Errors that LeanMail novices make in the planning step
Errors that LeanMail novices make in the planning step by Michael Hoffman Follow-up; Read; Read and revert; Call; are a few of the typical entries that many LeanMail novices write as Next Actions. At the time you write them, they make perfect sense because at that particular moment you were immersed in the details of what it was you were supposed to do. […]
How to Run an Effective Daily Stand-up Meeting
How to Run an Effective Daily Stand-Up Meeting by Michael Hoffman I was recently requested to suggest how to run an effective daily stand-up meeting. It dawned on me that we had not articulated the process in our own company so all the more reason to explicitly formulate this important morning staple. The Goal The goal […]
Desktop Hack – Get rid of desktop clutter
Desktop hack – Get Rid of Desktop Clutter by Michael Hoffman Here’s an easy hack for reducing clutter on your desktop. The computer desktop has replaced the physical desktop in many ways. It’s important to keep it clean and neat, just like your physical desktop so that you can find the things you’re looking for. Even […]
Looks can be deceiving, so we stick to tried and true Pareto.
Looks Can Be Deceiving, So We Stick To Tried and True Pareto by Michael Hoffman My team (steeped in the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle) came to me with this; Trello’s (new?) way of adding priorities to cards – and I have to say it looks very cool. Unfortunately, this time Trello got it wrong. Looks can be deceiving. Ok Trello fans, before you […]
Lacking Discipline? Get Values Cheerleaders
Lacking Discipline? Get Values Cheerleaders by Michael Hoffman I’ve been flying for over 50 years. How a plane defies gravity with its own massive weight along with the weight of passengers, baggage and freight is, for me, always mind-boggling. Every time I fly. Core values of flight An airplane is designed and constructed by teams of thousands of individuals meticulously following an explicitly detailed […]
A Simple Rule to Run Effective Meetings
A Simple Rule to Run Effective Meetings by Michael Hoffman Ask your team to identify their biggest productivity killer and inevitably two issues will rise to the top of the list: managing their inboxes and their useless meeting schedules. I’ll tackle the former in a future post. For now, I’d like to focus on increasing the […]
How To Break A Habit That Makes Your Life Miserable: An Exercise
How To Break A Habit That Makes Your Life Miserable: An Exercise by Michael Hoffman I stumbled upon Thomas Oppong’s article, Why Eliminating Behaviors That Make You Miserable Can Make You Happier, which references a book by Randy J. Paterson, Ph.D., How to Be Miserable: 40 Strategies You Already Use. I thought it could be helpful […]
To Use A Habit Tracker App Or Not To Use a Habit Tracker App
To Use A Habit Tracker App Or Not To Use a Habit Tracker App by Michael Hoffman Getting into a habit tracker app (apps that help us remember to study our Spanish, do our push-ups in the morning and drink at least 1½ liters of water) are springing up. Do they really work? That’s a question […]
Why “I Hate Email”, Echoes In Many Workplaces
Why “I Hate Email”, Echoes In Many Workplaces by Michael Hoffman Let’s not beat about the bush. “I hate email” is said under many a breath for one main reason (yes there are many others but I’m sure you’ll agree this tops the list): It sucks out huge swaths of time without giving us any idea […]
How To Improve Team Productivity and How To Measure It
How To Improve Team Productivity and How To Measure It by Michael Hoffman and Yasser Santiago This is where most companies succeed or fail. We’ve all seen big companies start from the ground up. Microsoft, Apple, Uber and many others have shown us that we can go from an idea to a successful business with the […]
Business Tips : How most people blow their first business meeting And How Can you save yours.
Business Tips: How most people blow their first business meeting and how can You save yours You land a meeting with a prospect that you’ve been researching for quite some time. Then you make the same mistake that most salespeople make: You book an hour-long meeting at her office, next thing you know, you blew […]
Why Leaders Are Blind To The Most Important Productivity Opportunity Of All
Why Leaders Are Blind To The Most Important Productivity Opportunity Of All by Michael Hoffman Email is the leading cause of preventable productivity loss in organizations today. Forbes Magazine (2008) Employees spend 1 to 3 or more hours per day managing email at 40-60% of capacity. That means they typically lose 30-60 minutes PER DAY. Not some. […]
