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Showing posts with label Productivity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Productivity. Show all posts

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Ways to make meetings work, What to do about pointless meetings; Relaxation techniques

 

If a meeting does not make sense, can you call it into question to save time for something else? — Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa-tmn/dpa

Spending the whole day in meetings that distract you from your actual work can be a major source of stress and frustration.

However, many companies find it difficult to move away from a meeting culture that has developed over the years.

"This is the way we've always done it," people often say. How do teams get out of this trap?

"There is no magic formula, unfortunately, for how to change a bad meeting culture or routine," says Teresa Stockmeyer, a trainer and consultant for team development.

There are, however, lots of small adjustments that can be made - provided that at least some of the people taking part in the meetings want to.

If a team decides they want to break out of existing meeting structures, there are various steps that can be taken, Stockmeyer says.

Structure your meetings

This includes setting and sharing the goal and agenda of the meeting beforehand. The number of participants should be limited and there should be a moderator that leads the meeting.

Ideally, the moderator should also make sure the meeting doesn't go over the given time. It may also be a good idea to take notes. "This means everyone gets the information, even if they don't attend," says Stockmeyer.

Be proactive

If you're frustrated with unnecessary meetings, have the courage to tackle the issue. Stockmeyer's advice is to not simply put up with meetings that feel unproductive and pointless.

It's better to question a meeting and get feedback from your team members to see if they feel the same way.

Being proactive also involves asking before a meeting what input or expertise is expected. A team can work together to visualise what purpose a meeting currently serves and agree on whether this purpose will or should continue to be served by having a meeting.

Get regular feedback

Stockmeyer advises carrying out a quick evaluation after each meeting, which will help you find out what is working well and where there is room for improvement.

The 'kill all meetings' experiment

If you want to go for a more radical approach, you could try the "kill all meetings" experiment for one to two weeks.

Stockmeyer advises "ruthlessly clearing" your calendar and, if necessary, the team calendar. This allows you to quickly see where there is a lack of communication, and where it is not needed.

Another way of reducing unnecessary meetings is to ask yourself some questions: "Which meetings or summaries would I need if I was coming back from a three-week holiday?" or "Which meetings or summaries could I do without if I was away for three weeks and I would still be able to carry out my tasks upon returning?"

Wrong goals: Why we keep having pointless meetings

However, there are a number of reasons why we hold on to unnecessary meetings. According to Stockmeyer, this often has to do with the veiled, sometimes unconscious goals of meetings.

For example, meetings may secretly serve the purpose of social interaction or self-promotion or presenting one's status instead of discussing business matters.

Teams may stick to meetings for no real reason, because they are thought to bring structure to the working day and strengthen a sense of belonging and motivation.

However, the opposite often turns out to be the case. Instead of structuring the working day, it is fragmented by constant meetings - "especially if meetings are poorly timed or are held too frequently," Stockmeyer says.

And instead of fostering team spirit, employees can feel like they have to be in meetings all the time. Especially when people who have little to contribute are invited - just to meet the need of "including everyone in meetings, and not excluding anyone." – dpa

Relaxation techniques: Try these steps to lower stress ; Slow heart rate. Lower blood pressure. Slow breathing rate. Improve digestion. Control blood sugar ..

Sunday, December 22, 2024

Leading through change

 

LIKE many Malaysians, I often have to remind my colleagues, neighbours and friends that chat groups are not the best place to discuss politics, especially topics on race relations and religion.

Some of us often forget that participants in chat groups may not necessarily share the same sentiments and enthusiasm. Chat groups are created for specific agendas and purposes, but we do go off-track sometimes.

The workplace is no different. Divergent opinions can lead to creativity and better ways of doing things once a consensus is reached. However, it can also result in strong disagreements and even conflict, potentially breaking a team.

As managers, we are familiar with such situations. Managers must always think about how best to manage divergent opinions in professional settings.

As we come to the end of 2024 and brace for an uncertain 2025, in times of political upheaval, such as the new US president and increased geopolitical tensions affecting every region in the world, it is also a good time to focus on managing our backyard.

With 2025 on the horizon, it is a good time to focus on managing our backyard

The bigger challenge requiring managers’ attention in 2025 is the march of AI

AI will impact every department and section, with no exceptions

Being respectful and professional is always key, according to the Chartered Management Institute’s (CMI) tips for managers – be brave enough to shut down conversations if they make some colleagues feel uncomfortable.

It is important to remind teams that the workplace is not always the best place for heated political discussions, especially if they prove unproductive and inconsequential to work.

The bigger challenge requiring managers’ attention in 2025 is the march of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. Forget about scheming and untrustworthy politicians.

AI is the number one priority – the better it is managed, the more likely organisations are to adopt it successfully and avoid potential pitfalls. The good news is that the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) believes that a significant portion of companies in Malaysia are proactive in this regard.

MEF president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman cites the Cisco AI Readiness Index survey conducted in November last year, which revealed that 46% of Malaysian organisations are prepared to adopt AI technology in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0). The study indicated that 13% of these entities are fully ready, with an additional 33% classified as partially ready.

