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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.
Create Successful Organizations by Leveraging Records Management Programs
By leveraging their records management programs, organizations can be more efficient and productive. What this means is that organizations that follow records management principles have fewer incidents of information loss, less wasted time in looking for information, and more time spent on creative work that contributes to overall organizational success.
Initiating and Effecting Change
If you’ve ever tried to change one of your habits, you know how difficult it can be. Now imagine changing an organization’s habit(s) and you quickly realize that the reason many organizations struggle with change management is because it’s hard work to instill successful change. Whether you’re changing individual habits or an entire organization’s habits, the key is to plan carefully and build a proper foundation for the change. Through planning, implementing change becomes easier and your chances of success are greatly improved.
Kill the Waste Quadrant to Improve Efficiency
The time management matrix isn't new. Stephen Covey introduced it in the 1980s. And I bet that you understand time management skills. So why then is it so difficult to implement these skills? I believe it is because people become overwhelmed by their important and urgent tasks, so they resort to tasks of least resistance - those taks that are not important and not urgent - the "waste" tasks. Let's have a look at the time management matrix to better understand the "waste" quadrant…
Efficiency Overload
Is there such a thing as too much efficiency? The short answer is “yes,” but let me explain.
Putting People Back into the Quality Process
When we focus on business improvement, the easy part is fixing holes in systems and processes to gain quality and efficiency. But the key to making those fixes stick is the people. Enter: positive psychology. Positive psychology is a psychological theory that looks at the positive side of human behaviour. Where psychopathology categorizes undesirable behaviour, positive psychology builds on character strengths to help optimize organizational productivity. Positive psychology is especially well suited for use within culturally diverse workforces.
Uber Organizing Using the 10-Minute Rule
Being organized and being efficient are inextricable. One feeds the other. If you're not organized, then you're not efficient. And if you think your disorganization is not a big deal, think again. Not only are you preventing yourself from being as efficient as possible, but you are also preventing your colleagues' efficiency, since they have to wait on you to complete tasks where your input is important.
WII-FM
Ever try to get someone to volunteer to help you out with a project? Or what about getting employees to work collaboratively on a new organization-wide project?
Were you successful in recruiting your volunteers or employees? If you were, then you most likely tuned into their “WII-FM” (“what’s in it for me”) station.
Communicating for Results
Here’s a true story. It happened via e-mail (e-mail contents modified to protect the innocent).
Money, Money, Money
A study in 1972, repeated in 2004, showed that the percentage of very happy Americans stayed virtually unchanged at about 31 percent. This despite the fact that the average income increase was about 50 percent. The findings of this study were also replicated in other countries. But doesn’t money make us happy?
Happiness at Work and Play
Happy employees can help a company be successful. The flip side of course is how unhappy employees can drive customers away and create increased costs to the company in terms of employee turnover and hiring expenses.
Moving to Efficiency
Why are some people “uber” efficient and productive while others sloth through their daily lives envying those show off efficients? Since none of us are born lazy or efficient, our learned behaviours can be unlearned.
Procrastination
Do you think that those who procrastinate are productive?
The instinctive answer would be “no,” because you think back to that one time when you had that one boss or that one colleague who, despite your best efforts to have them complete a task that you were waiting on, they just didn’t meet your schedule. But does this really mean that they weren’t productive? Or did they even hinder your productivity? Let’s think about this for a moment by first considering the meaning of procrastination.
Presenteeism
Most people blame stress as the primary cause of their illnesses, their absent-mindedness, their inability to cope with life’s rituals, and their just-flat-out tiredness. The direct result to organizations is underperformance and a resulting loss of productivity.
Simplicity is Key
Creative accounting. Insider trading. Financial fraud. Ever wonder why (or how) such corporate problems have become a part of our culture? I think it’s because corporations have lost sight of the importance of maintaining an efficient workplace.
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.