Are you struggling to get tasks done in a timely and effective manner when it comes to managing your business? If so, former Google team-member Lisa Conquergood has four productivity tips she learned while working at the tech giant that will strengthen your business’ efficiency, transparency, and maybe even likability.
[Related: Google Unveils Reorganization Plan and Announces New Parent Company Called Alphabet]
“Google’s whole mission is to organize the world’s information,” Conquergood told Fast Company. “They do that internally as well.”
Take a look at the productivity tips below:
Use technology to keep remote employees close. Because of Google’s large employee base they have to find ways to be productive and efficient, which led to the creation of tools such as Google Hangout.
“Google has offices distributed all over the world,” Conquergood told Fast Company. “It’s important to get people together quickly and easily. Conference calls don’t give you the ability to display something on your monitor to collaborate. Google Hangout was created to let employees do that.”
Eliminate silos. According to Conquergood, each week Google employees are asked to create what they call a snippet. A snippet contains all work completed for the week and work projected for the upcoming week. Everyone is allowed to see everyone else’s snippets in an effort to maintain transparency.
“The idea here is transparency,” she says to Fast Company. “Anyone can access anyone else’s Snippets. If I’m interested in collaborating on a project, I can look at Snippets and see if someone is already working on the same thing.
To read the rest of Conquergood’s advice, head over to www.FastCompany.com.