Nice! I’m wondering what others people’s answers are.
Mine is a little bit different and doesn’t have much to do with indvidual productivity, but how to coordinate with others. It applies more to people working in tightly interconnected teams. (And I do not master this skill myself).
minimize waiting for other people
If I don’t move forward with (especially bigger) things at work it is often because I need to wait for someone else. Avoid being dependent on others as much as you can. Come up with workarounds. Ask your access and permissions as early as possible. But when you inevitably do need something from someone, don’t be afraid to ask, and don’t don’t don’t procrastinate it. Be clear in what you ask them and why. When you finally got the a time slot with a busy person, be well-prepared so that you can ask and discuss everything in one session. Respect your colleague’s time and priorities—they might be juggling many balls and yours is only one of them.
Be reliable yourself and avoid that others need to wait for you—treat others the way you want to be treated. If it’s many times the same person that you need to wait for, discuss it with your manager, the person themselves, or the team (whatever is most appropriate in your situation).
Don’t beat yourself up if you’re unproductive because your most important task is on hold. If you need to wait for a short time, take a break instead or do something simple, rather than switching to another complex task.
Today I woudn’t have gotten anything done if I didn’t find out a way to insert my test data into the database myself rather than wait 2 days for my colleague before they have time to prepare me an interface.
(Crossposted from local group slack where someone else shared a link to this article) Edited for more context.
Nice! I’m wondering what others people’s answers are.
Mine is a little bit different and doesn’t have much to do with indvidual productivity, but how to coordinate with others. It applies more to people working in tightly interconnected teams. (And I do not master this skill myself).
minimize waiting for other people
If I don’t move forward with (especially bigger) things at work it is often because I need to wait for someone else.
Avoid being dependent on others as much as you can. Come up with workarounds. Ask your access and permissions as early as possible.
But when you inevitably do need something from someone, don’t be afraid to ask, and don’t don’t don’t procrastinate it. Be clear in what you ask them and why. When you finally got the a time slot with a busy person, be well-prepared so that you can ask and discuss everything in one session. Respect your colleague’s time and priorities—they might be juggling many balls and yours is only one of them.
Be reliable yourself and avoid that others need to wait for you—treat others the way you want to be treated. If it’s many times the same person that you need to wait for, discuss it with your manager, the person themselves, or the team (whatever is most appropriate in your situation).
Don’t beat yourself up if you’re unproductive because your most important task is on hold. If you need to wait for a short time, take a break instead or do something simple, rather than switching to another complex task.
Today I woudn’t have gotten anything done if I didn’t find out a way to insert my test data into the database myself rather than wait 2 days for my colleague before they have time to prepare me an interface.
(Crossposted from local group slack where someone else shared a link to this article)
Edited for more context.