Productivity Short Talks

Re-engage at your weekly staff meetings with a Productivity Short Talk from the team at Slaughter Development. These fifteen minute sessions are available for Indianapolis-based companies and organizations at no-cost on any one of the following topics:

Flyer [PDF, 663k]

Full descriptions of each prepared Short Talk is listed below:

A New Perspective on Email

No force in the modern workplace is more present or more daunting than email. Many business professionals remember a time before instantaneous electronic messaging, yet the hours we spend every day battling our inboxes make this memory seem impossible. This seminar provides a five week plan to help you regain control over email—not with a handful of clever tricks, but by adopting a new perspective.

Making Communication Productive

There is a reason we speak and write to each other at work: to transmit ideas so we can get things done. But so often it seems that communicating at the office is ineffective and inefficient. How often have we decided just to do something ourselves rather than try to explain the work to someone else? Making Communication Productive offers actionable advice for helping to improve the way you speak, write, read and listen.

Business Process Modeling

At most professional organizations we are lucky to have a job description, much less an operations manual. Even good written documentation about work suffers from obvious and frustrating challenges: it is almost never read, rarely updated, and provides no guidance during an unexpected situation. Instead, companies should investigate visual schematics like those from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). This talk provides an introduction to Slaughter Development’s philosophy on modeling business process.

Improving Meetings

Thomas Sowell writes that “People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.” So often, sitting down with colleagues is an experience that feels unproductive and even demoralizing. Believe it or not, there is a reason to meet and a better way to run meetings. Request this seminar to learn ways to improve the way you spend time face-to-face.

Power Modeling: Self Training

Behind the concept of Power Modeling is a single principle: the mismatch between our mental models for systems and the actual internal mechanisms. This approach encourages individuals to challenge their own assumptions about how systems work, and then begin to determine the actual model through analysis and experimentation. These techniques can be used to facilitate analysis and help stakeholders teach themselves to use systems more effectively. If technology and systems seem too impossible to control, ask for help with Power Modeling.

Productivity and Social Media

If you are using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn to promote your business, establish and maintain relationships, or just to communicate with colleagues and family, you probably have worried more than once that you are spending too much time with these tools. In this short talk, we cover effective techniques for maximizing productivity with social media without losing hours of your day online.

Networking Efficiently

Every business professional benefits from making connections and building relationships. However, going to events, following up and pursuing these leads is daunting and difficult. Improving the techniques for networking—both during conversations as well as when reaching out later—will help you save time and improve the quality of the experience. The next big opportunity will likely come because of who you know. Request this seminar to learn more!

The Power of “No”

Slaughter Development’s own Ashley Lee points out the phrase “That’s Not My Job” as one of the most difficult statements to make at work. In most office cultures, however, it is as assumed that good employees will eagerly volunteer for any project. This Productivity Short Talk helps explain when, how and why to say “no.”