“Ill habits gather by unseen degrees/As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.” — John Dryden, English poet (Absalom and Achitophel, 1681)

Have you updated your NOT-to-do list lately?

Most of us are pretty good about compiling daily to-do lists to guide our workflow, and there’s no denying that those lists are vital for maximizing productivity. However, in many ways, a list of things you refuse to do is just as important.

A not-to-do list doesn’t have to be fancy. You simply start by writing down the time-stealing behaviors that you prefer not to take part in; then you review and revise your list periodically, to make sure you don’t accidentally slip into habits that damage your productivity and keep you at work too long.

Obviously, not-to-do lists will vary from person to person, based on what’s applicable to a particular workplace and what each individual considers impractical or illogical for them to take part in. But there are certain activities that everyone is wise to avoid, and in this article, I’ll discuss four.

Stop Gossiping
Some workplace socializing is necessary, because it helps you connect with your fellow co-workers, lets you enjoy work a little more, and can enhance your productivity in the long run. However, chatting with your buddies should stop short of discussing other people behind their backs.

Airing someone’s personal business for entertainment reasons is never going to help you accomplish anything, and spreading negativity or criticism is downright hurtful. Give it up; work isn’t a soap opera, nor should it be. If your company doesn’t have a no-gossip policy, create your own and stick to it.

Stop Complaining
We all have things in our lives we’re unhappy about, but complaining about them accomplishes very little; as with gossiping, all it does is spread negativity, and who needs more of that? In particular, you should avoid complaining about the amount of money you make, and how dissatisfied you may be with your job or co-workers.

Instead of moaning about life, readjust your attitude. If you’re disgruntled about things that you can’t change, learn to accept them and move on. If you find yourself complaining about things that you can change, then by all means, try to. In either case, do your best to remove the reasons for your complaints.

Letting yourself suffer just so you can complain about how the world has wronged you doesn’t just waste your time, it wastes everyone else’s. And besides—do other people beside your friends really need to know about your personal problems? If you’re looking for attention, there are more constructive ways to get it.

Stop Trying to Be a Machine
As much as some of us might like to think otherwise, we’re not machines. No matter how spectacular you are, you can only grind along at maximum focus for so long before you get tired and mistakes start creeping into your work…and then your productivity drops like a rock. While you shouldn’t take breaks too often, you do need to pull back occasionally so you can recharge and revitalize your creativity. You always do your best work when you’re well-rested.

Meal breaks are also important. You need to eat something every six hours or so, if only to keep your blood sugar levels high enough to avoid becoming fuzzyheaded. So don’t skip lunch, and don’t just scarf down a sandwich at your desk, either: get away for a few minutes, since by then you’ll probably need the change of pace and scenery to help you stay sharp.

Finally, don’t skip your macro-breaks, either. You need to take your weekends, holidays, and vacations as often as possible, so you can be rested and ready when work-time rolls around again.

Stop Multitasking
Multitasking is all the rage nowadays, but I happen to think that it’s the scourge of the modern office. The human brain can handle just a few things at a time, because we’ve only got so much “cognitive currency” to spend. Your mind’s trying to process all kinds of external stimuli already, so when you consciously try to do too many things at once, you literally spread yourself thin. Add in all the distractions that you have to deal with, from the sound of the rain on the windows to the photocopier chugging away across the hall to your chatty co-workers, and your efficiency begins to fall off sharply.

The worst thing about multitasking, I think, is that it fools you into thinking you’re getting a lot more done. But you’re not: you’re dividing your attention too finely. If you go too far, you’ll end up like one of those computers that assigns every single task a tiny, equal time-slice, and then takes forever to get any one task done. In computer parlance this is called “thrashing,” and I’ve seen it many times in human beings as well. If you really want to produce, focus tightly on one task at a time, and get it off your plate before moving on to the next task on your list.

Going Cold Turkey
The four items I’ve listed here are just a few of the egregious workplace habits that can rob you of productivity if you let them. These habits are sneaky: either their negative effects are easy to miss, or they fool you into thinking that they’re helping you be more productive. If you keep them up, though, you’re not going to get ahead; you’ll just end up slipping farther behind.

So for your productivity’s sake, I recommend that you sit down and seriously ask yourself if you’re guilty of any of these bad habits. If you are, then go cold turkey on each one. It may be hard, but you’ll be more productive in the long run—and that’s what really matters.

