Team Taskmaster

Are your PowerPoint presentations putting everyone to sleep? Is your business culture so steeped in slide decks that your audience immediately zones out when the lights go down? If so, you need to do something to spice up your slides and get people to pay attention.

Cognitive science to the rescue! Last year, Harvard scientist Stephen M. Kosslyn spoke in a symposium about the visualization of data and how people can best present information in a PowerPoint format. Writer Annalee Newitz summarized Kosslyn’s four rules of PowerPoint.

1. The Goldilocks Rule: Present a “just right” amount of data. Too much is overwhelming; too little won’t get your point across.
2. The Rudolph Rule: Guide your audience to important details, just as Rudolph’s red nose guided Santa. If you present a piece of key data in a list, make it a different color or size, point an arrow to it, highlight it, or circle it in red. In a pie chart, pull out the important sector. Our brains are wired to immediately notice what’s different, and this helps your audience distinguish what’s important from what’s background information.
3. The Rule of Four: Never offer more than four pieces of information at once. Why? The brain can generally only hold four pieces of visual data simultaneously — so when we take in the visual information on a slide, more than four items starts to overwhelm us.
4. The Birds of a Feather Rule: If you want to indicate to your audience that several items belong in a group, make them similar by giving them the same color or shape. Or group them very close together.

For more details, read Newitz’s full post, with examples. Or check out Kosslyn’s book, Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations. And happy PowerPointing!

I read an interesting post over the weekend from Diane Mermigas, who writes about the big-picture implications of technology. She discussed Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s assertion that multiplayer video games are good training for workplace collaboration.

Schmidt, speaking at the G-20 in Pittsburgh, said the game world teaches players how to build a network and to use interactive skills and thinking. Collaborative dynamics can be easily seen in the big changes in open-source applications, notes Mermigas, and consultants and analysts are embracing the idea of using a multiplayer game approach to build a more effective workplace.

One example of a game that translates well to the business environment is World of Warcraft, in which players work both with and against each other in mastering increasingly difficult challenges.

Says Mermigas,

The adopted personas, strategies, execution and teamwork make WOW a reasonable template for dealing constructively and creatively with real-world challenges working with others. As more participants join a carefully-designed work environment and  knowledge economy, the more valuable its resources become, and the faster players increase their improved performance.

Interesting parallels, don’t you think? I’m not a gamer myself but I can see where the crossover could apply.

Might the workplace of the future include a gaming room along with a break room? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

What productivity suite do you use in your workplace? Most likely, it’s Microsoft Office, the undisputed heavyweight champ in that space. But a new contender may soon be nipping at Office’s heels.

The challenger is Google Docs, the Web-based word processor/spreadsheet/presentation application from Google. A new survey by market-research firm IDC finds that 20 percent of respondents said Google Docs is “widely used” in their workplaces.

Yes, it was a small survey (262 people) and it didn’t prove that people are using Google Docs instead of Office, rather than as an adjunct. But it does point out that Google Docs is gaining momentum, since an earlier IDC study (2007) found that just 5 percent of respondents characterized it as widely used.

Google’s official blog says over 1.75 millions businesses, schools, and organizations use Google Docs, with an additional 3,000 signing up each day.

That might speak volumes for its increasing popularity, but folks with loads of experience in the tech industry, like my former colleague Preston Gralla, note that client-based suites are still more trustworthy than Web-based ones, at least for the moment (remember Google’s infamous outage?).

Cloud-based computing is not necessarily ready for prime time in the workplace, concurs PC World’s Ian Paul: “It’s not all rainbows and light when you dance in the clouds, because eventually a storm rolls in.” Paul points out that while online storage is incredibly convenient, even a behemoth like Google isn’t immune to problems and glitches that can cause you and your business time and money — or even lost data.

What do you think?

Last week, I blogged about the growing trend of cubicle-free workplaces. The folks at Harvard Business Review had noted that cubicles don’t really work, saying they discourage collaboration, lower engagement, and make it tougher to innovate.

Being that we’re talking Harvard here, you’d think they know what they’re talking about. But your take? Not a chance.

Pretty much all of you who responded blew a big fat raspberry at the idea of open workspaces. Bouchart wrote:

“Why would I want to collaborate more? Most of the data I work with is bad or incomplete, so everyone would just be sharing their flawed conclusions and ignorance.”

Added gkumaran,

“With a small drawing board and non-closed environment, I cannot think more. I get distracted easily. Which severely degrades your work, if your work involves creativity.”

And my colleague Geoffrey James opined,

“Actually, creative people need private offices so that they can think privately. Maybe it’s the open bullpen — and the lack of focus that it creates — that’s killed the newspaper business.”

Good points, all. Maybe ditching the cubicles isn’t the way to more productivity. I’d like to hear what the rest of you think, so…it’s poll time!

