Posts tagged as:

productivity

Tripwire Removal

by Steven M. Smith

I have rules. You have rules. Teams have rules.
Rules trip up both individuals and teams causing unintended consequences.
We learn rules about such things as what we can do, what we can question, and what we can say.
A rule dictates behavior. But when transformed into a guide, it enables you to choose appropriate behavior.
Let’s explore three [...]

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Stop that Mole Now

by Steven M. Smith

Do you have a mole undermining the work of your team? Someone who constantly complains privately to any teammate who will listen but refuses to bring that same complaint publicly to the team? Someone whose actions are destroying teamwork?
A mole erodes productivity. Stop that mole now.

A team is like a garden. A good gardener manages [...]

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Organizing the Team

by Steven M. Smith

Workshop
When you are a member of team, what hopes do you have for productivity? My hope is for synergy, by which I mean team productivity that is clearly superior to what the sum of the individual members’ productivity might have been working separately.
Productive teamwork — that’s the desire. But how do you organize the team [...]

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Safer Conversations with Management

by Steven M. Smith

You have what you believe is an important thought to share with management. You’re concerned though that management may dislike your message. How do you assess how safe it is to share your thought with management?
It’s certainly perilous if management regularly scowls, aims their finger at you and fires words such as: “You have no [...]

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The Art of the Discovery Interview

by Steven M. Smith

“What?” raced through Janet’s head as she read the email. “Now that’s a surprise.”
The message was from Jack Johnson, vice president of development. It said she would receive a meeting request from Rajan Alak, an outside consultant, to interview her about the problems with the new system. The message went on to say the company [...]

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Full Time Pay for Half Time Work?

by Steven M. Smith

Albert, without fail, has exceeded all of his production objectives for the past five years. He is a top performer who produces high-quality results. Colleagues like him. Clients adore him. But Albert never works more than 20 hours per week. That’s less than one-half the amount of time his colleague’s work.
Albert receives a [...]

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Office Hoteling

by Steven M. Smith

What is office hoteling? Why is the practice spreading? What are the unintended consequences of its usage?
Office hoteling changes the traditional model for how office space is used. Rather than assign permanent office space to each employee, hoteling is a system for assigning just-in-time temporary office space to employees. The hoteling systems I’ve experienced allowed [...]

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Communication Is Like Breathing

by Steven M. Smith

“Communication is to personal health, satisfactory interpersonal relationships, and productivity as breathing is to life. Effective communication can be both taught and learned. We were not born with the way we communicate. We learned it, mostly through modeling, in ways no one even knew or intended.”
–Virginia Satir (family therapy pioneer)
For a tip on breathing better [...]

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Safety Check

by Steven M. Smith

You have heard repeatedly that an agenda is a vital ingredient to a successful meeting. But little is ever heard about safety in meetings—the environmental variable that determines whether people participate or merely observe. How do you measure safety? What actions are available to leaders for creating a safe meeting environment?
First published in the Jan [...]

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Measure ROTI

by Steven M. Smith

How can you quickly measure the Return on Time Invested (ROTI) by the participants of a meeting?
Have the participants rate their personal ROTI during the meeting using the following scale:
4. Superb: I learned something that will save me significant time.
3. Positive: I learned something that will save me time.
2. Balanced: I broke even.
1. Negative: [...]

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