The Productivity Pro® Blog by Laura Stack - Time Management, Getting Things Done, How to Be More Productive

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) talks about the productivity killer – procrastination!
(C) 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. http://www.theproductivitypro.com

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SUPERCOMPETENT KEY #1: ACTIVITY. Activity demonstrates value and reflects importance.

In this competitive economy, just being able to do your job is no longer enough.

Competence is simply expected in today’s workplaces. But you can’t be simplycompetent; you have to be SuperCompetent(TM) to get an edge. Laura Stack’s new book, SuperCompetent: the Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (Wiley 2010), gives high potentials proven methods to reach peak performance and achieve breakthrough results.

You’ll discover the six keys to unlocking your full potential: Activity, Availability, Attention, Accessibility, Accountability, and Attitude. The Productivity Pro®, Laura Stack, gives you a clear and practical system for achieving Maximum Results in Minimum Time®. By contrasting SuperCompetent(TM) hero thinking with simply Competent zero thinking, you’ll see that transforming your performance is not about mantras but mindsets.

SuperCompetent will be available in August 2010, just in time for your fall conference or leadership development program.

When the rubber hits the road, the difference between merely having ability and being exceptional may be the difference between losing your job and keeping it. The best workers possess a constant, expansive ability to be good at everything they do, no matter how general or specific. In this next series of six monthly newsletter articles, I’ll show you how to master the six universal Keys to workplace success. In this first article, we’ll cover the first key: Activity.

SuperCompetent people have an acute sense of direction, in which the nature of their activities reflects their relative priorities. They’re particularly aware of one thing that escapes most of their colleagues: that being busy and being productive are two very different things.

You can be busy all day long, running from one brushfire to another, and not accomplish anything productive at all. True Activity involves knowing your goals intimately, keeping them constantly in mind, and working toward them in an efficient way that wastes a minimum of energy and time. SuperCompetent people aren’t hidebound by the old ways of doing things, either; if there’s a possibility of doing something more efficiently, they suggest or implement it. Here are a few ways to help you fine-tune your workday in the Key of Activity, keeping things humming along like a well-oiled productivity machine.

1. Know exactly why you work hard and what you’re trying to achieve. You can’t be very productive if you don’t know what you’re working for. Plan out your goals and dreams, and work toward achieving them. Learn what makes you tick, own your destiny, and keep focused on your mission.

2. Know what to do, when to do it, and why. Take initiative and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. Don’t just work on projects in the order they come across your desk; learn to structure your time and processes effectively, or others will out-compete you.

3. Create systems to perform tasks more efficiently, so you can leave the office on time. Too often, we’re gulled into working harder than we should by stuff that was supposed to make our lives easier. Step forward and create or suggest more efficient ways of doing things, so that you can take back your time.

4. Regularly rest and recharge your batteries, so that you can be productive and creative when you return to work. For heaven’s sake, you’re not a robot. Take a break when you need to! As long as you don’t become a slacker, taking time off can be one of the healthiest, most productive things you can do.

5. Do the day’s most profitable and valuable tasks first. Instead of taking care of piddling brushfire issues, learn to delegate. Put the most important tasks at the top of your list, and work through them first–then do all the rest, if you have time. It’s not a sin to let unimportant tasks go.

At the end of the day, all that matters is results–and results are measured by productivity. That means you need to be very sure that your time is not only accounted for, but has real value.

Productivity, in its most meaningful sense, is all about reaching high-value goals in every area of your life, often in the shortest amount of time (but not always, such as spending time with loved ones). Nobody cares how many things you crossed off your list. Nobody cares how busy you were last week if key projects are falling through the cracks.

Only results matter, so strive to get the most value out of every day. Grab your dreams and get going!

Make it a productive day! (TM)

(C) Copyright 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.
www.TheProductivityPro.com

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Are New Years Resolutions really productive? Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), talks about how resolutions and how to really make positive changes for the New Year. (C) 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. http://www.theproductivitypro.com

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You’ve decided to conduct a webinar for your association member, corporate employees, or your team members spread around the country. How do you ensure the Webinar goes off without a hitch?

