Published
Articles
Originally
Published in The Business Journal of CNY.
Prioritizing
In my dealings
with hundreds of business owners over the last 11 years, I constantly
look for common traits that distinguish the winners from the rest.
All of my articles focus on these traits, but you should be aware
of how valuable these resources are, and how they can and should
help you.
The ability
to prioritize (similar to the ability to delegate, and to make decisions,
discussed in earlier articles)) is very near the top in traits all
winners have. Winners prioritize what needs to be done, and do it,
irrelevant of their desire to do it, or the ease or magnitude of
the particular task.
I have discussed
in the past prioritizing every day into A-B-C categories, with "A's"
being must do's, "B's" being good value and important,
but not critical (big difference), and "C's", once classified
as such, probably not done at all, or delegated out to another capable
person to complete. By the way, this process should take less than
5 minutes of your morning. Better yet, do it the night before. You
will sleep better.
Successful owners
tend to understand the true value of each item on their "to-do"
list, and prioritize according to value received for completed project,
tangible or intangible. They ignore the toughness of completing
the project, and focus on reaching completion ASAP.
Mediocre owners
tend to always find a reason to defer these "A" items,
live with much higher stress levels, see their business lose opportunities
at best, and decline dramatically at worst. They end up feeling
worse than if they had acted, no matter what the result. Think about
how you see this in your kids with homework for example, or how
much it bothers you when you delegate to a manager, and they do
not prioritize and do the job.
Ironically,
this is a very common complaint by owners about their staff; that
they delegate and the job does not get done. Could their staff be
following an example from higher up? If you don't prioritize, don't
expect the rest of your company to see or understand the importance
of it.
"A"
items are best done early in the day, while your energy levels are
high, and the completion of these will relieve big burdens from
the rest of your day, and free up valuable energy for even more
"A" items. It's a catch 22. If you do not do them early,
you will worry about them anyway, so get them done. Often, you can
have multiple "A" items going forward at one time, by
getting others started doing their part, or getting processes started
in other ways. Once started, they become easier to finish. They
almost force you to finish them.
As an example,
if you are going to have to fire someone today, or otherwise put
out some bad news, the longer in the day you wait, the more YOU
suffer. Why should you suffer? Do it and get it behind you! If you
have to call an irate customer, do it early. You will often find
that by being a good listener, the problem can be defused easier
than you thought. Bingo, a better day ahead already. In the worst
case, if you can't change their view, you have still completed the
task.
Need to call
a meeting that you know will be trouble, but just can't seem to
do it. Do it! Think through the agenda, and have the meeting. Again,
you may find the issue was less of a problem than you thought. And
again, it is behind you.
Prioritizing
meetings is absolutely critical. If a moderator (you) does not keep
it on track, on-time, and focused, the probability of anything getting
accomplished is small. If people do not come to a meeting focused,
they should not come. If each person knows they have 5 minutes (for
example) to present their case, they will be much more likely to
prioritize.
The follow-up
list from the meeting should have most items with due dates for
completion and implementation within 24-48 hours. If substantial
progress is not made in that time span, it will just be a topic
again at the next meeting.
If getting a
banker started with his long process of evaluation and approval
is necessary, provide the information he needs, get him started,
and move on to another "A" item.
If really studying
a proposal is necessary before making a critical decision, do it
now. You can then either make the decision, or send in back for
more information.
If explaining
to a subordinate or manager improves their style in the future,
why would you not have that talk with them? Once corrected they
will make future decisions better, and you will avoid recurring
problems. Encourage them to do the same with their subordinates.
If taking that
time to "manage by walking around" has always given you
a high payback in the past, do it daily. If a half hour of your
time improves hundreds of hours of others time, that is time well
spent. What a way to leverage.
Things such
as looking at computer types, phone systems, copier replacements,
are better left to delegate to others, with you making the final
decision based on their prep work. Focus your time on those things
that ONLY you can do.
"Feel good"
"pep-rally" meetings are useless unless you address the
real issues head-on, and make the meeting a results oriented meeting.
Stop phone calls
in the early AM to avoid interruptions until you have set your day
and accomplished (or started in process) at least 3 "A"
items.
Call people
and bring closure to items quickly and decisively. Don't procrastinate.
Don't hang up until you have reached a resolution. Avoid repeat
and return calls to settle minor issues. Resolve it now.
Not quickly
addressing important issues is business suicide.
Making a nice
neat list, and staring at it, gets you nowhere. Just jump in and
start doing the most dreaded decision. It likely is the one that
is most important.
Admit it. You
go home most nights feeling bad and guilty that you did not prioritize
you day properly, and then come back a do the same thing the next
day. This is a mental health issue for owners.
An empty in-basket
is not necessarily a good thing. It's how you got it empty that
counts!
Going home at
the end of the day feels a lot better doing it the right way. Try
it!
Dennis Hoppe is President of Change Management Implementation, Inc. in Brockport, NY. He has been a small business advisor to owners of hundreds of companies since 1989. Visit his web sites at www.dhoppe.com and www.hmcexecutivecoaching.com, or call him at 800-724-3525. |
