Working from home

The other night, my colleague and I were talking about flexible working options and how to make it work for him. My boss sits in the UK and can’t watch over my shoulder for every task. He needs to trust me and my actions have shown that he can. Knowing how I’m working, he granted me a compressed working week and I can only say: “It’s brilliant!” Instead of working 8 hours over 5 days, it’s 10 hours over 4 days, giving me a 3 day weekend.

Now let’s focus on my colleague again. He’s interested in alternative ways of working. As he often has to attend telcons at 5:00 and 6:00 am, his days starts extremely early. After all, he’s in the office for these calls. We brainstormed how working from home can be beneficial for him and possibly also for you. Working from home! On days when calls are starting at 5:00 am, he could work from his house.

How can working from home work for you:

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10 tips for taking notes during a client meeting

Last time, I shared my tips for taking notes as the official recorder. The role is easily defined but what do you do when you are a participant? As a participant, it’s a bit more challenges and you’re facing numerous obstacles: You need to actively engage in the discussion, handle disruptions like incoming calls, texts or emails, manage interruptions by colleagues entering the office or meeting room. And still take notes for yourself?

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8 top tips for getting the most out of taking the official meeting minutes

Recently, a reader contacted me about the best way to take notes. She’s struggling to engage in the discussion, look at her client and take notes at the same time. Regardless of the position or company, I’ve seen many colleagues ask me the same question.

Participating in meetings can be a challenge alone these days. Companies are now spread over different countries and time zones. If you’re lucky, meetings take place face-to-face in the same room. We based in the Middle East, we’re more often called into telephone conferences (telcons), video conferences or webinars and they’re not limited to Sunday through Thursday, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm.

How do you get the best out of the many hours you spend in meetings? How do you know what is being added to your to-do list? Where do you go if a dispute about previous decisions arises? Taking notes during meetings can help you!

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Get the most out of attending an exhibition or conference

With kids going back to school, so are colleagues coming back from their summer holidays. The office is fully occupied again and meeting rooms are reserved for pretty much every hour of the week. Business is back to normal!

Later this year, we’ll see the influx of invitations to exhibitions and conferences. In fact, I’m already registered a few local conferences later this year. For many companies, the question though comes naturally: Who can attend which conference? Sometimes, the budget may only allow you to attend free ones, held locally. In Spring of this year, I’ve been very fortunate to present at 2 conferences. As a speaker, you can generally attend the entire conference free of charge, something that I’m sure sounds like music to your Finance team’s ears. No matter who gets to attend, you want to get the most out of attending an exhibition or conference. Do you know how to?

The majority of work will actually be done before the exhibition/conference even starts. Here are my tips for you to get ready:

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The Home Office – Are you still cleaning or already getting things done?

Today was a great day. Starting with a walk around the lake, I’ve attended a very informative seminar about medical benefits in the GCC. The best was finishing my work day from home.

To me, working from home has many advantages: Less interruptions and less distractions, a lot more focus and productivity! Given my various deadlines (who doesn’t have them), it was just what was needed and I was so pleased to close a number of activities off.

To some, working from home is a very different story. The laundry basket is calling your name, you haven’t seen your neighbour for a while, why not catch up and oh, you haven’t decided what to cook for dinner yet. What can you do to treat your home office just like your regular office?

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Work smarter, be more productive

Organised Life and Mind

Organised Life and Mind

168 hours! That’s how much time each of us have per week. The majority of these 168 hours will be spent in bed, hopefully being sound asleep. The second biggest chunk is being taken up by our work. Being in the Middle East, we often face working outside of our normal working hours.  Who doesn’t work with colleagues in Western countries which are 2, 3 or even 8 hours behind our time zone and which have the Monday – Friday working week instead of our Sunday – Thursday working week?

Just like you, I don’t want to spend day and night working. There are too many great things in Dubai (and in life) which I like to experience. Over the years, I’ve been experimenting with different approaches to become more efficient. Here are some tips to help you work smarter and enjoy life more:

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