Here are the top ten tips on how to have a successful webinar:

1. Select the best format for your objectives. Each of these popular formats has pros and cons:
• Single speaker who presents and administers the webinar—easy to coordinate but can be less interactive if participants are hesitant to ask questions.
• Interview style with a moderator—more interesting than just one voice but harder to coordinate the discussion.
• Facilitated conversation with multiple panelists—more people to train and the potential for panelists to talk over each other; adds a variety of perspectives and can increase audience interest.

2. Determine the level of interaction. We’ve all experienced webinars with road noise, dogs, babies, and ringing phones in the background. So I prefer to mute all attendees and take questions via the chat box only, rather than opening up the lines. I also encourage participants to submit their questions on the topic before the program begins. Many platforms support audience questions at registration. I also recommend other methods for keeping the audience engaged during the webinar, such as taking a poll or asking a question and asking for answers via chat.

3. Plan your visuals. Script your core content if you’re nervous about losing your train of thought. Text-heavy slides with multiple bullets on one page are boring, since the participant won’t have anything to look at for long periods of time. Webinars rely on visuals to keep the audience engaged, so use lots of graphics and one point per slide. Rather than screen shots of applications, use a platform that supports desktop sharing and demonstrate concepts “live.” For example, I support my PowerPoint presentations with tours of websites, demos of my actual Outlook software, and program tools in action for a more dynamic experience.

4. Determine who does what. There are several roles that may be played by one to multiple people. First, you’ll have an Organizer who creates the webinar, markets the event, sets up the registration, and communicates with participants. Second, there may also be a separate Facilitator who welcomes everyone, outlines logistics, hits the record button, introduces the speaker, and handles audience questions. Third is the Speaker, who is the content expert who will run the actual presentation or ask for slides to be advanced. Fourth are any additional Panelists if you have more than one speaker. Fifth, you might have additional Assistants on the line to answer technical questions and address problems during the actual webinar itself, especially if it’s a large webinar that can’t be handled by the Organizer alone. I’m an experienced webinar presenter, so I’m comfortable presenting and facilitating the webinar at the same time. However, other presenters are more comfortable having an assistant to remember to share the screen, hit the record button, and handle other webinar functions.

5. Promote your webinar well in advance. Get the word out three to four weeks prior to the webinar. Include advertisements on your website, blog, listservs, newsletters, social media networks (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter), and online event calendars such as www.upcoming.com. Create engaging copy with title, description, objectives, who should attend, logistics, cost (if any) and registration URL. Once an attendee has registered, most platforms support automatic reminders at registration, one week, one day, and one hour prior to the webinar.

6. Conduct a dry run. If you have multiple participants who are unfamiliar with the webinar process, it’s critical to schedule a run-through several days prior to the webinar to work out any kinks. During this time, you can download necessary software, address technical issues, introduce panelists, establish a time line, discuss features such as drawing tools and the chat window, test headsets and equipment, practice transferring the controls and sharing desktops, and answer any remaining questions. If time allows, move through the presentation to verify slide order.

7. Start preparations an hour before show time. Post a “Do not disturb: webinar in progress” sign on the door. Turn off noisy technology and background noises. Put away pets if presenting from a home office. Get a glass of water. Hook up your microphone or USB headset. Print your slideshow outline and verify your computer is running smoothly. Launch any applications or websites you’ll use during the presentation.

8. Log in early and conduct a tech check. Send out call-in numbers, access codes, and URLs well in advance if you have multiple panelists. Ask all participants to log in at least 15 minutes prior to the start to test connectivity. Conduct roll call and verify that everything is working. Review the timeline. Give out a method to reach you offline should a panelist encounter problems.

9. Conduct a fabulous webinar! You’ve prepared and planned—now enjoy the fruits of your labors and let it roll.
• Announce any logistical details at the beginning of the program to let attendees know the game plan. Clarify if there will be time at the end of the session for questions and the best way to submit questions during the program. Also explain if the session will be recorded and where it will be posted.
• Don’t forget to hit the record button!
• Stand when you are speaking if possible. Attendees can’t see you, of course, but your projection will be more animated and interesting when you stand.
• Don’t worry if less than 25% of the registrants show up for the “live” session; many plan to simply watch the recording afterward.

