Productivity Planner

The Secret states that what you focus on you will receive more of. Right now you could cut the negativity with a knife. I am so inspired when I hear fellow business owners say they are choosing not to participate in this recession. There are many opportunities right now if you are open to seeing them. With various competitors going out of business these customers are shopping around for their products and services. How many sales calls do you make and they say I am already using someone. Maybe not anymore.

Take this time to pump up your productivity. Many of us have heard of project management but think of it as a manufacturing or construction discipline. Lets look at some of the components in terms of an office environment. You can increase your profits and reduce your costs just by being organized. This is done through increased productivity within the same time span.

Look at how you and your employees are processing the workflow. You can map out your workflow using what is called a Work Breakdown Structure. A great example of this is from the book “Fundamentals of Project Management” by James P Lewis. To view an example visit Wikipedia and look up Work breakdown structure.

What is fantastic about this diagram is it is a visual representation of what needs to happen and an estimated time it should take. This give you the ability to see everything laid out in one place. So what types of questions should you be asking once you create this for your workflow?

1. Is the actual time I am estimating correct? If not, why and what do I need to change? Is it an accurate estimate?

2. Who is performing what functions in the workflow?

3. Should something be delegated to someone else? If yes, then who is the best person for the job?

4. If you change the order of the steps will this increase your efficiency?

5. Are there an [Read more →]

Tags: , , Leadership, Inspiration, Management, Organizational Culture by Chris Russell
No Comments »

In the ‘old days,’ if you wrote a letter to someone or even typed a letter on a typewriter and no copy was ever made, then if that letter was destroyed, you could assume that all evidence of that letter had vanished. Once letters began to be written on computers, then there was at least a partial sense that even if it had been ‘deleted,’ it could still be discovered on a hard drive or a backup tape or disk.

BUT, enter the age of ‘emailed’ letters, if you can even call them that - and prudent people know that proper and professional emails are the ONLY type to send. This is not just because it’s polite and appropriate, but because once it’s in an email and is sent, then it will NEVER disappear. Ever. Get it? The purpose of this article isn’t explaining the technology behind the ‘foreverness’ of your emails, but rather to provide tips and tools to make sure that if your emails appeared on the front page of a newspaper, you’d have nothing for which to be ashamed or embarrassed.

Tip #1: Reply or compose with respect. Email is a fascinating and really, a new, medium of communication. Sometimes people write in particular ways in their emails and it is difficult to determine the tone with which they are writing and/or their intent. Remember thatanything you put in an email is readableby anybody else. Never put anything in an email you aren’t comfortable with having other people read, because potentially they will unless you encrypt your messages - and even then, it is probably possible for it to be ‘unencrypted.’Maybe, sometimes you write something and then stop and think,”Hmmm.That was a catty or unnecessary remark” and then wisely remove the statement or even delete the entire email. If you are not replying with respect, then be aware that whatever you are writing is now permanent and you never know where it is going to end [Read more →]

Tags: , , Leadership, Inspiration, Management, Organizational Culture by Chris Russell
No Comments »

Success is NOT determined by talent. If you live long enough you will at some time look at a talented, intelligent person, shake you head and say “what a waste”. Success is not determined by hard work. Good work ethic and the consistent application to the tasks at hand are important for success. But it is NOT the laborers, construction workers or farmers who control the wealth in any nation.

Success is about having big goals that are worth achieving and then taking control of the sequence of events that lead to the efficient and effective attainment of those goals.

The secret to the productivity of every important person in our time is an effective time management system; A ’system’ by which you manage yourself so that you are able to accomplish that which you most desire to achieve in your life time or the current phase of your life.

Here are seven proven strategies guaranteed to help you increase performance and productivity in your professional and personal life. I have tried to sequence them for maximum effectiveness, but feel free to try them in any order that works best for you.

1. Think It And Ink It

Decide what your want and write it down. What do you really want to achieve in your business and/or life; one week from now, one month from now, one year from now. Just decide and write it down. Have some 3 year goals, some I year goals. Now how about The 52 goals that you will achieve every week this year that will feed into your on year

2. Make A Plan

Look at what you say you want to accomplish by the end of this year

What would that accomplishment look like?

What would that accomplishment FEEL like? What must occur just before realization? What must have to occur before that point? Work in steps back to the present.

Now make a project out of that plan.

What can you do alone, what resourc [Read more →]

Tags: , , Leadership, Inspiration, Management, Organizational Culture by Chris Russell
No Comments »