You don’t need more work!
I recently worked with a sales manager who was a specialist in their industry. On a regular basis (twice a month) they would receive data from their IT department detailing sales by representative in a single Excel worksheet. The sales manager would save a copy of the file for each staff member, rename it with the staff member’s name, remove all the worksheets for other staff, then email the file to the relevant staff member for them to update current status of returns or claims. This task was done on average once a week. When the files were sent back the sales …
It’s all in the preparation
I’ve been speaking, training and consulting for over twenty years and one of the things that still surprises me is the comments I get from participants about my presentations. I’m regularly told “gee you make everything seem so easy”, or “how do you remember all that?”. There is no real secret to presenting, making things look easy or remembering things. It just takes practice. I recently presented a program for a client to educate their organisation on some new software. I was familiar with the programs and whilst I could have just turned up and spoken about the programs to the audience, I …
It will take more than 5 minutes!
One of the challenges with being a professional speaker, trainer and educator in the field of productivity with everyday technology is managing expectations. I’ve lost track of the number of presentations where at the end someone comes up and says, “I just have a [quick/simple/easy/or insert other related word] question.” Most of them want to explain their document or spreadsheet to me. What it is doing or not doing and want me to tell them in that exact moment how to fix it. When I tell them I need to ask questions or require more information, they are often disappointed. Some will even say, I “Googled it, …
Pet Peeves
One of my pet peeves is people or organisations that “hide” behind email or text messaging to avoid difficult conversations. If I’ve decided I don’t want to work with someone, I pick up the phone, let them know and give them feedback as to why. If I mess up, I also prefer to pick up the phone and explain myself rather than send an email. If someone else has messed up, I prefer to chat with them, let them know that things happen and focus on what we are going to do to fix or rectify the situation. When we …
What do your colleagues know?
I recently worked with a digital marketing manager and one of her team. They were reviewing two sets of data that needed to be compared and decisions made to determine if the data was up to date. They were both quite skilled with Excel…..and that was the problem. They were exploring creating a complicated formula that would check one to the other when I was asked for feedback. A few clarifying questions and some simple suggestions that didn’t require formulas of any kind, enabled them to have a short discussion and support each other in finding a simplistic solution that …
Distractions
When I ask people how long it takes to get back to where they were after they are interrupted by a phone call, a colleague with a “quick question,” an email or instant message ping, I get varying responses. Online learning platform Udemy’s 2018 Udemy In Depth: Workplace Distraction Report found 84% of workers estimated when they are distracted they are able to refocus in 30 minutes, but 60% of Baby Boomers believe they can get back to work in less than 5 minutes. The report quotes a UC Irvine study that indicates workers tend to compensate for interruptions by …
Time vs Money
I recently keynoted at a professional industry group luncheon on a range of quick Word & Excel tips, tricks and shortcuts. As part of the presentation I asked people to share their top 3 tips from the presentation on a card, which they gave back to me at the end of the program. I mention the 3 tips card at the start of my presentations to act as a reminder that I want them to walk away with tools they can immediately use. I want to make their investment of time worthwhile, because I believe time is more valuable than …
Specific is better than generic
Specific is better than generic. That’s why we have specialist doctors. Whilst we may initially visit a general doctor for a referral to say, a cardiologist, we ultimately go to specialist doctors for help with specialised needs. So why is it when we come across a problem, such as how to do something in Excel, Word or even Outlook, the default position is to go to Google for the answer? A search via Google will instantaneously bring up a buffet of resources for you or your team to work their way through. However valuable time is lost looking for the …
Don’t you get nervous?
It’s a question I’m often asked after I present at a conference or conduct an in-house professional development program for a client. Whilst I’ve been presenting or training for over 20 years, I still get butterflies in my stomach before I present. I’ve grown to understand that this Is a good thing. It means I’m excited and keen to give all that I can to my audiences to help them get more productive! What I also recognise is this it is not the same for everyone, especially if you only present once every now and then. So what I do …
Are you overlooking the obvious?
Whenever I work with teams on their productivity, I notice a number of things, but there is one thing that regularly stand out as an opportunity to increase connection and collaboration that is regularly overlooked. The Expert Every team or organisation has one. The person “labelled” as the expert in Excel, expert at saying “NO”, getting stuff done, whatever it is. They are the “measurement tool” the organisation and their teams use to compare and contrast their own expertise. Am I better at this than that person, or are they better than me? If a person is considered to be …
