Notes on Productivity Home Page

Like many people hoping to present at next year’s Lotusphere 2011 conference in Orlando, I have submitted my session proposals. I’m encouraged to see that a new “Business Solutions” track has been added to the conference agenda and I think it will help balance out what has traditionally become a very technical conference. In addition to the many excellent technical sessions around Lotus Solutions, we need to equip end-users, pace setters, and decision makers with the soft skills they need to get the most from their investment in Lotus Software.  

So, here are the two session topics I hope to present:

SESSION #1: V=KMT - The Formula for Creating Value with Lotus Software

TRACK: Business Solutions

Session Abstract: Lotus knows it’s not just what you know; it’s also who you know and what they know.  Lotus makes great software, but that alone won’t transform personal and organizational productivity. The problem is that we have not been taught to use many of the tools we need for knowledge work. To create value we must understand the relationship between what we know, the tools we use, and what we do. By thinking differently about your work and the tools you use, you can become more productive and create greater value.

This session will present a formula for high performance knowledge work and show you how proven best practices can help you become create greater value with Lotus Notes, LotusLive, SameTime, Connections, & other Lotus Software.

Why I think it’s important that this session be included on this year’s Lotusphere agenda
The value you bring to an organization ultimately depends on your ability to bring together what you know, who you know and what they know to consistently solve problems and innovate quickly and efficiently. That’s well and good but as Kevin Cavanaugh pointed out during the LS10 Tech Keynote there are many impediments to value creation:

"Everybody talks about information overload today; but every new tool has added to the flood of information, rather than help us focus. In order for collaboration to continue to evolve naturally, users must be encouraged to work with tools and will do so when the right information comes to them... We don't need more ways to capture text; we need ways to reduce the stress of unfulfilled commitments and organize tasks for action.  As an industry, we're kind of guilty of multiplying lists with no real method for how those lists of tasks might be managed…”

Kevin talks about the need for a methodology, for best practices around high performance knowledge work. This session will provide attendees with practical methods and skills they can put to use immediately. I will share how I help organizations get more from their investment in Lotus software by helping them change the way that their users think about and use these solutions.  My experience in KM and value creation has demonstrated that to truly transform an organization, a bottom-up approach often works best; and when people become passionate about the tools they use they can’t help but share what they are doing throughout the organization.

With Lotus’ strong push around productivity tools and the individual, I believe a session on end-user productivity and value creation will round out the Lotusphere agenda by helping end users, administrators and enterprise managers alike get the most from Lotus Software.

Note: If you have attended any of my past sessions at Lotusphere, you’ll recall that these sessions were primarily focused on Lotus Notes and received great praise by audiences at LS09 & LS10. This session will expand the focus to include the methodology of high performance knowledge work using other products in the Lotus Software suite as well.

Reference:  http://bit.ly/mofj4    http://bit.ly/4rdl4t

So what does V=KMT stand for? You'll have to attend the session to find out. ;-)

SESSION #2 Lotus Notes and Me: Maximizing Personal Productivity with Lotus Notes

TRACK: Best Practices

Session Abstract: Most people think of Lotus Notes as an "organizational" tool; that’s the way it’s marketed and it’s often the way organizations deploy it - as a top down solution. Seldom do you hear about Notes being used for "personal" productivity or knowledge management.  As a consequence users see Notes as a “company” system and not “their” tool. Lotus knows when tools become “personal,” productivity increases, and when personal productivity increases so does the productivity of the workgroup and the organization. Lotus also knows my Inbox is overflowing; I could be better organized; and my real work is outside the inbox.

This session will show you how you can use Notes coupled with proven best practices to become more productive and get things done!

Why I think it’s important that this session be included on this year’s Lotusphere agenda
If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I hate it when folks say they “hate Lotus Notes” -- especially when most of their complaints are easily addressed in five minutes or less. In most cases the underlying problem is that they haven’t taken the time to make Notes personal -- as a result, they are quick to complain about anything and everything. I like to see how fast I can turn people around and I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is to show them how to make using Notes “personal.”

I want to share how I help organizations get more from their investment in Lotus software by helping them change the way that their users think about and use Notes, and I will give the audience practical tools and skills they can put to use immediately. The business world has embraced David Allen’s GTD methodology and I will present GTD in the context of Lotus Notes and show people how they can get things done with Lotus Notes. My experience in KM has demonstrated that to truly transform an organization, a bottom-up approach often works best; and when people become passionate about the tools they use (e.g. Notes), they can’t help but share what the

y are doing throughout the organization

With Lotus’ recent push around productivity tools and the individual, a session on end-user productivity will round out the Lotusphere agenda, helping end users, administrators and enterprise managers alike get the most from their investment in Lotus Software.

This session was well praised by full audiences at LS09 & LS10. This year, I’m revising the content based on user feedback to add more hands-on demos and examples.

See also http://bit.ly/mofj4    http://bit.ly/4rdl4t
Notes doesn’t suck: http://bit.ly/Uw2wx    http://bit.ly/mFVCA    http://bit.ly/2alvzQ