According to a recent CareerBuilder study, clutter could be costing you quite a bit! More than a quarter of employers said they are less likely to promote someone who has a messy work space. A large percentage of employers also feel that having paper piles on desks gives them a more negative impression of those workers.

Surpisingly, a third of workers admit to having hoarding tendencies with 13% saying they have files which are more than five years old. If you’re facing challenges with office clutter, we’ve got help for you! Spend an hour with me on my pre-recorded webinar “Organize Your Office and Your Life: Survive Information Overload and Clear the Clutter.” You’ll learn expert tips on keeping the clutter at bay so that you have more time to tackle that to-do list!

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“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” — Ovid, Roman poet

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers, American humorist.

“Oh that it were my chief delight/To do the things that I ought!/Then let me try with all my might/To mind what I am taught.” Jane Taylor, English poet

Inevitably, you’ll experience days when time just seems to run away from you, or you hit an invisible wall and can’t get past it, or accomplishing anything is like pulling teeth: laborious, slow, and painful. Maybe you’re distracted, or you feel a bit under the weather, or you’re just mad at the world. Whatever the cause, it adds up to “one of those days” when nothing of value gets done.

You don’t have to accept that. Here are a few things you can do, whether individually or in combination, to turn an unproductive day around.

Take Stock
Often, the best way to recapture productive time is to spend a few minutes figuring out what your problem is, and then dealing with it. What’s gone wrong so far? What’s derailed you from your normal course? What should you have done instead? Even if this exercise doesn’t help you decide what to do next, it may show you what to avoid in the future. Learn from those mistakes, create the appropriate solutions, and use them to polish up your productivity next time.

Once you stop and think about it, you may realize that you’ve been in knee-jerk mode. Instead of calmly reasoning and following your action plan when faced with something, instead you’re responding without thinking. So shut everything down and step back. Think about what you need to accomplish, and what you need to do to get back on track.

If you’re in a foul mood, try to determine why and do what you can to fix it. That may not be possible, if for example you’re coming down with something or you’ve suffered a poor night’s sleep. So accept it and move on; don’t let it color your interactions with others, and don’t let it stop you from doing your work. Push through it, and it may just go away.

The Pause That Refreshes
When you’re on a roll, stopping to take a break (even a brief one) is usually the wrong thing to do, since it takes time to refocus afterward. When you’re banging your head against the wall of unproductivity, though, it’s exactly the right thing to do. Even if you don’t use the time to take stock and try to fix your day, it may help get you off your current path and onto a better one.

So stop and grab a cup of joe, and take a deep breath before you get started on your next task. Or take a quick “five minute vacation” somewhere quiet, where you’re unlikely to be interrupted. Sit down, close your eyes, and relax for half a minute. Focus on your breathing for a few seconds (we tend to breathe faster when stressed) and then start to breathe deeply and slowly. Explore how you’re feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally, and then breathe a bit longer before getting up and going back to work.

If you’re completely stymied, you can try a more active visualization exercise. For example: Close your eyes and pretend that Unproductivity is standing before you like a stone wall, blocking your way. Look at your hands and pretend they’re sledgehammers. One is labeled Competence, because you know you’re good at what you do, and the other is Intelligence, because you’re a smart cookie. Your task is obvious: you’ve got to batter down that wall. So start hitting it with the hammers until it cracks and breaks; then pull it apart until you have a hole big enough to push through, out to where you can bask in the bright sunlight of Productivity. When you open your eyes, feel warm, buoyant and confident—and get right to work.

Pick One Thing to Focus On and Go
Basically, this is the old strategy of putting your head down and just bulldozing forward. It’s a brute approach that often works, especially if you can combine it with the above exercises.

Challenge yourself to be productive. Push your distractions aside: turn off your email and phones, close your door, and select the one thing on your list that you need to get done the most. Block out everything else, and give yourself an hour to push on that task as hard as you can. If you don’t think you can manage that much, bribe yourself into being productive by saying, “I’ll work on this for fifteen minutes,” or “I’ll do just a few items,” and when you’re done, say, “Just a little bit more.” You may find that it’s easy, that you’ve gotten back into a productive groove; but even if you haven’t, do it anyway.

