Sticky Learning Lunches #7: Get the Right Tech You Need When Working From Home For You and Your Productivity

Identify the tech you need when working from home and how to make it work, so that you can be more productive. Use your time working from home to become the very best version of yourself. This is a Virtual Classroom of 20-minutes, followed by a 10-minute Q&A.

You Can Read the Full Transcript Below:

Nathan Simmonds:

Good afternoon everybody. It is Thursday. I feel like it's a Friday. It's night. It's a Thursday. Welcome everyone to today's session. We get we are again, we're just a little bit early. We're just gonna wait for everyone to come into today's session. So let's make sure we're setting everybody up for success. First things first, phones. Let's make sure our technology, 'cause this is the thing that's stopping us from doing good work.

Nathan Simmonds:

All your phones, let's get your phones out. Flight mode only, zero distractions. Let's minimize the technology while we're using the technology, I'm sure that's some sort of oxymoron happening right there. And also making sure we've got a drink available. We're just waiting for a few more people to turn up. Just seeing if I can see how many people I can see here.

Technology is important when working from home

 

Nathan Simmonds:

Just gonna give it a couple more seconds. Make sure you've got pens, paper ready. I'm gonna be sharing a couple of different ideas and, and models here to really help you get that focus while you're working at home. Make the most of it and make sure that this technology isn't holding you back. Um, and that we're not using it or having to create an obstacle which we're not paying attention to because it's very easy to get lazy with technology.

Nathan Simmonds:

But it's the same models that we're using physical uh, and working face-to-face as it is working with the technology. It's the same models we're using and when we apply them rather than getting lazy. 'cause the tech takes that, that effort out of it for us. So we think it makes it easier for us. We have to reapply those models with more vigor and more focus to get the best out of them. Let's give it one more minute and then we're gonna fly into this. Are ready.

Nathan Simmonds:

Brilliant. So we're in. Welcome to the sticky, sticky learning lunches. It's MBM, the Home of Sticky Learning. I'm just gonna take the screen share off so we've got that up there. Home of sticky learning. So we are soft skills provider to the UK grocery manufacturing industry. And these sessions are 20 minute micro learnings in these interesting times that we've got.

Nathan Simmonds:

And these are gonna happen for as long as you need them while you are working at home. And, and you need these, the, these tips and these ideas to help you get the best out of your environment, the best out of your situation and the best out of yourself so you can be the best version of yourself. Today we are looking at technology

Nathan Simmonds:

And actually how it's holding you back. So we're not gonna talk too much about the tech side, we're gonna talk about how we work our way around it. So what's the tech we've got, the first thing we need to make sure we got is a decent laptop.

Nathan Simmonds:

And we talked a little bit about this in space, making sure it's ever elevated so you can see it so you're not constantly hunched over and it's not pulling you and push and putting pressure on the wrong parts of your spine as you are working because that pressure is gonna cause pain and that that pain is gonna cause distraction, which is gonna stop you from doing good work. Even a small amount of pain over a long period of time is gonna cause a, a depreciation in the value that you can add. Okay? So let's be aware of this.

Nathan Simmonds:

Elevate your laptop, get comfortable. Mobile phones, huge distraction. I've got mine there, I'm aware of this. We need to be aware that it takes about 20 minutes for your concentration to fully engage in what you're doing. And every time that you get a ping, a beep and a buzz, your concentration is gonna go back or that, that, that timer from maintaining your concentration goes back to zero and a snap and it takes time to pick up again.

Nathan Simmonds:

So every time we're going into a meeting, we're having a conversation, we've got pings and we've got beeps and we've got buzzes or even having this conversation with me, every time that happens your concentration is gonna drop. So again, it's causing a barrier to that movement. The other thing that I wanted to point out as well is getting a booster. We talked about this a little bit before about building the space.

Nathan Simmonds:

I've had two boosters. The last one I've got is from bt. It's amazing, okay? 'cause the moment I shut my door, the moment I change the location of my laptop, I'm cutting off the, the reception for my wifi. So unless you've got a cable, you need to be mindful of this. So this is as far as we're gonna go into the tech side of this really. And I didn't wanna go too deep on it 'cause I know the tech side and the space.

