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Every day the amount of information we receive increases, especially via the Internet. It is time to take the necessary steps to control the flow of information so that we get only the information which serves productivity.
1 - Every meeting, whether physical or virtual, must have a concrete goal, a calendar, a start time and end time and everyone attending must have a specific and definite purpose for being there.
2 - Stop adding people to processes and groups. Any person who is added to a process, group, communication, computer, or whatever, increases the complexity of the information produced and reduces productivity. This, because people tend to say and do things then others tend to respond and so on.
3 - Question the abuse of predefined email distribution lists and reconsider all people added to the CC in an e-mail, and most importantly, do not automatically use the "Reply to all” option.
4 - Try not to create preparatory meetings for other meetings, and resist the temptation to involve everyone on each issue.
5 - Encourage and reward employees for their ability to take risks and make their own decisions.
6 - Prevent matrix management where each employee can depend of several bosses. This is a "brilliant management concept" impossible to implement without causing confusion, which creates more problems than it solves.
7 - Prevent non-critical management methods which are in fashion, they generate tons of meetings, with always nebulous results.
8 – Control those who want to be always aware of everything and demand to be informed in detail, in accordance with micromanaging techniques.
9 - Do not use any collaboration or communication tools; unless the return on investment is clear (ROI).
10 - Always be aware that now more than ever, time is each person´s greatest asset.
Source: BNet
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