Welcome to The Structure Blog!

E-mail is a means of communication that we love to hate and seem to use more and more, every day.

Many suffer from overcrowded inboxes and getting more e-mails than they can handle.

Having a smart way of dealing with incoming mail once it has arrived is one thing, but as I see it, we can also influence how efficiently we utilize e-mailing as a whole through how we compose the e-mails we send others.

Here are six tips to how you can help others help you make your e-mailing more efficient.

Last week, I conducted an open course in personal productivity in Stockholm, with participants from a wide variety of industries: from disposal of radioactive waste to gardening, via pharmaceuticals (among others).

We talked about ...

When I hold a strategy workshop with a board or management team, they sometimes disagree on how distinct the vision is allowed to be. Someone may say “Well, in ten years time, we have accomplished this and that.” whereupon someone else objects by saying “No, that’s not a vision! It is far too concrete and measurable! It’s a goal!”

I have thought a lot about this lately. Is it really true that a company’s vision needs to be fuzzy in order to be a vision? Is there an inherent risk in a concrete and distinct vision?

We can’t do everything we need to do everywhere or anywhere. For some things we need a computer, for others access to a phone and some things can only be done in the office.

We gain concentration if we at each point in time only need to care about the tasks that are available to work on where we are at the moment.

So, how do you determine what can actually be done here and now, from all the things you need to do?

The answer is ...

Yes, sometimes I actually dream of changing path and become a bicycle messenger. There is really something alluring about the bicycle messenger trade. I mean, getting ...

Imagine that a business, any kind of business, consists of a bunch of processes involving and performed by different participants (which could be employees, machinery, software, etc).

So, a process is then a routine, a series of activities that have a certain starting point and finishing line. One, a few or many participants may be involved in completing the activities in the process.

The purpose of looking at the business as a bunch of processes is that ...

In an earlier post we discussed how valuable it is to have a captivating and engaging vision.

As I see it, the vision describes the envisioned, future situation we want to achieve in the company. The vision should truly involve me as a leader and co-worker; it should make me want to spend at least 40 hours per week for x number of years to arrive at the envisioned situation.

So, the vision should evoke some degree of rapture, an excitement, eagerness, a good gut-feeling. The more senses the vision appeals to, the more efficiently it can inspire us.

So, what form should the vision have then? Here are six ideas on how to formulate and communicate the vision.

When you are experiencing more chaos in your workday than you are comfortable with and you wish to improve the structure of your day, it is fully understandable if you tremble at the mere thought of the extent of the changes needed.

Perhaps you are hesitant and are even doubtful as to whether it is even possible to change, and you might even fear that your particular situation is a hopeless case.

I am convinced that no circumstances are hopeless and I am equally convinced that you can make significant changes with small means.
Do not try to make all improvements at once, but choose to work on one aspect at a time and you will experience greater success. When the first change is done, move on to the next, etc.

Nice and easy, you will end up more structured and with more time on your hands by taking it one step at a time.

Here are three ideas on different steps to begin with.

The other day, I went down to Comwell Varbergs Kurort to give a talk to a company founded seventy years ago. I guess that, when you have been around as long as seventy years, you have experienced both ups and downs. Then, there’s a high probability that you have a sound perspective of what happens today. It was obvious that this company had just that.

When you are arranging your system for documents, to-do-lists, referencematerial and other materials, it is normal to ask yourself how it should be done, for instance, how should I store the documents I might need some day?

Should I put the articles, brochures or whatever it might be in binders or should I use a filing system? Should I do my to-do-lists in Outlook, in my smartphone or on loose pieces of paper?

Have you ever delegated a task to someone or have someone promise that they would get back to you with some sort of information you need, forgot that you did, and then, at the very last minute or when it is already too late, discover that you never received the material you desperately need right now?

Here’s a hint to how to never repeat that unpleasant experience ever again.

We can be very efficient as individuals, but to be successful in making the company evolve into what we want it to become, we need to connect our structured and productive working habits with the overall structure of the company.

This structure can be expressed in terms of ...

Have you, like I have, ever thought “I would really like to start working in that way, start doing like that, but I never seem to have time to begin; I have so much to do, all the time”?

It may be about being better prepared for meetings, or about using to-do-lists, or about taking notes swiftly about what you and your customer agreed on in a sales meeting, or something completely different.

The good thing is ...

A consistent theme in creating a good personal or organizational structure is simplification, to make things simpler.

When things move too slowly forward and even when we get totally stuck, we and our business can get going and accelerate easier if we make things simple.

But, how?

Here are six kinds of simplicity to utilize.

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Are you drowing in piles of paper on your desk? It may be piles of documents that you do not need at the moment but can’tthrow away because you know that you will need it later; next week, next month or next year?

The solution to this is called “the tickler file”.

Many people that I meet in my profession, says “I really would need that!” when they hear me say that I work with making organizations and individuals more structured in their everyday life.

Often, they seem dejected when they say that, almost like they feel that creating a good personal structure is far too hard for them.

As I see it, it is just as easy to create a great structure as it is to keep a defective structure. It is just a matter of habits and simple tools.

Here are nine common mistakes that prevents good personal structure and tips on how to avoid them.

The vision, as all the other parts of the management process, is a powerful tool that can play a decisive role for the business, even on an average workday.

But far too often, the vision is not utilized at its full potential. So, to what uses can we put the vision as a tool?

A central part of a well structured, personal work routine setup is a to-do list.

By that, I mean a list that you use over a long period of time, rather than write a new list every morning. A gathered list over all that you have to do, distinctly defined and with tasks that are adequate in size, gives you an easy and quick overview over what tasks you are responsible for.

That makes it possible for you to concentrate on your current task without meanwhile keeping several other tasks in your mind. Besides, it will give you a kick of satisfaction every time you will be able to check off something on your list.

But in what format should you keep the to-do list? Well, that is a matter of taste. Here are six suggestions:

Welcome to the Structure Blog.

I, David Stiernholm, am a ”struktör”, which means that I create good structure and efficient work procedures for organizations and their key people.
But, why structure? What is the point with good structure? Isn’t that a very square, bureaucratic and limiting concept?

As I see it, on the contrary.