(image by GraceFamily via Flickr, CC 2.0)

It’s been my son’s first week of kindergarten and let’s just say Mom was more stressed about it than he was. And unfortunately, anxiety and panic appear to be incompatible with coherent blogging, so apologies for the radio silence the past two days.

But I’ve regained my equilibrium and am able to view this past week with some perspective now. I’ve even managed to notice the ways in which the school leadership exceeded, met, or missed our parental expectations.

It’s the missed expectations, of course, that really got to the moms and dads sending off their wee ones for the first time. Amidst the playground grumbling, I noticed three common issues that seemed to get everyone’s goat: poor communication, a lack of collaboration, and no commiseration.

It struck me that these three C’s are crucial to anyone managing a team or directing a group, whether in the boardroom or the classroom. Here’s my Monday (Friday)-morning quarterbacking on what was could have been done differently, and how these lessons apply to your leadership role.

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Communication.
As of the morning of the first day of kindergarten, I did not know exactly when the school day began. That information wasn’t on the school Web site, in the manuals and handouts we’d received, or posted at the school. Word of mouth gave me three different answers. In the end, we showed up 20 minutes before the earliest time I’d heard, just in case.

Frustrating, right? And that’s how it feels for your employees when they aren’t sure what the deadline is, why they’ve been assigned to a project, who is responsible for a deliverable, and so on. A good leader always communicates with his team and clearly explains expectations and parameters. He should answer the who/what/when/where/why/how of any issue before anyone even needs to ask. It doesn’t take much to proactively keep people in the loop, and it pays off big time with a calmer, more prepared team.

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Collaboration.
On the first day of school, we newbie kindergarten parents were excited, engaged, and looking forward to contributing to our classrooms and the school. But for most of us, this week has been a splash of cold water. The principal allowed parents five minutes in the classroom for farewells on the first day and then shooed us out. The teachers have been harried and hurried and seemed to have little time to answer our timid questions. By Friday, our excited group had become cynical, complaining in the parking lot about how shut out we felt.

“They act like we’re a bunch of cats they just want corral in the sandbox,” noted one mom, “yet they expect us to contribute money and volunteer our time to the school.”

If you aren’t collaborating with your team — working together to solve problems, encouraging give and take, respecting their comments and concerns and valuing their contributions — then you’re actively disengaging them. If it took just four days to turn a bunch of gung-ho supermoms (and superdads) into a crew of kvetchers, how long would take to turn your employees into clock-watching, bitter, bored workers? No one wants that. So acknowledge them, respect them, and work closely with them, even when it’s not convenient for you. You expect plenty from them, so make sure you give back in return.

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Commiseration.
A uniting factor for all first-time parents: We were nervous. Yet the staff seemed impervious to our fears (and tears). It would have gone a long, long way to get some reassurance from the principal and the teachers.Yes, as my teacher friends note, it’s the most stressful day of the year for school personnel and all of them had their game faces on. I get that. But just a small comment (”I know this is a big day for all of you, but parents, don’t worry; we’ll take good care of your kids”) could have alleviated a lot.

The same goes at the office. If your team is busting a gut on an intense project, take a minute to tell them you know it’s been rough. If someone is having a personal crisis, let them know you’re there if they need you. When you’re asking a lot of your employees but can’t reward them with raises, tell them you know it stinks but you appreciate their hard work. Put yourself in their shoes on a regular basis and ask yourself what you can do to show you care about them.

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Did the first day of school (yours or your kids) teach you any leadership lessons? Share your thoughts with me in the comments section.

What does your office look like? If you’re in corporate America, it’s probably some combination of cubicles, offices, and conference rooms. But that trend may soon give way to more open floor plans with fewer walls and partitions — and fewer barriers to collaboration.

According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett at the Harvard Business Review, companies are realizing that cubicle cultures just don’t work. Why? Because the impersonal “cube farms” discourage collaboration, stifle employee engagement, and strangle innovation.

Creative fields have long embraced open floor plans or, at least, minimal barriers between workers. When I worked as a newspaper reporter, the only offices belonged to the bigwigs; the rest of us worked in close proximity — usually, with open desks — and enjoyed the ability to tap our co-workers for ideas, input, or just a quick dose of humor. That sparked our inspiration, made our stories better, and created a collegial environment.

Contrast that to being segmented into a Dilbert-like space. Sure, you might have somewhere to hang your Demotivators calendar, and you might be able to play hearts on your computer without your boss noticing. But it also shuts you away from your colleagues.

According to a study called Bookend Generations, both Generation Y workers and Baby Boomers prize interacting with high-quality colleagues — ranking it equal to or even higher than financial compensation. Speaking as a Gen X-er, I agree. My engagement and excitement about my work usually comes from exciting and interesting collaborations with smart people, rather than from my paycheck.

So think about tearing down some of those cubicle walls and, as Hewlett says, share the intellectual wealth.

