5 tips for a productive 2018

January is the ideal time for reflection and good intentions. Here are our New Year’s resolutions for the year ahead.

1. Question yourself

We can spend hours agonising over how to hire successfully, how to pitch and win, how to plan for change, how to budget and how to grow. At The Clubhouse we like to question, why? In 2009, Simon Sinek, motivation speaker, leadership expert and unfailing optimist, introduced this thought process through his book, Start with Why. Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organisations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? Start with Why shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way – and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organisations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired.

2.Make meetings mindful

Make 2018 the year you develop true clarity of mind, enhanced focus and resilience, which are all vital for modern-day working life and effective collaboration. Daniel Stane, senior consultant and facilitator of The Potential Project, explains: “The essence of meetings with mindfulness is to be fully present with the people we are with, for as long as we are with them.” There are three phases in every meeting. 1. Preparation: Take a break with mindfulness before you start with three full deep breaths. 2. The meeting itself: Be fully present with the people you are with for as long as you are with them. 3. Closing the meeting: Be direct with one another to bring the meeting to an end and be clear on accomplishments and next steps.

3. Explore apps

Use cutting-edge technology to streamline your working practices and make you and your team more efficient. Consider an AI PA : Amy Ingram, X.ai and Mimetic.ai have names and email addresses to give a personal touch while organising meetings for you. With tasks, projects, conversations and dashboards, apps such as Asana helps a team move and share their work, while Trello keeps track of everything. Try Wunderlist for a simple to-do list and task manager. Slack brings all your communication into one place, Yammer enables connections to people and information from across an organisation or try Workplace by Facebook to turn ideas into action.

4. Build a resilient team

A team who manages well in times of pressure or change is a team that ensures business continuity, is higher performing and ultimately delivers more. Those teams have a culture of resilience. How? Encourage transparency and ownership among colleagues and suggest they seek each other out for support when they feel overstretched. Provide clarity on goals, priorities and roles, including creating a plan that clearly anchors to the team and keeps them focused. Challenge and be challenged on what and how things can be improved.

5. Stay connected

Skype may work for a conference call or WhatsApp for quick questions, but to keep remote workers feeling connected and engaged, make sure they have access to inspirational and flexible meeting and work spaces to boost productivity, satisfy impromptu brainstorms and be around like-minded people. Create clear guidelines of when you expect them to be contactable so they have clear ‘switch off’ times. Instigate regular meet-ups in creative environments for build teams, strengthen relationships and encourage collaboration. Just a few simple steps can create ripples of change to make you and your business more successful.

A team who manages well in times of pressure or change is a team that ensures business continuity, is higher performing and ultimately delivers more.

This article was originally featured in The Informer. To read the full magazine, please click here.