326 Posts Found

Tricky problems must be shaped before they can be solved. To start that process, and stimulate novel thinking, leaders should look through multiple lenses.

Content: Article | Authors: Mihnea Moldoveanu, Olivier Leclerc | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips

The cofounder of unconscious thought theory explains how taking a break and distracting the mind can lead to higher-quality decision making.

Content: Thought Leader | Authors: Ken Favaro, Loran Nordgren | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Demographics, Management, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips

Our complete guide to maximizing your productivity in an increasingly distracting world.

Content: Article | Author: Drake Baer | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

Spreadsheets are one of the most mystifying pieces of software you’ll encounter in your adult life. As scary as they can be, though, you can do an awful lot with just four simple skills. For the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on Microsoft Excel, since this is the most widely used spreadsheet software. However, nearly all of these skills and features are useful … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Eric Ravenscraft | Source: LifeHacker | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

Product development is often a make-or-break issue for start-ups, and it’s also one of the most poorly understood, entrepreneur Dan Cohen said during a recent presentation at Wharton San Francisco.

Content: Article | Author: Dan Cohen | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Innovation, Products & Services

To stop wasting a finite resource, companies should tackle time problems systematically rather than leave them to individuals.

Content: Article | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Frankki Bevins | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

For the last two decades, Aswath Damodaran has dedicated the first two weeks of each new year to a ritual. He obtains/collects/downloads data on all publicly traded companies listed globally, using a variety of data sources, and then analyzes and presents the data, aggregated at a number of different levels: by country, by region (US, Europe, Emerging Markets, Japan, Australia & Canada) and by industry. … [ Read more ]

Content: Online Resource | Author: Aswath Damodaran | Source: NYU Stern School of Business | Subjects: Economics, Finance, Free Stuff / Tools, Reference / Search

Problems can arise regardless of how you acquire an Excel file, but the most troublesome are usually those we inherit. If you’re lucky, someone else worked hard to remove all the kinks. On the other hand, starting from scratch is often easier than working with someone else’s problems. Before you start using an inherited file, spend a little time exposing problems you might not otherwise … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Susan Harkins | Source: TechRepublic | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

Docracy is an open collection of legal contracts. It also offers a comprehensive solution for having the documents verified and signed online.

Content: Online Resource | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Free Stuff / Tools, Legal

A manager’s effectiveness depends not only on using e-mail and other electronic communication, but also on learning to shut it down.

Content: Article | Authors: Henry Mintzberg, Peter Todd | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips

People who are struggling with inaction invariably have one of the following three deep-rooted attitudes:
Fear: “I’m scared to do it.”
Entitlement: “I shouldn’t have to do it.”
Perfectionism: “I won’t try to do it if I can’t do it right.”
These all-too-common problems affect people across all professions, ages, and endeavors. You show me a person who is not achieving life at the level they … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Rory Vaden | Source: ChangeThis | Subjects: Career, Personal Development, Productivity / Work Tips, Success / Failure

Numbers don’t lie, but a bad chart decision makes it extremely difficult to understand what those numbers mean. Before you put together another PowerPoint presentation, make sure your pick the right type of chart to clearly communicate the information you want to share. Here’s how.

Content: Article | Author: Alan Henry | Source: LifeHacker | Subjects: Free Stuff / Tools, Personal Development

Instead of better tools for better organizing, people want their organization done for them. Organizing is wasteful; getting its benefits is productivity. …the new economics of personal productivity mean that the better organized we try to become, the more wasteful and inefficient we become. We’ll likely get more done better if we give less time and thought to organization and greater reflection and care to … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Michael Schrage | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

The age-old tool known as “5S,” born as a disciplined practice inherent to the lean manufacturing process known as the Toyota Production System, is the term given to five Japanese words that, taken together, provide a comprehensive pathway to simplicity in the workplace.

The five principles have been translated into five English words, all starting with S as well (to make them easier to remember). Dan … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Dan Markovitz, Matthew E. May | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

“Eureka!” moments are few and far between when it comes to streamlining the way we work. Though we would certainly like it to be otherwise, it’s rare that a nugget of insight breaks through our deeply ingrained habits to effect real change.

This article collects a handful of great productivity posts that really changed the way the author works. Hopefully, one of these “classics” will also … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: J. K. Glei | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

How you set up a spreadsheet determines its efficiency, usability, and reliability. Avoiding these pitfalls during the design phase will save you a million headaches.

Content: Article | Author: Susan Harkins | Source: TechRepublic | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips

You need a certain amount of discord in your meetings. If you just have discord, well, then you have a university, right? So what you want to do is you need a deadline. So discord plus deadline. Who enforces the deadline? Me. That’s my job. Or whoever is running the meeting. So if you have discord and deadline, then you’re likely to produce a consensus. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Eric Schmidt | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Productivity / Work Tips

The problems of free access are fairly obvious: while workers may know how to use technology tools, they may not be skilled at searching for, using, or sharing the knowledge. One survey revealed that over a quarter of a typical knowledge worker’s time is spent searching for information. Another found that only 16 percent of the content within typical businesses is posted to locations where … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Thomas H. Davenport | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Knowledge, Productivity / Work Tips

People often live by the saying: if you want to get something done right, you need to do it yourself. While I have heard people toss this phrase around like a badge of honor, there is no philosophy more toxic for an organization, especially small businesses. Businesses of any size are complex and it is unrealistic to think that a small number of individuals will … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Stephen Shapiro | Source: OPEN Forum (American Express) | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Productivity / Work Tips, Small Business

This guide from Howard Fosdick explains many of the threats to your security and privacy you may encounter when you use Microsoft Windows. It describes these concerns in simple, non-technical terms. The goal is to provide information anyone can understand. Fosdick also offers solutions, safe practices you can follow, and free programs you can install. While no one can guarantee the security and privacy of … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Howard Fosdick | Source: TechRepublic | Subject: Productivity / Work Tips