what annoys people most at work

SUMMARY OF IDEAS FROM WORKSHOPS WITH 5,000 PEOPLE

1. DON’T MAKE EXCUSES

• Get things done• Don’t be vague or evasive• Don’t use jargon (unless with specialists who know the lingo)• Don’t use bullshit• Keep politics to a minimum

2. HATE WAFFLE

• Waffle is the enemy of a clear decision• You can’t talk straight if you can’t think straight• Take the time to think first• Don’t do spontaneous word dumps• If you want to ask a colleague then don’t blunder in and interrupt• Instead ask when you can grab five minutes of their time

  3. GO FOR PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION

• Perfectionist bosses demoralise staffby consistently redoing their work

• Perfectionists in a team take too long to agonize over things and put pressure on their colleagues

• Go for the highest standards, and finish the job

4. DO IT FAST OR DO IT PROPERLY

• Quantitative tasks can neither be done well nor badly, so get them done fast with the minimum of fuss. • Qualitative tasks need careful time and thought. • By having clear set times for the quant, we can think harder about the qual. • Always ask: are we just doing it, or are we doing it well?

5. MEETING & EMAIL ETIQUETTE

• Only call meetings when really necessary• Make them short• Turn up, prepare properly, stay on

theme• Never touch an email more than once• Read it, then action it, file it, or delete it• Use a different medium if you can• Don’t be an email thief and steal

peoples’ time

6. SHARPER, SMARTER, FASTER

• Brevity equals intelligence• The shorter the better• Edit first before wasting other peoples’ time• Tasks do not improve if they are delayed, so don’t delay• If in doubt, do the worst first, and free up time for important stuff

NO EXCUSES

PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION

MEETING & EMAIL ETIQUETTESHARPER SMARTER FASTER

HATE WAFFLE

DO IT FAST, DO IT PROPERLY

Kevin Duncanwww.expertadviceonline.com

Twitter: @kevinduncan07979 808770