Tips and tricks for Professional Development.

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Goals Set your Direction & Systems Help you Make Progress

Your days are jam-packed; however, you often feel by days end that you have accomplished little as your time has been spent on low-value tasks, putting out fires, and getting caught up in the day-to-day business minutia. There is never enough time to focus on what is important; your goals are defined; however, you can’t seem to make progress on moving them forward. Sound familiar?

 

You Can Get Frustrated Before You Make Progress

If you are frustrated by your progress on moving goals forward, it is time to reset how you are prioritizing the work that needs to be done on your goals, the processes you have in place to focus on the ‘next best step,’ and systems to enable you to work smarter, not harder on the work at hand.

 

Goals set direction and can help keep you organized.

 

Processes outline what you need to do – step-by-step actions.

 

Systems help you achieve your goals and make progress – a critical component for all, no matter what industry you are in or the position you hold.

Make Progress at work

Implement a System 

The implementation of process, technical and time management systems are critical to enabling you to make progress on your goals. I have outlined below systems that I use daily:

 

Process System

  • I utilize the 80/20 rule when determining goal focus. Using the Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, I appreciate that 80% of my business outcomes are usually a result of 20% of my efforts around my top goals. So, when working on my goals daily, I commence working on high-value tasks associated with a top-level goal, which in turn provides the greatest return on my time investment. When using the 80/20 rule, a simple trick is to ask yourself daily when mapping out your schedule: ‘What goal focus should I concentrate on today that will provide the greatest impact?’. 

Technical Systems

  • The client CRM I use is HubSpot. The project management software I use is Trello to manage goals, task assignments, staff communication, the delegation of tasks, reporting, and metrics. 

Time Management Systems:

  • When scheduling my time, I allocate a minimum of two hours daily to focus on high-value goals that significantly impact my consultancy. I block of uninterruptable time chunks in my Outlook calendar and couldn’t live without my Full Focus Paper Planner to keep me on track. By having this identified time blocked out daily, I make guaranteed goal progress. You need to remember two words that go hand in hand with your time management systems, RELENTLESS CONSISTENCY – this will help you move forward in your goal attainment and track if you make progress. 

 

7 Steps To Help You Stay On Track And Make Progress:

  1. Determine your goals; they set your direction
  2. Under each goal, detail the associated tasks and timelines
  3. Set critical milestone dates, and ensure reporting metric expectations are communicated
  4. Detail the strategy as to how you will approach and achieve the goal
  5. Focus first on the top 20% of goals that will provide the most significant impact.
  6. Set aside time daily to work on ‘the next best step’ of the goal. Do this in uninterruptable time chunks. The daily allocation of time will make a significant difference in your goal timeline.
  7. Be relentlessly consistent – action should be taken daily for the greatest momentum

 

Make progress in life

Atomic Habits 

If you have not read Atomic Habits, I encourage you to do so. James Clear’s reference around the importance of small habits making a big difference is critical to address procrastination and move your goals forward. An example in his book given is one that I often refer to with clients, ‘The effects of small habits compound over time. For example, if you can get just 1 percent better each day, you’ll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after one year.’ Now that is progress!

Evaluate Your System

I hope this article has motivated you to evaluate your current systems to ensure they are working to your best advantage—work smarter, not harder, for greater productivity, balance, and increased results. Be relentlessly consistent in your actions; small steps compounded make a significant difference to your bottom line. 

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How to achieve personal and professional goals by the end of 2020?

Time to refocus on personal and professional goals you want to get done by year-end.

Week 43 – Already!

Only ten weeks remaining till year-end, and no doubt it has been quite the year for all of us professionally and personally.

 

Priority Refocus

Personal and Professional goals that were set at the commencement of the year, for the majority, have had to change and pivot due to COVID-19. For the remaining weeks of the year, refocus on what is important to achieve professionally and personally by year-end. Remember the 80/20 rule when refocusing on your goals for the remainder of the year. Your focus should be on the top 20% of activities that result in 80% of your results. The goals that you decide to focus on over the next two and a half months should be the ones that will give you the most positive consequences by year-end.

