As you look at last year, do you ever feel like there
wasn't enough time in the day? Did entire afternoons...and
sometimes days...slip by without your even noticing? Were
you "too" busy? And when you look ahead this year, does it
feel like you might relive that?
It's not an uncommon sensation. But, it's very familiarity
creates a trap ' it often stops my clients from taking
control of their time to set themselves up for the
deliberate actions their future success requires.
When I suggest setting aside committed time for managing
success, some folks look at me like a deer in the
headlights ' frozen! Last week one of my clients asked,
sincerely, "Really? You want me to meet with my direct
reports weekly?"
I insisted. (We consultants and coaches get to do that!)
And this week he reported back a discovery he'd made.
"It was amazing how much we got accomplished in 30 to 45
minutes. I realized that I've resisted holding meetings for
the past 20 years because of how boring and useless they
felt when I was a young lawyer and I was made to sit
through meetings."
In that 45 minutes he sorted out a work flow breakdown that
had frustrated him no end and stopped forward progress...
for the past 6 weeks!
Is it possible to be a successful business owner or leader
without having and using management skills? Not really.
Calculate for yourself how much might have been
accomplished with that one weekly meeting in the last 18
years... in your own firm or department. How much greater
success went missing?
Never mind. What's passed is past.
Now for going forward: I developed a system for managing
the challenges that have you stalled, and I'd like to share
it with you. It's not only efficient, it's easy!
"Shift" Your Attention - The first secret to getting
un-stalled is to shift your focus away from the breakdown
itself. Do you have a colleague who isn't following through
on a commitment? A staff member who just never does a
thorough job? Or too many choices for how to proceed? Are
you having fun stewing about it? Carry On!
Or, declare that the way you've been dodging dealing with
it isn't letting you make headway.
Start fresh by shifting your attention off of what is
stymied right now, back to the larger picture - the goal.
Ask yourself what the purpose of the project, effort, or
work task is. Notice I said "Is" and not "Was."
Don't assume that this effort was kicked-off well in the
first place. Take a fresh look at what you now want to
accomplish. What specific, measurable, observable result is
all the effort supposed to be targeting? Write it down in
plain language that anyone could understand.
One of my attorney clients, "Mike" has been frustrated at
the gaps in thinking one of the junior attorneys has
produced. His words to me were "I asked for his
recommendation. He's not backing up his recommendation
thoroughly enough, so I have to do too much re-work." After
I probed further, he was able to list 15 steps he wants to
know have been researched, thought through, analyzed,
challenged, and so on before that recommendation is brought
to him for review. That's the result he wants, not the
'recommendation' he told his new attorney when he gave him
the assignment.
Plan It in Reverse - After I choose a goal, I develop a
specific action plan to accomplish it. The trick is to work
from the goal, backwards to where you are now, and layout
the plan as a road map of steps to be taken to get there.
For Mike, that meant designing how he'll 'know' when the
goal is achieved... before that, how he'll remove any
obstacles from the younger attorney's path to that goal,
and what tools he needs to provide so that he can achieve
it... and before that, how he'll walk the attorney through
the steps he's expecting to see him take so there's no
confusion...
Put It In Action - Discussing the reverse plan is all fine
and good, but you must take action on this, too!
For instance with Mike, we developed the check-list he'll
be using to evaluate whether the work was done to his
satisfaction. Then we developed the reference tools he'll
make sure are available to be used in the research. Then we
scripted the conversation he's going to have to kick-off
the work from a fresh start.
We've even found an additional use for this material ' it's
going to give Mike the case study outline he'll be using as
he interviews new attorney's he brings on board, so he'll
know how they approach similar types of work, and he'll
know what development and management needs there will be if
he hires them.
With these 3 steps, you'll give yourself a fresh start for
the year and be accelerating your results effectively,
efficiently and successfully!
© 2007 Linda Feinholz.
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© 2007 Linda Feinholz Management expert, consultant, and
coach Linda Feinholz is "Your High Payoff Catalyst" If
you're ready to focus on your High Payoff activities, boost
your professional and personal results and have more fun,
get her FREE audio mini-course "7 Quick & Simple Steps to
Increase Your Focus, Ease Your Effort & Accelerate Your
Results" and the free weekly newsletter The Spark! Visit
http://www.YourHighPayoffCatalyst.com
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