Productive Teleconferencing: Planning, Process, and Protocol

Make it a productive day! ™

US 4th-Qtr Productivity Rises at 2.1% Rate; Costs Rise 1.3%. Bloomberg - USA. Productivity, a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work, grew at a 1.3 percent annual rate in the previous three months. -more-

Microsoft Office Personal Productivity Challenge
Take the Microsoft Office Personal Productivity Challenge. See how your productivity stacks up. -more-

Pardon the interruption, but it tends to happen at work. Wisconsin State Journal - Madison, WI, USA. Do intrusions, such as unscheduled personal visits or phone calls, always detracting from time management? -more-

More companies find fitness programs raise productivity. Boston Globe - Boston, MA, USA. Are fitness centers a good investment in disease prevention and workforce productivity? -more-

Save the Dates for Our Next Public Seminar!
Presented by Laura Stack, MBA, CSP (in person)

Dates: September 7 & 8, 2005
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Location: The Bridge Center, Lone Tree Colorado

September 7
"Planning and Conducting Productive Meetings: Making the Time Count!"

Meetings, meetings, meetings! Where minutes are taken and hours are wasted. Today's managers and professionals spend so much time attending them...you'd think most would be trained in how to plan and run them. Not so. Most meetings frustrate employees, because agendas aren't distributed, objectives aren't defined, time runs over, and no decisions are made. Another two hours of your day down the drain! This course gives people who call meetings the requisite skills to plan and execute a productive meeting, and follow-up properly afterward. It also provides the protocols necessary to keep a meeting on the right track, even if you're just attending. You will learn to achieve the objectives of the meeting, in a minimum amount of time, in a way that's satisfying to all participants.

September 8
"Project Management for the Rest of Us: Secrets for Productive Goal Setting and Planning"

Whether you are remodeling your basement, coordinating a social event, or managing a new software release, the competencies and skills of project management are the same. Everyone manages projects at least part-time. In fact, many people in an organization do not have a job; rather, they pursue a number of projects. This course will help you carry out your projects productively with proper planning, scheduling, and monitoring. The complex tools you've heard about in project management are refreshingly absent. The process is simple, and the tools presented do not presume any prior knowledge of the subject. Questionnaires, checklists, and worksheets are provided.

Tuition: Your investment for each workshop is only $295 per or $245 when enrolling three or more individuals for the same workshop. A $100 discount will be given for the second day if you enroll in both seminars.

Registration: On-line registration is preferred. Or you can print the enrollment form and fax it to 303-471-7402 with credit card information. You can also mail a check made out to The Productivity Pro® to 9948 S. Cottoncreek Drive, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130. You will receive a written confirmation of your enrollment. -Register Here-

Participant Materials
You will receive the text Leave the Office Earlier (written by Laura Stack and published by Broadway Books) and a workbook for use as a job aid and reference manual.

No Substitution or Cancellation Fees
Participant substitutions are permitted at any time prior to the workshop. If cancellation occurs ten or more business days prior to the workshop, a full refund is available. If you cancel fewer than ten business days prior to the workshop, we will gladly issue a full credit for future public or in-house workshops.

Other Information:
† To keep costs down and accommodate dietary needs, participants will purchase their own meals. Beverages will be provided.
† You will walk away with your own self-improvement action plan.
† Format includes lecture, small group, large group, role-play, individual exercises, partnering work, and quizzes.
† Dress is business casual. We recommend you bring a sweater or light jacket due to room temperature fluctuations.

Q: Laura, I anticipate your monthly newsletters every month. You spoke at a South Dakota USDA Rural Development State meeting a few years ago. I have become a fan of planners that I carry with me. Now I am contemplating purchasing a PDA. I struggle with the portability of a PDA, if I had it in my pocket, maybe I would have all the information I need at my fingertips. I like the paper planner, but it is not always easy to keep with me. Right now I have my work calendar, as a water, sewer and business loan / grant specialist for the state office, my personal life, which includes being president of Habitat for Humanity locally, and also a member of a state Habitat for Humanity committee, Boy Scout Master, Power of Attorney and manager of personal and business affairs for my aunt, 4 children, one on her own, 2 in college, and one at home, and the normal stuff we try to keep track of. I would be interested in your thoughts on this subject. Thank you!

Patrick H.
Business Programs Specialist

A: Great question, Patrick!

Many, many different options exist for tracking your appointments and to-do items. To determine whether to use a paper or electronic system (or a combination of both), you must fundamentally decide two things:

1. Which methods you prefer; your predisposition; your personality
2. How you work; where you work; what you need

Personality and preferences

Fundamentally, you must first decide if you're a paper or an electronic person, because your decisions will largely be dictated by this choice. Paper people, forced to use PDAs and electronic gadgets, get extremely frustrated. Electronic people will pass out at the mere suggestion that you print out an email.

It doesn't have to be all or none; it's possible to use a combination approach. PDAs are great if you need to retrieve client phone numbers from the road, access large documents (without the bulk), or send yourself reminders. Paper systems are better for reviewing a monthly calendar, taking notes at meetings, or planning projects.
Bottom line, if you are a paper person and your organization forces you to use Outlook to allow others to schedule meetings with you, comply, but reenter the information on your planner pages, rather than forcing yourself to be a grumpy electronic person who fights with their a machine each day. Go ahead and note your commitments in Outlook if you have to, but copy them or print out the pages to store in your planner if you prefer to carry that with you. If forcing yourself to use something you hate makes you not use it at all, I would absolutely recommend double entry back to your paper system. I do it. I can beat you hands-down finding something using my paper system versus an electronic tool. Not that I'm against them; I just don't prefer it for myself. I like a written to-do list and a visual view of my monthly appointments, so I stick with the planner.

Work location and need

I created a quiz for you that might help you determine whether you are a "paper" or "electronic" person and which time management methods might be best for you:

Answer Yes or No: circle the corresponding letter	YES	NO
1. Do you work primarily at a fixed-office desk?	A	B
2. Are you constantly on the go?	B	A
3. Do you print your email?	A	B
4. Do you enjoy using Outlook-based calendaring?	B	A
5. Do you take a lot of notes in meetings and on the phone?	A	B
6. Do you need a relatively inexpensive time management system?	A	B
7. Do you need the ability to immediately glance at your complete monthly calendar?	A	B
8. Do you ever run out of room in the A-Z tabs?	B	A
9. Does your work require quick access to thousands of names, phone numbers, and addresses?	B	A
10. Do you need to be able to access your email while traveling?	B	A
11. Do you travel infrequently?	A	B
12. Does double entry make you crazy?	A	B
13. Are you comfortable having no back-up system if you lose it?	A	B
14. Do you dislike re-writing to-do lists?	B	A
15. Do you run out of room to write to-do lists?	B	A
16. Do you carry papers around with you to meetings?	A	B
17. Do you want to carry something small and lightweight?	B	A
18. Do you carry around confidential information?	B	A

Scoring

Number of A responses: _____________________

Number of B responses: _____________________

If you had more "A" responses, you tend to lean more towards paper and Franklin Covey-type planners. If you had more "B" responses, you demonstrate a higher need for electronic systems, software, and PDAs. If you're basically tied, you could probably benefit from a hybrid system, like using a paper calendar and carrying a SmartPhone to retrieve your email while on the road.

Feel free to create your own customized system that best meets your needs and fits your personality. Your organizing needs are as unique as you are! Experiment with different techniques and tools. Don't purchase the latest gadget just to "keep up." Stick with what works for YOU.