 

The first step is to block off an hour in your schedule today to work on your list of revised goals that you will concentrate on over the next ten weeks. Identify, clarify, set priorities, and plan with timelines for all that needs to be done under each goal.

 

professional goals

 

What do you need to accomplish professionally that is important by year-end?

 

In your personal life, what do you want to accomplish by year-end?

 

What are your top three priorities to year-end both professionally and personally?

 

How much time will each of your areas of priority (defined goals) take to complete? For each of your personal and professional goals, detail the steps required and associate key tasks with a deadline. By breaking down your priorities into smaller tasks, you will be able to dig into a task and complete it quickly, which will fuel your motivation and momentum. Seeing tasks completed on your list will help ease procrastination when moving onto the next step.

 

Allocate time blocks into your schedule; these focused blocks of un-interruptable time will enable you to have full concentration on the task at hand and get more done in less time.

Technology Usage

The second step is to put tactics in place to achieve your priorities; this is where a digital project management tool comes into play. We have so many tools at our fingertips to help us stay on track, pick one and stick to it for the remainder of the year (e.g., Trello, Monday, Asana, Zoho…). Maximize the benefits of your software to keep on top of your digital to-do lists under each priority. Your software should help you manage resources, budget, collaboration and communication in addition to keeping on top of task lists, schedules, file sharing and reporting.

 

  • Use technology well to stay on top of your priorities, maximize the software you have on hand to streamline your processes, communication, scheduling, and project management.
  • Take control of your schedule and calendar. Only accept meetings that you need to attend—block off uninterrupted time to work on what is important.
  • Relentlessly commit to the allocation of time to work on what is important daily.

professional goals

Tips for retaining focus:

 

1) Plan your week in advance. 

Detail your top three personal or professional goals to accomplish during the week. Daily, focus on your set three priorities and, at the end of the day, list what you achieved and what you need to move onto the next day. At the end of the week, list your wins, what worked well and what didn’t, what needs to be carried over to the next week and your focus for the next week.

 

2) Stop multitasking and stay on point. 

Focus is a critical component to high-performance and the attainment of results. Multitasking is one behaviour that you will have to curb. Even though we may think we can manage multiple tasks simultaneously, the reality is that when focusing on the most important task at hand, we should be putting all of our energy and focus into that item when working on it to get more done. The tendency of many is to shift attention between tasks, priorities and interruptions, and this is a sure way of adding time onto your week and making it more difficult in your position. When you move from one thing to another, every shift adds on transition time to get back to the point where your attention is 100% on the task at hand. Don’t lose this precious time; use it wisely; otherwise, you will be prone to mistakes, missed deadlines and frustration as you will be working harder and longer hours.

 

3) Allocate time at the commencement of your day to work on identified priorities.

This may require schedule updates; however, in the long run, it will be worth it. Where you can clear your morning, do so to work on important priorities and leave the remainder of the day to deal with daily tasks and responsibilities. As tempting as it may be when you see ‘Priority Work” blocked off in your schedule, use your willpower and refrain from adding any other appointment in this area. Your productivity will increase, often threefold if you can stick to your blocked, uninterruptable time to work on priorities. Within these time chunked blocks, do not permit yourself to be distracted from personal or virtual interruptions, phone calls, email or other pressing priorities. After you have become used to this habit of working on your most important professional priorities daily, you will not look back.

 

4) Be in ‘action’ mode. 

To move forward and attain your defined priorities, you need to start with good momentum. Stepping into action without distraction will help you make better and faster decisions and, as you complete a task, provide you with the motivation to move forward to the next. As you are working through your task list, as items are identified that require specific action, lean in and do it!

professional goals

 

5) Concentrate on your professional and personal priorities. 

Through blocking off time in your schedule through the workweek to work on professional priorities, and time on the weekends or evenings for personal priorities, you will be surprised how much you can get through. Your scheduled time blocks provide you with the opportunity to only work on high-value tasks that are going to positively impact you professionally and personally. I use time intervals of 30, 60 or 90 minutes when working on high-value tasks as this helps me get into a ‘flow’ state and achieve more in less time. When possible, I will have three blocks of time scheduled in the morning, set aside 100% for project work. During this time, I turn off all my computer notifications and put my phone on do not disturb.

