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Productivity

Dare to Say “Yes, And”

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The skills cultivated in improvisation — communication, creativity, teamwork, taking risks, and resilience — are ones you’d want to see on a résumé. Business schools are taking note and even teaching improv. Robert Kulhan, adjunct professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business explains, that at its core, “Improvisation isn’t about comedy, it’s about reacting — being focused and present in the moment at a very high level.”

One of the most fundamental principles of improv which produces that mindful reacting is “Yes, and”. You accept and agree with what someone has said, and you’re not done until you build upon it, which requires listening, understanding, and insight.

That “and” generates possibility, and as Tina Fey writes in Bossypants, responsibility. For her, “Yes, and” means, “[D]on’t be afraid to contribute. It’s your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you’re adding something to the discussion. Your initiations are worthwhile.”

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Harness the Productivity Power of Automation

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All too often, to-do lists end up with more things to do and less things getting done. Humans are awful at completing lists. We often convince ourselves that we can complete our to-do list if we just buckle down and try harder.

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Yet tomorrow, or next week, or next month rolls around, and the list is just as bad as it has always been. Probably worse, if you are like me.

So when we found iDoneThis at Zapier it immediately clicked.

– No more over bearing to-do list? Check.
– Transparency into what everyone on the team is doing? Check.
– Email based? Check.
– Built-in motivation to do meaningful things each day? Check, again.

I loved it.

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Jessica Stillman, Writer and Non-Pod Person, on Work

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Jessica Stillman is a columnist at Inc.com who writes about work, unconventional careers, productivity, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She also writes for Brazen Careerist and Women 2.0, among other fine publications. 

Her Twitter bio urges, “Have a career. Don’t turn into a pod person.” We talked with Jessica about how she managed to do just that, the benefits of quitting, productivity personalities, and the future of work.

Jessica Stillman

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman on The Yellow Wallpaper

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I … went to work again–work, the normal life of every human being; work, in which is joy and growth and service, without which one is a pauper and a parasite–ultimately recovering some measure of power.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, on why she wrote The Yellow Wall-paper, after a specialist had told her to refrain from intellectual life, “never to touch pen, brush, or pencil again,” — words which led her to near “mental ruin.” Indeed, it is heartening to remember that there is the possibility of power, joy, growth, and service in work.

8 Expensive Lessons in Project Management, for Free!

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When it comes to project management, it’s so much cheaper to learn from someone else’s mistakes. So here are a few of mine!

I’ve been running projects for my whole adult life. I started with computer games at IG. After ten years I switched to marketing and copywriting projects at Articulate Marketing, which I still run. On top of that, I’m now also CEO of Turbine, an online app for purchases, expenses, time off management and HR record-keeping.

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Photo: Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig

Project management is the art, craft and science of getting stuff done by teams. And it’s also like walking through a minefield. These tips – based on my own experience over 20 years – will help you find your way through it.

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Reset Your Mind! The Best of the Internet

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Bunny ShoppingHappy Friday! Catch up with the best of what we’ve shared on the interwebs this week! 

The perks of considering your plan “dead”. Dun dun dun!

How to get your team to stick to new habits.

Our Chief Happiness Officer stars in a Green Mango web interview.

Promoting yourself to your harshest critic.

Lessons from a productivity addict.

Take a break! It’s a productive pause!

Optimize your teamwork.

3 Tools to Speed Up Customer Service Traffic

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Great customer service requires great communication. LaunchBit, an ad network for email newsletters, manages a ton of communication with their publishing and advertising partners. CEO and co-founder Elizabeth Yin shares LaunchBit’s secrets to speedy, efficient customer service, dealing with high volume while maintaining high quality.

When my co-founder and I first started LaunchBit, we were working with just a handful of publishers and advertisers, and it was easy to respond to everyone. As a small startup, speed was our advantage in winning over new customers. Losing momentum with a customer was a real risk, because it was hard to gain back their interest in our product. In those beginning stages, each customer is critical.

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Photo: Biscarotte

Very quickly, business boomed, and we found ourselves struggling just to maintain our individual inboxes. Yet, our priority remains to respond with the same high level of speed and service in order to stay fresh in the minds of our customers.

In a given week, the emails number in the low thousands. So how do we get through them all with just four full-time employees? We found that staying organized and finding tools that can fill the role of a good traffic cop, helping to direct email smartly and efficiently, work best to deliver quality customer service.

Here are three key tools we use:

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