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

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses the importance of adequate rest and how it relates to productivity. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve talked before about Doodle, the great online scheduling tool. They are having a fun contest through November 12 “Meeting Nightmare Contest: Tell us about your worst scheduling experience and you could win a Samsung Galaxy and other nice prizes, and I get to be a judge!

Get your submission in for your chance for great prizes.

“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.” — Henry Beston, writer and naturalist

“Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” Brian Eno, musician

“You are one-third as productive in open-plan offices as in quiet rooms. If you have to work in space like that, carry headphones with you with a soothing ambient sound like birdsong, put them on, and your productivity goes back up to triple what it would be.” — Julian Treasure, Chair of The Sound Agency

We all know how difficult it can be to concentrate when it’s noisy.

But that begs a question: what exactly qualifies as noise? After all, what might drive me to distraction may be barely noticeable to you. And in any case, one’s ability to tolerate noise can vary according to health or mood. It’s a lot easier to ignore your cubicle mate’s snoring if you’re feeling fine and things are looking rosy. But imagine how annoying it would be if your allergies were acting up or your computer just crashed…

We’ve all been there, and we all know that distracting noises can affect our productivity. But by how much? You might be surprised…and possibly shocked. According to sound expert Julian Treasure, most people are one-third as productive in a noisy room as in a quiet one. Yikes! Assuming he’s correct, then if you normally earn the company $1,000 a day in a loud workplace, you could do $3,000 worth of business if you could work in relative silence.

True silence is rare, so the best defense against annoying noise is distance. In the modern office, you’re unlikely to have that option; so lacking volume controls for your coworkers, you have little choice but to try to mask distracting noise. Listening to music with a top-notch pair of noise-reduction earphones can be an effective way to do so, but then you make yourself inaccessible to others…and half the time you end up singing along. That’s not very productive, unless you’re Miley Cyrus.

This is where so-called “ambient sound” comes into play. Strictly defined, ambient sound is just about anything you’d expect to hear in the background of life: dogs barking, cars passing, distant voices, the dishwasher, the whoosh of the A/C. As used in productivity circles, however, ambient sound is defined as soothing, quiet, often cyclic recordings that create a “sonic space” allowing the kind of purposeful focus that heightens productivity. Wind through trees, rainfall, the soft rush of waves on the seashore, even gentle music are all touted as productivity boosters.

Okay, this all sounds good, but does it actually work?

The jury’s still out on that. Despite some wild claims, ambient sound probably won’t boost your productivity much. Some researchers have documented productivity increases as high as 6.3% in workers exposed to ambient sound; others have demonstrated that pure silence is better. But almost invariably, the study groups have been so small that the results are statistically meaningless.

On the other hand, pure silence isn’t going to happen in the modern office space, so anything that masks background noise can certainly distract you from the distractions, as it were.

Whether or not sound can spike creativity, some sounds are certainly calming. At about 12 cycles per minute, for example, the sound of the seashore comes pretty close to the breathing cycling of a sleeping human. Both tend to be comforting…and you rarely have to worry about the ocean snoring. Birdsong also tends to relax us.

Still, I’m inclined to believe that what’s perceived as soothing on the aural front is as individual as one’s taste in clothes, music, and food. Sure, most of us do like quiet, rushing sounds like the beach or falling water…but where does this leave the many students who study quite happily and effectively while blasting rock ‘n roll on the radio? That’s the type of ambient sound that allows them to maximize their productive potential. Apparently, they’re not really listening to the music—they’re just drowning out the noises that bug them.

It seems, then, that “soothing” is in the ear of the beholder. Heaven help ‘em, there are probably people who find the sounds of an open office restful. CFOs, maybe.

All that said, I do think that seeking ambient sounds is worth trying, but you can’t assume that what works for other will work for you. If the restful rush of RainyMood.com just puts you to sleep (definitely a productivity downer), do a little experimenting, and see what you come up with.

You may even find that your most productive ambient sounds are, to steal a classic song lyric from Simon and Garfunkel, the sounds of silence.

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares tips on room organization. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares tips on boosting your mood so you can get more done.

(C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivity Pro.com

“To succeed in life you need things like talent, diligence, persistence, skills, hard work and maybe a little luck. You can achieve great things—but in order to do so you have to do a lot more than just think about them.” — Paul Sloane, author of The Innovative Leader.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave since 2006, you’ve certainly heard of The Secret. This popular philosophy, as outlined in a self-help book of the same name, purports to relate the true secret of success in all aspects of life. According to author Rhonda Byrne, it’s all about optimistic thinking and a faith in abundance; that is, a belief that the Universe will provide for you through a Law of Attraction, assuming you keep believing in whatever it is you really want.