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Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) gives advice on prioritizing so your most important tasks get done. (C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

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Learn to say ‘no’ to the good so you can say ‘yes’ to the best. — John C. Maxwell (author, speaker, and pastor).

In Oklahoma!, the befuddled Ado Annie Carnes sings,

I’m just a girl who cain’t say no,
I’m in a terrible fix
I always say “come on, let’s go!”
Jist when I orta say nix…

Ever find yourself in Annie’s situation? Are you a people pleaser? Do you have trouble turning down new tasks, even when you’re drowning in work? Does everyone turn to helpful ol’ you when they need something done? Is your schedule packed until the turn of the century?

Sounds like you need to learn to say no graciously—and make it stick.

Many of us have been conditioned by society to say “yes” to any reasonable request. It’s as if the word “no” is a four-letter word, even when you’ve got all you can handle on your plate. Well, get over it. That kind of thinking leads to nothing but confusion, overwork, irritability, and breakdown.

What Part of No Don’t You Understand?
Think quickly: what’s your scarcest, most important resource?

Flog yourself with a wet noodle if you didn’t immediately answer Time. Office supplies, equipment, money, and even coffee can be restocked with relative ease. Not so with time. We all get the same 1,440 minutes in our day, and once it’s used up, there’s no going back to restock it.

So until we figure out a way to drastically lengthen our lives, we’d better get as much done as we can in the time we have. Which means that in order to actually enjoy life instead of simply enduring (and to maintain your sanity), you absolutely must learn to say “no” when necessary.

You don’t have to be rude about it; you just have to make it clear and make it stick. Depending on the personality of the person you’re dealing with, a gracious “no” accompanied with an explanation of what you’re already saying “yes” to may be fine.
Otherwise, just be simple and direct, and don’t feel obligated to explain if you don’t want to. Try one these statements:

• “Sorry, my schedule is full.”
• “Not right now.”
• “Let me see if I can find someone who can help you.”
• “I don’t like to take on anything I can’t fully commit to.”
• “I’m not comfortable with that.”
• “I’m not qualified.”
• “I’m sure you’ll do a wonderful job on your own!”

Unfortunately, in some cases, a more firm rejection may be necessary. If, for example, someone refuses to take no for an answer, you may very well need to be rude. I don’t recommend it if you can avoid it, though.

Meeting Others Halfway
I realize that it may not always be possible to say no, especially in the workplace. Fortunately, there are ways of saying turning someone down without actually saying “no.” Try a mix of these:

Negotiate. Don’t assume a deadline. When someone asks you to do something, ask them if they need it now, or if you can get it to them later.

Communicate. Instead of trying to juggle a dozen tasks all due immediately, ask your boss or coworkers to prioritize them so you’ll know which is of utmost importance.

Reduce Quality. Often, good enough is good enough. Whoever’s asking for the task may not expect an exceptional level of quality; they may just want it done. So find out exactly what they want.

Streamline. If they want something huge, ask if they really need it that big. They may be just as happy with a slimmed-down version.

Eliminate. Rebuild your personal and departmental boundaries so that certain tasks are no longer your ambit. Then look at every task remaining and ask yourself if anyone would notice it if you stopped doing it. If not, stop!

Get Creative. Take stock of your situation, look closely at your systems and processes, and redesign what you can to make yourself more productive.

Partial Delivery. If you just can’t do it all but have to turn in something, ask if you can turn it in piecemeal.

All these are effective ways of keeping yourself from being overwhelmed, even when the fat’s in the fire and you’ve got no choice but to accept work you don’t really need. Put them in play, see how they work for you, and refine them as you go.

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Leave the Office Earlier with Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, Day-Timer, and Office Depot
January 7  from 10AM-11AM Mountain Time.

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Do you find yourself continually racing against time? Do you feel that you have so much to do that it’s difficult to get anything done? Managing time effectively is the key to managing your individual performance. Time management is much more complicated than making a list and checking things off. Learn how to set priorities and focus on what’s truly important, plan and schedule your day, and organize your time management system. Attend this special webinar with Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, and you’ll learn how to achieve Maximum Results in Minimum Time®. Get your work done efficiently and leave the office earlier!

