Welcome to Conspire’s Fun Friday Links, a weekly collection of interesting discoveries from around the Web. Most of the time, the goal is to get you thinking differently about innovation, collaboration, business culture, and life in general. Other times, we may toss an infographic or fun video your way. Submissions are welcome, and you can send them to conspire@mindjet.com for consideration.
17 Percent of Employees Would Rather Watch Paint Dry Than Attend Meetings
There is a really, really good chance you’ve spent at least one meeting in your life mentally debating the merits of dining chairs over benches, or something equally as exciting. You’re not alone; the majority of meeting attendees around the world often have a tough time not just paying attention, but justifying the value of taking so much time away from active work. From Inc.:
“They may be called “status meetings” “check-ins” “team meetings” or “updates.” You may have them once a month, once a week, once a day, or once every quarter. They all have one thing in common: Your employees hate them.
It might surprise you to learn just how much. In a recent Harris poll, sponsored by the online collaboration company Clarizen, 46 percent of respondents said they’d prefer to do almost anything else instead of sittng in a status meeting. Seventeen percent said they would choose to watch paint dry. Eight percent said they would opt for root canal.
That’s bad enough, but what’s worse is the amount of time respondents reported spending on these unloved meetings. On average, they said they spent 4 hours a week in status meetings, and 4.6 hours a week preparing for them. In other words, these meetings cost the average company one day a week of work time per employee. A company or team that eliminated them should see productivity increase by about 20 percent.”
Don’t Be a Statistic: Be Smarter About Protecting Your Passwords
Is it easy to remember upwards of thirty different passwords for your various online activities? No. But it’s definitely a better idea than making it ridiculously easy for anyone with a little time on their hands to get access to everything you interact with digitally. From Gizmodo:
“It’s embarrassing and a bit terrifying, but it’s time to admit an Internet behavior that many are guilty of. Nobody is proud of it, but it’s happening in staggering numbers: password laziness. Chances are your password choice is not enough to guard your most important financial information, your clients’ documents, or your most intimate email conversations.
The fact is that it’s likely that even an amateur journalist could crack your password, let alone a hacker with pretty stealth tools, but you’re not alone: 90% of user generated passwords are susceptible to being hacked. If the U.S. Central Command can get their social media channels messed with, then it’s highly likely that you or your business needs to step up its digital security game. Before you start preparing your cyber bunker, there are some simple steps to take so that your company’s private information won’t be exposed.”
Innovation Lessons From Saturday Night Live
There’s something to be said for a comedic enterprise that’s outlasted four generations of questionable clothing choices, music trends, and acceptable humor. And since brand awareness and sustainable innovation management are major goals for most businesses, why not look to the people who’ve figured out how to stay valuable for over four decades? From Forbes:
“For the producers at SNL, the fact remains that the show’s success is largely due to what has remained the same over the past 40 years. First, the product framework is the same with every show, every week, every month, every year. The show begins with a guest host’s opening monologue, ending with “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.” Additionally, each show includes a musical guest, a series of sketches, and the beloved “Weekend Update.”
Week to week, the content is 100% different, and yet, the main framework is identical. As you continually update your product offering, how can you keep its framework the same? For example, if you own a restaurant, perhaps you could incorporate rotating specials while keeping menu staples. Or perhaps your concept is that the menu completely changes from one season to the next, but you’re known for that constant update. Keep your framework in mind, even as you aim to continually innovate – don’t lose sight of your focus (and the reason why your customers already love your product).”
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