Whether you love brainstorming or feel intimidated by the process, it’s always great to brush up on your idea generation skills. Coming up with creative ideas on demand is no easy feat, but implementing tried and true brainstorming best practices can help make the process easier. If you’re feeling stuck during a brainstorm, consider implementing the four pillars of brainstorming, a framework created by advertiser Alex F. Osborn in the 1940s. Alex F. Osborn created the term “brainstorm” and developed four pillars that you can use when coming up with new ideas.
By going for quality, withholding criticism, welcoming wild ideas, and combining and improving ideas, you can radically transform the success of your brainstorming sessions. Check out the infographic below from our friends at Fundera that outlines the four pillars and provides actionable tips to improve idea generation. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comment box below.
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The first step to overcoming a mental block is modifying your frame of mind from failure and self-doubt to positivity and knowing you are capable. Finding inspiration is one way to shift away from a negative perspective and jumpstart those creative juices.
The popular media company TED (short for Technology, Entertainment and Design) has got inspiration down to a science. Devoted to making powerful ideas accessible as well as sparking conversation, innovation and change, their global community welcomes thought leaders to share knowledge and motivate you to spread your greatest ideas. Speakers come from an array of different fields. They include authors, producers, entrepreneurs and more.
Lecturers are thinkers, doers and idea-generators!
Workplace productivity is a business goal that may require two things to become attainable. The first is the investment from the company and secondly, the implementation of friendly human resources (HR) policies such as incentive programs for employees.
Research backs the idea that a top precursor to workplace productivity is to have a reward system in your organisation. While the company will need to allocate financial resources toward employee incentives, the rewards are all encompassing across crucial areas in the business.
One study done among UK companies says explicitly that 85 percent of workers felt highly motivated when there were incentives at stake. And not only that, 73 percent of the employees observed a “good” or “very good” office atmosphere during incentive season. For the company, the benefits of an incentive programme are quite pronounced as the study also found that employee productivity is tied to as much as £80,000 ($106,00) increase in weekly profit on average.
Below is an infographic that shows the different ways HR managers can further boost productivity in the workplace. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comment box below.
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Twenty years ago, collaborating with people in real-time over the internet seemed difficult to understand. Now we do it every day with the click of a button. Google Docs is a powerful tool that makes working with people both near and far a breeze, but do you know how to use it to its full capacity? Go beyond just sharing docs and leaving comments with these 24 Google Doc hacks and add-ons.
Excited to save some time? With these hacks you no longer have to manually go through a document and look for duplicates or change the capitalization structure letter by letter. Though these may just seem like minor details, they will make a major difference in productivity!
To keep your files neat and organized on your computer, you can go the extra step and download Google Drive for Mac. This will save and sync your files on both your hard drive and in the cloud, so you have a backup.
You can also download the Google Doc phone application to easily view documents when you’re on the go. If you’re worried about losing internet connection and have to do a last minute edit, you can set particular documents to be available offline. Just click the three dots next to the document’s title and choose “Available offline”. These documents are automatically put in an “Offline” folder.
Staying organized is the key to managing your workload and optimizing your time, and these easy, actionable tips are sure to help you do just that.
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The average person spends 28% of the work week reading and responding to emails. This equates to 13 hours a week, and 650 hours a year. Consider how productive you could be if you had a few extra hours every week to focus on the projects that really matter.
It’s not just your professional life that suffers due to information overload. 59% of Americans say that they check their emails outside of office hours.
So what’s wrong with that?
Constant connection comes with a price. Even if you stay on top of your inbox, studies have found that constantly checking your email can lead to burnout, health issues, and personal problems. A work/life balance is essential to staying healthy — both physically and mentally. It’s a no-brainer that burnt-out, sick, and unhappy employees aren’t going to be at their best when it really matters.
While you might not be able to cut down the volume of emails that you receive from colleagues and clients, you can use a variety of tools, tips, and tricks to help you make your inbox more manageable.
One of the reasons why Gmail is preferred by individuals and corporations alike is due to Google’s attention to detail when it comes to features and functionalities. Many of these tips and techniques will require you to spend some time tinkering around with your settings. But once you’ve mastered some of these shortcuts and helpful hacks, you’ll save yourself from hours of wasted time.
Below is the visual to learn the tricks.
By optimising your email account to work for you instead of against you, you can boost your productivity levels, get more work done, and reduce the risk of allowing an important email to slip through the cracks.
Do you have any preferred methods for keeping your inbox manageable and tidy? Share them in the comment section below!
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Regardless of what industry you work in, chances are you’ve probably dealt with spreadsheets in some capacity. Using spreadsheets typically means using Microsoft Excel.
Excel is far and away the leading spreadsheet software as it is used by most businesses. However, Excel has a bit of a learning curve, and if you’re new to the program, it can be a bit overwhelming.
Fortunately, GetVoIP has created an infographic that shares tips, shortcuts, and hacks for using Microsoft Excel more efficiently. These hacks include:
Selecting all cells.
Inserting new rows or columns.
Bolding, italicising and underlining text.
Inserting date and time.
Switching between formulas and values e.t.c
Below is the visual to learn the highlighted tricks and other helpful keyboard shortcuts for Excel.
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Do you ever feel like the stress at work is getting to you, and you need to take a breather?