The Upshot
There’s no turning back time, but you can learn from your mistakes. Even if your day has been unproductive so far, refuse to let it overwhelm or dishearten you. Don’t give up, because there are ways that you can take the time you have left and get right back in the saddle. Try these, and see how they work for you.

Whatever you do with your unproductive day, don’t dwell on it. Put it behind you and move forward.

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1. Office Productivity: How to Handle a Micromanager

“Micromanagement is a personality aberration of insecure individuals.” — Susan K. O’Brien, organizational specialist

“One micromanager can do more damage to an organization than termites in the foundation of a house.” — Eric Boehme, IT professional

“Micromanagement doesn’t just suck the life out of the workers, it sucks the life out of the manager, too.” — Wally Bock, leadership expert

In recent months, I’ve received a flurry of responses to my articles about the evils of micromanaging. This doesn’t surprise me: according to the latest statistics, a whopping 75-80% of American workers have suffered under micromanagers at some point. One- third of us have changed jobs because of them.

My previous work on the subject has focused on the negative aspects of micromanaging, and why you, as a manager, should avoid them. But what if you’re the one forced to deal with a micromanager? How do you handle them on a daily basis, and keep them from absolutely destroying your productivity?

That’s a difficult question to answer; this is one of those situations where you have to tread carefully, tailoring any advice to your individual personality and situation. Various experts have taken differing approaches to the subject, suggesting numerous (and often contradictory) ways of dealing with micromanagers. The only thing they seem to agree upon is that you’re unlikely to change a micromanager’s ways, because they are more controlling than most.

Personally, I’m not sure that this is always the case. If you feel you’re being micromanaged, take a hard look at yourself first. Are you new to the job? How does your performance compare to that of others in your group? Do your co-workers feel they’re being micromanaged? As hard as it may be to admit, maybe you’re giving your manager legitimate reasons to micromanage you. First buckle down, and focus on your productivity, and see if things improve.

On the other hand, I agree that there’s a certain level of petty tyranny involved in some micromanaging. When this is the case, you have a few choices: you can find another job, adapt to the situation, or confront the behavior. Adapting may involve anything from appeasement to learning to manipulate your micromanager to your satisfaction.

I think appeasement stinks, and you shouldn’t even consider it unless your situation is desperate. A better option is to schedule a meeting with your manager, and politely but firmly point out that you can’t work effectively in an environment where you’re treated like an untrustworthy child. Emphasize your desire for a more empowered and professional work environment. You may find that your manager responds positively to your request. But if instead they start citing their personal strict standards, and how they can’t allow anyone the slightest bit of slack, then accept that you’re unlikely to ever get through to them.

It’s a bit manipulative, but you always have the option of micromanaging the micromanager: in other words, try to overwhelm them with the minutia they typically require until they’re sick of it. Find out precisely what they want, and get it to them ahead of time. Be relentless. Keep in constant contact. Play precisely by the rules, and be preemptive with deadlines. If they’re annoyed because you can’t get your work done, innocently remind them of all the things they require of you…and maybe they’ll stop.

Some authorities recommend trying to prove to the micromanager that you’re capable of doing your job. The idea is to take on a new role or project and roll it out perfectly, so they’ll see the error of their ways and back off. The problem is that this rarely works. Micromanagers are all about control and have an ingrained lack of trust. Even a minor mistake can be fatal: they’ll fasten on it as proof they were right to micromanage you in the first place, no matter how well you’ve done otherwise.

Whatever you do, document your interactions with the micromanager. Have them write down their requirements for you. Note down their orders in logs and journals, and be very specific as to dates and times. Carefully track everything you do to fulfill their orders. That way, when something goes wrong, you can pull out your notes and say, “Well, here’s what you told me to do on such-and-such a date.” While having to track everything this way may seem abysmally unproductive, in the end it may help you protect yourself—especially if they try to pin the blame for something on you.

