Short Guide to Productivity

Stephan Schmidtübercto

Do not multitask.

Focus! Focus! Focus!

Golden Rule

•  Many people in startups show a lot of activity without impact.

•  This is the largest killer of productivity •  This is often driven by culture and pressure •  When people have no clear guidance then they fill their time

with activity •  Do the right things has the highest productivity

Activity

•  Choose the best way to communicate •  Although everyone has a preferred way to communicate this

is often not the best

Communication

Communica)on   Characteris)cs   Doing  it  right   Doing  it  wrong  

Email   •  Asynchronous  •  Non  interrup0ve  

•  Detailed  informa0on  •  No  immediate  answer  

necessary  •  Decision  making  when  

everyone  agrees  

•  Arguments,  long  threads  -­‐>  be?er  Face2Face  

•  Explaining,  Teaching  •  Decision  making  when  agreement  is  

not  in  sight  •  Asking  Ques0ons  

Chat   •  Asynchronous  •  Non  interrup0ve  

•  Asking  ques0ons    

Face2Face   •  Socializing  

 

•  Arguments  •  Complicated  explana0ons/

teachings    

Phone   •  Socializing      

•  Immediate  answer  necessary  •  Socializing    

•  Phoning  oMen  interrupts  the  other  person  

Video  Chat   •  OMen  Face2Face  is  be?er  but  much  more  expensive  

•  Like  Face2Face  

1.   Have an email guide for your company about when and how to use email! 2.  Write the subject in the end. Subject should contain content of email

Bad: Dinner Good: Dinner party at Stacy Best: Dinner party at Stacy this Sat (Nov/7) @ 8pm

3.  In long threads often the topic changes. It’s better to chose a new subject or start a new thread “New subject // WAS: Old subject”

4.  In a long thread or argument, take the phone or meet face to face 5.  Do not inline answers and change senders email

Better: Quote sender with Copy & Paste, add your answer 6.  Do not put action items or questions deep in the mail

Better: Put all action items and questions at the top @Stephan: Please check the price attached

7.  If people need to answer or take action, put them into TO: If people only need to read, put them into CC:

8.  Use Prefix in the subject to show type of email 9.  If email needs action, start subject with verb “Call Stephan”

Email Guide

Email Subject Prefixes

Prefix   What  does  it  mean?   Example  

FYI   For  Your  Informa0on.  It  replies  that  no  reply  is  needed,  and  is  usually  a  short  message.  

 “FYI  Free  Donuts  in  the  Kitchen”.  

URGENT   Used  for  when  something  is  really  urgent.  Don’t  use  it  if  something  is  not  urgent.  And  if  something  is  truly,  truly  urgent,  it’s  best  to  follow  up  with  a  call  or  IM  as  well.  

 “URGENT:  Final  reminder  to  file  quarterly  team  reports”  

AB   meaning  Ac0on  By.  Used  with  a  0me  indicator  to  inform  the  recipient  that  the  sender  needs  a  task  to  be  completed  within  a  certain  deadline  

AB+2  meaning  Ac0on  By  2  days.  

AR   meaning  Ac0on  Required.  The  recipient  is  informed  that  she  is  being  given  a  task.  

DNF!   Do  not  forward   “DNF:  Preliminary  2014Q3  results”  

RSVP   RSVP,  meaning  Reply  Requested,  please,  from  the  French  Répondez  s'il  vous  plaît.  The  recipient  is  informed  that  he  should  reply  to  this  email.  

Y/N   Y/N,  meaning  Yes/No.  The  recipient  is  informed  that  he  should  reply  to  this  email  with  a  simple  yes  or  no  answer,  increasing  the  likelihood  for  the  sender  of  gefng  a  quick  response.    

1.  Meetings cost a lot of time. Less and more efficient meetings are huge productivity drivers.

2.  Do you really really really need that meeting? 3.  Rigorously cancel meetings. Meeting-series linger on beyond their time 4.  There are three different type of meetings:

Status/Information/Alignment, Decision, Workshop/Collaboration/Work 5.  Be clear about the type & goal of a meeting. Clearly state goal at beginning 6.  No meeting without goal and agenda 24h ahead. Decline invitations to

meetings that to not follow these formal rules 7.  Invite as few people as really necessary, do not CC: people in invitation. 8.  Default meeting time should be 30min. Set a timer to and stop at 25min

sharp to give people time for their next meeting (Kick-Off and Workshops can be longer). Start on time, do not wait for people!

9.  Slides should be sent around 24h ahead of a meeting. Use first 5-10 min to (re-)read slides. Slides are not presented, immediate discussion starts.

10. NO laptops & NO phones (on the table or in the room) 11. Send meeting notes with action items (who, what, when) & decisions

Meetings

•  Decision get delayed because responsibilities are not clear. Delayed decisions hinder productivity

•  Make roles clear. RASCI is one model for roles (RAPID another one)

•  In Processes, Assignments, Work & Projects RASCI should be clear. In Kick-Off meetings first establish RASCI

•  Often without RASCI people do not know their role

RASCI

Role   Name   Descrip)on  

R   Responsible   The  single  decision  maker,  accountable  for  quality  and  0melines  of  process,  agreements,  rela0onships,  deliverables,  and  decisions.  

A   Approver   The  individual  to  whom  "R"  is  accountable  in  the  decision-­‐making  process  and  who  has  the  final  sign-­‐off.  

S   Supporter   Implements  the  decision,  accountable  to  "R"  for  agreed-­‐upon  work,  0meframe,  deliverables,  and/or  resources.  

C   Consultant   Provides  substan0ve  input  and  sought  by  "R"  during  the  decision-­‐making  before  the  ac0ons  are  taken  and  plans  are  finalized.  

I   Informed   Receives  no0ce  of  the  outcome  aMer  the  decision  is  made.  

•  Prevent problems that result in rework and lower productivity •  Establish checklists for recurring/repeatable tasks and situations •  Get the dumb stuff out of the way •  Checklists help new people take less time •  Checklists allow to go faster with faster execution •  Good checklists

–  Keep them short –  Task and communication checklists –  READ-DO or DO-CONFIRM checklists

Checklists

“Good  checklists,  on  the  other  hand  are  precise.  They  are  efficient,  to  the  point,  and  easy  to  use  even  in  the  most  difficult  situa:ons.  They  do  not  try  to  spell  out  everything-­‐-­‐a  checklist  cannot  fly  a  plane.  Instead,  they  provide  reminders  of  only  the  most  cri:cal  and  important  steps-­‐-­‐the  ones  that  even  the  highly  skilled  professional  using  them  could  miss.  Good  checklists  are,  above  all,  prac:cal.”    ―  Atul  Gawande,  The  Checklist  Manifesto:  How  to  Get  Things  Right  

Stephan Schmidt

stephan@ubercto.de