E-Briefings - Business Books Without the Fat

I like my information fast and furious with no BS. If I can learn something by in 20 minutes then why would I spend 2 hours? That's the premise behind E-Briefings, a series of professional development books that can be consumed quickly online. The briefings can be purchased individually and cover topics like Leadership and Management, Business Communication, and Human Resources and Training.

E-Briefings can be found on the London-based Top Briefings website. Visitors to the site are able to sample E-Briefings before buying. Founder and Managing Director Duncan Gotobed was nice enough to grant me free access to their "Making Your Time Count" briefing about time management for this review.

By my estimations, the briefing is less than 2,000 words in total, yet succinctly covers the always hot topic of time management. It touches on everything from self-examination, to planning and prioritizing, to goal setting. My favorite part is the suggestions they offer for solutions to common time wasters such as email, meetings, and procrastinating. When it comes to meetings, they have an interesting approach:

Problem: Meetings


Everyone has attended meetings that were not run efficiently. While you may not have much control over meetings you do not direct, you can make simple changes in the meetings you do run.

Solution:

Hold meetings late in the day, when people are less apt to drone. Hold standing-room-only meetings, start on time, set a time limit, and stick to it. If the meeting is not needed, cancel. Prepare and distribute an agenda ahead of time, and follow-up on items discussed immediately afterward.

As an attendee, ensure that you need to be there; if you do, show respect by arriving on time. Participate actively, but keep your comments on point, adhering to the agenda. If you agree to follow-up on anything, do so quickly, prioritizing appropriately.

The best part of that was "hold standing-room-only meetings." No better way to make people focus on the task at hand than making them stand up! No one wants to stand for hours at a time so you likely can drastically improve your productivity by just removing the chairs (funny side note: at my last job, there was a guy who would always show up first to meetings to lower everyone else's chair and raise his own...he thought that "looking down on everyone" gave him an advantage...it's no surprise that he ended up being fired).

They also have a free newsletter that I would recommend to any entrepreneur or business owner.

So if you don't feel like picking up a 300 page business book, you can always get a quick and informative fix with an E-Briefing. Why consume that fat when all you want is the meat?