blog.
The Dark Side of Electronic Communication
Individuals and organizations alike still rely on electronic mail (e-mail) as a primary communication tool to conduct business. A 2003 study, still relevant by today’s standards, by associate professors Raymond Friedman and Steven Currall, caution about using e-mail to resolve conflicts. While they do not specifically mention it, using other media for the same purpose should also give one pause.
Government Spending: A Cause of Inefficiency
We often hear that government is inefficient:They spend too much, they take too much time to provide services, they do not provide quality services, they have too many checkpoints, and so on. But who or what is government? Are employees not the heart of any organization?
Contrary to popular belief, employee performance is not the problem when it comes to efficiency. There are many very industrious and efficient employees in any industry, including government.
The root of inefficiency in government relates to money. More specifically, because governments do not spend their own money, inefficiency can be a serious problem.
Improving Work Performance
How’s your productivity? Does the mere mention of the word stir unease? And what about all those uber-organized work colleagues? How is it that they really seem to be on top of their work and, yet, here you are constantly struggling to keep up?
You may be surprised to learn that there’s no secret to improving work performance. It’s all about being organized. And the best part of all is that it’s a skill that anyone can learn.
Rating Records Management Program Maturity
A records and information management (“RIM”) program that is effective and efficient allows you to do the following…
Time and Money—An Organizational Focus
Poorly run organizations waste time (and time is money). This inhibits the company’s ability to hit markets at optimum times. Allow me to give you an example..
Triage—Best Served Regularly
Triage helps us decipher between the important and unimportant and is essential to ensuring we do the right work at the right time and to/for the right person/thing. But be aware: Avoid the trap of triaging work just for the sake of keeping workflow moving.
Tradition and Productivity
In the acclaimed Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the main character, Tevye, explains his society’s traditions in the song “Tradition.” The song juxtaposes village life to a world that is changing all around them.
In many respects, struggles faced in today’s organizations may be rooted in difficulty in letting go of tradition—an inability to change.
Effective Leaders Enable Productive Organizations
As an effective leader, you know that certain competencies are necessary to your success on the job. Things like building yourself as a whole person (emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, creatively), building winning teams, being respectful of others to earn their respect, communicating effectively, inspiring others to build trust ... just to name a few. You may also know that proven leadership methods aren't always the answer in every situation.
The Cost of Ignoring Communication
A noted author recommends that people selectively ignore communications by scanning communication for two vital pieces of information:
Action required by you
Deadline for completing the action
Improving Email Communications
The Radicati Group estimated that in 2010 the number of emails sent per day was around 294 billion. This means that more than 2.8 million emails were sent every second by about 1.9 billion email users (almost 30% of the world’s population).
Given this high number of users and email transmissions, one would think that writing, sending, and responding to emails would be a simple act. However, this is not so.
Reclaiming Knowledge Work's Lost Productivity
In the mid-20th Century, Peter Drucker coined the term “knowledge worker” and said that productivity of the knowledge worker would be “the biggest of the 21st Century management challenges.” He was right. In fact, knowledge workers and manual workers are no longer exclusive–technology has blurred the lines of work such that even workers loading product onto conveyer belts are no longer exempt from being classified as knowledge workers.
Productivity or Greece?
Productivity is a very complex topic and even among experts it is difficult to exact a prescription to improve productivity. In its simplest form, productivity measures the efficiency of production. It is the ratio of production output to what is required (inputs) to produce the output. In terms of economic growth, governments look at productivity as the product of labour based on the average number of hours each employed person works and the proportion of the entire population that is employed. Labour productivity drives living standards. However, just because a person is employed does not mean that they are productive.
The OHIO Method
The “OHIO” method is an easy way to be more efficient and productive in the way one handles records and information resources. In fact, it can help anyone to achieve more efficient workflow.
OHIO stands for: Only Handle It Once. The premise of this method is that when paperwork lands on your desk, you only handle it once by immediately assigning it to its correct place instead of re-shuffling the paper back to your inbox. Here’s how to do this.
How I Help Clients Operate More Efficiently
I am often asked how I can help clients operate more efficiently. My response to this is that it’s quite easy to become efficient. The secret is in eliminating as much wasted time and effort as possible from the tasks that are being performed. Here are my top four areas where I tell my clients to focus in order to operate more efficiently…
Help! I'm A Procrastinator!
Procrastination is about putting off (or deferring) something to a later time. We all do it occasionally: procrastination is normal. However, if procrastination starts to interfere with your life and work more frequently, then it needs to be addressed immediately.
Throwing Away Profits
One of the biggest profit guzzlers an organization can experience is in the area of records and information management.
Industry studies show that for every dollar spent on handling records, most offices waste 65 cents.