Smart Teams, 2nd Edition

How to use this book

Like Smart Work, this book has been written with a practical focus. I want you and your team to do something different after reading this. I am sure you have the same aspirations, but I am also sure this is not the first business book you have bought. Did you implement your learnings from those other books as well as you had hoped? Maybe not. So here is my advice on implementing Smart Teams and starting to turn around your experience with the issues we will discuss.

Read it cover to cover, or flick through to the sections that grab your interest. Then try to identify the productivity issue that, if resolved, would have the greatest positive impact for your team. Focus on that first, and create a project to implement it straight away.

In chapters 2 and 3, I outline a process to help you and your team to decide on the most impactful productivity principles to focus on when working together. Make the time to do this exercise — it will have a real impact. In chapter 9, I propose a range of simple projects that you could implement with your team over the next couple of months to create and sustain change. I don't ask you to do them all — just pick one and implement it.

You will invest precious time and energy in reading this book. I know that is hard when you are so busy. You will then need to invest time working with your team to improve how you communicate, congregate and collaborate. Again, not easy when you are busy. But that is the point. You need to spend ...