Citrix Guide on Productivity

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A Citrix Guide Productivity Reinvent the way you work on

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A guide to the latest productivity apps, hacks apps and tricks to make sure you're working to your full potential.

Transcript of Citrix Guide on Productivity

Page 1: Citrix Guide on Productivity

A Citrix GuideProductivity

Reinvent the way you work

on

Page 2: Citrix Guide on Productivity

We hear a lot about how the world of work has changed, and up to a point, this is true. We live in the post-industrial age of the smartphone, social media, always-on connectivity, wearable technology and more. It’s also true that getting anything done in this high-noise environment can be incredibly challenging.

But some things never change, like deadlines, and the need to meet them. These things are as familiar to us as they would have been to the engineers of ancient Rome. Work will always be work.

So, what we really mean is that work’s surrounding context has changed. David Allen,

author of seminal productivity manual Getting Things Done, suggests we’re not suffering from information overload so much as “potential meaning” overload. Our minds are awash with things that could be useful. The stress comes from worrying about what we should be doing with this information.

We need new strategies to ensure we capture and organise what’s important, stay focussed, and see tasks through to the end.

The first, most important step is to take a fresh look at our work habits: forget what we’ve always done, even if the end goal remains the same. The aim of this short guide is to help you identify a mode of work that is truly flexible and responsive, that delivers not just the business plan, but also quality of life.

We all carry around a lot of stuff - not just our wallet, handbag or gym gear. The really heavy stuff is not so easy to name. In fact it is defined by our inability to categorise it. The writer Mer-lin Mann calls this stuff “amorphous, unaction-able, flop-sweat-inducing stuff”. It’s more likely to be psychological than physical, and because we haven’t figured out where it belongs or how to get it there, it stops us “completing the atomic tasks that we want to accomplish in a given day”.

So, start thinking now about how to get rid of the stuff you don’t need. You’ll feel instantly better. You’ll be more productive, too. Here’s a step-by-step process* to get you started on your journey:

THE NEW WORLD OF WORK PRODUCTIVITY, SUMMARISED Work’s changed, man. Or has it? How to start putting all your stuff in the right place

Take 60 The daily commute has become such a normal part of life that we barely notice it. Even so, the average UK worker spends more than five weeks every year solely commuting to and from work. That’s a lot of downtime. But working flexibly for just two days a week could give back to the average UK worker a hefty 60 hours per year. Here’s how you could use the time:

• Read 52 bed-time stories (15 mins per story) • Go for 10 5km runs (1 hour per run) • Prepare 10 healthy home-cooked meals (1 hour per meal)• Stare into space for 5 hours• Master 5 songs on the ukulele (2 hours per song) • Give something back and volunteer (12 hours)

What would you do with an extra 60 hours? Let us know on Twitter (@GoToMeetingUK)

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” – Sun Tzu “Either don’t attempt it, or carry it through to the end.” – Ovid

1. Identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place. 2. Get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now. 3. Create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values. 4. Put your stuff in the right place, consistently. 5. Do your stuff in a way that honours your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment6. Review mercilessly.

*Source: 43folders.com

How are you feeling today? To help you get the most out of your day, the Productivity Generator creates a personalised set of recommendations for maximising your productivity, based on how you’re feeing in relation to 5 different categories, from creativity to motivation.

Fire it up and give a try.

By Andrew Millard, Citrix

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THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE Drive improvements in productivity through self-tracking

The 3-Day Challenge Over 3 days, gather as much information as possible about your working habits – from emails answered, to time spent at your desk, to the cups of coffee you drink – creating a ‘dashboard’ of personal data.

This data will inform your strategic overview, elevating you above the cut and thrust of each day so you can begin to see far and wide. Your aim should be to identify areas of weakness or poor performance. Similarly, when do you perform best? What drivers, barriers and patterns do you see? And: what changes can you make?

“The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.” – Seth Godin

1. Set priorities

• At the start of the week, set your top 3 weekly priorities. What do you need to have accomplished in seven days’ time?

2. Map

For each day, set aside time for tasks centred on Work, Play, Fit and Push.

• WORK: First, identify each day’s top 3. ‘Sometimes I’ll map out the entire week,’ says Rae. ‘Other times, I’ll decide on my top 3 on a daily basis.’

• PLAY: Play gives your ideas room to move, and can show up positively in your work. • FIT: A healthy body helps keep ideas moving. Aim to move your body at least 30 minutes a day.

WORK. FIT. PLAY. PUSH. Freelancer Amber Rae refined her ideal working day to create a finely balanced productivity framework for work, physical activity, play and self-improvement. Or “Work, Play, Fit, Push” for short

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee

3 tools to get you started

PhysicalTrack sleep, calories burned, steps taken and stairs climbed with Fitbit Ultra. It connects with activity tracking apps like Endomondo too.

PsychologicalGain an insight into your mood through the day with Mappiness, an iOS app developed by the London School of Economics.

Everything else Track screen time, caffeine, water and alcohol intake, tasks completed and much more with tenXer.

The digital health movement is a new trend for recording and analysing personal data, from sleep and mood, to diet and exercise. The ethos of this movement is self-knowledge through self-tracking, with consumers using smartphones, wearable sensors, apps and social networking to map and improve their lives.

• PUSH: Do something that challenges you. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone helps you learn and grow.

3. Batch activity

As much as possible, batch actions into specific days. For example, set aside dedicated chunks of time on one or two days for calls and meet-ings. Make a non-negotiable time to do ac-tions you typically procrastinate about, such as paying bills, tidying your desk and clearing out your inbox. It’s important too to make room for spontaneity.