 

6) Walk your talk. 

Don’t just schedule and talk about what you are focusing on; take action on the specific tasks you can complete and get started. Developing the habit of working on your professional and personal goals as a priority is a habit. Taking continuous action to move forward on a priority, ticking off specific steps or tasks on a priority through completion, will help you attain results faster. If you feel like your focus is wavering, remind yourself to step back into action mode on your high-value priorities as this is where you will see real results to your bottom line.

 

7) Self-discipline. 

It sounds all so easy and intuitive that we define what we need to focus on and work on and then ‘do it.’ However, in reality, we know that life simply happens, and an urgent issue often compromises our time, and we bump the time reserved to work on what is important to put out the latest fire. It took me years to step out of this mode, into being self-disciplined and working on what was important daily without being taken away from it. Self-discipline will help you focus on what you know you should be doing and focus on it through to completion.

 

Make the most of the next ten weeks, and I wish you all the best on your journey to accomplish your personal and professional goals for the remainder of 2020.

 

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Waiting for things to return to normal? Stop waiting, instead hit the reset button!

Last week, I was in a meeting where we had a great discussion on leadership modes and the stressors that have been present over the previous six months in various industry sectors.

 

We moved into ’emergency mode’ overnight, working at double speed to address either challenges or opportunities in the marketplace as a direct result of the global pandemic. Improvising and experimenting along the way. Then came the ‘resilience mode’ as we pivoted, offered differentiated services, changed the way we interacted with our customers and clients, all the time adjusting to adapt to our new reality. This phase has been intense, has lasted longer than expected, and the stress during this period has been consistent and high.

 

Adaptive Leadership

The importance of fostering adaptive leadership in this period of economic recovery is critical for long term success. The need to perform in an everchanging environment of uncertainty, as proven during this period of COVID, has reminded us to continue to focus on execution, while at the same time developing ‘next best practices’ that will work more effectively in our fast-paced changing professional environment.

 

 

Being adaptive to such wavering market conditions in many ways has enabled us to get back to the basics of focusing on our people first and foremost, delivering value and good work for your clients.

 

Being adaptive is essential when planning for the unknown, forecasting worst- and best-case scenarios, and preparing for alternate situations. Working in this constant state of flux is exhausting, and rather than operate at 110% continuously, you will be better served to operate in sprints and reserve your energy. Focus on what can be completed in 30, 60- and 90-day windows. Be proactive in navigating strategic ambiguity, take pragmatic action, stay informed, use your data points, and keep your communication open and transparent

 

Keeping up – remember focus takes personal attention

Being adaptive professionally requires intentional focus. To maintain this edge, your ability to critically and appropriately respond to a situation, while keeping your presence, thinking and emotions in check is crucial to your success. You will be able to do this better if you take care of yourself. Yes, the simple rules of getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising and ensuring you are getting enough social and emotional stimulus. Some questions for you to consider:

  • Are you taking care of yourself physically and mentally?
  • If you are working remotely, who are you reaching out to (coach, confidant or colleague) for support in your role and how often?
  • Are you turning off and disconnecting from your phone and email at least one day per week to allow for rejuvenation?
  • Are you blocking off time in your schedule to reflect on weekly accomplishments, items that need to move forward and the focus required in the week ahead?

Embrace ‘the fail.’

Having and executing a plan does not necessarily mean it is going to be successful. A failed plan is a better plan than no plan at all. After a failed execution of an action, we can pivot, correct and improvise as we have a strong foundation to move from. Being resilient after a failure, consistently pushing forward, and making changes as needed will help you on your journey to attain your desired results.  Thinking on your feet, analytical problem solving, fast decision making, and clear and consistent communication on the direction are all critical attributes of a leader. Caring and placing employees as the number one priority in a period of crisis is not forgotten. I have heard numerous clients’ stories over the last six months how the pandemic and change in working conditions have bought them closer, even though they are physically apart. Consistent communication and forwarding thinking action have improved relationships and, although different in many circumstances, are more robust than they have ever been.

