Ingredients for Inspired Productivity

So hey, I’ve been meaning to ask,

“How productive are you and your team?”  

Say What?

There is no doubt staff and teams are meeting, discussing and working to solve problems.  I am not asking because I think we should work harder, I am asking so that we can think together about how we can be more collaborative, creative, and focused in our work. 

This year you will hear more about the Success Skills 4 Staff (this is a small set being used by district leaders to reflect on their team functioning).  These types of skills have been part of report after report on the functioning skills that make people successful.  So, while obviously you need to know the critical content of your job, you won’t be shocked to learn that your content knowledge doesn’t go far without competencies in listening, initiative, flexibility, reasoning, idea generation, and self-regulation.  While some of the success skills have endured over time the tools and strategies for excelling might be what has changed most.  Technology tools, particularly collaborative tools that allow for synchronous and asynchronous idea generation, feedback, and revisions, are offering paths for higher levels of contribution and productivity.

We are fortunate in our district to have access to a variety of technology tools for professional productivity.  Teams I am on use wikis within Moodle for highly searchable agenda and notes.  We use Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Presentations almost exclusively to brainstorm, create, provide feedback, refine, and publish. Getting all team members in and contributing to the thinking and product from the beginning often results and a solid draft in one meeting - how awesome is that!  From a professional use aspect the Google “more” options also include concept mapping tools and a great collaborative Gantt chart application for project management.  Finally, a tool we should all explore is the Skype Meeting option in Outlook. What a great option for multi-building meetings to save driving/productivity time.

Want to chat about technology tools for increasing personal and team productivity?  

Join us with your ideas at the September 8th Twitter Tuesday.  Tweet with us from 8:30-9:00.

Questions we will explore include:  

• What is one of the most inspiringly productive teams you have been on?  
• What work habits make a team highly productive and invigorating?
• What technology tools do you use to keep track of and insure completion of your tasks?
• What technology tools do the teams you are part of use to generate ideas?  
• What technology tools do the teams you are part of use to co-create products?  
• What technology tools do the teams you are part of use to communicate?