I believe this infographic can help you understand how to handle stress because stress is something most people deal with on a regular basis. And not everyone knows how to cope with it, especially at work. Please, find below the infographic:
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I’ve traveled solo while working full-time for ten-plus months, across more than 15 countries. It’s one of the most fun and rewarding things I’ve ever done. My work breaks over the past year have included things like scuba diving in Belize, polo lessons in Buenos Aires, music festivals in Hungary, and more.
Working full-time while on the road is not easy, but it’s definitely a skill that can be mastered over time.
For those interested in the nuts and bolts of how to travel while working, there are already several great articles out there explaining how it’s done. If you’re not familiar, I recommend starting with Toptal COO Breanden Beneschott’s guide.
In terms of logistics and planning, pulling off a full-time work schedule while on the road is much easier and cheaper than you probably think (at least in my experience), and the infrastructure for doing so continues to grow rapidly.
However, the following problem is far more difficult to solve, especially when traveling solo: Can you fully enjoy your travels while not sacrificing the quality of your work?
Striking The Right Balance
Can you navigate travel logistics, work full-time, and take care of yourself physically and mentally, all while setting aside enough time to explore the places you’re visiting, find fun things to do, and meet new people?
Since you won’t have much of a support system when you’re alone in a foreign country and (usually) don’t speak the language, finding the right balance is critical. Your routine has to be sustainable in the long run, and if you aren’t careful, things can go downhill in a hurry.
As I’ve been traveling, I’ve gotten a lot of questions from friends and colleagues about the psychology of this lifestyle, including everything from how to avoid loneliness to how to maximize productivity.
It’s not for everyone, but this lifestyle can be both incredibly fun and extremely productive, provided you figure out how to do it in a way that works for you. As I’ve traveled, I’ve noticed some key habits, mindsets, and tricks that are important for anyone who is considering working and traveling to keep in mind, regardless of their occupation or interests.
This post covers some of the most important strategies I’ve picked up while on the road.
Go To X To Do Y
When you have the option of living anywhere, it can be difficult to choose a destination, and going to places to see/do touristy things can get old fast. I’m a big fan of going to places to do specific (non-touristy) activities, as opposed to just going to places that sound interesting on paper.
Working full-time and traveling the world might be easier than you think, especially when you’re traveling for a purpose.
I’ve found that having a purpose to your travels leads to a few great outcomes:
It’s a lot easier to structure your time and priorities.
It’s easier to meet fascinating people with shared interests.
You learn amazing new skills that you’ve always wanted to learn.
When you’re traveling solo and devoting a lot of time to work, it’s important to limit the extent to which you’re “re-solving” the same problems on a daily basis. What I mean by that is, you don’t want to find yourself waking up every morning without any plans for where you’re going to work, what you’re going to work on, where you’re going to eat, who you’re going to meet, what non-work things you’re going to do, and so on.
Not only is it easy to waste a lot of time and energy answering the same questions over and over again, but it will also quickly make you feel like you’re swimming in circles without accomplishing much.
To be clear, I am just as strongly against doing anything that’s “too organized” while traveling. I’m pretty averse to resorts, guided tours, and so on.
As a good friend of mine likes to say:
“I always love seeing big cruise ships. The more I see of them, the fewer people there will be wherever I am.”
The adventure and uncertainty of traveling is half the fun, and it’s important not to lose sight of that by planning too much.
In short, don’t just go to Thailand. Go to Thailand to motorbike from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Go to Brazil because you’ve always wanted to experience Carnival. Go to Nepal because you dream of hiking the Annapurna trail.
The possibilities are endless, and it’s when you go somewhere with a goal in mind that things begin to take off.
Set Aside Time Every Day For Learning
When you’re working at a startup, there are always a million different tasks that need to be accomplished, and you’re constantly in a race against time. You can easily spend all of your waking hours knocking things off of your to-do list, and with so much that needs to get done, it can be hard to justify investing time in anything that’s not the task at hand, or at least directly related to the task.
Being on the road is no excuse for complacency. You can work, play, and master new skills, just as you would from home.
Online (www – world wide web) is where it happens these days. Brick and Mortar stores are doing pretty fine but the online market place is bigger and the future of most product/services oriented businesses. In terms of returns, the gap between an online market place compared to a physical shop can’t be ignored. The market is enormous. What are you waiting for? Is your business online yet or you are planning that anytime soon? Remember, it all starts from having an online presence. Below is an infographic that can guide you in starting your online business today.
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In a world where technology is increasingly available to more customers and changing the way customer service delivery is being done, organizations need to think ahead of their customers if they want to remain competitive among other things. These days, customer service is just not enough but improved customer service is the new language likewise customer experience. We have moved from just customer experience to the era of improved customer experience in our deliveries. Improved customer service + improved customer experience will produce great customer relationship. Lately, according to customer service scholars, customers are now more interested in a SMART customer relationship – S(specific), M(measurable), A(achievable), R(reliable) and T(time-bound) by also moving from reactive customer service approach, to what we have today called – proactive customer service approach.
Below is an infographic highlighting 6 key benefits of proactive customer service. But before then, let me ask us a question:
When last did you ask your people, your team, department and the business as a whole “what a good customer service is?” Remember, customer service is everyone’s responsibility. So therefore, we all need to be involved in other to unlock opportunities, explore and contribute our own quota to better improve customer service delivery.
Please attend to the polls below as your valuable contribution is needed.
If your answer is yes, how are you then analyzing and translating the information received? If you don’t have a feedback channel, it is never too late. Start now so that you don’t miss out on what your customers really want.
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