10. Follow up with participants. Just because the webinar is over doesn’t mean your work has ended! Many platforms have built-in functionality to automatically present an evaluation to attendees at the conclusion of the webinar. If not, you can use surveymonkey.com to create your own online survey. You can create questions to gather feedback on the content, speakers, process, or to gauge interest in future topics. Schedule an automatic message to thank participants and follow up with no-shows. You can also publish a recap, summary, transcript, or recording of the webinar online. Many organizations sell this recording in their digital stores for profit.

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We all want to do our part to help the environment. But if you can give the Earth a break and increase your productivity at the same time, that’s a real no-brainer! Luckily, a lot of the things you can do to help sustain the planet can help sustain your productivity as well.

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

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Hopefully by now we all get it: this economy is challenging, things are changing, and everyone is looking for ways to do more with less. Unfortunately, as many companies struggle to adjust to this new reality, opportunities are being missed. Often we are so focused on stretching an organization’s financial and other resources that we become less effective in managing our human resources.

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

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When it comes to time management, social media can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can help you make connections and expand your professional network faster than ever before. On the other hand, you can dump countless hours into social networking sites and see little return on the investment. Here are five things you can start doing right away to help you use social media efficiently and productively.

(C) 2009 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

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Public Seminar in Denver on Tuesday, February 9 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Advanced Outlook 2007 Tips and Tricks

Discover Little-Known Tips and Tricks for Managing Your Workflow

Are you buried by hundreds (or thousands!) of email messages? Do you spend hours every day in your inbox? If you have a hard time keeping up with your email, attend this critical half day of training with Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, a Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) in Outlook. Laura helps Microsoft employees understand Outlook (they don’t get it, either)! She will demonstrate ADVANCED Outlook methods with her actual Outlook software and an LCD projector. This is not simple computer training—it is workflow processing—where you’ll learn to use Outlook to get more work done and increase your performance. Even Outlook “power users” will be amazed by how much they learn. To reduce frustration for all, please do NOT attend if you don’t consider yourself an intermediate/advanced user. Laura moves quickly; you might be seriously lost if you’re a beginner. We will not learn to create folders, schedule meetings, create email, or do any task that is considered a beginner-level skill.

For more details or to sign up visit us online: http://theproductivitypro.com/s_publicworkshops.htm

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Meetings can absolutely eat up your day if you let them. Ever seen the Dilbert cartoon about preliminary pre-meeting meetings? Does it feel like you’re stuck in that Dilbert cartoon and can’t get anything effective done? Well, you don’t have to take it anymore! Keep these things in mind when dealing with time-stealing meetings. 

Refuse Face-to-Face Meetings When Unnecessary
Determine if you really need to meet in person. How many times have you attended a meeting and asked yourself, “Why am I here?” Hopefully, by now you’ve started protecting your time from every person who wants a piece of it. If my clients want to meet in person, I charge a consulting fee. For telephone calls, no charge. Ninety percent of the time, a conference call will suffice. Extra travel time and expenses are involved when meeting in person, so avoid it unless dialogue and brainstorming are required. 

Do not accept a meeting invitation if the requestor can’t state in one sentence the exact reason you’re meeting. For example:

 ·        To inform our department of changes in the holiday pay policy.

·        To sell management on our division’s plan to automate payroll processing.

·        To brainstorm the best way to resolve the association’s budget deficit.

·        To determine realistic sales goals for each region for next year.

·        To discuss the critical skills required for successful performance as a first-level supervisor.