Objectives:

* Seven reasons why planning should be done at the end of the day.
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* The reason why productivity has nothing to do with the number of items you check off your list.
* Prioritize your daily tasks when everything seems urgent.
* The critical components of an effective time management system.
* How to schedule your day realistically in an uncontrollable world.

Sign up today at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/469398651

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I recently surveyed my readers on the eternal question of productivity: Why is it that some things on your to-do list never get done?  Some great responses rolled in, ranging from the classic (too many interruptions) to the matter-of-fact (I don’t feel like doing it). 

But as diverse as the responses were, it didn’t take long to see certain themes emerge.  Below are the top ten issues at the heart of the problem and some guidance on how to deal with them.

1. You haven’t made the necessary decisions.  Your to-do list should be full of clear, actionable ideas—in other words, things you can actually do.  If you have a vague goal, like “Have a sale,” you’ve still got a lot of thinking to do before you can hit the ground running and make real progress.  Take a minute to figure out exactly what you need to accomplish: What kind of sale?  When will it take place?  What will it promote?  Once the task is more fleshed out, you’ll be more likely to make progress on it.

2. You haven’t talked to the people involved.  Are you worried that you don’t have the necessary support to make your idea happen?  If you need buy-in, go get buy-in.  Chances are that your first step should be to pick up the phone or schedule a meeting.  Even if you don’t get the answers you want, at least you’ll know where you stand.  From there, you can move forward, adjust your strategy, or simply move on.  Wherever the idea ends up, at least it isn’t festering on your list.

3. You haven’t done your homework.  Perhaps you know you need to schedule a teleseminar series, but haven’t gotten around to researching which platforms are available.  Figuring out the mundane logistics is now keeping you from making an important decision.  Carve out some time to do the legwork, or better yet, delegate that part of the task to someone else.  Once you have a better idea of your options, you can focus on the real issue at hand.

4. You’re ignoring your internal clock.  We spend so much time focused on schedules and deadlines that we often forget to pay attention to our body’s natural rhythms.  Yes, your Outlook calendar might say that a block of work will fit perfectly on Wednesday afternoon, but if that places your big task in the middle of a low-energy period of your day, you don’t stand a chance.  Keep your daily energy levels in mind as you plan your day.  Start high-energy projects early if that’s when your concentration is at its best.

5. The task is unpleasant.  The first step is admitting it!  If you’re being honest with yourself, you probably have an item on your list that hasn’t been done simply because the task is unpleasant and you’d rather not do it.  If that’s the case, it’s time to get tough.  Make a decision right now to either do the task, delegate the task, or forget about it altogether.  If you need to do it, stop thinking about it and just get it done.  If it can be delegated effectively, go ahead and make arrangements with someone else.  And if you’re going to eliminate it completely, cross it off your list and for goodness’ sakes move on already!

6. The task is overwhelming.  You don’t know where to start.  Is there an item on your to-do list along the lines of Complete Huge Multifaceted Project XYZ?  No wonder you aren’t making progress!  The task it too big.  Large or complicated projects need to be broken down into manageable chunks or else they’ll always take a back seat to the smaller, more manageable things on your list.  After all, would you rather spend the afternoon completing five smaller items on your list or barely making a dent in one?  By identifying a few key steps, such as “Gather Project documents” and “Outline project scope,” you’ll know exactly what needs to be done next and be less likely to hesitate as you take action.

7. You are plagued with distractions and interruptions.  Seemingly innocent interruptions like checking e-mail, answering the phone, or chatting with coworkers will eat your productivity alive.  And although many of these interruptions aren’t necessarily your fault, managing them is your responsibility.  Identify your time wasters and take immediate steps to correct the problem.  You might need to set regular times each day to check e-mail or close your door to let coworkers know you’re temporarily unavailable.  Not sure where your time is going?  Keep a detailed log for a few days and find out once and for all.

8. You are constantly putting out fires.  Does it seem impossible to achieve any real long-term focus as you jump from one urgent, immediate priority to the next?  Good leaders understand how important it is to make time for true high-value activities, even if they don’t present themselves as urgent, deadline-driven issues.  If you spend every day jumping from one issue to the next, you might help avert disasters, but you won’t ever accomplish anything substantive.  Instead, focus on the cause of all those urgent interruptions.  Do they come from lack of planning, procrastination, or a team that isn’t empowered to handle simple issues on their own?  Once you address the underlying problems, you’ll be able to focus your time and energy where it belongs.