The Secret has been widely interpreted, by supporters and critics alike, to mean that all you have to do is wish really hard for good things to happen, and they will. Naturally, this has resulted in a cynical knee-jerk reaction from those who refuse to believe in fairy tales. To be fair to Ms. Byrne, I believe that her thesis has been willfully misinterpreted by many of her readers. At its root, I think, The Secret is really a reminder of the value of positive thinking and self-belief in creating success. There’s nothing wrong with either; in fact, they’re necessary ingredients to any success.

But let’s face it: you can’t hope things into existence just by thinking good thoughts about them.

True productivity requires action. That action may take a variety of forms, but usually it means getting up and energetically doing whatever needs to be done to get from Point A to Point B. You have to jump into your work with both feet, facing the problems that lie between you and your goals and dealing with them in a proactive way. If you’ve got to get a series of reports done by the end of the month, sitting around feeling positive that the Universe will provide and your reports will somehow get done, regardless of what you do, is a recipe for disaster. As the saying goes, motion always beats meditation—assuming you’ve already done your homework and thought about all the possible outcomes.

I think you need to realize from the beginning that the Universe has already provided for you—and what it has provided is you. So use your intelligence, energy, and problem-solving skills to grab hold of any tools available, and use them to get the job done. And always, always, keep your eyes open to the possibilities!

There’s an old joke about a little old lady caught in a flood. A fellow in a car drives up to rescue her, and she refuses to go with him, saying, “No, son, the Lord will provide for me.” Later, a man arrives in a rowboat to rescue her; nope, the Lord will provide. Later, as she sits on her roof, she refuses rescue by a helicopter, saying, “The Lord will provide.”

An hour later, she drowns.

When she reaches the Pearly Gates, she’s livid. She flies into St. Peter with, “I believed in you! I kept telling everyone the Lord would provide, and He let me drown!”

St. Peter looks at her strangely and says, “What are you talking about, lady? God provided you with a car, a boat, and a helicopter!”

The point here is that you have to recognize the tools the Universe has provided, and make use of them. Don’t close your eyes to reality.

In my opinion, the true idea underlying The Secret is that if you think positively enough, and open yourself up to all the possibilities available, then you’ll find a way to accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish. You will solve the problem, not magical thinking. In this universe, you’re not going to grow wings just because you really want to fly. It’s stupid to expect that. But if you think about a problem enough, knowing that it can be solved, then you just might sit down and invent something that lets you fly…or, you may devise a way to save up the money so that you can take flying lessons, and eventually buy your own LearJet.

If you combine that positive visualization with positive action, the productivity that results will bring you the things that you want. If you just lie there and dream, you’re wasting your time and talent…and nothing productive will ever get done.

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), gives tips on conquering the to-do list without doing it all yourself.

(C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. www.theproductivitypro.com

Know what’ll kill employee engagement deader than a doorknob? Micromanaging.

Even if you start out with an office full of bright, innovative people, looking over their shoulders and correcting them every step of the way will eventually grind them down. Before long, you’ll have a collection of disengaged grumblers who either can’t wait to get out from under your thumb, or who just hunker down and don’t do anything, in hopes that it’ll soon be over.

That’s because when you micromanage someone, you’re practically shouting in their ear: “You’re incompetent! I can’t trust you to do the tiniest thing right!” Now, how would that make you feel?

If you’re a micromanager, you may not realize it; you may just think you’re detail-oriented and want to be sure that your employee does everything exactly right…so you tell them what that is, down to the finest point. That is a mistake. Not only is it detrimental to employee morale, you don’t have time for it. Delegating tasks to other people is the manager’s defining trait. Even if you can wear all the hats in your organization, you shouldn’t. You have to focus on what you’re best at, and hand off everything else to other people and trust them to do it.

Trust is the key word here. You have to assume the employee knows their job, and you can’t watch every little step as they perform it. You’re like the lieutenant who’s told by a colonel to put up a flagpole: you don’t do it yourself, even if you can, and you certainly don’t stand there and direct someone else while they do it. You go to the senior NCO and say, “Sergeant, put up that flagpole!” and the Sergeant gets it done.

That’s what you’re expected to do. That’s what your boss up the line expects, and that’s what the Sergeant expects. Assign someone a task, give them what they need to do it, and then get back to your own work. Touch bases occasionally to see that it’s done, and don’t stand over someone and nitpick while they do it.

