The End of Office

Microsoft Office continues to get bigger and ....   Well, I'm not sure its getting better.  We know most people only use a handful of the features, yet they are still using a very, expensive piece of software.

If Office were a 'normal' product, we would be suggesting its at the end of its life cycle, bloated by the need to keep revenues turning .... and bloated beyond most people's comprehension and convenience.

So are you using Open Office or Google Docs or Zoho?  Probably not ... like everyone else you are paying lots of money for things you don't need.

Who's the mug?

Superbowl

When talking about (American) football, commentators often talk about the productivity of a team, a player or a position.  They rarely mean productivity ... they mean performance.  It would be useful if they DID talk about productivity - the value of a player - the output relative to the costs.

And you should look at aspects of your business in the same way.  Not, what do I get from it?  But what do I get relative to what it costs me?  This changes the way you look at production processes, sales teams, outsourced services, maintenance .... everything!

Control ... everything

Apple has (at last) launched the iPad ... following their tried, trusted and tested approach of employing good functionality and great design.  However the 'ace up their sleeve' is the control they retain over both hardware and software.  No other manufacturer does this.  Apple knows that every iPhone app will also work on the iPad - they control all aspects.

The iPad is far from perfect - for me, the lack of Flash support is crippling.... but I am prepared to bet it will be a success and that users will find the experience 'smooth sailing' because of all that control.

The lesson!  Control everything you can ... either by doing it yourself or issuing firm specifications and testing to make sure others stick to them.  it might not be the best solution in the short term .. but like Apple, you might find it works very well in the longer-term.

Know what you do

Have you ever taken stock of the myriad tasks that you complete in a typical week.  If not, try writing down every hour - very briefly - what you have done in the last hour - and what you accomplished by doing it.  You might find out what makes the business tick ,,, and what you should be concentrating on in the future.

Online Productivity Tools

I am indebted to my friends at Mashable (www.mashable.com) for pointing me in the direction of some useful personal productivity tools.  You might find some of these useful.

Take a look at: http://bit.ly/7C2DH1

Think tomorrow today

Sometimes while struggling to keep up today, you forget about tomorrow. Dangerous! There are things happening today that will affect your tommorow - new laws and regulations, new competitors, new technology, etc. Take some time in your schedule to think about how today's changes might,impact you tomorrow. I lay aside at least 30 minutes each week ("Friday Futures") and force myself to consider what I have come across in the past week that might have future implications.

Listen to me

Visionary leadership creates organisational excitement ... if that vision is effectively communicated. Not all of us, however, are visionaries. If you are not, you can still be a good communicator. That implies listening to what is going on around you as well as pontificating.

You might not create 'excitement' but you will get buy-in to plans and progress!