Productivity – Dan Greer

Where We Go Wrong With Collaboration

Dan Greer — Thu, 12 May 2022 20:29:21 +0000

Although collaboration can be a very good thing for your leadership, if you get it wrong it can destroy your productivity and damage your team culture. The old ideas that everyone needed to know everything and that everyone needs to give input are both worst practice for teams. For your information updates and too loose meeting agendas will also discourage your best leaders who need that time to actually get some work done.

This HBR post is an excellent read for any team leader who wants to be effective:

“Practically everything we do at work is a collaboration. Pre-pandemic, many people spent 85% or more of their time each week in collaborative work — answering emails, instant messaging, in meetings, and using other team collaboration tools and spaces. This number has only grown throughout the pandemic, with no end in sight as we move into various forms of hybrid work.”

3 Reasons Why Time Management Strategies Never Solve Your Problem

Dan Greer — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 14:46:03 +0000

I still have my leather calendar with all the tabs and different sections that were going to solve my time management problems. They helped getting things done but it never asked me if all those things should be done at all? I became very efficient but sadly never effective.

Today with all of our project management software and the corresponding apps that drive them, we are no better off in solving this core leadership problem. This post by Carey Nieuwhof is an excellent read:

“Time famine is a big challenge for leaders.

No matter how much your organization grows or declines, how many staff quit or join, how many upset people you have to deal with, or how insane the world gets, you only get 24 hours in a day to solve everything that comes your way as a leader.

Unfortunately, this leaves most leaders with a nagging sense that they can’t get it all done.

As a result, as things grow or problems escalate, most leaders respond by working more hours, usually at the cost of their health and the well-being of the people they love the most.”

Collaboration Overload Is Sinking Productivity

Dan Greer — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 16:59:38 +0000

I can remember in my leadership journey the bad old days of highly directive leadership. Priorities were set at the very top and everyone else was delegated the responsibility for execution but not development.

Then the Information Age of leadership started to value the collective wisdom of others and collaboration went to the top of the list of preferred leadership styles. There was also the added benefit of everyone knowing everything and surely that was good for moral and a healthy organizational culture.

Now we have finally realized that everyone does not need to know everything and we are drowning in too much “For Your Information” updates that require everyone to read and respond. This HBR post starts to bring some sanity back to this critically important leadership subject:

“Collaborative work — time spent on email, IM, phone, and video calls — has risen 50% or more over the past decade to consume 85% or more of most people’s work weeks. The Covid-19 pandemic caused this figure to take another sharp upward tick, with people spending more time each week in shorter and more fragmented meetings, with voice and video call times doubling and IM traffic increasing by 65%. And to make matters worse, collaboration demands are moving further into the evening and are beginning earlier in the morning.”

7 Strategies To Break Down Silos In Big Meetings

Dan Greer — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:54:57 +0000

For far too long, teamwork was dominated by the idea of collaboration. Initially, that meant everyone needed to know everything and be involved to give input. This led to too many meetings wasting time with F.Y.I type information and it takes time to make sure everyone has contributed.

Today that thinking has been reduced significantly and the new challenge is how to get critical path work done without needing everyone in the room. The leadership strategy of building hybrid teams across multiple divisions and reporting lines is critical. This HBR post is excellent:

“When members of multidisciplinary teams are asked to describe their colleagues, many will say their peers are collegial, professional, and accomplished. While we would all love to be on a team that’s not dysfunctional, behind this insipid description lurks a peril that is far from bland: the lack of collaboration between siloes.”

Be More Realistic About The Time You Have

Dan Greer — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 15:16:47 +0000

I do a lot of executive coaching around personal leadership. Everyone is struggling with a lack of margin and the ability to get everything done on their list.

The major problem is our unwillingness to say No and reduce the number of demands. The primary reason is that we have not taken the time to clearly define our Yes list first, so may busy but not important things get added.