It’s up to you, as the manager, to take care of all the big-picture stuff. You can’t do that if you’re focused on one little pixel.

“Quantifying the gap between exemplary and average employees demonstrates the tremendous potential for organizations to increase the performance of their workforces.” —Tom Gilbert, author of Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance

In the last four blog entries, I’ve explained my new Productivity Management Matrix in considerable detail. This metric compares levels of employee engagement and performance against one another, organizing workers into four broad categories: Campers, Cheerleaders, Defectors, and Productives.

But as within any categorization system, not everyone fits neatly. For example, what if someone is just plain average on both fronts? What if both their performance and engagement levels, taken together, fall right smack in the middle of all four quadrants—on the crossbar where they come together?

Thus was born the concept of the Chameleon: the supremely average worker, a person who is so malleable and flexible that they can easily morph into any of the other categories. Such people do exist; we’ve all known them. So let’s look at what you should do when you find one on your team.

How to Spot a Chameleon
Identifying a Chameleon is no easy task, since by definition they’re good at hiding. Your best way of ferreting out a Chameleon is to watch them long-term. Admittedly, this is difficult, since you can’t afford to focus your attention on just a few individuals; but do what you can.

Ideally, a Chameleon will become visible when they shift, however temporarily, into one of the primary quadrants. You might notice, for example, that someone you had tentatively assessed as a Camper suddenly becomes more productive through no input of yours, sliding over into the Defector camp. Six weeks later, they may display both high productivity and high engagement—and you may think you’ve got a newly-fledged Productive on your hands.

But don’t let them fool you. You’re more likely to be looking at a Chameleon, who for reasons of their own is bouncing around their natural state of being right there in the middle. Can’t have that!

How a Chameleon Can Impact Your Team
If a Chameleon can manage to stay right in the average middle-of-the-road, they might be of average impact: indifferent, but not necessarily bad. They’ll never shine as a SuperCompetent, but they won’t drag you down, either.

But most Chameleons don’t stay precisely in one place. This makes them confusing, since you never know where they’re going to be on a particular day, week, or month. Their impact depends on their mood: if they’re a kind-of Productive right now, they’re an excellent influence on other team members…but they can suck all the life out of a team if they slip down into low-engagement territory.

Even if such a Chameleon’s behavior averages out over time, you’re not going to end up with a positive. You see, if no one can ever be sure how that Chameleon is going to behave, then the resultant confusion will just cause stress—which will certainly result in negative effects.

How to Handle a Chameleon
Since a Chameleon is already in the middle, it ought to be fairly straightforward to move them toward Productivity. Now, if they’re a moving target, as many Chameleons are, you have to stabilize them first—because all this bouncing around is detrimental to the team. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter where you stabilize them, because at least they’ll be stuck in one place long enough to work with.

How to Coach the Chameleon
I think you have to take low engagement as the Chameleon’s baseline and work from there, even if some do show the occasional flash of high engagement. That is, treat them as you would a Camper or Defector, with a few modifications. Approach them and lay it all out there. Tell them that you can’t get a handle on them—that you know they’re capable of good work, because you’ve seen it, but their inability to rise above the dull average is hurting everyone. If their behavior is erratic, bring that to the fore, too.

Ask them what they think they need in order to settle down and move toward high-engagement, and be willing to give it to them (within reason). Possibly they’ve been having health or family problems that you can help fix, with counseling if nothing else; maybe they just need to know that you care, and that they have opportunities for advancement if they’re willing to apply themselves. Show them how you’re going to work toward moving them forward, complete with milestones to track their progress. Once they’ve settled down, you can determine which quadrant they fit into, and then use the methods I’ve discussed in the previous entries in this series to steer them where you want them to go.

In Conclusion…While I do believe that nearly all employees fit comfortably within the Productivity Management Matrix, a small but noticeable percentage will cluster around the middle: that is, they’ll be so-so in both engagement and performance. The boring ones sitting in one place are easy to work with, whereas the erratic ones are more of a challenge. You can’t easily assess someone who keeps bouncing around, so you’ve got to do what you can to stabilize them. Only then can you pick them up and take them where you want them to go, using the methods I’ve outlined in this and my previous Productivity Management Matrix blogs.

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses matching your tasks to your energy level throughout the day. Know your own rhythms and plan your work around them. (c) 2010 Laura Stack – All Rights Reserved
www.TheProductivityPro.com