Rae emphasises that this system works for her, but your mileage may vary. ‘Above all, when it comes to reaching peak performance, it’s all about experimenting to figure out what works best for you.’

Read more about WPFP: fastcompany.com

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In life and in business we are often creatures of habit. If we know something has worked well previously we can be reluctant to re-evaluate it and make changes. However, taking these tough decisions can be the difference between a plateau in performance and continued top performance.

Team Sky faced an exceptionally tough decision in the lead up to the 2013 Tour de France. Sir Bradley Wiggins led the team to victory in 2012, but teammate Chris Froome, who came second that year, had made a strong claim for the lead position on the basis of his consistently exceptional form.

Wiggins would have been the easy and apparently safe choice. But all the data

The office as we know it came about as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The need to oversee complex processes made a single work site necessary, while new technology such as the telegram, telephone and typewriter made it practical and efficient.

But this technology-driven change is precisely why the current office environment is not an end point. In fact, it’s a starting point.

TOUGH DECISIONS MADE EASY THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OFFICE Re-examine your approach to ensure you’re at your most productive Clocking out of a well-worn work institution

“Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.” – Franz Kafka “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ― Stephen King,

ALWAYS QUESTION THE AGE-OLD MAXIM, “IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT.”

suggested Froome would have the better chance of victory. It was a classic head vs. heart situation. It can’t have been an easy decison to make, but Sky made the right choice: they backed Froome.

We can learn a valuable lesson from this: always question the age-old maxim, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Instead, we should constantly evaluate and re-evaluate our position to ensure our current approach is the most productive. We all have routines we are comfortable in, but true achievers will recognise when these routines are limiting them and take a different approach, just like Team Sky.

The GoToMeeting Calculator Have you ever wondered how much money and time you could save by working flexibly? We did, so we developed a new web app, the GoToMeeting Calculator, to do just that. Simply enter a few details about your work routine, along with how many days you’d like to work flexibly each week, and it will do the rest.

Once you’ve calculated your savings, you’ll be equipped to make the case for flexible working.

The advent of powerful, networked mobile devices and tools for collaboration and management means we are no longer tied to any one location. We can work almost anywhere. So, where will you go?

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SURFING THE NEW WAVE GLOBAL RECRUITMENT MADE EASYHow a leading youth lifestyle brand is using virtual collaboration tools to build a stronger, more connected business

How a leading recruitment firm find the brightest and most able executive candidates for their clients without ever leaving the office

Founded in San Francisco in 1952, O’Neill has always focussed on innovation in style and technology. Today the sportswear specialist produces clothes and footwear in some 140 factories worldwide. However, as the business has grown, the sheer number of global business locations has presented major challenges. For example, how can IT support be provided across the organisation? How can different countries collaborate effectively?

The solution

To support its retail operations turned to Citrix, taking advantage of a range of products to meet the company’s diverse needs.

GoToAssist is at the core of this strategy, sitting at the heart of its supply chain helpdesk support. The fully hosted solution requires no premise-based hardware or software and enables seamless IT support for locations across the UK and Europe. In addition, GoToAssist provides remote support for a large number of employees working from home and travelling as part of their role.

Based out of Vienna, Qualitas Management Consulting specialise in finding the perfect executives from around the world for their diverse client base. When recruiting for such high-powered roles, interaction is essential: the decision cannot be made simply by reviewing a CV. However, the need to meet job applicants in person often led to projects being delayed. Qualitas needed a way to cut down on travel time, without losing the personal touch that makes their recruitment methods so effective.

The solution

Qualitas implemented GoToMeeting to allow consultants to meet face to face with candidates without expensive and time-consuming travel arrangements.

In addition, screen and file-sharing features, enable consultants to highlight particular areas for discussion on a candidate’s CV or hand over control so they can lead discussion around a particular area.

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.” – John Maxwell “Inspiration exists, but it must find you working.” – Pablo Picasso

O’Neill also implemented video conferencing application Citrix GoToMeeting and file sharing tool ShareFile, enabling cost-effective, efficient communication and file sharing between far-flung locations. Information can now be conveyed face to face, regardless of distance or timezone, while designers can share ideas without the restrictions imposed by email size limits.

A key benefit for Peter Maljaars, O’Neill’s global IT service and infrastructure manager, is a stronger, more connected business: “By bringing telepresence into the business, we’re building confidence and trust, developing closer relationships both within our business and with third-party stakeholders.”

The benefits

• A centralised virtual environment available from anywhere

• Reduced communication costs between headquarters and individual stores

• Downtime minimised via remote IT support• Improved customer relationships.

Qualitas then presents candidates to clients via GoToMeeting and discusses the options available, without needing to travel.

Of particular value is the facility for candidates to join a meeting via a phone line, neatly avoiding a lengthy wait for IT to install client software.

Roland Wadi, Qualitas’ Managing Partner, praised the advantages GoToMeeting offers: “Easy implementation, high video and audio quality, reliability and low cost of ownership make GoToMeeting the perfect choice for our job. We are now more flexible, stay in personal contact and have reduced stress for our partners.”

The benefits

• Saved a remarkable 75% on their travel costs.

• Project lead times shortened, thanks to the ability to quickly and easily interview multiple candidates in a single day.

Visit GoToAssist.co.uk to try GoToAssist for free. Visit GoToMeeting.co.uk to download your free trial and get started today.

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