Insight: Be More Productive by Doing Less

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re talking to Admin Evangelist Marc Baizman to explore productivity, not just as it relates to Salesforce Admins but how you can get more done in general.

More about this Insights session: we look at how you can do more by doing less, the power of strategically saying no, and another fancy new acronym, SABELWSE.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Marc Baizman and Gillian Bruce.

Make a copy of yourself.

For Marc, LeeAnne Rimel is the perfect example of someone who does more by doing less. “She’s an obsessive documenter,” so if she does something she knows she’s going to have to do more than once or show someone else how to do, she has the resources to make that easy. As Marc says, “this means that you are no longer the bottleneck because you’re sharing information rather than hoarding it.”

With resources like screen sharing and easy video casting, there’s a bunch of different ways that you can get information out there. That way people can access everything they need to get work done without waiting on you for help. Last year, LeeAnne’s mantra was to “photocopy herself.”

When to strategically say “no.”

Being productive isn’t just about being able to get more done. Actually, you want to consider the flipside of strategically staying no to things. “You can’t do everything,” Marc says, “so make sure the things you’re working on are in fact the most important things.” A good way to do this without literally saying “no” all the time is to be transparent get your manager involved in that decision: “This request came in and I can work on this, or I can prioritize this other thing that might be more important.”

For Gillian, “every time you’re making a change or doing something new you need to think about the value of it and where it fits in with your overall goals.” It’s also about making sure that your work hours don’t gradually creep towards dominating your life. Humans need time to recharge, to be with their families, go to the gym, and get some sleep.

How to look for inefficient processes.

Building in systems and processes “One of my first jobs was looking at a production line,” Marc says, “and a lot of optimizing processes was just eliminating steps for people, or simply moving things closer to them so they could be faster and more efficient.” When you’re going through your workday, always be looking for those ways to optimize the process. Marc is always asking himself, “How can we redesign this?”

When you’re looking for inefficient processes, “put yourself in the shoes of your user to find the number of clicks that they need to enter or look at information is really minimized,” Marc says, “just put in those dashboard filters, it makes things so much easier.” It’s important to realize that really simple changes can completely transform people’s experiences, and console apps and dynamic pages are huge for that.

SABELWSE

We also talked about presence, the idea that you need to be engaged with the thing that you’re doing as you’re doing it. There’s nothing wrong with taking some time to watch a TV show or play a video game if you get value out of it and it brings you enjoyment. The problem is when you’re checked out of that activity, too.

“One thing that I’ve been doing is try not eat lunch at my desk, I try to move to a different location, eat with other humans, talk to them, and get to know them,” Marc says, “it’s Salesforce Administration By Eating Lunch With Somebody Else.” If you get out into the world and meet other people, you never know what new ideas and projects might come up.

Resources

• How to Succeed in Business? Do Less in the WSJ Journal

Twitter

• @mbaizman
• @gilliankbruce
• @salesforceadmns

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