Faster Together: Accelerating Your Team's Productivity

by Laura Stack

Overview

Don't Slow Down—Team Up!

With countless emails, constant communication, cascading deadlines, and seemingly endless meetings, it's a wonder any of us gets anything done these days. You can try working harder or faster or smarter, but what really makes the difference is "teaming well." A good team is the most powerful productivity machine in existence.

Laura Stack's FAST model mobilizes teams to be the most effective they can be, while keeping each other's best interests at heart. Teams learn to work together Fairly, accept Accountability, apply Systems Thinking, and maximize available Technology. An interactive assessment helps you evaluate your team's current speed and rate of acceleration.

Every team may have its stars, but they couldn't do their jobs without the rest of the team doing theirs. By the end of this book, you'll truly understand the abilities of your team and how each member makes things go. So, rev your team's engines, and you'll soon be roaring down the track together!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781523094455
Publisher:	Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Publication date:	01/23/2018
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	439,574
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE, is president and CEO of The Productivity Pro, Inc. For more than twenty-five years, she has helped associations and Fortune 1000 corporations improve output, increase speed in execution, and save time in the office.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

The F-A-S-T Team Model 6

The FAST Team Test 10

Key 1 Fairness

Accelerator #1 Building Relationships 35

Accelerator #2 Handling Conflict 49

Accelerator #3 Improving Cohesiveness 65

Key 2 Accountability

Accelerator #4 Trusting Your Team Members 87

Accelerator #5 Accepting Responsibility 103

Accelerator #6 Maximizing Performance 119

Key 3 Systems

Accelerator #7 Making Effective Decisions 139

Accelerator #8 Managing Time 155

Accelerator #9 Increasing Efficiency 173

Key 4 Technology

Accelerator #10 Communicating Properly 193

Accelerator #11 Meeting Effectively 209

Accelerator #12 Following Protocols 225

Conclusion 241

Notes 245

Acknowledgments 249

Index 251

About the Author 257

Educational Resources 259

Editorial Reviews

Faster Together is a driving school for teams who find themselves in charge of a powerful machine but never received the owner’s manual and aren’t quite sure how to maximize power, traction, and torque.”
—Alan Weiss, PhD, author of Million Dollar Consulting, Lifestorming (with Marshall Goldsmith), and fifty other books
 
“Peppered with stories that bring her advice to life, Laura Stack’s Faster Together is an easy, fun read that puts the responsibility for improving work processes and productivity squarely where it belongs: in everyone’s hands. The book and its topics speak directly to individuals, describing how each team member contributes to a productive whole.”
—Tres Shoemaker, Vice President, Organizational Development and Talent Acquisition, Graebel Companies
 
“Laura Stack is on a roll! In Faster Together, she applies hard-earned experience toward helping your team function more effectively at work. Discover how to tweak your team’s business processes toward greater productivity.”
—Deanna Cauley, Vice President, Talent Management, Red Robin International, Inc.
 
“Feeling trapped by an unreasonable work-life balance that barely leaves you enough personal time for meals and sleep? Grab Laura Stack’s new book, Faster Together. Though at first glance it’s all about productivity, Laura’s advice helps you save time in all aspects of your work and life, so you actually get to enjoy the ‘life’ part as well as the work.”
—Montague “Cosmo” L. Boyd, Senior Vice President, Financial Services
 
“In today’s market, agile speed is a must. The business arena is changing more rapidly than ever before, which requires workers and leaders who can stop on a dime and shift direction on a moment’s notice. Faster Together is the ultimate guidebook for rapid, efficient productivity in the modern working world.”
—Mike Howard, Chief Security Officer, Microsoft
 
“Do you really understand how fairness, accountability, systems thinking, and technology affect the speed of your team’s work process? Laura Stack does, and she knows how to help you maximize every aspect of all four. In Faster Together, she shows you how to rev the engines of even the most efficient work process.”
—Andrew Lawrence, Vice President, Enterprise Learning and Personal Development, SCL Health
 
“If you think ‘fast’ and ‘quality’ are mutually exclusive, think again. Laura Stack’s Faster Together gives team members all the tools they need to speed up their processes and change their mindset about accountability, systems, and technology. To make a quantum leap in productivity, you’ll want to buy a copy for all team members!”
—Dianna Booher, author of Communicate Like a Leader and What More Can I Say?
 
“No one understands and teaches quick, efficient productivity as well as Laura Stack. In her latest book, Faster Together, she demonstrates to leaders and team members alike how they can improve their work processes and achieve success faster. A must-have for the ambitious work team!”
—Jeremy Eaves, Senior Director, Employee Relations, DaVita
 
“Laura knows how to make anyone more productive. In Faster Together, she shows how teams can work together seamlessly and efficiently and address any ‘speed bumps’ on the road to success. Highly recommended for any manager or team member looking to accomplish more in less time.”
—Laura Vanderkam, speaker and author of I Know How She Does It

From the Publisher