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These days, there are many meeting room and personal productivity tools available.
Used correctly, these tools can increase your productivity in the meeting room.
But when not used wisely, they can turn against you. Review this list to see
whether or not you've been using your tools to enhance or inhibit your productivity.
|
Enhancer
|
Inhibitor
|
| Scheduling a meeting using Outlook or a similar scheduling
tool |
Neglecting to use the feature in the scheduling tool that
lets you check availability of participants prior to sending the meeting
request |
| Preparing your presentation in PowerPoint to make edits quickly
and be able to reuse it whenever necessary |
Trying to impress people with your knowledge of PowerPoint
and ending up distracting them from your message through the use of too
much animation |
| When it's your turn to take meeting notes, capturing the gist
of the meeting on an interactive whiteboard |
When it's your turn to take meeting notes, capturing what
you think should have been said rather than what was actually agreed upon
|
| Using your PDA to quickly check your availability for the
next meeting |
Using your PDA to take notes and making everyone wait while
you play the "I've almost got it..." game |
| Using your notebook to jot down personal notes in the meeting |
Using your notebook to jot down your grocery list and favorite
doodles in the meeting |
| Connecting your laptop to the network to capture notes directly
or review relevant meeting material |
Connecting your laptop to the network to read your e-mail
during the meeting |
| Using a projector to display information so that everyone
in the room can follow |
Using a projector and standing in front of the beam so that
you look like you have a tattoo |
| The fact of the matter is that any tool can help or hinder,
depending on where and how you use it. The trick is to learn how the tool
adds to your personal productivity, then apply it in that way. Here are
a few tips for using some common tools more productively. |
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Spend a few minutes looking at the tutorials in the software
you use most often. Chances are you're using only 10% of its features. The
80/20 rule definitely applies here – is there one more feature that,
if you learn to use correctly, would pay off in productivity gains? One
great example is the organize feature in MS Outlook '98. You can color code
e-mail messages according to rules you set – red for messages from
the boss, for example. |
|
If you truly want to be more productive during your work hours,
time yourself performing each activity. You can either keep an alarm clock
on your desk or use your computer clock. Assign a certain amount of time
to accomplish a task, then set the alarm to beep when you should be finished.
This will allow you to do three things: learn how long tasks actually take
(so you can better determine whether they are a valuable use of your time),
become better at estimating your actual deliverables, and take a stretch
or water break at regular intervals. |
|
A great book about working smarter so that you don't have
to work harder (among other things) is Simplify Your Work Life: 100 Ways
to Change the Way You Work so You Have More Time to Live by Elaine St.
James. |
1. Source: www.123sortit.com/BO/OD.html
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