Teams A-Z

  Whether you’re working virtually with your team-mates, or getting together face-to-face, now’s a good time to recap what teams are all about. Here’s my A-Z of healthy, happy, high-performing teams. Accountability Successful team members hold themselves and each other accountable. They commit to the team’s plan. Belonging People identify with the team, its purpose,… Read more

Team effectiveness tip: checklists

Ever wondered why some teams are super effective and others screw up far more often? It may be the team isn’t learning from their day-in, month-out work and is repeating old mistakes. If this is problem, checklists can really help. If you’re working remotely, they’re essential. Sound out some teams about whether they use checklists… Read more

Making remote teamwork…work

Here’s a post from the vault that I hope will help you if you’re new to remote working. More and more of us are working remotely; some of us some of the time, some of us all of the time. There are pros and cons… What’s great about working remotely? Many of us can now… Read more

10 tips for writing emails that get read

In these difficult times, we’re all using a range of tech tools to communicate at the moment – which can only be a good thing. Video meetings, chat channels and instant messages all help. And yet for most of us, email is still our default communication tool. So I thought it might help to offer… Read more

Help! My colleagues are in different time zones

  Technology never sleeps – and if we’re not careful, so can people working across different time zones. Whilst tech is a great enabler for dispersed teams, it can be a source of pressure and friction. The human element is sometimes missing and there are cultural issues to consider too. These 8 tips aim to… Read more

6 common complaints about meetings – and what to do about them

Whenever I run Zoomly’s ‘How to plan and prioritise’ workshop, as the group identifies their daily ‘time bandits’, meetings loom large. Typical comments are that they take too long and deliver too little. No wonder that people fiddle with their phones…Are they really an essential, valuable of getting things done? Or just a waste of… Read more

How to work on the right priorities

You’ve got a huge long list of items on your ‘To Do’ list. You’ve been trying to figure out where to start. You’re thinking it might be good to check with your manager(s) to get their input – but then you realise they’re bound to say ‘it’s all top priority’. You conclude it looks as… Read more

10 ways to nurture your creativity

  Summer’s here and I think it’s a great time to nurture our creativity. Here are 10 ways you can reclaim your gifts. 1. Draw I’m a big believer that we can all draw. No, we’re not all Picasso, but we can all draw – with a little practice. Stuck for inspiration? If you doodle,… Read more

Book review: ‘Time Mastery’, by John McLachlan and Karen Meager

  We’re all busy – so it seems. With research reporting that almost half of UK workers feel overwhelmed at work, it’s no wonder I often hear people asking for tips on ‘time management’. My first response is that time isn’t something we can manage – it will be 4 minutes’ later in 4 minutes’… Read more

6 essential steps to get stuff done

Participants in Zoomly’s workshops often ask ‘how do I…?’ questions and they always give me food for thought. One topic that always generates lots of questions is productivity: “How can I get stuff done?” I think there are six essential steps to focus on if we’re to improve. 1.Set and focus on your goals We… Read more