Learning From Academic Colleagues Who Productively Manage Aspects of the Faculty Life

There are myriad facets to being a productive faculty member. In this article, you will be encouraged to consider productive colleagues in the categories of writing, travel, advising, and promotion/tenure/review processes. It is likely that all four of these areas are places where you could gain a few tips and techniques - or potentially an entire range of new skills and practices.

1. Writing - I deliberately chose to label this differently than "research." So for now, just ask yourself who the faculty members are who get their writing done. Whether they are writing articles, books, monographs, conference papers, or whatever other kind of writing that is necessary for their field - they produce. Make a list of those folks.
2. Travel - Depending on the work that you do, you may do a great deal of traveling for your scholarly activities or maybe you travel to conferences and other professional activities. Who have you noticed who seems to be an extremely productive academic traveller? They aren't crazed at the airport, they have their materials and documents handy, they have clothes that match once they get there, and...here's a big one, when they get back to the office, they re-enter with a sense of ease. That is someone to learn from!
3. Promotion/Tenure/Review - If you are a newer faculty member, you are going to want to pay attention to those people who seem to have a system for getting their documentation together for their promotion and tenure packet. However, even tenured faculty members go up for annual or merit reviews upon occasion, so see if you have someone in mind who seems to know how to keep everything in order so that when it is requested, they are not running around like a chicken with its head cut off (which is never very dignified or productive for a professor!)
4. Advising - Some faculty are not only excellent advisors, but they are productive in their advising. They have figured out how to best serve students, the department, and their own peace of mind by making sure that they have current information, correct documentation, systems for keeping tabs on students, etc. Determine who these folks are and write down their names.

So now you have this great list. What are you supposed to do? Systematically, take 2 names per month from your list and ask for a phone, email, or face to face meeting so that you can learn their secrets. They will be happy to share and honored that you noticed what you perceive as their excellence in productivity. This is time VERY well invested.

And for scores of sets of Productivity Tips for Professors like these, you're invited to join others around the globe who subscribe (free) to one of the Top Ten Productivity Tips series (info to be found at):

** http://TopTenProductivityTips.com

(c) 2010 Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. | The Ph.D. of Productivity(tm) | http://www.meggin.com

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. works with smart people who want to consistently keep their emphasis on excellence.