The work 4 days a week get paid for 5 productivity experiment

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“What we’ve done is offer our employees a more flexible arrangement whereby they can have an extra day off if they can demonstrate the same level of productivity in that time, without any change to their wages” – Andrew Barnes

Imagine working 4 days a week but getting paid for 5. It’d be a dream job, wouldn’t it? Well, that’s what Perpetual Guardian (a New Zealand company) just successfully trialled. Could this possible at your workplace?

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An empty inbox shouldn’t be aspirational for everyone!

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“A rigid, one-size-fits-all approach usually ends up fitting no one” – Patrick Lencioni

Every time management course I ever attended expounded the virtues of an empty inbox. I must admit that’s how I operate my work email account. However, just because I manage my email that way doesn’t mean everyone who I consult to should do the same. In fact, maintaining an empty inbox should not be aspirational for everyone.

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The simplest way to make progress and reduce overwhelm

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“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one” - Mark Twain

We’re usually distracted by what’s not done. Have you noticed a sense of relief when you clear the backlog of outstanding work? An efficient workflow is such an important part of being able to consistently work effectively. Does the way you work enable you to make progress? Or are your work methods increasing the level of overwhelm?

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Get rid of the irrelevant time wasters

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“Wasting time is robbing oneself” – Estonian proverb

If you’re like me then you have so many opportunities with what you do with the available hours each day and week. When I reflect on how the days roll into weeks and the weeks into months, I find it’s important not to waste time because there is so much to do and so much I want to do. Well, I have a confession to make. I don’t have much patience for people who unnecessarily waste my time. What or who are wasting your time?

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Does the way you work enable your best work?

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“When I perform, I'm just very much just being myself” – India Arie

We have our likes, dislikes, preferences, even obsessions. Well, I’m obsessed with helping people work effectively. My passion comes from experiencing what was essentially a breakdown in 2006 caused by working relentless long hours but ineffectively. My whole world changed when I learnt that by working smarter I could be more effective in less time. I’m in a position where every week I meet workers who limit their success and job satisfaction due to the way they work. Does the way you work enable you to consistently produce your best work?

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Do you plan and schedule for success or failure?

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“Plan your work and work your plan” - Napoleon Hill

I knew planning and scheduling were issues faced by many workers, but never in my wildest dreams did I realise it was to this magnitude. After recently writing Your schedule doesn’t replace the need to plan so many people have bravely contacted me to share their challenges. Do you plan and schedule for success or failure?

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A 12-year study found CEO’s need to make meetings shorter and more effective

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“When leaders know how to lead great meetings, there's less time wasted and less frustration. We have more energy to do the work that matters, realize our full potential, and do great things” - Justin Rosenstein

​​​​​​​An organisations culture is heavily influenced by those in leadership roles. How CEO’s run meetings permeate throughout the layers of the organisation. A 12-year study revealed that meetings are an even bigger issue than the business community realises. In short, CEO’s need to make meetings shorter and more effective.

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Your schedule doesn’t replace the need to plan

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“A plan is what, a schedule is when. It takes both a plan and a schedule to get things done” – Peter Turla

There’s a big difference between planning and scheduling. It’s not effective to do one without the other. A plan without a schedule isn’t specific enough. Whereas, a schedule without a plan is too detailed and short-term focused. Scheduling when you intend to take action doesn’t replace the need for planning. Instead, it increases it.

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Are you resisting the opportunity to work smarter?

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“What got you here won’t get you there” — Marshall Goldsmith

How we work is engrained. We default to what seems natural each day but especially so during busy periods or when pressure is at its highest. It sounds good in theory but it's not for the workers who have ineffective work methods. Are you resisting the opportunity to work smarter?

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How to stop wasting time at work

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“You either waste, spend or invest time. Make your choice wisely” - Sunday Adelaja

How much time do you waste at work? Come on be honest, whether it’s on purpose or by accident, you’ll be wasting some time each week. If you’re not, then you’re in the minority because according to a Forbes study, 89% of people waste time at work. What can be done to limit the amount of time wasted?

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Meeting actions – do you negotiate or blindly accept?

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“You can do anything, but not everything” – David Allen

I didn’t realise what a can of worms I was opening when I decided to write some blogs on meetings!!! (See Elon Musk’s 3 rules on meetings, Do this after every meeting and How to make status meetings more effective). Feedback has ranged from being thanked for providing pragmatic tips through to detailed questions on how to run better meetings. There’s one theme though that’s stirred the emotions more than anything else and that’s: “How do I to stop overcommitting during meetings when my manager is allocating tasks I don’t think I can achieve in the expected timeframe, but before you know it I've said yes.”

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How to make status meetings more effective

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“Actions speak louder than meetings” - Lee Clow

Ineffective meetings that don’t drive decisions are a waste of time. This is especially true with status meetings. Sure, the team needs awareness of the issues and progress of key initiatives but having key resources just talk about what they’ve been up to is inefficient when it doesn’t lead discussion on the most important points. Is there another way to hold meetings more effectively?

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Do this after every meeting

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"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself" - Henry Ford

How often have you attended a meeting and the energy is sucked out of the room when it’s discovered that agreed actions from the previous meeting weren’t done? It happens a lot, doesn’t it? Whoever missed the deadline apologies, explains how busy they were and then commits they’ll get it done by the next meeting. This has a big bearing on the success, tone and culture of meetings.

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When you don't have enough time to do it all

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“Unnatural work produces too much stress” – Bhagavad Gita

A familiar theme for middle and senior managers is a feeling of not having enough hours in the day to get everything done. The sentiment is exasperated even more when their manager above or direct reports aren’t helping much or supportive. The result is stress, poor sleep and a lack of enjoyment in the job. What do you do when you don’t have enough time to do it all?

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Elon Musk’s 3 rules on meetings

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“The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings” - Thomas Sowell

The #1 complaint busy workers tell me a major impediment is to getting their work done is due to the amount of time consumed attending meetings. That shouldn’t surprise as it’s widely reported how white-collar workers typically attend an average of 61.8 meetings per month with at least 50% of meeting time is wasted. How do the best deal with so many meetings?

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Don’t overlook how these block clarity and focus

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“Clarity affords focus” - Thomas Leonard

Workers find it hard to be successful in their role when they don’t have clarity and focus. While there are many reasons that can cause workers to lose clarity, there are common work method issues that aren’t necessarily hard to resolve once you understand the negative impact they have.

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Level of seniority has nothing to do with productivity

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“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” - Charles Darwin

It’s incorrectly assumed that senior managers are more productive than the people who work for them. While a manager might be the absolute best candidate for their specific job, title bears no correlation to a level of personal productivity. In fact, many senior managers are so busy that they’ve fallen into unproductive habits. When this happens it’s critically important to improve personal productivity to unlock the individual to drive targeted business outcomes.

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The simple secret high achievers do differently

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“Guard your time fiercely. Be generous with it but be intentional about it.” – David Duchemin

High achievers drive outcomes and exceed targets on a consistent basis. They’re able to do this because central to their real expertise is they action what’s important. If only all workers worked this way. Unfortunately, the majority don’t, however, there’s a simple secret to success that high achievers do that can be a learned skill by anybody.

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Cheating at work, it’s just not cricket…

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“Cheating is a choice, not a mistake” - Unknown

The Australian cricket teams ball tampering affair put cheating at the forefront of country’s consciousness. Fallout has seen long-term suspensions, resignations and emotional apologies from each of the chief instigators involved. On one hand, we’re shocked the cheating occurred (they couldn’t be that stupid, could they?), but should we be as cheating happens every day in all forms of life. What responsibility should leaders bare when cheating occurs in the workplace?

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