Laura Stack

Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE, aka The Productivity Pro®, gives speeches and seminars on sales and leadership productivity. For over 25 years, she’s worked with Fortune 1000 clients to reduce inefficiencies, execute more quickly, improve output, and increase profitability. Laura is the author of seven books, including Doing the Right Things Right: How the Effective Executive Spends Time.

Why You Really Need to Have a Not-to-Do List

Laura StackJune 4, 2015

Sometimes, the best thing you can do in productivity terms is NOT to do something. I’ve talked for years about having not-to-do lists, which can prove as … Read more

10 Ways to Help Your Team to Be a Lot More Productive

Laura StackMay 29, 2015

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” — Napoleon Hill, motivational writer If you’re not the boss or … Read more

Remote Work: Functioning Effectively When People Aren’t Next to You

Laura StackMay 13, 2015

A lot of what we used to know about working with others changes when our co-workers sit 10,000 miles away, instead of 10 feet away. Today we have to add … Read more

Can Too Much Teamwork Actually Damage Productivity?

Laura StackApril 24, 2015

Back in the 1890s, French researcher Max Ringelmann discovered what others later called the Ringelmann Effect: The larger a work group, the more likely … Read more

Perks Are Fine, But Here’s How to Help Employees Really Love Their Jobs

Laura StackApril 1, 2015

We’ve all heard about the fun perks that progressive employers like Google and Yahoo offered their employees — great social activities, play areas, … Read more

Taking Initiative: Is It Better to Beg For Forgiveness or Ask For Permission?

Laura StackFebruary 24, 2015

You’ve probably heard Grace Hopper’s famous axiom, “It’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” As a child, my father used to tell me that all the … Read more

The Trouble With Open Offices: Too Much Noise, Too Many Distractions

Laura StackFebruary 20, 2015

Many workplaces today feature more open spaces and smaller, and often shared, workstations. These open floor plans have become “the new normal” in many … Read more

What Do You Do When Everything is a High Priority?

Laura StackJanuary 16, 2015

“Action expresses priorities.” — Mahatma Gandhi As Scottish poet Robert Burns pointed out in his poem To a Mouse in 1785, The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ … Read more

Five Things Your Co-Workers Really Wish That You Knew

Laura StackJanuary 13, 2015

“There’s no “I” in team.” — Classic American teamwork slogan “No, but there’s a ‘me’ if you move a few letters around.” — Sarcastic response When was the … Read more

How to Follow-Up Without Being a Pain-in-the-Rear Micromanager

Laura StackJanuary 8, 2015

“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” – best-selling author Tom Peters If you’ve attained a management … Read more