If you absolutely can’t live with being micromanaged and can’t find a way to successfully manage your manager, you’re left with one choice: leave that toxic environment. Either transfer to another organization or quit outright. Some experts recommend against this, claiming that it’s self-defeating. Their argument is that since micromanagers are everywhere, you might end up working for another even after you change jobs.

I find this to be a bit like saying that if even your chickenpox is cured, you might just catch measles. True…but conversely, you might end up healthier and more productive than ever. If you need to leave to maintain your sanity, then leave. If you just can’t seem to escape the micromanagement trap even after changing jobs, consider starting your own business, so you never have to worry about being managed again— micro- or otherwise.

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“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.

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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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GO OVER AND ABOVE WHAT’S EXPECTED: BECOME AN INDISPENSIBLE ASSISTANT

1. Identify tasks you are capable of taking over.
Provide a list of tasks to your manager that you believe you are capable of doing. Start with the decisions your manager makes most frequently and repetitively. If she doesn’t like creating PowerPoint presentations or answering her email, maybe that’s something you can pick up for her. Anything she particularly dislikes is a great candidate for you. Doing her expense reports at the end of each trip might be a great way to help out.

Take a look at recurring matters that she handles over and over again. Maybe she is a writer and constantly has to post articles to different blogs. You could learn how to do it and take over any time-consuming details. For example, when I create a video, uploading it on YouTube takes time. Having my assistant take that over for me has been a huge blessing.

Be observant. If there are piles of paper all over her office, coming in and offering a little organizing advice or assistance might be helpful. Or perhaps you can attend a meeting in her place. Perhaps you could type up the meeting notes. If you are comfortable with the content, may you could actually sit in and allow her to work.

Use opportunities like these to use and reinforce your creative talents. Your manager may have no idea that you’re an expert in a particular software package or know a great way to improve a process. You have to speak up with suggestions for improvement.

2. Manage the manager.
The second strategy that I want to share on becoming an indispensible assistant is to manage the manager. That’s right – actually be the manager of your manager. Have a discussion about how you can help your manager be more efficient in scheduling or running her calendar:

Is there a way that we can color code your appointments, so that I know exactly where you are or at which facility? Are you at your office? Are you in your home office? Are you on travel? Is this a phone call?
Do you prefer to have back-to-back meetings or would you rather have me spread them out? How much time in between would you like? Can I sort and process your email?
What about lunch preferences? When you take a client out to lunch, where would you like me to schedule you, depending on the time of the day?
Perhaps you want me to check your voicemail for you and take messages or answer the ones that I know the response for?
Each day I could print out your task list, you could update it and write updates by hand, and each day, I’ll enter the data and print you a fresh copy.

Look into all the ways you’re sharing information and figure out how you can help her manage better, individually and collectively.

3. Have a checklist handy.
The last strategy in becoming an indispensible assistant is to provide a checklist of frequently-needed tasks a few days or weeks prior to a meeting. Have her check off items that are needed either before or after.
For example:

Will you need a rental car? Do you want me to make airline reservations for this trip? How about driving directions? Are you going to need to get from the airport to the hotel to the meeting location and back?
If you’re having a breakfast meeting, where should I schedule it?
Do you have certain notes that you want me to include in this file? Do you need some documents typed up before you go? What copies do you need? Do you need a PowerPoint presentation? Perhaps you need some notes transcribed.
What can I do for you to help you ultimately be the most prepared you can be before you head off on this trip?

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to open my briefcase, get out my travel file, refer to our checklist, and know with 100% certainty that my assistant has everything lined up. Traveling is much less frustrating and less stressful when I arrive.

Hopefully these three tips will help you become an indispensible assistant.

To find out more about The Productivity Pro®, Inc. or have Laura Stack speak at an upcoming meeting or event, please visit at www.theproductivitypro.com.
Make it a productive day! ™

© 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved

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Availability is driven by Activity.

Just as setting valid priorities and goals is important, so is accepting your responsibility in carrying them out. You have to structure your schedule very carefully to ensure that things get done—because if you don’t, other people will be perfectly happy to structure your schedule for you.

Think about it: how many times have you attended a meeting and asked yourself, “Why am I here?” Often, it’s because someone decided you should be—without bothering to consider if that was best for you and your productivity goals.