9. The task requires a lot of work for little reward or recognition.  Recognition is nice, but don’t live and die by it.  If the task is worth doing, it is worth doing regardless of whether you will be recognized for the contribution.  If it’s not worth doing (but you have to do it anyway), just get the darn thing done and move on to something more fulfilling.  In the meantime, your paycheck is your reward.

10. You day is overscheduled before you even sit down in the morning.  You schedule time and bend over backwards for everyone else…why don’t you do the same for yourself?  Make appointments with yourself and treat them with the same level of importance as you would a meeting with a client or coworker.  If you know you need three hours to get something done, schedule three hours to get it done.  And I mean really schedule it.  Put it on your calendar, eliminate distractions, and treat the task with the same respect you would a one-on-one meeting with a live person.

So there you have it: ten huge productivity bandits—decide which ones best apply to you.  Be relentless as you kick them to the curb and get those tasks checked off your list!

Make it a productive day! ™

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

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Like it or not, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are here to stay – and it isn’t just kid stuff anymore.  In fact, businesses and individuals worldwide keep finding interesting ways to use social networks and other interactive online media to do some pretty amazing things – from building their brands to getting to know their customers. How do you keep it from sabotaging your productivity?

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Tune in on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 7:00 AM EST to QVC and watch Laura Stack LIVE as she sells her Productivity Pro(R) Day-Timer(R)!  Or if you miss the show, go to www.QVC.com and watch it on-line.

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http://www.theproductivitypro.com/newsletters/num115Dec2008.htm visit for full newsletter

Importance of Productivity during Down Times

In the summer of 1900…

• The average life expectancy in the United States was 47.
• A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11, which was an incredible sum because the average American made .22 cents an hour, or about $400 per year.
• Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
• Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores.
• There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually.

Amazing what a century will change. Amazing what a few months will change. Growth ends, recession sets in, the stock market stops booming, and companies go bust. The recession is impacting our clients in various ways: we’re hearing of layoffs, hiring freezes, reduced budgets, not rehiring for positions as people leave, go on maternity, etc.

Tough economic times are packing a one-two punch in the workplace.

First, everyone is forced to do more with less (POW!).

Second, you have to do it all while dealing with the nagging anxieties that come with an uncertain economy—threats of downsizing, bankruptcies, cost containment, you name it (POW, again!).

So how do we cope—as leaders and as productive employees?

To succeed and keep their doors open, companies must make more money but spend less money and create greater results with fewer resources. You could attempt to cut salaries, benefits, staff, costs, or the quality of your products—all poor options. A better choice? Increase employee productivity. If you have 10 people, and you can get them to improve their productivity by 10%, you just effectively added another staff person without increasing salary expense—a much more attractive response. To do this, your employees need your help.

First of all, get a grip on your personal negative feelings that result from your lack of control. You DO have control over your friends, your love relationships, and your career. You decide for yourself what’s right and what’s wrong, whether you should stay in this weekend or go out, whether to vote Democrat or Republican. You decide who to see, what to wear, what to eat.

However, you have VERY LITTLE control over the government, economic policy, the rise and fall of the stock market, Mother Nature, international events, and even your company direction. Changes can often disrupt your life and force you to change your plans. Often there is little you can do and yet you are overwhelmingly affected by it. Accepting what is means realizing you can’t control certain things and to stop trying. You can sit around and wonder, “Oh, my gosh, how is this going to affect me? What if I’m next to go? How will I pay the bills? I’m going to be a bag lady!” You stew and worry and literally make yourself sick.

These things will happen. They just will. You will get no warning, and nobody will prepare you. And that’s frustrating. Because people will tell you to “reach for the stars—you can achieve whatever you want!” But they don’t mention you might get hit by a comet in the process.

It’s time to accept the things that you cannot change and focus on the things you can. What can you do?

Give yourself a break. Try to stay positive, despite the doom and gloom. Overdosing on pessimistic, overly dramatic news coverage is just going to weigh you down with bad thoughts—not good for those looking to clear their heads and get things done! It’s important to be informed about what is happening in the world, but you definitely don’t want to overdo it.