For AI to take off, the positive impact of management and leadership on organisational performance is well-documented, including by Haskel et al (2007) in the United Kingdom and Bloom et al (2010), which found better management led to productivity increases of 13% to 17%.

Data from the UK’S Office of National Statistics shows that companies with high management practices are significantly more likely to drive tech and AI adoption. The research found that companies with top-tier management scores are significantly more likely to adopt AI (37% in the top decile compared to just 3% in the bottom) and to recognise its relevance.

While only 32% of top-performing companies see AI as inapplicable, this figure rises sharply to 74% among those with lower management scores.

However, CMI research reveals that anxiety around AI technologies remains widespread, with over two in five (44%) UK managers reporting concerns raised by colleagues and direct reports about new and emerging AI tools within their organisations.

Alarmingly, fewer than one in 10 managers (9%) believe their organisation is adequately equipped to work with AI, with most receiving little to no training on how to manage or integrate these technologies effectively.

Researchers have found that managers will increasingly play a critical role in interpreting Ai-generated insights, ensuring these align with organisational goals, and making judgment calls that require human intuition and ethical consideration.

AI will impact every department and section, with no exceptions. For the human resources manager, they will need to determine whether AI is writing recruits’ curriculum-vitae and cover letters.

If so, should this be a cause for concern? Are graduates making themselves more attractive to employers by demonstrating a willingness to use AI? Or does this come across as lazy or lacking in creativity?

What does it tell potential employers? Is it deceitful or clever? And should employers be using Ai-detection software?

For news editors in TV studios and newsrooms, shouldn’t they be leading the charge to use AI to eliminate tedious work, allowing staff to focus on creativity and more purposeful tasks?

As we end the year, some companies are still struggling with hybrid working.

It is safe to say that most Malaysian employers have insisted their staff return to the office physically.

This will also be the last year when public listed companies are allowed to conduct annual general meetings for shareholders solely online.

Beginning next year, public listed companies must have physical annual general meetings, with online participation as an additional option.

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the pandemic, the challenge for 2025 will be for managers to ensure they get it right.

For Malaysian managers still holding on to the hybrid workplace, they would know by now if it is still effective. - WONG CHUN WAI Award-winning veteran journalist and Bernama chairman

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Sunday, June 16, 2024

The classic course on Generative AI by Martin Musiol; Can Generative AI unlock productivity and growth?

     

The classic course on Generative AI by Martin Musiol | Udemy


In 2022, it seemed as though the much-anticipated AI revolution had finally arrived


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If you want the economy to change, appoint business leaders who understand how to manage institutional change that remains business-friendly. — Reuters

Andrew Sheng

Recent and archived articles by Andrew Sheng

Can Generative AI unlock productivity and growth?

IF you watched Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang’s remarkable presentation at Taipei Computex last month, you would be convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new Industrial Revolution, in which accelerated computing with the...

Users will have control over generative AI in Windows



Copilot should be central to Windows 11 24H2. — AFP Relaxnews

Central to the next major Windows update, generative artificial intelligence promises to make its way into most Microsoft programs, in the aim of boosting user productivity. Users should, however, be able to decide which applications can and can't make use of the technology.

Faced with concerns that generative AI could be too invasive, Microsoft is reportedly set to give users a say in how applications access these artificial intelligent tools. According to the XDA Developers website, the incoming major update to Windows 11 (24H2), expected by the end of the year, will offer the possibility of defining individual permissions for each application.

This will enable users to disable the use of generative AI for some or all applications. On a larger scale, companies will be able to disable access to this AI for all their employees if they deem it inappropriate or unnecessary.

The integration of generative artificial intelligence into Windows should simplify system management, as well as the day-to-day use of most of its accompanying programs. At the core of this update are the latest developments for Microsoft's Copilot, provided it finally complies with European legislation on digital markets (DMA). 

Indeed, until further notice, Europeans will be left without Copilot, the AI-powered intelligent assistant with which it is possible to interact or customize a computer's operating system. The assistant can be useful for working on various documents (rewriting, summarising or simply explaining them) and can answer practical questions. It can be accessed directly from the taskbar, and soon via a dedicated button on future PCs.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has sought to reassure users after its new Recall feature sparked controversy. In fact, the firm has said that Recall will now be an opt-in feature rather than activated by default. Considered to be particularly intrusive, but promising to facilitate PC searches, Recall is designed to take a series of screenshots of the computer at regular intervals and then save them locally, raising questions about privacy. Initially, however, this feature will only be available on the new Copilot+ PCs, which are due to go on sale this summer. – AFP Relaxnews

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AI will be at the heart of the next Windows update

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Generative AI - Martin Musiol

28 Feb 2024 — MARTIN MUSIOL is the founder of generativeAI.net and the publisher of Generative AI: Short & Sweet, a popular artificial intelligence newsletter ...Related stories:

AI will be at the heart of the next Windows update