Corporate Idealist

photo credit: DeaPeaJay

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like there’s just too much to do. Oh, that’s not just me?

I also feel like the tools and systems I use to manage it all sometimes fail me, or I fail them, or whatever, and it all feels too complicated. That sound familiar too?

Why not start this week by finding the simplest approach you can take to managing your time and priorities, and seeing how far that gets you? Whether that means writing on a sticky note or two in your workspace to remind you of something you really should be working on and getting done, or busting out a good old fashioned notepad and pen to make some lists, or shutting off Twitter and closing your email application so you can concentrate on something for a block of time, or even perhaps all of the above, try something incredibly simple and see how it works for you.

And then let us know in the comments how your new, simple approach worked for you. Happy Monday!

photo credit: torres21

For some of us, creativity just spews from our core, touching everything we do, whether we design a newsletter, write a song or paint a bedroom. For others of us, it may come a bit more slowly as we wait for inspiration to strike or a skill to develop.

Whether you work alone, at a small shop or for a big corporation, you’ll often have the chance to collaborate with other people. And, whether that collaboration takes the form of a strategic partnership, a volunteer committee or a special project team, there is an art to making sure that the group inspires action and change, rather than prohibits it.

Sure, group think and stagnation can set in. Or, the collective wisdom and inspiration of a particular assortment of people can raise the level of everyone’s participation and performance.

For example, I recently participated in Nashville’s 48 Hour Film Project. A group of friends and I had just two full days to write, create, shoot, edit and produce a 7-minute film that used a required character name, prop and line of dialog.

Like many things, inertia was key. Things started slowly, but in no time (once the pizza and beer arrived on Friday night), ideas were shared, improved upon and agreed on. Each team member made the others better and come Sunday afternoon, we had a product that we were proud of – and one that was a lot of fun to make.

There’s a difference between making a movie on the weekend and working on something for the boss. But, we’re wondering this weekend: Do you think teams inspire or kill creativity?

Tell us in the comments, or even weigh in on the following questions:

• How do you keep your team creative?
• Are teams better when participation is voluntary, as opposed to required?
• How do you decide when teams are worth using in the creative process?
• When is it time for a team to call it quits?

photo credit: Mooganic

Working from home, or remotely at all, seems to be an on-again, off-again trend in business blogging. The disadvantages are often cited, such as the chance you’ll be “out of sight, out of mind” and possibly passed over for promotion or lumped in with layoffs even if you are contributing a great deal of value.

But the merits are many, from work-life balance benefits to cost savings to increased productivity.

On the surface, it seems like a risk worth weighing. The question for you is, are you one of the many who work remote work into your routine? How often do you work from home? What techniques do you use to minimize the risks of being overlooked? Share your tips in the comments.

photo credit: itchys

You know all about the “rules” of the business world; but I bet you also know how a judicious breaking of those rules can create trajectories of productivity and employee morale.

One rule I’ve frequently observed was “no drinking in the office.” Sure, there is always plenty of leaving work to lift a cold one with a colleague or client, but it was always an understood thing that it was for off-site.

I had a wonderful boss once who found a great way to revise and update this rule with good results. Our office was in a restored old house with a deck opening onto a wide green field of a side yard. Because it was a former residence, the office also had a full kitchen.

At the end of an especially stressful day, or upon completion of a big client project — or heck, when the moon was full on a Tuesday — she would stock the kitchen with wine and call everyone to the porch at 4:59 p.m. Wine flowed, as did conversation.

Perhaps not surprisingly, in our down time and with slightly lowered inhibitions, we would come up with some of our best ideas. One did not have to drink, but everyone was expected to come to the porch and laugh and talk and be creative and relaxed. It was genius.

I miss those days. I’m not sure if they are still doing it or not. It may have been the personalities working there at the time that made it magic, but I like to think a good broken rule like this can work wonders at any time and with any group.

Tell us about your most productive, rule-breaking work experience!