How You Can Be Effective And Efficient In The Times Of Crisis
‘Virtual Excellence,’ something we’re all struggling to master in such pressing times.
Having to balance a home-work environment has never been more necessary and challenging at the same time.
Now that the outside world is taking a backseat, it comes down to having a well connected online platform to go about with our daily work schedules.
With all of us having to work from home, it becomes crucial to ensure that our digital knowledge is strong and adaptive to the current changes as a result of the virus as well as future trends.
We at team.i understand the struggle
Having received a warm reception for our first session, we hope to continue the streak and cover several other essential topics.
So, through our ‘team.i Event Education Series’ we wish to help make this transition smoother and easier for you.
This Saturday, the 18th of April at 11 am we will have a session on ‘Virtual Excellence – Being Effective and Efficient in times of crisis’ with Afeef Ahmed and it is the second session of the ‘team.i Event Education Series’
Afeef Ahmed has over 20 years of experience in the areas of sales, program and project management, business consulting and coaching and has been an entrepreneur and keynote speaker for even longer.
He is the founder of Mindscope Consulting, one of the top 10 providers of Workforce Management solutions where they focus on providing experiences based on creative and modern innovations and ideas has very kindly agreed to share his knowledge on the topic.
Having worked with several top executives as well as individuals from various organizations, Mr Ahmed is best known for his distinguished methods of addressing a large group of people to deliver his sessions.
The Agenda for the session will be as follows:
Introduction to the program
Starting Right
Connect-Disconnect-Reconnect
Working Remote
Tools and Techniques to achieve your goals
Adopting the right mindset to be more efficient and effective remotely
You’re welcome to be a part of this incredible learning experience.
Participation Certificates will be issued
Let’s see how it goes. We will keep you posted
Post Updated on 22-04-2020
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”-Peter Drucker
It is with this quote in mind that we began our second session of the ‘team.i Event Education Series’ on Saturday, the 18th of April, 2020 where the topic of discussion was ‘Virtual Excellence:Being Effective and Efficient in times of Crisis.’
Mr. Afeef Ahmed conducted the 2 hour long session where he stressed upon the need of the hour- the impact of the global health crisis on our understanding and usage of the various digital platforms.
This session was conducted to benefit the interest of each and everyone who is working from home, taking up online classes and relying on the advancements of technology to carry on their day to day activities.
While we cannot predict what there is in store for us in the coming months, we can definitely make use of this time to prepare ourselves for the days to come and to enable us to work better using the resources available.
Mr. Afeef began his session by pointing out that working from home is no longer a luxury or an entitlement but rather a social, political and business need. While it comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages, it is solely up to us to establish a system for ourselves and to remain proactive and work efficiently.
Kickstarting the session with a series of questions, Mr. Afeef listed out the pros and cons that we as individuals are facing by working from home. Studies show that we tend to get distracted from work every 11 minutes and this number is even lower when we have a number of distractions while working from home.
Apart from getting easily distracted, factors such as slower decision making, loss in spontaneous working, internet and technological issues are added distractions that can lower our productivity.
“Don’t be a busy idiot” working on tasks that add no value or are not worthwhile is another important point that was discussed. Categorising work based on its importance and urgency is a must especially while working remotely.
The 2 most important concepts that Mr. Afeef discussed were:
Time
Our mindframe
The difference between being effective and efficient, being mindful about the work we do and the time we take to do it, whether we are asking ourselves the right questions and being proactive were a few insightful questions that Mr. Afeef made us ask ourselves.
In order to establish a productive and effective means of working from home, it becomes crucial to follow a few steps:
The setup: from having a separate place to work, ensuring your family/roommate understands the work you do, to investing in the latest technology and tools all of this makes up the setup in which you work
Mindset: dressing for the job, having a schedule to work on and staying motivated significantly impact your frame of mind.
Maintaining a disciplined work approach by identifying your distractions and allocating timings for breaks and relaxation.
Three tools that Mr. Afeef advised us all to use include:
A Zero calendar: where we make note of each and every part of our day, from the time we work to the tea breaks we take, it all becomes a part of the calendar entry.
Energy Cycles: Knowing when you are at the peak of your functioning capability and ensuring you complete the important tasks during this time.
ROWE(Result Only Work Environment): No matter the method used, it is the end result that is important.
We also discussed the etiquettes of working from home and attending calls and meetings using platforms such as Zoom and Skype.
It is important to dress presentably, use a professional tone, both while speaking and typing, ensuring the background during a video call is appropriate and avoiding distractions that can be avoided.
A rather interesting concept that Mr. Afeef spoke about –Social Distancing=Distant Socializing. This includes making use of the privileges that we have to help out those that are not as fortunate. Helping others connect to their near and dear ones and doing our part in making their lives easier.
In the midst of all this, we must not forget to take a step back and relax. While it is important to maintain a disciplined and orderly work environment and schedule, we must make it a point to switch off when it’s time to do so.
Over working or under working is harmful in more ways than one and we must make a conscious effort to bring about a balance in our lives.
Asking for help when required is equally important and should be supported and respected by your fellow colleagues.
We ended the session with a questionnaire round where many informative questions were asked and interesting discussions were held.
All in all, it was a session that was greatly stimulating and was indeed the start of an incredible journey of the virtual world.
To gain access to the link for the session recording, register here https://bit.ly/34THznO
P.S. For any queries on ‘team.i Event Education Series’ email us at enquiries@teami.org