Staying Productive at Work



Yesterday, Geekwire.com posted an article on 7 tips to make yourself more efficient right now. I thought it was great. As a person who needs to motivate myself to get everything on my plate done, taking new tips and ideas to add to my personal style is always helpful. Here are my favorites:

Do your most important 1-2 tasks/projects FIRST every day (before email and voicemail) - if you know there is a deadline, wait to open up that email (unless you know there's an email about the project and then only open that email). You'll lose time in responding to requests and continue to push back more important jobs. I make hand written lists each day to make sure I'm prioritizing.

Set a morning “Daily Do” reminder - similar to my "Must Do" list, a Daily Do list is a great reminder for things that need to get done. I like Geekwire's example:
*Check Facebook for birthdays, and wish people a happy birthday first-thing
*Check Klout for notifications, and give a handful of people I know “+K” for their expertise
*Check my online spam filter (via Postini) for anything important I may have missed yesterday
*Check LinkedIn and Gist for other important updates across my network, and comment back as necessary
*Scan yesterday’s schedule, and send thank you notes (email or hand-written) as necessary
*Ensure all to-do’s captured yesterday have been filed and prioritized (either today or for later)
*Confirm my priorities and to-do list for today, and ensure I have every resource necessary to get them done
*Confirm today’s meetings (including sending a confirmation email if necessary)
*Prepare for today’s meetings (including any documents I’ll need there, any homework I needed to complete, etc.)

Use the two-minute rule - from their article, "Each time a new email arrives in your inbox, ask yourself: “Can I respond to this in two minutes or less?” If so, then respond right away! Don’t click or open another message just to read it. Be diligent and respond to the message you have open quickly before moving on". Too true!

And finally - Carry idea capture tools with you at all times. As soon as I get my new phone, I am downloading this app from Dial2Do. If you think of an idea while driving or away from your computer (or handy dandy notebook), you can leave a message to yourself that sends an email directly to your account, thus not forgetting this great idea! We do so much, how easy is it to forget something cool you randomly thought up?

Another great article to check out is from askmen.com's 11 Ways to be More Productive at Work. From planning phone calls and leaving at a specific time to streamlining recurring tasks, this one can definitely help you prioritize your tasks.

~Kendal

Sustainability and the Office

As our work environments continue to expand and grow into mobile, global, interconnected spaces, it is now a great time to reestablish your commitment to the environment. The products you use may be greener, the companies you work with are going greener, and many people who want to use your goods or services may make final decisions based on your sustainable practices.

Wisegeek wisely writes, "In environmental terms, sustainability implies that an action can be continued indefinitely with little, or manageable, impact on the environment. Because the health of the environment is closely linked with the health of society in general, sustainable practices ensure that the Earth's resources will be available for future generations to enjoy, and that there will be an Earth to enjoy them on. For this reason, many companies focus on sustainability, either as consultants to other companies or as part of their corporate mission". Wanting to give back where possible should be the mission. Here are a few things to consider:

1. Make sure everyone is turning off the computers, monitors, lights, printers and copiers when not in the office (or at your desk)

2. Have power strips or surge protectors with on-off switch throughout the office

3. Have recycling bins near your copier / printer

4. Use paper that is 100% recycled, 30% post consumer

5. Try to go as paperless as possible

6. When purchasing new computers, buy EPEAT certified or items that are Energy Star rated

Check out this PDF for more tips (created for an educational institution) or here for more tips (created for the office).

Additionally, how do your city and state rank on going green?Not to brag, but I live in the number 1 city in the USA - apparently we are highly educated on the sustainable movement and it's practices. Check out the list from Grist here. Oddly enough, Washington State is number 17 on the US national list. Those guys in Vermont are definitely doing something right! See where your state falls here.

Have anything special that your office does? How do you stay accountable? Let us know in the comments below!

~ Kendal

Inspirational Quotes for the Workplace

This guy needs a little color in his space
and maybe one of these quotes frames!

Some days, work can really drag. I personally am a big proponent of positive reinforcement and motivation to keep morale high and moving forward in the workplace. It's true that different personality types need different types of management styles, but as a whole, constantly being put down will most likely do more harm than good. In that respect, I give you some great quotes for the workplace!

Attitude
"A positive attitude may not solve every problem but it makes solving any problem a more pleasant experience". Grant Fairley

"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses". Zig Ziglar

"Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same". Francesca Reigler

Procrastinating
"Stop procrastinating. Take control of your own destiny. Understand yourself in order to better understand others. Visualize it. Want it more than anything. ‘Excellerate’ your efforts. You are unique of all God's creations, nothing can replace YOU. Zero in on your target and go for it!" Wanda Hope Carter

Teamwork
"There are few, if any, jobs in which ability alone is sufficient. Needed, also, are loyalty, sincerity, enthusiasm and team play." --William B. Given, Jr.

Truth
"Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love." --David McCullough

"Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.” --David Rockefeller

"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it." --Pearl Buck

For more quotes, check out this site and this site.

~ Kendal

The Interconnected Workplace: are you ready?

Yesterday, B&OI had the pleasure of receiving training from Libby - a Steelcase brand manager who has great presentation style and a whole lot of energy! Of the 2 presentations, the one I found extremely interesting was on the interconnected workspaces and how ready people and offices are to evolve/adapt to the changing times. Here are a few figures I pulled from the pptx presentation that I found interesting. Note: Steelcase spends years researching different concepts and trends and creates White Papers on topics like this - visit their white papers site at http://360.steelcase.com/. 

Global integration: "Capitalizing on the collective intelligence of global teams is a top priority, and 80% of organizations feel they need to collaborate more, but 78% say they struggle to effectively connect their workplace"

Creativity: "CEOs in the IBM research (2010) ranked Creativity as the most important leadership quality, just ahead of integrity and global thinking". 

Favorite Quote: "Acceleration is Accelerating" - Steelcase Workspace Futures: "Lengthy planning cycles have been replaced with clear plans and strategies that are nimble and responsive. Organizations need to promote a mindset of being fast and flexible: Act Quickly. Make decisions when you “know enough” and resist the urge to wait until you “know it all.”

Mobile: "Skype wanted to understand workers who are “remote” or who are mobile outside of the office and what they found is that 62% of businesses have remote workers, and of their total workforce 34% work away from the office, but as you can see they’re out of the office 40% of the time – which means that 60% of the time they are in their workplace".

Quotes were taken from the training power point and should be credited to Steelcase's research. The facts and figures were all based off of additional studies and seem to be the direction that things are moving. So what do you think? Is the place you work ahead of the game or waaaay back at the starting line?