Blog2020-11-04T19:42:16+00:00

ToDo lists don’t tell you much

By |September 4th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Many people use ToDo lists and apps to keep track of their outstanding tasks.   There are also lots of apps available, with different flavours of operation. However, you need to remember that  a ToDo list (even

Look After Them

By |August 28th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

I saw in a recent survey that people who thought their productivity had increased (or at least stayed the same) whilst working from home during the pandemic, also reported that their mental well-being had improved.

Its not the technology driving productivity

By |August 21st, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

People often claim that technology is the key to improved productivity.  Firms should, they say, be investing in digital services, robotics, AI, IoT and so on.   Generally, there does seem to be a correlation

Don’t Be Overwhelmed

By |August 14th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Many people feel overwhelmed at work.  The relentless tide of messages and emails seems to set an impossible agenda. So, we need to improve our time management, right?  Wrong! If tou create more space by

The Art of Productivity

By |August 7th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

For some people, art plays an important part in their lives. I’m not talking about ‘the arts’ - if I was, that first statement would probable apply to just about everybody - but to the

Schedule core working hours, not meetings

By |July 31st, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

One of the keys to high productivity is to organise - and then to schedule - work according to its priority and urgency.  Too often, though, this potential productivity gets sidelined as other facto come into

Look at the Outcomes

By |July 17th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

When trying to improve productivity, many people start by looking at inputs - trying to reduce costs by saving materials, energy or manpower.  There is nothing wrong with such an approach except that it is

Detoxify Productivity

By |July 10th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

If your organisation expects you to be ‘always on’, always working, always available by telephone or email, they are exhibiting signs of ‘toxic productivity’.  I hate that term for all sorts of reasons but mainly

Its only a Sugar Rush

By |July 3rd, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

When the pandemic hit and the world went into ‘lockdown’,  most companies moved into remote working, using technology to support employees working from home. There were all sorts of claims that productivity improved as a

Steer Your meetings to Success

By |June 26th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

If you start your online meetings by simply asking a question such as..”You’ve all seen the plan. Any comments?”, your team members will probably look away from their cameras down at their desks (or kitchen

Accept Poor Performance at your Peril

By |June 19th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Measuring performance is essential for a number of reasons.   Firstly, as the adage goes … if you can measure it, you can manage it.How do you predict job times if you don’t know the performance

Meetings, B****y Meetings

By |June 12th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

If you are always moaning about the number of meetings you have to attend, then almost certainly you do have too many meetings.  The pandemic - and the forced switch to Zoom and Teams and the

On The Right Track

By |June 5th, 2021|Categories: National Productivity, Productivity|

The UK’s rail franchise system (where private companies bid for the right to tun rail services on the national infrastructure)  was introduced to improve competition and efficiency.   However, the bids - and the assessment of them

Help us to connect our data

By |May 29th, 2021|Categories: Innovation, Productivity|

Many companies are looking to improve manufacturing productivity by improving the efficiency of their various machines and other manufacturing facilities - by, in turn, improving their data driven management … monitoring the performance of those

Is Pan-Famine Next?

By |May 22nd, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Agricultural productivity is one of the globe’s (and the twentieth century’s) great success stories. Over that century from 1900 to 1999 the number of people employed in agriculture dropped dramatically, yet yields rose just as

Creativity from Home

By |May 15th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

There is quite a bit of debate about whether working from home is good or bad for productivity. Are working-from-home employees as efficient as those in the office?  The jury is still out.... but perhaps

Invisible Employees Drag Productivity Down

By |May 8th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Many employees seem to want to ‘hide in the shadows’ - to get on with their work without disturbing their supervisor/manager.  Many supervisors/managers seem equally happy with this approach, feeling that employees who ‘raise their

Stop being hyperactive

By |May 1st, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Anyone with a hyperactive child knows how wearing it can be to have to cope with the demands such a child can make on a regular and continuing basis. Well, email and continual zoom meetings

Getting Engaged

By |April 24th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Before the pandemic, evidence suggested that many employees were not really engaged with their work/workplace/employing organisation.  The results of a lack of engagement are absenteeism, poor quality of work and a lack of concern for customer

Sleeping on the Job

By |April 3rd, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

March 15th was National Napping Day and March was National Sleep Awareness Month.  A Pew Research Center survey found that 34% of Americans take daily naps. Many peple find a midday snooze flips off their

Personal Guru?

By |March 27th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Can a personal productivity guru help you reach new productivity heights? Many of  us look to new tools and rtechndquwes, new technologies ologies, new approaches to stimulate our thinking about how to get more done

Learning from Lockdown

By |March 13th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Before lockdown many firms were experimenting with networking/collaborative tools, hoping to improve the inter-connectedness of departments, people and processes.   When the lockdown hit, many of them accelerated the move to the various tools and technologies

Delayed Gratification

By |March 6th, 2021|Categories: Productivity|

Young children take some time to accept that delayed gratification can sometimes  be an improvement on instant.  For example, waiting for a treat can make that treat better - the period of anticipation can heighten the

Remote Creativity

By |February 27th, 2021|Categories: National Productivity, Productivity|

Creativity is what will see organisations blossom as we (hopefully) near the end of this pandemic. In an office situation, creativity is aided by people bouncing ideas off their co-workers,  They can do this by simply

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