Cancel Meetings
Meetings can be important; they allow for the exchange of ideas and play an important role in the dynamics of the workplace. But not all meetings have the same value. With a limited number of hours in the day, you need to pick and choose when a meeting is appropriate and when it isn’t. Always think twice before calling a meeting. If you have the flexibility to choose, you should always think twice about agreeing to attend one, too. If you feel like a good deal of your day is wasted by meetings, consider the following:

 Is the meeting simply to exchange information? If so, an email might do the trick just as well, and save everyone a lot of time.
Is there travel involved? An elevator ride is one thing; real travel is quite another. Whether the meeting will include attendees from across town or across the country, always stop and consider whether a conference call or webinar meetup might be just as effective (I use www.gotomeeting.com).  Sometimes the face-to-face is critical. Other times, it just doesn’t matter, so why waste travel time?
What’s your role? Maybe your place could be taken by an assistant who can take good notes. Just make sure that if decisions need to be made, whoever’s taking your place is capable of filling in for you. Others will be annoyed if your absence turns into an inconvenience for them.
If you do need to be there personally, find out exactly what’s needed of you. If only one item on a two-hour agenda involves you, perhaps you can handle that matter first and leave the meeting early. Or ask what time to show. Spending half of your day in meetings waiting for your agenda item can be a frustrating time-waster.
 

Limit Attendees
More is not merrier. Think through who really needs to be there. Don’t worry about hurting someone’s feelings if they aren’t included. If you simply want to keep a stakeholder or player in the loop, select them as “optional,” instead of “required.” Always assume that higher-ups have much more profitable things to do than sit in your meeting. Think about how much people are paid, and ask if your meeting is worth an hour of their pay PLUS what they otherwise could have been doing if they weren’t stuck there. Only invite people if they have a direct contribution to make to the meeting objective, and the desired decisions would not be able to be made without them. If their presence is only required for ten minutes, give them the first ten minutes, and then allow them to graciously depart.

Multiply Your Hands
Have meeting requests and responses go to your delegate (if you have one), not to you. Don’t wade through all the responses; that’s why you have an assistant. In Outlook, under Tools, Options, Delegates, select “Send meeting requests and responses only to my delegates, not to me.” Brilliant.

Avoid Meetings on Fridays
Many departments and teams decide as an informal policy to schedule meetings Monday-Thursday if at all possible. Too many people try to take long weekends or duck out early, making scheduling and rescheduling a nightmare on Fridays, plus you’ll end up with a lot of no-shows. I try to leave Fridays open for personal appointments. I find if I put a doctor’s appointment in between business meetings, something always happens to derail one or the other. It’s hard to get my mind switched between different realms in any case.

Distribute Your Agenda Early
Always send or request an agenda and include it in the text portion of the appointment, or include it as an attachment. A basic agenda should include a statement of purpose, any logistical considerations, the decisions to be made, a list of the topics to discuss (in priority order), who’s responsible for that item, and how long you’re allotting for each one. Ask participants if they have any changes to the agenda items to let you know in advance of the meeting, so you can make adjustments if necessary. Once you get into the meeting, follow the agenda diligently, so you can ensure all points are covered, decisions are made, and the objective is achieved.

Set Your Meeting’s Length Yourself
Don’t let Outlook pick the length of your meeting; the default is one hour, so that’s how much time people normally schedule meetings. Instead, match the length of the meeting to the purpose. If you’ve done an agenda and you’ve determined you’ll only need forty minutes, then manually change the invitation and schedule for that. Otherwise, time will expand to fill the amount of time available. If you’ve promised folks you’ll be out of there quickly, people tend to work toward that goal. If there’s slack time, more socializing will naturally occur, and an hour will definitely get used. Some people try to build in “buffer” time; don’t cave to this habit. I purposefully under-schedule and announce the goal at the beginning, so everyone is actively moving forward.

 Use Online Scheduling for Outside Parties
According to an international research of online scheduler Doodle, professionals spend 5 hours a week with setting up meetings alone (see 1st International Study on Scheduling Trends 2009 http://www.doodle.com/about/mediareleases/survey.html).  Doodle.com is an online polling tool to find a good day/time for participants to meet, especially helpful when they don’t work at your company. I particularly like the Outlook plugin. It provides an online display of optional meeting times allows all participants to indicate their preferred times and enables the organizer to choose the final slot. Done. There is no toggling between participants’ calendars and no inefficient email chains—obtaining the availability of external parties is made effortless. By engaging participants, Doodle makes scheduling transparent and very flexible, regardless of whether they use online or offline calendars, paper planners, or no system at all.

