All the components of this classic training scheme updated. Includes current statistics of office life, and suggested remedies for coping with work pressure.
3. INFORMATION INUNDATION
Average professional gets 300 emails a
week
People check their phones 221 times a day
People use their mobiles for 2 hours a day
They spend 28 hours a week on email
Executives interrupted every 8 minutes,
losing over 2 hours a day
It takes 15 minutes to get back to what you
were originally doing
Sources: Atlassian, Internet trends, University of California,
4. WORK EMAIL HABITS
“I often or sometimes check my email...
Immediately when I wake up 80%
On weekends 63%
On holiday 58%
In bed 34%
Before 7am 66% UK average
6.51am
Before I go to bed 54%
During commute 33-61%
Source: APSIS, YouGov
5. ATTITUDES TO TECHNOLOGY
70% feel they receive too many emails
51% of emails deleted within 2 seconds
48% of executives “cannot live without
email.”
26% of men “could not live without their
laptop.”
11% of men “could not live without their
BlackBerry.”
Email checked 30-40 times an hour
Having unread messages reduces IQ by 10
points
6. WHAT SCIENCE SAYS
Average attention span in 2000: 12 seconds. 2015: 8
secs.
We can handle 3-4 cognitively demanding thoughts
at once.
When you think you’re multitasking you’re actually
switching back and forth between different tasks.
There’s a switch cost. It takes the brain 15-25
minutes to get back.
Digital devices have a negative effect on prolonged
focus.
The only way to be productive (prolonged focus and
deep thinking) is to switch off devices.
7. OUT OF HOURS WORKING
93% of employees continue working when
they have left the office
…for a total of over 3 and a half hours a
week
…or 15 hours a month
…or 183 hours a year
…or 23 extra working days a year
Source: YouGov
11. DON’T MAKE EXCUSES
Get things done
Don’t be vague or evasive
Don’t use jargon
(unless with specialists who know the
lingo)
Don’t use bullshit
Keep politics to a minimum
13. HATE WAFFLE
Waffle is the enemy of a clear decision
Take the time to think first
Think straight then talk straight
Don’t do spontaneous word dumps
Ask for five minutes of their time
When’s convenient for you to talk?
15. PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION
Perfectionist bosses demoralise staff
by consistently redoing their work
Perfectionists in a team take too long
agonizing, putting pressure on colleague
Go for highest standards & finish the job
17. DO IT FAST OR DO IT PROPERLY
Quantitative tasks can neither be done we
nor badly
Get them done fast with minimum fuss
Qualitative tasks need time and thought
By having clear set times for the quant,
we can think harder about the qual.
Mornings for creative, deeper thinking wo
Am I just doing it, or am I doing it well?
24. NEGOTIATE ROBUSTLY
• Key to any negotiation
• Can have any two
• Too much pressure = collapse
• Start all sentences with “If…”
• “If you require x, we require y...”
28. A NEW EMAIL ETIQUETTE
Never touch an email more than once
Read it, then action it, file it, or delete it
Use a different medium if you can
Don’t be an email thief and steal time
29. Make it work for you,
not the other way around
(Taming Technology Rules p.76)
33. DEALING WITH DEADLINES (p.160)
• Human nature to delay, but
don’t
• Convene decision makers in
the first 24 hours
• Set direction, brief experts,
course correct if necessary
• Debate hard and early p.52
34. A NEW MEETING ETIQUETTE
Only call meetings when really
necessary
Make them short
Turn up, prepare properly, stay on
theme
Shut up and listen
35. SHARPER, SMARTER, FASTER
Brevity equals intelligence
The shorter the better
Edit first before wasting others’ time
Tasks do not improve if they are delayed
So do the worst first
Free up time for important stuff
Concentrate on qualitative tasks
46. NO EXCUSES
PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION
MEETING & EMAIL ETIQUETTE
SHARPER SMARTER FASTER
HATE WAFFLE
DO IT FAST, DO IT PROPERLY
47. • What can you put into
practice right now?
• How can you act yourself
into a new way of thinking?
You don’t think yourself into a
new way of acting…