One of the great lies we believe is that one day this will get better and when things slow down I will make all the changes needed. This HBR post brings some serious truth to the mind games we play:

“We are master storytellers. We tell ourselves fanciful stories to motivate ourselves to get vast amounts of work done in small amounts of time. We jot down task after task after task, sure that we can complete them all within a standard workday. And yet, at the end of the day, we’re stunned to find that work remains unfinished and we have to dash to the finish line. We’re not deliberately deceiving ourselves about what we can do with our time. But despite past evidence, in the moment our predictive engines gum up, and we’re convinced we’ll be able to achieve the extraordinary in an ordinary day.”

Productivity Is About Your Systems, Not Your People

Dan Greer — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 14:32:44 +0000

There is incredible power in the priority of leading yourself as an individual contributor. We have developed new tools and methods to help leaders maximize their time everyday to get the most things done.

However, in this day of collaboration and teamwork there are a lot of other people and process that must be included to accomplish all that we need to do. A shift in focus from the individual to how your organization gets things done is extremely important. This HBR post is excellent:

“Leaders are always seeking to improve employee productivity (including their own). All too often, that quest goes no further than time management training provided by the HR department. Those classes cover the pros and cons of Inbox Zero, the Pomodoro technique, the Eisenhower matrix, Getting Things Done, and countless other approaches that tantalize us with promises of peak productivity. Given that people are still overwhelmed by work, buried in email, and unable to focus on critical priorities, it’s safe to say that these productivity hacks just don’t hack it.”

How To Put Together A Realistic To-Do List Every Day

Dan Greer — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 21:22:13 +0000

The book by David Allen referenced in this post has been my personal formula for productivity for years. I made the conversion to paperless project management software over five years ago and saw immediate results. The two big take aways for me now beyond the priorities for the day are time blocking for deep work and open windows for new opportunities. This Forbes post will definitely help:

“Many people who complain about busywork make a big mistake with their to-do lists. They put it together at the start of a demanding workday or when they’re up against a deadline.

While that approach is better than nothing, the most effective people set themselves up for success each workday far in advance. In Getting Things Done, author and productivity consultant David Allen writes about setting priorities in advance.”

Protect Your Time At Work By Setting Better Boundaries

Dan Greer — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 15:35:28 +0000

Some of us have to be available all the time based on our roles and responsibilities. For most of us however, we are not disciplined enough to set the necessary boundaries to make sure we get the important work done. This requires blocking time for deep work and not wasting time in unproductive meetings. This HBR post will help:

“Your late afternoon meeting scheduled for an hour has crept over the 75-minute mark with no clear end in sight. You know you still have a time-sensitive email to send off, and now you’re going to have to make the choice between leaving late or pulling out your laptop after dinner. On the outside, you’re polite, participating in discussion and responding thoughtfully to your coworker who is running the meeting. But on the inside, you’re annoyed. This person just took a giant step over your time boundaries.”

Six Questions To Help You Avoid Wasting Time In Meetings

Dan Greer — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 13:22:52 +0000

As an executive coach, I can learn more about a leader’s potential watching them in a meeting than anywhere else. If they are using best practice’s effectively in this environment, then I rarely ever have major challenges in any other area. This Forbes post as always is spot on:

“How many times have you walked away from a meeting frustrated because you’re unclear on what just happened? How many times have you gotten back to your desk and thought, “Okay, now what am I supposed to do?” Or “that was a colossal waste of time.” Researchers estimate that senior managers attend nearly 23 hours of meetings every week. Like most people, you don’t have time to waste on unproductive, unclear and useless meetings.”

How To Better Manage Your Time As A Leader

Dan Greer — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 20:32:14 +0000

You can set all the right goals based on the most important priorities but unless you know how to execute you cannot be successful. The ability to manage your time is the essential productivity skill that we all must continue to improve. This Forbes post was great:

“As a business coach, I am asked all the time, “What should I really be doing?” Clients want to know the key to success.

I believe success is simple, but it is not always easy to attain because, as leaders, we can get lost in distractions and the demands others place upon us. Below are my tips to help you gain clarity on what you really need to do with your time:”