You have to be willing to protect your time from everyone who wants a piece of it. Among other things, you must learn to say no when appropriate, to delegate, to cancel unnecessary meetings, to let some tasks go, and to eliminate bottlenecks—whatever’s necessary to take back your time and use it the way you need to.

More importantly, you must learn how to leverage technological productivity tools that can lighten your scheduling load. Webinars, teleconferencing, and services like Jott or GoToMeeting can accelerate productivity and streamline your schedule. So can the effective use of organizers and other paper-based methods. The trick is finding which one works best for you, and that takes some experimentation.

Try these tips to hone your Availability toward SuperCompetence:

1. Refuse requests when appropriate. Learn how to say no graciously. Because you’re good at what you do, you’ll always be fielding requests for help and input. It’s human nature to want to please others, but you can’t do it all. There’s no need to be rude, but there are polite ways to avoid being overworked.

2. Set appropriate boundaries. Learn how to protect your time from others. You’re always going to face what I call the six D’s of Interruptions: Deadlines, Disruptions, Dependencies, Discrepancies, Distractions, and Drop-Ins. You can’t let others use any of these to slow down your productivity.

3. Push a task down to the lowest level of responsibility. Trust others to do their jobs; “delegation” is a popular business buzzword for a reason. Don’t waste your time and productivity on tasks other people can do more cheaply. Hand them off to someone else, and let them do their jobs without micromanagement.

4. Schedule your day realistically according to your key activities. While it’s normal to make an effort to accommodate other people’s needs, your own should come first. Learn to manage your time properly, and take control of your own schedule. Don’t let other people do it for you.

5. Weigh the results of attending any meeting against the results you could produce instead. Meetings can take up your entire day if you let them. Instead of dropping everything to attend a meeting, see if you can send a proxy, attend by phone, or just cancel it altogether.

Availability is a loaded word, at least in business terms. It means so much more than just being there—any decent worker can and should be there for their employers, subordinates, and co-workers when they’re needed. SuperCompetent people need to be keenly aware of time management. After all, time isn’t like money, office supplies, or Brussels sprouts: we’ve each got a very limited amount of it, and we’re not going to get any more.

If you say yes to everything someone asks you to do, you’re going to be so overburdened that you won’t be available to people when they need you, except on those rare occasions when you manage to clear a task off your schedule. You require some flexibility, which means that you not only have to learn how to say no to some requests (or creatively negotiate them somewhat), but you also need to learn how to effectively deal with distractions and diversions—from people demanding your time to “helpful” technology that seems to command all your time.

And stop trying to be such a perfectionist! You don’t have to do everything; the idea is to be SuperCompetent, not SuperHuman. Superman’s a fantasy—and even if he wasn’t, you have to remember that he’s supposed to be an alien from another planet, not a human being. Knowing how to delegate and/or outsource tasks whenever you can, and having the wisdom to do so, is a must.

You’ll also need to learn effective scheduling techniques to make life easier for both you and everyone else, and hone them to maximum effectiveness so things don’t get out of hand. The same is true when it comes to meetings. As I’ve said elsewhere, a task will expand to fill the amount of time available; that’s something called Parkinson’s Law (after naval historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson, if you were wondering). Meetings are a prime example of the tendency for that to happen.

You don’t have to let time-stealers eat into your productivity! Stand up, step up, and take back your time!

Make it a productive day! ™

© Copyright 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

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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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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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Everyone has a productivity personality. It’s the collection of strengths, weaknesses, and day-to-day habits that come together to determine how a person works best.

I’ve written often about how important it is to get a handle on your own personal productivity personality, but it’s important that you don’t stop there. After all, most of us depend on others at some point in our day and the individual work styles and attitudes of those around us can have a huge impact on our own ability to get things done.

That’s why I put together a list of the 12 dysfunctional personal productivity personalities. Hopefully this list will help you smile (rather than cringe) the next time a coworker’s bad habits start to drive you up the wall. I’ve also included some thoughts on how to deal with each of these pesky personalities.