(image by Tim Patterson via Flickr, CC 2.0)

I watched an interesting BNET video by Edward Muzio this morning that discussed why e-mail starts fights. The premise: if communication is made up of tone, visual cues, and words, e-mail is a terrible medium for it.

Why? Because words, according to researchers, account for just 7 percent of any overall message. The remainder is tone and visual cues, which just don’t come across in e-mail.

I wrote last week that you might not be as funny as you think in e-mail. But aside from humor falling flat, the real danger in using e-mail as a conveyance for your thoughts is that a misinterpretation of your message can lead to big trouble: hurt feelings, frustration, resentment, anger…all things that can damage your working or personal relationships.

What’s the remedy? Simple. According to Muzio, you should save e-mail for factual communication only — setting meetings, conveying data, and so on. When you get into sensitive or emotional context, deal with it in person (your best option) or over the phone.

That’s a challenging proposition for a writer like me. I often believe I can say things better on paper than I can in person, so I’m more likely to send a long, well-crafted e-mail to deal with a problem than to pick up the phone. But Muzio’s comments have me reconsidering that approach.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section. And take a look at the video to judge for yourself.

The folks at Pear Analytics have determined that a whopping 41 percent of postings on Twitter are “pointless babble” (their words). And to this I say:

What’s wrong with pointless babble?

Yes, I know that overuse of social media can be a huge time waster and productivity killer. But tweeting a bit during the workday, even if it’s about something mundane like where you’re going for lunch, is a pretty decent way to give yourself a mental break or blow off some stress.

You’re not sharing any earth-shattering observations with the Twitterati. So what?

Think about the person-to-person conversations you have every day at work. Aren’t many of them equally trivial? Yesterday alone, I had discussions about the best flavors of gelato, why Microsoft makes computers that take forever to boot, and whether snakeskin or patent is a better choice for strappy sandals. (Snakeskin, hands-down.)

Nothing there that’s going to establish me as a genius, but these little exchanges connected me with my co-workers, gave my brain a change of topic, and increased my engagement by reinforcing the fact that there are fun (and funny) people in my workplace. After a few moments of idle chitchat, I’m refreshed and ready to get back to work.

So I think pointless babble has a place, whether it’s in your office or online.

What do you think?

Recently, I wasted an enormous amount of time trying to send a bloated (892 MB) Word file to a colleague. First, my ISP refused to let me send such a large attachment.

I tried sending from another e-mail account; this time, her e-mail blocked it. We tried going through Yahoo! mail — way, way too big.

I zipped the file, but because it was chock-full of graphics, it didn’t shrink enough to make much difference. Finally, I just made a PDF of the document and e-mailed it that way.

Had I only known that there are much better ways to send monster files.

1. The first is the trickiest, but if you’re tech-savvy, it works well: Set up your own FTP server and send files that way. Of course, you’ll need to know a lot of geeky details, and this may not work if you or your recipient are behind firewalls. Another downside: FTP won’t encrypt transferred files, so if security is an issue, this isn’t a good solution for you.
2. If you’re not up to that challenge, there are services out there that’ll do it for you — for a fee. For example, ShareFile, Box.net, and Egnyte provide secure online file storage and sharing. There are plenty of companies to choose from (just Google “online file sharing”), including offerings from Microsoft and Adobe. Costs can vary from a reasonable monthly charge to “Zoinks!” so shop carefully.
3. You can also go the free route with peer-to-peer options like PipeBytes, WikiSend, and Files2U. Probably not as secure as going through a top-tier file-sharing service, but some of these free services do offer password protection.

And of course, if time isn’t a factor, you can send a file the old-fashioned way, via optical media or a flash drive. But with these other options at your fingertips, who needs envelopes?

What file-sharing services do you recommend? Share your suggestions in the comments section.

(image by lotyloty via Flickr, CC 2.0)

Last month, I wrote about David Pogue’s “Take Back the Beep” campaign, an effort to get cell-phone companies to remove or make optional those incredibly annoying, 15-second recorded instructions (”Press 5 to send a numeric page,” etc.) that accompany most people’s voicemail.

Those useless memos have long bugged me, and I was thrilled to see someone finally doing something about it, especially when Pogue revealed the real reason behind them is to make extra cash for the carriers.

Well, two weeks later, Pogue’s efforts have resulted in a landslide of consumer protest directed at the four major carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon). In fact, Pogue says the campaign has taken on a life of its own.

The results thus far are somewhat encouraging: AT&T is going to make changes by shortening the messages and making visual voicemail (which doesn’t include those messages) available to more subscribers.

T-Mobile is admitting that they’re paying attention to the e-mail onslaught they’re receiving, and Sprint lets you remove the caller instructions yourself. Verizon hasn’t been as helpful, says Pogue.

To learn more, read David Pogue’s column for a full “Take Back the Beep” update. I’m looking forward to a world without useless instructions in the near future.