Stay focused and work will be a breeze. Yet, working from home is a challenge in its own right.
Let’s be honest, working from home is uniquely challenging. That’s because most people stash all sorts of fun things at home. Think home entertainment, from Netflix to video games. Gym equipment, kids, pets, deliveries, random visitors. There are countless opportunities for distractions.
Knowing how to delegate can make or break your team. Yet, we often feel odd about delegating or being delegated. And when it comes to flattened hierarchies, things get even odder. In fact, people tend to either under delegate or over-delegate.
To put it another way, knowing how to delegate is a skill. Without doubt, a very useful one. Despite being easy to understand, delegating is a tough skill to acquire. That’s because it’s an organic process. The nature of the work that needs delegating changes over time. Hence, figuring out how to delegate is something everyone should learn and practice.
Motivate teams and get every obstacle cleared. Motivate teams and reach set goals. In fact, motivate teams and everything about teamwork streamlines to optimal results.
But in order to motivate teams, you need to be versatile. You need a full range of methods. Moreover, you need to possess special abilities, from public speaking to one-on-one mentoring and listening. Seems improbable? It’s actually achievable.
“Be more productive” is the work chant of the decade. And it’s unlikely to change anytime soon. The future is every bit about boosting productivity. Meanwhile, today has its own challenges. And it’s tougher than ever to stay ahead. Especially considering how quickly things change.
And these things are all related to technology. Indeed, tech has revolutionized the workplace. Granted, the past few decades have brought forth significant change. But we mean disruptive tech. Only two decades ago email on a mobile phone was a stretch. Tech is key, and it’s been transforming the workplace. But the constant is people. And people, unfortunately, can fall behind only to find themselves on the brink of burnout.
Besides, we might have reached an odd plateau. When compared to people, tech is no longer as disruptive as it used to be. At least, not when it comes to tech helping us be more productive. Because at the end the day, it’s the individual that deals with all the challenges. The constant here is the end-user. There’s only so much we can do in a day.
To stay productive despite being tired is an often-recurring challenge. We’ve all been there. For whatever reason, we feel tired yet we have to work. Having to deal with the consequences of not getting enough sleep is one thing. Add to this feeling exhausted, anxious or burned out. Sometimes it is work pressure that does it.
Without reservation, prolonged wakefulness is today’s second-hand smoking. Yes, this has much to do with sleep deprivation. Prolonged wakefulness means that we are not getting enough sleep. In fact, most people sleep far less than they should. And this can have significant impacts on cognitive performance. We also overindulge on coffee, and spend far too many hours sitting on a chair. We procrastinate, misuse breaks, don’t breathe right and have all sorts of productivity issue. Despite all of this, we often find ourselves in an odd situation. We need to stay productive while tired.
Meetings are a buzz killer. Most complaints about office work are about meetings. In fact, meetings seem to be the most dreaded office activity. Potentially, even more disliked than peer reviews and evaluations. Yet, meetings continue to be an apt and necessary way to do work. Otherwise, everyone wouldn’t be so keen on organizing them. Hence, we can only derive that there must be something about meetings that is truly valuable. It’s something that, until now at least, only meetings can provide.
Meetings have been studied, and there are countless publications discussing the matter. What’s so special about meetings? It may have to do with the information exchange. Or it may well be due to the nature of the event. The physical proximity, the sheer presence of teams in the same room. It likely has to do with an interplay of the two.
Avoid distractions if you want to get stuff done. It is that simple. Strip away the unessential and you can focus. There is no better productivity tip other than avoid distractions. But it’s not that easy, is it? Scroll down to gain insights on how to avoid distractions and increase your focus so that you can get more work done.
Work pressure makes your team underperform. People get sick more often, team trust and cohesion dissipate. Nothing works as well as it should. So, before trying to boost productivity in any other way, consider dealing with work pressure.
Besides, both work pressure and well-being are equally contagious. They can put down or lift up the whole team. That’s why random acts of kindness work so well. And that’s why team cohesion is important. It all comes down to what makes a team different from a group of people. Teams share goals and work to achieve them. They become a decisive unit.
Resilient leaders are often those that make for a great leadership story. Likely because, in most cultures, resilience and leadership go hand in hand. Indeed, we appreciate resilience at all levels of leadership. It’s a positive, inspiring aspect of human personality. Struggling towards something, against all odds. Yet, some leaders are more resilient than others.
Team decisions are, at the core, delegating with superpowers. Using team decisions as a strategy has several key advantages. It means that you clear the way for leadership to focus on what’s important. You build team trust by enabling teams to make executive calls. And you flatten the hierarchy for a bit. Boost trust, enhance positive peer pressure and incentivize innovation. Or at least superior problem-solving, at all levels.