Nathan Simmonds:

I can be very technical side of things. Okay? Just diving into that first part, now we're gonna break down a couple of models that are gonna help you do this. How many people here have meetings in their diaries? Back to back You can see some yeses and nos. Let's see this in the, in the questions box. How many people have got meetings in their diary going back to back?

Nathan Simmonds:

Me? Yes. Okay, who else? Yes, come on. Who else? I plan a break in between Sean, you wise lady on occasions. Yes. How many? And this is right now we're working at home in this space. How many people when they were working face to face in the office had meetings back to back? And I know the answer's gonna be the same. You don't have to answer that one.

Nathan Simmonds:

When we're working face to face, we have this kind of, this, this misnomer in our head that we can finish this meeting at 12 o'clock and then we can walk across to the other side of the building and be in the next meeting at exactly 12 o'clock. It's not gonna really happen is it? 'cause what happens is the meeting you are here maybe with someone really important, you finish that meeting but you finish it late 'cause they've got things to talk about and you want to wrap up and you don't wanna seem rude to rush away.

Nathan Simmonds:

But then it takes you another five minutes to get to the meeting over here and you turn up to the meeting 15 minutes late. Now if that meeting is a one-to-one or a coaching session or a developmental conversation with one of your teams or or a member of staff and you are turning up 15 minutes late to that session, what are you saying to the individual open question to you guys?

Nathan Simmonds:

What are you saying to the individual If you are turning up to their one-to-ones and to their developmental conversations and you're turning up 15 minutes late, what are you actually saying? Correct? What else are we saying? You are not important to me as one. Definitely. How does the person feel when we do this? Yeah, absolutely. You are not as important to me as the person, the previous person. You are not my priority.

Nathan Simmonds:

Your time is not as important as mine. Exactly this. And we do that face to face. And then what we do is we rush into the meeting and we say, ah, I'm really sorry I'm late. I was with so-and-so, and we were talking about this and the person goes, ah, it's okay. No it's absolutely fine. And then the head's thinking no it's not you don't value me all my time.

Nathan Simmonds:

So we need to start thinking about actually how we plan our diaries and how we plan what we're doing. Now the reason I say this is 'cause it's even easier to fall into this trap when I'm sitting on g uh, blue jeans or Zoom or teams or whatever it is and I'm having a meeting with this person, I think I can press this button and I can press this button and I'm gonna arrive exactly in the right time.

Nathan Simmonds:

But we don't because the meeting always overruns 'cause we structure it, um, without, we don't put the elements in place to make it work. The other part is what we are not doing for ourselves is actually giving ourselves a chance to decompress from the previous conversation. So if you are in a, a really important meeting with a customer, a client, you are senior management, whatever it is, and you are sitting there and you've got loads of actions.

Nathan Simmonds:

And you've got all these thoughts racing through your head and you're going from meeting to meeting, on a scale of one to 10, how likely are you to forget some of those elements that you needed to make sure you were taken away? If you are rushing straight into the next meeting, one being not at all, 10 being absolutely gonna forget some stuff, 10, 10, 8, 1 7.

Nathan Simmonds:

It's about making sure we're completely on point and we need to give ourselves a little bit of breathing space to decompress so that we can make sure we've got that thinking square in our head so that then when we walk into the next meeting, we are not carrying any baggage from the previous conversation. So when I walk into that meeting room at 12 o'clock, because that's the time my one-to-one starts with this person, I'm walking in there and making sure that I'm focusing on them.

Nathan Simmonds:

Because when you are having a one-to-one with someone, when you are giving someone feedback, when you are doing a coaching session with one of your team, who's the most important person in the conversation? Open question for you. Them, them, them always. So if I'm walking , oh si just to, to be difficult. So when you are walking into that meeting and you're still carrying baggage from that previous conversation, when you are walking in there late, you are always telling them that they're not the most important person.