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Scrappers. The scrapper’s desk look like a modern art exhibit, covered in scraps of paper and sticky notes. They write important notes on whatever is close at hand, whether it’s a fast food receipt or the back of an envelope (a scrapper’s favorite).

Handling the scrapper: You can’t force scrappers to adopt a comprehensive planning system or put all of those little scraps into Outlook or a BlackBerry (although you could try to coach them). What you can do is make sure that items pertaining to your work don’t get lost in the shuffle. Send follow-up e-mails detailing key meeting take-aways, check in before important deadlines, and never fail to follow up on a delegated task.

2. Pilers. Pilers have a lot in common with scrappers, except it is generally much more difficult to navigate your way through the piler’s office. They keep everything and file nothing. There will be boxes on the floor and every inch of desk space will be occupied by stacks of paper, generally piled up to the point that an archeologist could use them to figure out what the piler has been working on for the last five years.

Handling the piler: The best thing you can do for the piler is simple: don’t add anything to the piles. Chances are that any document, book, or report that you put in the piler’s hands is going to end up in heap someplace, where it is probably as good as gone. Never hand your only hard copy over to a piler unless you are ready to kiss it goodbye. Also, be sure to set clear deadlines. Their idea of giving something a high priority is placing it on their (generally largest) “immediate attention” stack. Don’t ask them to do something “right away,” ask them to do it by a specific date.

3. Multi-taskers. Multi-taskers always have a thousand things going on at once and generally take pride in it. They flit from task to task, getting many things started but few things completed. And they often appear frazzled, overwhelmed, and scattered.

Handling the multi-tasker: Always use caution when working with a multi-tasker. He or she will rarely admit that they don’t have the capacity to take on another task and can easily become distracted by competing priorities. Always double-check, very directly, with multi-taskers to make sure that they can and will do what is expected in an agreed-upon timeframe.

4. Interrupters. “Gotta minute?” It’s practically the interrupter’s catch phrase. They will constantly show up at your desk, interrupting your day and derailing your train of thought. Their interruptions are sometimes trivial and sometimes relevant, but almost always ill-timed.

Handling the interrupter: You have to be honest on this one. If someone asks if you have a minute, don’t be afraid to tell them you don’t. The more cautiously you guard your own time, the more others will begin thinking twice before asking for it needlessly. A polite response to an interruption is to simply point out that no, you don’t have any time right now but would be happy to meet later in the day if needed. Beyond that, a simple “Do Not Disturb” sign can go a long way – just don’t abuse it.

5. Procrastinators. Some people seem clinically incapable of doing anything before the last possible moment. They start things with just enough time to squeeze them in before the deadline. You’ll also notice that procrastinators tend to put off high-value (often challenging) tasks in favor of more pleasant, less critical ones.

Handling the procrastinator: Don’t let a procrastinator drag your project team down. The best way to get out ahead of a procrastinator is to plan in advance and evaluate results on an ongoing basis, not just when the work is done. If your procrastinator is expected to deliver a weekly progress report, they’ll be more likely to stay on track. Of course, you should probably steer clear immediately before your meeting. That will be crunch time.

6. Socializers. Socializers waste inordinate amounts of time chatting with coworkers and keeping up with the personal lives of everyone at the office. They’re great at planning the company party, but tend to fall short in other ways.

Handling the socializer: Socializers do what they do because they get something out of it – interaction, stress relief, distraction from work, whatever. If you don’t have anything along those lines to offer, they’ll lost interest in you pretty quickly. You just need to be sure not to play along. If you’re in the habit of nodding your head and smiling while others talk your ear off, then you are part of the problem. Politely point out that you are trying to keep your day on track and need to get back to what you were doing.

7. Meeting addicts. Some people apparently just love to call meetings. Maybe they really enjoy the setting and the interaction or maybe it honestly has never occurred to them that it is possible to get things done without putting half the department around a conference table. Either way, the result is a lot of time wasted by everyone involved.

