Three Tips to Give Your Business the Edge

The new economy is not measured in currency but attention. This is not news - Herbert Simon was talking about it in 1971. Attention demands time, and to get time we need to be smart in how we work. The idea of the workplace ecosystem, a collaborative body, is increasingly being recognised by change innovators as a powerful agent for productivity. We like working together and we work well together.

Here are some ideas for you to help get more time in your life, through smarter workplace practices:

1. Take the initiative to start the conversation.

"Being able to work with others is an important part of being an entrepreneur"
- Amy Rosen, President and CEO, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship

Actively look for criticism, feedback, opinions from everyone that you can. Even if they are not experts in the field or on the same level as you. Being able to articulate your thoughts to them will help you simplify and distill your ideas. This will create a dynamic, collaborative atmosphere and, as the Work Futurist Jeremy Scrivens says, will create a positive and accountable workplace ecosystem.

 

2. No meeting can ever be longer than 1 hour.

The shorter the better; meetings must be pointed with a measurable outcome. Anything being discussed for longer than an hour is not meant for a meeting: more time talking about doing work means less time doing work. If there is a lot of content to talk about, send it around beforehand and talk about key issues within the meeting itself.

 

 

3. Team spaces are as important as solo spaces.

Why did the "work from home revolution" never eventuate? Because people feed off each others energy. We don't like working in isolation: we are social animals that need others to excel ourselves. Team spaces can be anywhere, for formal meetings or ad hoc conversations, the only rule is no phones, tablets or laptops. Personal devices, while great for certain things, isolate and distract.

nsquared has a vision to move the business world forward by creating better tools for pointed, meaningful interaction in your workplace. If you are interested in what we do, or if you are interesting in joining any of the events we host about workplace collaboration, keep up to date with our Twitter or Facebook or join our VIP mailing list. 

Have a productive day!