ease of use has both it’s good and bad points but applying …
The 4-Hour Work Week’s Concepts
Whilst Tim Ferris’ The 4 Hour Workweek book got people talking about building a business in which you work only 4 hours a week, the four steps in the book can easily be applied to help improve productivity and workflow in any business. Step 1 of the 4 Hour Work Week is D for Definition. In the context of an owner, manager or team member in any business, defining where we are going and what we need to do is important. Lewis Carroll’s, Alice in Wonderland quote of “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get …
Reflection
The end of the year is a brilliant time to step back from the day to day and reflect on the year, both from a personal and a team perspective. For me, it’s a time to do 3 things: Recognise What are my top 2-3 things I’ve achieved, what are my top 2-3 things that I didn’t achieve and what are my 2-3 learnings for 2019? RemindRemind myself of the effort and work I’ve put in and the forward movement I’ve made in the past twelve months. RewardReward myself for my efforts. Whether it’s buying coffee or lunch, or a …