Allow Enough Breaks
Provide at least one break for every hour and 15 minutes, max. Let attendees know at the outset what to expect. If you keep rambling on, and they aren’t sure when they’ll get a bio break, they’ll just start getting up randomly and sneaking out. Clearly state at the beginning, “We’ll meet from now until 10:00, and then we’ll break until 10:10,” etc. If you’re meeting over a lunch hour, it’s also common courtesy to provide food.

 Be Considerate of Those in Other Time Zones
If you’re in the Pacific Time zone, and some of your meeting participants are calling in from the East, a 2:00 meeting puts them into departure time. Realize that people may have childcare commitments at the end of the day; an afternoon meeting (or vice versa for early mornings on the West Coast) can severely inconvenience folks and reduce the odds of attendance.

Strike a Balance on Scheduling
If you schedule a meeting too far out, you’ll get a bunch of cancellations and requests to reschedule as you get closer—or you’ll just get trumped by someone higher up. If you wait to schedule a meeting until the last minute, it’s hard to find a block of time when most people are readily available. So it’s best to schedule 2-3 weeks in advance. Anything sooner or further off than that is fraught with scheduling challenges and conflicts.

Immediately Inform the Meeting Leader of Conflicts
If you have a change in your calendar but don’t want to “rock the boat,” you inconvenience more people the longer you wait. It takes effort to work schedules around appointments, so as soon as you know, raise the flag. The chair can determine if they can make it without you or if the meeting should be moved.

Confirm Everything
I’ve often shown up for a meeting but the other person “forgot.” You’d like to think all adults are responsible and will do what they say they’ll do, but it’s always better to dash off a quick email: “Looking forward to seeing you on (date) at (time) at (location). Let me know if something comes up.” I don’t make people confirm that things are correct; I ask them to let me know if there’s a change. Also make sure you get directions and map it out well in advance of trying to run out the door. I look at my calendar for the next day before I leave work and make sure I’m ready to roll on everything. Confirm with attendees, too, when it’s your meeting. Open the original meeting request, select Actions, and then New Message to Attendees.

Journal Your Meeting Notes
Many people don’t know how to use the Journal feature in Outlook, or even what it’s for. If you’ve ever accidentally clicked it, you’ll get a pop-up box that asks you if you’re SURE you want to turn on the Journal. Most people freak out and click NO. Next time, click YES. Open a new Journal entry, select Meeting in the Type dropdown, type up your meeting notes, put in the day/time of the meeting, indicate in the Contacts field the people at the meeting, and select a Category for the meeting name or project. When you pull up a Contact and click the Activities tab, you’ll be able to see the Journal entries (notes) from every meeting you’ve ever had with that person. You can also pull up your Journal entries by Category to review meeting notes as far back as you’d like. OR give your notes to your assistant, have him type them up in the text field of the original meeting notice, save, and send a message to attendees (under Actions).

Get Tough
Here are three questions you should ask yourself whenever you schedule a meeting:
 

Do we really need all these people? Make sure you aren’t inviting anyone who doesn’t need to have a seat at the table. Not only does it make scheduling more difficult, but you’ll either (a) waste their time or (b) bend over backwards to accommodate someone who isn’t going to show up anyway.
Can we keep people in the loop without inviting them to every meeting? Some meetings are full of wallflowers who need to know what’s going on but don’t necessarily need to contribute. Publishing meeting minutes or distributing essential information electronically can save time and shorten the attendee list. Also, take a look to see if some work areas are sending multiple representatives. By choosing a single designee from each area, you can make sure everyone is represented without having everyone in the room.
Do we need to meet at all? This is a question you should ask about EVERY meeting, not just the hard-to-schedule ones. Any meeting that doesn’t have a clear objective (if not a formal agenda) should be on the chopping block.
(C) 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

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I asked readers to fill in the blank on our last monthly survey and received some great responses. There were tons of interesting answers, but it didn’t take long to start seeing some patterns.

(C) 2009 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

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