For months now, we’ve been bombarded with bad economic news every time we turn on the television or pick up a newspaper. No wonder everybody seems to be in a rut. Follow the daily news as much as you need to so that you feel in the loop and understand the issues that affect your industry. Other than that, it might be time to shut off the TV and catch up on some fun reading or spend some more time with family.

Know your job. Seems like this one should be a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed at how often our responsibilities can change and evolve without our even knowing it. Small incremental changes in how employees or departments do business can add up over time, leaving groups of people that work hard, but aren’t contributing to business objectives as effectively as they once did.

For example, in an effort to provide an exceptional level of service, you might find yourself doing work that is below your pay grade. Maybe you end up doing a large portion of the administrative work associated with a project that needs your input. Consider the value of your time!

Make sure that the things that occupy your time are worthy of your talent and expertise and hold your staff to the same standard. With any project, you should be able to look at the time spent, multiply by the pay rate of the ones doing the work, and still feel that your resources were well spent.

If you’ve got a $40,000/year employee stuffing a bunch of envelopes (even just that one time) or a six-figure manager assembling an important presentation page-by-page, then that work becomes awfully expensive!

These examples might seem outrageous to you, but believe me, it happens all the time. Never make the mistake of treating your time like it’s free. Time and other resources are limited, and we need to treat them that way.

As your company and your department are undoubtedly being asked to do more with less, now is the time to step back and take stock of the type of work you’re doing. Many times roles and responsibilities change, but job descriptions do not. As a result, we end up drifting away from core priorities and towards dong work that, while challenging, doesn’t really meet the organization’s immediate needs.

Now might be a good time to step back and ask that all important question: “Why am I (or we) doing this?” If you can’t answer that, or the answer doesn’t make sense, it’s time to purposefully make a change.

Break habits, build systems. Every office that has been around for any length of time has certain unwritten policies and procedures that exist simply because “we’ve always done it that way.” Now is a great opportunity to analyze your existing business practices and find opportunities to break the bad habits that may be bogging your operation down. Take you entire department for example. Do you and your people have a clear idea of your area’s specific responsibilities? Do you have the confidence and determination to say “no” when someone is asking you to do work that is outside your scope of responsibility?

Perhaps over the years your group took on the responsibility of coordinating quarterly meetings with senior managers. It might have made sense for you to be doing the legwork then, but now that the work has become routine, is it really the best use of your talent and resources?

That’s just one specific example, but there are many more out there. Usually, these are the kinds of tasks and responsibilities that make employees want to ask the all-important “Why am I doing this?” question. Rather than spend another day mindlessly plowing though projects that may or may not be a good use of your time, force yourself to take a hard look at what you are doing and why you are doing it.

If you had to pick three tasks or responsibilities that should be the top priorities for your department, what would they be? Once you know, evaluate how much time and energy is dedicated to those things. You might be surprised at how much time we can spend doing things that aren’t even close to the top of that priorities list.

It isn’t always easy to say “no,” but fortunately, that’s where your systems can come in. As you work to create smooth, efficient systems to do work within your department, you can give yourself some ammunition to fend off others in the company that might be inclined to slide work onto your plate where it doesn’t belong. If you don’t have firm policies and procedures in place to identify who should be doing what, it is much more difficult to make the case for “no.”

Analyze your relationships with other departments. Have trouble turning down work coming from other areas of the company? Now is a perfect time to start fresh and rebuild your department’s boundaries. In a frank and honest way, simply explain to others that in light of the current economic situation, your group has taken a critical look at its daily operations and needs to decline certain types of requests in order to build efficiency.

Perhaps you need to apply a little systems thinking and rethink the flow of information. Is there a procedure in place for other business units to request your assistance or input? If there’s not, you’re probably being hit from all angles with requests that may or may not be the best use of your time. Diagram how work moves through your department. Where does it come in from and go out to other departments? Interview your internal customers and find out how you can provide value through reduced services. Can you provide a report monthly instead of quarterly? Can you cancel the weekly project meeting and get everyone to email updates instead? Question travel requests if you feel a conference call will do. One of the best ways to take stock of the situation is to survey your group, ask them what gets in the way of productivity, and to genuinely ask how they would redesign things if they could.

