There are some board-level people metrics that are sometimes labeled as productivity metrics but are probably better understood as administrative bloat … Read more
Are You Guilty of Enabling the Creeps?
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good … Read more
Make the ‘Summer Slump’ Less of a Productivity Suck
Summer slump: A period during the summer in which a person is less productive that can negatively impact business operations. Often a consequence of … Read more
Your Long-Term Planning Needs to Be Short-Term
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your … Read more
Stop Sending Email No One Reads
Note: The following is based on research done for Faster, Fewer, Better Emails, which is scheduled to be released June 18. In a recent survey conducted by … Read more
Five Productivity Mistakes to Avoid
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee, Chinese actor and martial artist Mistakes are the inevitable … Read more
Are You Really Going to Do Everything on Your To-Do List?
As an experienced professional, you may think you know your way around a to-do list, but do you really? Possibly you’ve gotten a bit off track. Is that … Read more
3 Ways to Regain Control of Your Day
You may have great instincts — a knack for spotting talent, a drive for self-improvement, and a talent for empowering people — but unless you … Read more
Pilot Your Program the ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ Way
“Ready, fire, aim. Do it! Make it happen! Action counts. No one ever sat on their way to success.” – Tom Peters, American business writer In the business … Read more
HR Roundtable: What Do You Do When It’s the Boss Who Wastes Everyone’s Time?
The September (Cincinnati) HR Roundtable had a bit of a tongue in cheek topic based on an article from The Wall Street Journal: “How Bosses Waste … Read more
Here’s a 4-Step Recovery Plan for Meeting Addiction
We have a love-hate relationship with meetings. Most of us want to get rid of them — they drive frustration and waste our time. However, when we don’t … Read more
How Productivity Analytics Tools Are Making a Difference
Imagine my surprise when I started receiving emails from Microsoft last summer that included descriptions of my Office 365 activity, like how much time I … Read more
The Good, the Bad and the Not-So-Ugly Reality of Group Chat in the Workplace
Email may be the veteran of communication in the workplace, but rookie platforms for instantaneous group chat, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, have … Read more
How to Overcome 5 of the Worst Hits to Productivity
Productivity at its most basic, signifies the rate of output per unit of input. The phrase echoes an era where people were seen as elements in a production … Read more
What Your Suitcase Says About How You Manage Time
You can tell a lot about people based on how they manage their time. The ones who are notoriously late are the same people who are consistently a dollar … Read more
The Secret to Productivity May Be Air Conditioning
Call them dinosaur-brains or Neanderthals, there are people in every business who live to make us miserable. They aren’t necessarily actively toxic, but … Read more
Put Away the Phone. Leave the Office and Start Meeting the People Who Do the Work
Note: The following is an excerpt from the author’s new book, When Leadership Improves, Everyone Wins. Realize that as leaders, we are signal … Read more
Is Happiness the Secret to Engagement?
Note: This article is part of an occasional series dedicated to exploring the contribution of human capital assets (people!) to the valuation of a … Read more
The Productivity Advice HR Professionals Should Ignore
Google “productivity advice,” and you’ll see thousands of articles offering tips on how to get more done in a day at the office. Almost every single one of … Read more
Being Smart Isn’t Enough to Succeed
Note: This article is part of an occasional series dedicated to exploring the contribution of human capital assets (people!) to the valuation of a … Read more