Two minute reads
Feel free to share them with your networks, citing the source. Complete the form to receive them, or just email me and I’ll add you to MailChimp
Virtual Influencing – How to influence on Zoom
How to Influence on ZoomBusiness partners, leaders, trusted advisors, sales people, collaborators, experts - every one of us needs influencing skills. We want people to buy into our ideas, take our advice, follow our lead, call us first and trust...
Keeping your team engaged and motivated: banana bread, monkey brains and boundaries
Now that we are in the groove of remote working, our challenge is to maintain motivation, focus and connection. What’s working? Here’s a list of home truths from people I’ve canvassed: take a breather to skim through it and share it with your managers:Zoom Zombies...
Procrastination and Parkinson’s Law: Why we get less done when we have more time
How are you doing in lockdown? Do you have more time on your hands and if so, are you getting more done?I expect not. Remember Parkinson’s law? Work expands to fill the time available If you are juggling full-time employment with entertaining, caring...
Coping with Corona: Your 5 a Day
For years I’ve asked Crazy Busy delegates what they would do if they had an extra hour a day. Predictably their answers always include sleep, read fiction, read around their own subject, cook a decent meal from scratch, exercise, spend uninterrupted time with their...
Corona Virus Special: How to manage your team when you are working from home
I’ve been asked for some productivity tips by Managers who aren’t used to working from home. They are keen to take advantage of some gaps in their calendar to get more done and perhaps prove that remote working is a viable option post-Corona. Here’s what we’ve...
Psychological Safety: Does your Manager have your Back?
In 2015 Google published the results of a two-year study into what makes a great team successful. Hiring the best brains, setting them clear objectives and giving them meaningful work were obviously key, but the factor at the very top of the list may surprise...
How to PIMP your time and get your real work done
What did you really want to do this week and what's got in the way so far? Has your time been hijacked by corridor kidnappers, distractions, meetings, routine admin, curveballs and (the bane of most our lives) endless emails?Here’s...
Why the best Managers are Snow Plough Managers
Like me, you probably learnt of the term snowplough (plow) parent when news of the US college admission scandals broke last spring. Snowplough parents clear the path in front of their children, removing obstacles that could impede their success. They...
Stop being so saintly
Do you need to be a little more selfish for your own sanity? Life is tough but some of us make our lives even tougher because we don’t stand up for ourselves. Do you: Do your own job and someone else’s work as wellTake on extra, unpaid responsibilities and get...
Does your office make you sick and tired?
For years, leadership teams have been convinced that creating fun, collegiate, open plan cultures was the key to employee satisfaction and therefore productivity. Most days I visit offices with sport/music/news playing in the background, with endless distractions and...
Crazy Busy on the road? How to put the fun back into business travel
GEORGE CLOONEY, UP IN THE AIR, Business travel was once seen as a perk that only executives with generous expense accounts got to enjoy. Nowadays we’re all packing our wheelie bags and breaking out of the daily grind. Are we really living the...
Questions to stop you feeling overwhelmed
Here's eight questions to ask every Monday to help you handle the pressure, stay focused and feel in control of your work. First we'll look at why the responsibility for this sits with you. There's a trite saying that pressure must be healthy because pressure creates...