Putting on a production

I'm so looking forward to seeing Horseplay at the Maidment this Friday. It's been ages (about a year, in fact) since I've seen live theatre of any kind. 

Just anticipating the production got me thinking about work (hmmm... just about anything gets me thinking about work...) 

When your work involves a lot of sitting in front of the computer and concentrating, it can be hard to get motivated.

At sy recently, we've been implementing a few things to keep us on task - and interestingly, these ideas are from the entertainment world.

First is the runsheet, an idea we got watching the special features for JJ Abrams Star Trek. It's such an intense, fast-paced movie, yet behind the scenes there was a relaxed confidence running through the set. That's great leadership - someone like JJ who is on top of the schedule, and can also relate to all his people on a human level. 

So we've started working on a daily runsheet, which is similar to an agenda or todo list, but with an important difference - the name has action built into it. It's a RUNsheet, not a walk sheet or a sit down sheet. It's a RUN sheet. Yeah. 

We've also been creating a psychological space to work in. As I mentioned on iJumpTV a while back, we're now working virtually - or in less sexy terminology, working from home. But we still have the office sign, so when it's working hours, that sign comes out and is where we can see it all day. 

We also have a banner we use for our workshops and events ... it says "a sy event" .... the challenge is, to make every day an event, not just the days when you're out and about, but even the stay-at-home and do-the-actual-work days! 

How do you make your days into productions?

Posted via email from Simon's posterous