Fear
Yesterday I worked with a group of women in a range of roles in an organisation. Some were quite skilled with technology using it every day, others were not. Some had spent time with me before and a few hadn’t. I found out later that one of those that hadn’t worked with me before was anxious and fearful about the program she was participating in. Why? Her past experiences with technology had made her feel out of her depth and scared. I encouraged her not to feel overwhelmed, but to simply pick and choose the elements she needed and just …
Productivity Planning
Udemy.com’s 2018 Workplace Distraction Report (P9) suggest companies need to plan and drive training staff beyond basic functionality so employees can work smarter during their already busy days. The report suggests “…companies need to provide guidance on staying efficient and focused…” in the modern workplace. What are your strategies to avoid distraction for yourself and your team and how effective is it? Donna Hanson works with organizations and their teams to increase productivity with technology so they can back to things that matter. Follow Donna on LinkedIn or subscribe to her YouTube channel for regular productivity insights. www.donnahanson.com …
Maybe it’s time we stop thinking technology alone is the key to productivity
Businesses look with hope when new software is released. Could this be the ONE? Software that truly delivers the turn-key productivity solution every organization dreams of? As a veteran of over twenty years in both business and adult education and training, I think it’s time to let go of the mystical belief that software on its own will magically improve organizational productivity. Technology is the mechanism by which corporate data is stored and categorized, but the productivity power lies in HOW an organization chooses to leverage it. Increased productivity doesn’t automatically happen simply by containerising data into a central location. …
What Happens if it Breaks?
I was recently working with a client who had a manual process that their team would go through to produce regular reports in Excel. It wasn’t a high level or challenging process, it was basically do this step, then do that step and so forth until they reached the end and the resultant “report” was created. Whilst this worked a bulk of the time, problems arose when something wasn’t quite right, and they needed to troubleshoot the formulas or they recognised that results were not what they should be. All they had been shown was a process. They never understood …
Do You Know Your Peak Time?
At 5am every day, alarm or no alarm my body tends to wake me up. A sleep in for me is 7am which might occasionally happen on a weekend or public holiday. I love to get up and exercise, then after my first coffee (a freshly ground, single origin from a Fair-Trade roaster) I’m ready to go! I focus on my highest priorities first thing so they can be ticked off my ‘to do’ list and then deal with everything else after that. By about 4pm I’m starting to slow down, and by about 6pm I know I am at …
Sometimes it’s just a NO!
I recently received a call from an organisation wanting me to speak at an upcoming event. They had been referred to me by someone in their organisation who had seen me speak previously and thought they would reach out to check on my availability and fee. We arranged a call to find out a bit more and for me to determine if I felt like I was a “fit”. This is something I do with EVERY potential client. In our conversation we discussed what they wanted as the outcome from the event, which, although it was like my topic, was …
The Collegiality Framework
If you are having trouble with your team, getting them to connect or want to help them improve their productivity it’s really not that hard to get them back on track. All it takes is a little time any effort and really zero investment. I’ve created The Collegiality Framework that I use with my clients. Basically, it is a metaphorical circle where teams are brought together and encouraged to come up with about what working for them, what’s not working for them, and what they need help with as far their everyday technology use is concerned. It’s not until you …
Having a mentor makes workers happier in their jobs.
According to CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workplace Happiness Survey1 conducted earlier this year, workers who have a mentor are more likely to be happy in their job. In my work with clients, my goal is to add value so when I leave the organisation it is in a much better state than when we first started. I view having mentors, and formal and informal knowledge sharing frameworks as keys to retaining staff, increasing engagement and fast-tracking productivity. When workers feel engaged and valued they enjoy their work more, and when they enjoy their work they are more productive. When an organisation has a …
Has your tech ever gone wild?
Occasionally stuff happens and I call it “Tech gone Wild”. When in the US we hired a car to drive from JFK airport in New York up to Boston to visit a friend. We got upsold in a great way at the car rental counter to a brand new vehicle with an inbuild GPS system, heated AND air conditioned seats, the whole works! Whilst a GPS system in a vehicle isn’t unusual these days, in this car it was different. We got into the car and started to set things up for our drive, move the mirrors, the seats etc. …
