[Special] How I Built Asian Efficiency

12/09/21 • 20 min

1 Listener

Today’s episode is going to be slightly different than what you might be used to from us.

This is Thanh Pham, the founder of Asian Efficiency. I was recently interviewed by Sachit Gupta, the host of the Conscious Creators Show: https://link.chtbl.com/thanh

If that name sounds familiar, I actually interviewed Sachit on episode #348: https://www.asianefficiency.com/podcasts/348-sachit-gupta/

This time, we flipped roles and I started talking about how I built Asian Efficiency, grew the company, work 4 days a week, and built a highly efficient team.

It’s stuff I’ve never publicly shared before (not even on my own podcast) and I’ve included a short segment here as a preview.

For the full episode, head on over to subscribe to the Conscious Creators Show https://link.chtbl.com/thanh. Some of the things we talked about:

The mindset switch creators have to make to intertwine personal stories with their brand
How to onboard and match multiple personalities on the team when their talents’ variety
The core principles of establishing happiness in your workflow
How a 4 day work week led to an improvement in employee NPS
How to build a team of cross-functional generalists
How to implement a systematic approach to hire people and upgrade their skill set to be more productive
Why you should never be discouraged to ask for help to grow your business

For any questions or support, please email us at [email protected]. I hope you enjoy it!

Today’s episode is going to be slightly different than what you might be used to from us.

This is Thanh Pham, the founder of Asian Efficiency. I was recently interviewed by Sachit Gupta, the host of the Conscious Creators Show: https://link.chtbl.com/thanh

If that name sounds familiar, I actually interviewed Sachit on episode #348: https://www.asianefficiency.com/podcasts/348-sachit-gupta/

This time, we flipped roles and I started talking about how I built Asian Efficiency, grew the company, work 4 days a week, and built a highly efficient team.

It’s stuff I’ve never publicly shared before (not even on my own podcast) and I’ve included a short segment here as a preview.

For the full episode, head on over to subscribe to the Conscious Creators Show https://link.chtbl.com/thanh. Some of the things we talked about:

The mindset switch creators have to make to intertwine personal stories with their brand
How to onboard and match multiple personalities on the team when their talents’ variety
The core principles of establishing happiness in your workflow
How a 4 day work week led to an improvement in employee NPS
How to build a team of cross-functional generalists
How to implement a systematic approach to hire people and upgrade their skill set to be more productive
Why you should never be discouraged to ask for help to grow your business

For any questions or support, please email us at [email protected]. I hope you enjoy it!

Previous Episode

Calendar Cleanup: Win Back Time & Trust Your Calendar Again (TPS381)

In this episode, we are going to talk about Calendars, or more specifically doing a Calendar Cleanup.

Any way you can get your Calendar in top shape will have an immediate impact today and going forward. There aren’t many productivity changes you can make that will do that!

If your calendar has become cluttered with “not real”, out of date, or irrelevant events, we’ll take you through some ways to fix that up.

Maybe some big project or issue has come up and you need to free up time and clear space, quickly – we’ll help you do that.

Get an extra 3 months. Expressvpn.com/TPS.

Thanks Masterworks. To skip to the front of the line and get your VIP pass for immediate access, go to masterworks.io/TPS

Thanks Truebill.com/TPS. it could save you thousands a year.

You can find links to everything that we share in the show notes by going to theproductivityshow.com/381.

Cheat Sheet:

Top 3 Productivity Resources [2:42]
What is the main benefit of calendar cleanup? [4:32]
How was Thanh most recently reminded to de-clutter his calendar? [07:36]
What is the first tip for cleaning your calendar? [11:08]
What can you do if you’re constantly ignoring time blocks on your calendar? [13:28]
What is Tip #2 for de-cluttering your calendar? [15:58]
What are the 3 steps to calendar triage? [20:38]
What does Thanh do every Sunday for his weekly planning? [28:49]
What is Tip #3 for keeping your calendar uncluttered? [30:38]
Why is a weekly review so valuable for organization? [36:47]
Action step to integrate today’s topic into your life [39:34]

Links:

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Next Episode

The Four Day Work Week Experiment: Tips and Lessons Learned (TPS382)

Today’s episode is going to be a bit different.

From time to time we do episodes about how we do things at AE, for two reasons:

Going back to the early days of the blog in 2011 and the podcast in 2015, we get a LOT of questions about behind the scenes aspects of running AE
We are always doing experiments to try to improve the company, be more productive, and have happier team members

You know what they say – “Happy people are productive people”; so we’d like to share what we learn from these experiments with you

A few summers ago we did an experiment: what if we ran the company just 4 days a week throughout the whole summer?

We had a vote and... SURPRISE... The team voted yes.

We’ve done it a few times since, and are midway through another run at it, doing it during December for the first time.

If you’ve ever thought about trying a 4-day work week, we’ll share our lessons and insights with you that can help you decide if it’s right for you.

Perhaps you already do a 4-day work week and want more tips to make it more effective, we got you covered too.

Free $75 credit to upgrade your post at Indeed.com/tps. Terms and conditions apply. Offer valid through December 31, 2021.

Thanks to Mack Weldon. For 20% off your first order, visit mackweldon.com/TPS with promo code TPS.

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You can find links to everything that we share in the show notes by going to theproductivityshow.com/382.

Cheat Sheet:

Why did Thanh decide to do an episode on the Four Day Work Week? [4:15]
Top 3 Productivity Resources [5:10]
When did the AE Team implement the Four Day Work Week? [7:34]
How does Thanh feel about employees essentially getting a free day off through Four Day Work Weeks? [12:11]
What is Labor-Efficiency Ratio? [15:21]
How does Thanh feel about AE’s first Four Day Work Week experiment in 2020? [19:19]
Why was AE’s first Four Day Work Week successful? [26:02]
How do you work a Four Day Work Week around employees that have to work certain hours of the day? [35:19]
Which is better— using Four Day Work Weeks as a reward/incentive, or implementing them consistently? [38:00]
What are some things to be aware of when trying out a Four Day Work Week, according to Thanh? [41:08]
How does Brooks feel the quality of work changed when AE implemented a Four Day Work Week? [45:39]
Why does AE only do Four Day Work Weeks in the summer and December? Why not all the time? [48:38]
What are Thanh’s tips for advocating for the Four Day Work Week? [51:46]
Action step to integrate today’s topic into your life [54:08]