Archive for the 'Organizational Solutions' Category

How to Hold Magnificent Conferences in the Time of Corona

Posted on July 21st, 2020 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

In May I went to a large international conference, EcoMotion 2020, devoted to the exciting innovative field of autonomous vehicles and other novel means of transport. There were 3,000 attendees from 54 countries and 211 exhibitors. It was a magnificent event. Welcome speech at the start of the event Of course, in May I couldn’t possibly have gone to a large conference… not with the blasted Coronavirus imposing social distancing and travel bans. In May I stayed at home. And yet I went to EcoMotion 2020, and it most definitely was a magnificent event. The impact of COVID-19 on the.. Read more

How to Manage Working from Home in the Age of Corona

Posted on April 7th, 2020 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

The Corona virus is holding the world hostage at the time I write this, and is probably feeling pretty pleased with itself. For my part, I won’t speculate about when this mess will be over, but I retain my optimism that we humans will overcome it… after all, remember the smallpox virus: it had killed millions of us well into the 20th century, but we’ve finally wiped it right off the face of our planet. Now we’re gunning for Coronavirus… I’d be less smug if I was in its place. Meanwhile we’re all stuck at home and have time for.. Read more

New Insight Article: How to Make Meetings Effective

Posted on June 27th, 2018 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

The data is clear: meetings are one of the two worst productivity killers in the knowledge workplace (the other, of course, is email overload). If you work in a corporate environment (or in a large organization in the public sector) you know this problem very well. Which is a damned shame, because meetings are supposed to be the place where brains come together to share knowledge, create insight, solve problems… they are supposed to be a focus of exuberant creativity that generates value and bottom line profit. They can be all that… but we’ve subverted them to be the very.. Read more

The Black Hole of Email

Posted on March 15th, 2018 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

I heard the phrase for the first time back in the nineties, when I was an Intel representative in a multi-company exploration of the then-new practice of Knowledge Management: “If only Siemens knew what Siemens knows”, a manager from that company shared a saying that was often used there. And indeed, a major issue with knowledge in large companies is the difficulty of sharing it across the organization. Research shows that employees spend about a fifth of their time trying to track down information they need – that’s one day a week – and they often fail to find it.. Read more

Banning Email Use After Hours: an Update

Posted on June 29th, 2017 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

Five and a half years ago I blogged about how Volkswagen decided to turn off its Blackberry servers outside of work hours, thereby affording employees some quality time with their families and their lives. It was a pioneering move and a courageous one, and I added my hope that other companies would take note. It took a while, but now companies and legislators are not merely taking note – they’re taking action. In fact some of them are not only enabling, but also enforcing a barrier between Work and Life that email may not penetrate. There is much more to.. Read more

Video: My Lecture on Trends in Innovative Information Overload Solutions

Posted on June 21st, 2017 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Individual Solutions, Organizational Solutions

I was invited to give a Webinar for an IBM group interested in Information Overload and how to solve it. I shared with the group my take on the evolution of solutions to this problem from the mid-90s to the present – and the likely future. Here is the video, shared with permission.

BLUF! A Great Method to Get Your Message Across

Posted on March 30th, 2017 · Posted in Individual Solutions, Organizational Solutions

BLUF: Put the main takeaway – the bottom line – of your message at its very beginning.   BLUF? What on Earth is that? BLUF stands for “Bottom Line Up Front”. It is a term coined, apparently, in the US Army, and it denotes a model for effective message writing. The idea is to reverse the usual method, where you first present your case, your arguments and justifications, and then – at the end – draw the conclusions or decisions. Instead you put the conclusion, the main thing you need the reader to understand, at the very beginning of the.. Read more

Should We Reintroduce Computer-free Activity into the Workplace?

Posted on February 19th, 2016 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Impact and Symptoms, Individual Solutions, Organizational Solutions

Here is a strange idea: reduce the use of computers in the workplace. Huhh?!?… Bear with me and read on… Computers and Stress Back in the nineties management at my Intel campus realized that non-stop computer use was causing health damage in the form of RSI (repetitive stress injuries – remember all those weird wrist bandages?). To address it, we implemented structured “stretching sessions” where everyone stopped typing and came together to do directed exercises with music and fun. Today we see that non-stop computer use is causing health damage in other forms – and it may be time to.. Read more

How to Avoid Forwarding Gaffes With Email

Posted on May 21st, 2015 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Individual Solutions, Organizational Solutions

Gaffes in communication are common in all media, and email is no exception. It does, however, enable special opportunities to be very sorry for what you said… The problem with Forward The main reason is that an email, once sent, is no longer yours . You must assume – and to your detriment often forget to assume – that it will get forwarded and re-forwarded. Everything you said to your intended recipient will likely as not be placed before numerous other people. It is astounding how thoughtlessly a recipient can set loose a message meant for their eyes only! The.. Read more

Unplugged Weddings: People are Pushing Back!

Posted on January 27th, 2015 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Organizational Solutions

At last: some pushback The “democratization” of photography in the smartphone age has wrested the role of the professional wedding photographer and distributed it among all the invited friends and family members; and this change happened almost overnight, in line with the exponential speedup of technology introduction in recent years. The relevance of this to information overload was the subject of my recent post, Wedding Photos and Managing Information Overload. Another interesting development, which came surprisingly close on the heels of the former, is the appearance of the Unplugged Wedding concept. This is a clear instance where people are beginning.. Read more