Most managers know that their people focus better and are more productive when the weather is bad; furthermore they know why—distraction.

Sunny skies draw peoples thought outside and focus them on thoughts of what they could be doing, while gray skies and rain are far less distracting.

However, I doubt those same managers are aware that décor, such as sun and surf travel posters, generates the same distracting effect.

…an increase in rain correlated with a decrease in the time it took for workers to complete their tasks. Low visibility and extreme temperatures also matched periods of high worker productivity. Clear, sunny days correlated with relatively low productivity. (…) Meanwhile, exposure to the sunny-day photographs significantly decreased the performance of participants who came to the lab on rainy days. For those who came in on sunny days, the added distraction of the sunny-day photographs had little effect on performance.

While you can control the décor, you can’t control the weather, so how can you improve productivity on those pesky great-weather days?

• Recognize that sunny-weather distraction is part of being human, happens on all levels and you are unlikely to change it.
• Take weather into consideration when scheduling and allow extra time during sunny times on your private schedule, not necessarily the one you share with the team.
• Develop good weather incentives, such as time outdoors for hitting predetermined goals.
• Most importantly, don’t waste energy trying to change

Not all challenges can be overcome (more abut that Wednesday); sometimes you can find work-arounds, others you just need to accept.

Flickr image credit: duncan_idaho_2007

Image credit: Nammer

Few people put much thought into organizing meetings, whether company-wide, department or team. The best create an agenda, but little beyond that.

If this sounds familiar, you need to think again.

The idea that meetings need to be consciously designed as does any successful, productive business process is addressed by Business Week Innovation.

More new age voodoo?

According to Debra Dunn, a 22-year veteran of Hewlett-Packard, “Meetings have tremendous symbolic power.”

Robert Sutton, an expert in organizational behavior and author of, most recently, The No Asshole Rule, says, “If you destroy the culture, then you destroy the company.” (Both teach at Standford University.)

Read the story and the Playbook and compare your attitude, approach and most importantly results to the case study presented.

How do your meetings measure up?

What changes would make them more productive?