Hoping tomorrow will be MORE productive than today? Here are our top 5 tips of things you can do right now!
Tag: productivity
Do you need to be in ALL the meetings?
Meetings should have high impact! But do they always? The amount of wasted time in organizations on low impact & ineffective meetings has risen. Time to take stock of what REALLY makes for a high impact meeting.
- As an organizer, ask yourself “do we REALLY need a meeting?” Are you holding it just because it is scheduled or is it worth the investment of time pulling people away from actively completing their tasks.
- Are you accepting all meetings regardless? Do you know the value you will bring? Are you the right person? Could you provide information/answer a question to them ahead of time? Have you been invited out of courtesy? How many meetings have you attended where you wonder why you have been invited?
- Is there a structure to the meeting? Have you requested an agenda? Meetings are taking up precious real estate in your schedule. The objective should be clear with a few items to guide discussion. Unstructured meetings are likely to go off on a tangent and invite other discussion topics, avoiding meeting the objective of the meeting.
- Start and End on time. If the meeting is structured with a clear objective, the likeliness is that this will be easy. If it runs late or people are late, remember the domino impact his has on the rest of everyone’s’ days, completion of tasks to deadline, stress levels etc.
- No multi-tasking. . ‘Presenteeism’ is a real problem in meetings. What with there being the constant stream of notifications. If your presence is required, then we should be focusing on what we have been invited to attend to.
How much are your meetings costing you? FREE CALCULATOR
Learning Expert, Master Trainer & Growth Coach
Ella Bates Helping busy people since 1998, create the best day possible with our high impact learning experiences at ebacademyonline and creating the best day at work at ellabates.com
Use your SUMMER Time Wisely!
My top tips:ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE: Just because the kids aren’t in school, or you aren’t at work doesn’t mean we don’t crave routine, in fact, our brain CRAVES it! We love to know what to expect. Make the summer days just as routine based as you would your regular day, making more time for flexibility. When you have something to look forward to in the day, you are motivated to enjoy the rest of the day too!GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION FOR DOWN-TIME: Used to the everyday challenges and celebrations? You can incorporate that into your day too. Reading & Learning, Playing and Creativity, Physical Exercise, serving others – so many community events out there! Use your downtime well and you will have a fun packed and fulfilled summer!PLAN PLAN PLAN: Hands up, how many are thinking “summer is here and what’s the plan?”. Have a pow-wow with yourself, your friends, family and significant others on your bucket list for the summer. When you know what you would like to achieve, see and do over the summer, you can schedule it in! Or make a bucket list for next year!No regrets! Summer is ready for you, take advantage of the beauty of the outdoors, the learning opportunities, the reading opportunities, the opportunity to rest and recuperate!
Ella Bates – Master Trainer
Owner of Trainingx3 the patented formula for guaranteed Corporate Training Success, Ella has over 20 years in the Learning Industry. If you are looking for high impact training in your organization with long lasting results, we would love to talk with you. CLICK HERE
Why ‘WHY’ Is Important in the Workplace
They’ve said that stories sell….so should your internal marketing. People and key employes dont buy what you do, they buy into WHY you do it and WHY they should want it.
Simon Sinek believes it’s critical for employees to understand the “why” of the organization. Why did it start to begin with? What is the drive behind it? Why do the leaders in the organization do what they do? What drives them every day?
In organizations we get caught up in the ‘Busy-ness’ of the day to day, how often do we step back and look at the true purpose of the organization, how often as an employee do we step back and determine f our tasks are driven towards the strategic goals and the goals of the department, how often do we take a step back and look to see if the tasks and projects are aligned with our own personal values?
If our “why” is super clear then its super easy for our team to drive focus towards the why.
Make the difference between passion and a pay cheque.
As adults, we thrive in an environment where we can be highly productive, feel engaged and have accountability for our actions, when we know what impact we are having and the difference we are making, the motivation is higher and the productivity increases.
Do you remember “why” you joined the company, do you remember “why” your company was founded, do you remember “why” you have those projects and tasks on your list?
Everything starts with “why”
Ella Bates – Master Trainer
Owner of Trainingx3 the patented formula for guaranteed Corporate Training Success, Ella has over 20 years in the Learning Industry. If you are looking for high impact training in your organization with long lasting results, we would love to talk with you. CLICK HERE
5 Ways to Sneak in Exercise
Some of your colleagues right now may be exercising, look around, take a peak on that virtual call, can you tell? Probably not.
There are a number of ‘movements’ that you can do during your work day to exercise within the office, whether at home or in the corporate office and still maintain your excellent productivity record!
SHOULDER BLADE SQUEEZES
Pretend you are holding a pencil in between your shoulder blades and squeeze in and release 10 times
STANDING CALF RAISES
Stand behind your chair holding on to it. Raise your foot onto your tiptoes and hold 2 seconds and release repeats 10 times
PHONE EXERCISE
Get yourself a wireless headset so when you have to answer the phone, you can get your steps in.
SOCIAL FITNESS
Need to speak to a colleague who you share the same office with? Don’t use email and the phone its too easy. You can be walking to their desk and asking them the question (builds strong relationships too!)
WALKING MEETINGS
Virtual – if you dont have to be on camera, walk during the meeting. In fact the oxygen will give you more clarity, critical thinking and concentration!
In person, why should all meetings be sedentary, especially when there are two of you? If its informal and no major notes are to be taken, the get outside, get the fresh air, the exercise and the Vitamin D. Plus the movement will set for a great creative meeting
Don’t let work become the reason you become sedentary by trying some of these steps, keep your day ‘moving’.
Ella Bates – Master Trainer
Owner of Trainingx3 the patented formula for guaranteed Corporate Training Success, Ella has over 20 years in the Learning Industry. If you are looking for high impact training in your organization with long lasting results, we would love to talk with you. CLICK HERE
Why your goals need to be ‘Sticky’
Why isn’t everyone rocking their goals they make with such great intention at the start of the year? The top 3 reasons why….
Not being realistic – Some of us have such ideas of grandeur and why it is great to grow and stretch ourselves taking on new challenges, we don’t want to exhaust ourselves and feel miserable in the process. Be realistic with your intentions, do you have the support system, do you have the resources you need to fulfill this goal? Are you motivated?
Sloppy Goals – A goal should be clearly and concisely and highly compelling. To state that you “want to get promoted” or that you will “learn more skills” doesn’t denote a very SMART goal. Click for our SMART GOAL Worksheet Does that mean if you get promoted without a pay rise or into a position you didn’t want that you achieved your goal? If you complete your regulatory training required for the year, have you achieved your goal? Be super specific so there is no grey area. “I want to be promoted to HR Director by 1st July 2020 with a pay rise of (Insert here) or I want to be more productive in my work day and will learn skills to be more efficient in excel by 20th July 2019 by taking courses through the LMS system and having my manager hold me accountable.
You are not motivated – Wanting something and taken action are quite different. You need to be in the right frame of mind to be able to take that action. Be prepared to know why you are wanting to achieve it and focus on your why. Having a why is super important as a driver.
Make your goals super sticky this year and be driven to take action!
Learning Expert, Master Trainer & Growth Coach
Ella Bates Helping busy people since 1998, create the best day possible with our high impact learning experiences at ebacademyonline and creating the best day at work at ellabates.com