Handling the meeting addict: First of all, don’t be afraid to decline a meeting when it’s appropriate to do so. Simply state that you don’t feel your presence is needed and ask that you be kept in the loop on any important outcomes that might affect your work. Second, don’t be afraid to suggest an alternative to a meeting. When you get the request, simply call the organizer to ask if the matter could be handled by e-mail or conference call. In fact, you might be able to resolve the issue on the spot and save everyone a lot of time and disruption.

8. Crisis creators. We’ve all been there. A lack of planning by one person leads to a crisis for everyone else. Even minor issues are exaggerated into a full-blown disaster and everyone involved ends up feeling stressed and drained as a result. Crisis creators seem to always be fighting fires and coworkers are often dragged into the fray.

Handling the crisis creator: Unfortunately, we often have to step in and help fight fires even if they aren’t our fault. If a certain individual is constantly working in crisis mode, it is important that you don’t play into the drama. Keep a cool head and don’t get overly stressed. Then, once the crisis is resolved, insist on a debriefing meeting to figure out what went wrong. Once crisis creators realize that problems aren’t going to be forgotten once the crisis is over, they’ll be more inclined to stay out of trouble in the first place.

9. E-mailers. They send an e-mail for everything. It doesn’t matter how simple or how complicated an issue is, an e-mail message is the answer. They never use the phone, they never walk across the hall to deliver a ten-word message, and they usually LOVE the “Reply All” button.

Handling the e-mailer: Usually you won’t have much luck influencing the e-mail habits of a colleague, although you can specifically request the recipients do NOT Reply to All but respond to you directly instead. What you CAN do is set clear expectations concerning your own use of e-mail. If you only check your messages a few times each day, tell people that so they don’t expect you to treat Outlook like an instant messaging service. People are generally pragmatic about things and if e-mail isn’t a good way to get a response from you, they’ll stop using it for everything.

10. Packrats. Packrats have never thrown anything away in their professional lives. They don’t worry about the company’s records retention policy, because they retain everything, no matter what. They are often overwhelmed by their own treasure trove of obsolete documents, but will come in handy if you ever need to take a look at the final report from that project that was cancelled in 1986.

Handling the packrat: Packrats are sometimes highly organized creatures, but are often more worried about the thickness of their project files than they are about what’s inside. Never trust a packrat to manage priorities or to take away the key points from any given interaction. Be direct about what you need from them so you don’t end up with a ton of unnecessary research or extraneous background information. Just the facts, please.

11. Perfectionists. By insisting on doing everything perfectly, perfectionists generally fail to accomplish much at all. They can never finish, because it “can always be better.” They work hard, but complete little. Perfectionists keep meticulous meeting notes, promise the world during planning sessions, and often seem to crack up just as the project is coming together.

Handling the perfectionist: When you are working with a perfectionist, it’s a good idea to plan for frequent touch points throughout the project. Rather than expecting to reconvene at the end, schedule several synch-up meetings along the way. Define the level of expectation and the exact deliverables. This will help keep the perfectionist working in manageable (if imperfect) chunks and also give the person a chance to dazzle you with little presentations throughout the project. Perfectionists just love that.

12. Workaholics. The workaholic works an 80 hour week and never misses an opportunity to remind you of it. Puzzling, though, is the fact that they seem to accomplish less than others working half the hours. The workaholic typically has no boundaries between work and home life.

Handling the workaholic: Remember that to a workaholic, “end of day” does not mean five o’clock. Usually, it means “before tomorrow.” When you are expecting something from a workaholic, keep in mind that you will likely see an e-mail roll in at 10:45 p.m. Also remember that there is no sense of urgency to a workaholic. Since they plan to be working into the evening anyway, they tend to waste time during normal business hours. You can subtlety nudge them in your direction by saying things such as “I’d like to have that by three o’clock so that I can be out the door on time tonight.”

I have no doubt that at least a few of these 12 dysfunctional productivity personalities will have you smiling and thinking of someone you work with. But also keep in mind that each of us has a little of one or more of these personalities in us as well. So as we work to deal better with our chronically troublesome coworkers, we should also be willing to improve on our own little areas of personal dysfunction. Now THAT is productivity improvement!

What dysfunctional personality styles would you add?

Make it a productive day! ™

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

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