Transitioning to remote work is a gift to some and a nightmare to others. Some people might hope to continue with at least part-time telecommuting after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, and others can’t wait to get back to the office. Either way, remote work is where we...
communication Archive
Checking Email on Vacation Just Isn’t Productive
If you know my work, you know I'm no fan of checking email on vacation. A recent email exchange I had with a friend reminded me why this is such a damaging habit. Me: When can you get this done? Friend: I’m on vacation, but maybe tomorrow. Friend, on a new topic: See...
How to Set a Company Email Policy That Improves Productivity
Do you have a company email policy? If not, a recent study out of Virginia Tech University suggests that you should create one. The study found that even the expectation that an employee will have to deal with after-hours emails creates anxiety for both the employee...
Email Overload? Here’s Why You’re Drowning – and How to Fix It
Do you dread even opening your inbox? You're not alone. Most of my clients are perpetually drowning in email. In my training programs, I provide a 4-step strategy to overcome email overload. Here's an overview of that process. You Aren't Filtering Chances are, your...
This Popular Step to Manage Email and Texts Isn’t Enough
Your job involves an overwhelming amount of communications from others. Managing email and texts is a vexing challenge. So you take a cue from what you've observed others doing. You add a line to your email signature saying "I check my email infrequently, so if your...
Tackling Distraction With ‘The Innovation Show’
Distraction is the No. 1 enemy of productivity. I talked about how to strengthen your battle plan against it during my recent interview on The Innovation Show. Hosted by Aidan McCullen, The Innovation Show is a podcast for forward-thinking leaders, entrepreneurs and...
LEADx Podcast Interview: Productivity Tips for Leaders
Your leadership style has a big effect on your own productivity — and the productivity of your team. I dug into this and other productivity tips for leaders as a guest on a recent episode of The LEADx Leadership Show podcast with Kevin Kruse. Kevin is the founder +...
3 Ways to Become More Productive
Recently I was interviewed by my friend, Steve Harper, to help his clients at OwnerInsite become more productive and solve some of their productivity challenges. OwnerInsite offers construction project management software, but the advice Steve pulled out of me is...
4 Mistakes to Avoid at Your Corporate Offsite Meeting
I present and train at corporate offsite events and meetings of all sizes, and I've seen many that could have been improved. To prevent you from making the same mistakes, this is the second half of my two-part article on improving your annual corporate offsite...
3 Steps to Improve Your Annual Meeting
Lots of articles have been written about how to improve meetings, but they're mostly about the day-t0-day meetings you have at your organization. Not a lot has been written about your biggest and most expensive meeting: your annual corporate conference. Yet this is a...