Find the bottom line. Right now, businesses everywhere are taking stock of their must-haves versus their nice-to-haves. From an organizational perspective, which are you?

Economic necessity can force budget cuts and cost containment that might otherwise be unnecessary. One way to prepare yourself for this reality is to make sure you have a good understanding of how you and your people contribute to the company’s bottom line.

Sometimes, it’s easy. If you work in sales, for example, the correlation between what you do every day and the company’s financial success might be very straightforward—my group sells our most profitable product, which makes the company money.

Sometimes that correlation is not so obvious. If you operate in a support role, like Human Resources, you may want to start looking at your various responsibilities and deciding which among them have the greatest influence on the company’s bottom line—either by somehow driving revenue or by controlling expenses. Perhaps you help contribute to developing talent within the company, which clearly has an impact on the overall success of the organization. Employee development always seems to be one of the first things to go during down economic times, but this is not the time to reduce training if you’d like to get more work from fewer people. Or maybe you’re managing clerical or administrative functions that would be expensive to secure elsewhere.
If you can’t draw a line from what you do each day to the financial well-being of the company, then it might be time to do some hard thinking. Your other contributions might be valuable, but in difficult economic times, corporate leadership often becomes must more focused on dollars and cents, for better or for worse.

Where am I going with this? If it isn’t obvious how your contributions benefit the company, be prepared to explain how they do. If you CAN’T explain why certain aspects of what you do are valuable, then it’s time to stop doing them.

At the end of the day, productivity is about more than getting things done. It’s about getting the RIGHT things done and getting them done efficiently.

Make it a productive day! (TM)

(C) Copyright 2008 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

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Social networking is all the rage today.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace – the list goes on.  It seems like everyone has one or more of these services, but how many people are thinking about how it can affect them professionally?  And how does it affect your productivity?

In terms of your professional image, there have been many news stories and articles about people getting fired or not getting hired for jobs because of the things they post on their profiles.  In one of my time management seminars, a participant told me she didn’t hire an applicant because she researched his social sites and saw that he “wanted to do as little as possible for as much money as possible.”  If you want to keep your social networking just "between friends," pay close attention to the privacy settings on sites like Facebook and MySpace.  The safest bet is to assume that anything on the internet can be fair game; however, you can minimize your risk by making your profiles private or "friends only."  Be careful what you write and post, even when making comments on others’ pages.  Think about whether you want what you’re about to say in the virtual public record for all time. 

That said, social networking can be a useful tool in developing relationships and marketing yourself.  I’m using LinkedIn to build relationships and network for new business.  I already have over 250 connections and many recommendations.  However, keeping up with your networks can becoming all-consuming and almost addictive.  I know several people who admit to being Twitterholics or check their pages on different sites continually throughout the day, which has far-reaching productivity implications.  If all day you sift through information on websites, read your blog postings, keep up with all your social networks, and wade around in your email in-box, when are you actually going to get your WORK done?  I check my social sites once each day and only after all my key priorities for the day are completed (generally in the afternoon).  I suggest you set some appropriate boundaries around your usage of social networking and then apply some good old-fashioned discipline to make yourself stick to them.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.

www.TheProductivityPro.com

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I found this article at BNET.com very interesting.  Separating hours on the job from results has been a boost to productivity in many situations.  Outside of the service based or retail environments, should our productivity be based on hours spend on the job, or on what is accomplished?  Some companies, like Best Buy, have implemented the Results-Only Work Environment or “ROWE,” and finding success.  When I chat with audience members after giving a keynote speech, they tell me about coworkers who spend 10-12 hours a day in the office and get nothing done.  That’s because being physically in the office has little to do with productivity.  Some people can be there ten hours a day and get virtually nothing done, while others can accomplish great amounts of work in just a few hours.   Part of the trick to getting a ROWE culture to work is figuring out how to measure results.  Some business results are easier to measure than others, such as number of orders processed, or increase in revenue.  In a 2006 article in Business Week, Best Buy reported a 13%-18% increase in orders processed by people who worked out of the office most often.  Businesses moving towards the ROWE culture are not only reporting increased productivity, but are also reporting lower employee turnover.  As companies work to adjust to the “Gen Why” workers and their styles, it will be interesting to see how many companies move towards this.  (C) 2008 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

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