Is your personal productivity in the tank from the daily deluge of email and requests? Tempted to leave everything unanswered and start over somewhere else? You’ll be good for a week, maybe.

A savvy gal Amy shared with me that she was about to start the new position. But she had a big dilemma:

“My new position involves managing and tracking a LOT more activities. My email inbox has grown beyond my comfort and I want to implement some good strategies to start my new position positively, to being organized and to go full speed ahead.

Any advice, like going to my local office supply store to see if they have some type of magical notebook?”

Oh, if only there were a magical notebook! Whoever creates that product will save the world by increasing every hard working professional woman’s productivity, efficiency, and, most importantly, her sanity.

Until then, here are 3 ideas I shared with Amy to create her own magic. Not very glam, but they work. They can give your wand some new mojo, too!

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Did you run out of time today? Again? Ugh, it seems you never have enough time.

You begin your work day with full intention of being productive and before you know it your boss asked you to take care of something, your co-worker needed information for her 11 am meeting, a client called with an emergency, and your chatty colleague just had to tell you all the details about their weekend hiking trip. The day is over and your list is hardly done. It might even be longer!

Understandable, responsive, and entertaining, but you are left with a lingering to-do list and a really loud sucking sound from the time vacuum cleaner.

Productivity experts offer helpful suggestions such as managing your e-mail and social media, using productivity software, and getting organized. These can be useful tactics, but they can also be useless. You will never have enough time until you consistently do these two things.

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Are you struggling to get the respect and credit you deserve?  You may be guilty of powerLESS behaviors. Every day at work and in life, women do simple verbal and no-verbal behaviors that erode their personal power without realizing it.

Here are 5 of the biggest offenders:

1. You don’t look directly when speaking or listening.  You may have the tendency to glance at people’s eyes and quickly look away. But your eyes speak volumes.  Instead, when talking look directly in people’s eyes and hold that pose.  When listening, do the same.  The person speaking will notice and be positively influenced by your interest
2. You end sentences with a question mark? Many women bring their voice up at the end of a sentence, making it feel like a question and that they are unsure of themselves. Don’t make others wonder if you’re competent.  Focusing on ending sentences with a drop in your voice. This communicates you’re making a statement with confidence. Don’t you think? (more…)

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Every meeting planner knows that powerful networking can instantly increase an event’s value. But more often than not, they feel like Grace who was planning an association’s annual conference.

She told me “We need to do a better job with networking. That’s what people said they want more of and I’m not sure how.”

It’s a frustration I hear again and again. You include networking time into your agenda, but people complain they didn’t make valuable connections.

Truth is, it’s the attendee’s fault. You created the opportunity, but their reptilian brain kicks in. They don’t introduce themselves because the whole networking process feels awkward, stupid or speechless. 

The solution: Add a structured, facilitated experience that takes the work out of networking and makes it easy, powerful and fun.

A facilitated networking session instantly increases your event’s value and you are a superhero!

[bctt tweet=”A facilitated networking session instantly increases your event’s value & you are a superhero!” username=”BodaciousMary”]

Here’s how:

1. Determine where a structured, facilitated networking session best fits into your event flow

Beginning? Middle? End?

A networking session near the beginning taps into people’s curiosity to discover who is in the room and can set the stage to keep meeting new people throughout the event.

A networking session part way though the event is a great strategy when the group needs an energy boost, like after a meal or day 2 of a 3 day event.

Or, a facilitated, powerful networking session at the end can be a fun way to wrap things up.

2. Decide how much time

Meeting just one new person doesn’t cut it. Attendees need to have a 5-7 minute conversation with at least 3 new people for networking to be valuable. That’s why you need at least 45 minutes for a structured networking experience.

Sixty minutes is even better. With additional time you can add a short networking how-to, additional conversation rounds, and a group debrief of what happened.

3. Pick an experienced facilitator

The magic of structured networking is that the facilitator gives everyone the path and the permission to meet one another. This immediately takes air out of the awkward balloon.

It’s important to select someone who has facilitation experience. Hire a professional facilitator or utilize the skills of a keynote speaker, trainer or consultant who is already presenting at your event.

The most effective facilitator sets a positive tone by reminding everyone of the importance and power of meeting new people, provides how-to networking tips, and creates a process with at least 3 conversation rounds.

A big bonus is when there is time for the facilitator to bring the networking session to a close by having a few individuals share something interesting or unique about a person they met and how they felt about the experience.

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