 

 

 

Hit the ‘reset’ button

Hitting the reset button helps you look at your current situation, build on knowledge from recent experiences and redefine the way you work. Providing leadership direction in an environment when uncertainty has been the only given has provided an excellent leadership growth opportunity. Addressing issues with short-term fixes, tightening or cutting resources, and freezing hiring even during a period of growth (which has been for some sectors) may have worked to date; however, I encourage you to take a step back and hit the reset button.

Reset by evaluating how far you have come over the last six months, identify where you want to be by the end of the year, a year from now, and identify action items required to get there – be proactive in planning your roadmap for success.

 

We can help you with your professional development or provide tailored executive coaching that can help support your leadership or your leadership team, please reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com to schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session.

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We don’t know what we don’t know – a lot will be different moving forward.

Business Fatigue

The fatigue that business leaders are feeling is genuine. Dealing with the multitude of changes implemented over the last six months through the COVID-19 crisis, from moving to remote operations to staffing, and challenging financial decisions has taken a toll. As we await the COVID-19 vaccine, life is very different from the same time last year, and summer did not permit any real relief from the fatigue.  Priority emphasis continues to be placed on the health and safety of staff and customers. We have moved from survival to strategic mode at rapid speed and now need to be focusing on how we can continue to rebuild and reenergize. Workplaces have transformed from bustling environments to remote work and contactless service.  As workplaces reopened, the business was not as we knew it ‘normally’ to be.

The leadership challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves have resulted in a new way of leadership thinking. Leaders are more confident in the speed at which change can be made and optimistic in knowing that more can be done in innovative ways. The COVID-19 crisis has shaken up how we lead, improved our ability to make fast structural shifts, and highlighted the importance of the communication of purpose and empathetic leadership skills.  As we rebuild, we need to focus on actions that are of high impact to the business and bottom-line profitability. Processes followed are being re-written to be done better in a shorter time frame and are critical for talent management and agile teams.

 

Workplace Configuration – Reimagining the Way We Work

Workplace reconfiguration after lockdown resulted in a multitude of changes moving forward, including:

  • Designated distanced seating
  • Elevator limits
  • Hand sanitizer stations
  • Hot seat changeovers
  • Flex-Teams
  • Job sharing
  • Permanent and hybrid remote work policies
  • Physical space deep cleaning protocols
  • Plexiglass divider installation
  • Rotational teams
  • Safety PPE (when necessary depending on occupation)
  • Signage to help maintain safety and social distancing
  • Social distancing protocols
  • The wearing of masks in common areas
  • Touchless digital technology…and the list goes on.

 

As our workforce has encountered many stressors, how we work and where we do it from has been re-envisioned. We now need to invest in our people to ensure that they have the capabilities required and provide support in this changing environment.

 

Futurist Leaders

Leaders have done an exceptional job of bringing a sense of order into the uncertainty of working and living due to COVID. However, the work is far from over. Leaders have demonstrated their aptitude to be futurists – innovate and redesign as necessary due to COVID restrictions.

Leaders have had to:

  • Adapt boldly
  • Communicate contact-free
  • Demonstrate resilience
  • Exemplify an entrepreneurial mindset
  • Focus on the bottom line
  • Fully utilize tools and strategies
  • Innovate and pivot
  • Possess a positive mindset
  • Problem Solve quickly
  • Scenario plan, and all the way
  • Show transparency to their teams.

Embracing Differing Work Conditions

As we continue to embrace our different working conditions, and many of our staff remain virtual, we need to retain focus and continue to strengthen our people’s relationships moving forward. Effective leaders have the aptitude to change styles depending on the situation. Leadership style flexing is whereby a leader moves from a focus on relationship, task, or effectiveness depending on the situation. Being a good people person, good at execution, or effective in your role are all critical; however, depending on the situation, one aspect may require typically more of your focus. Strategic decision making, discipline in the execution of goals while being decisive, fast and flexible are all key in moving an organization forward. We are six months into our evolving new normal in North America. Since COVID hit our shores, we have gone through a lot and also learned a great deal. Although so many are fatigued, leaders need to retain focus on improving capabilities, fostering influence, maintaining positive relationships, and demonstrating the courage to innovate change.

 

 

Contact Us

Leadership development and coaching can help you strengthen resilience, preparedness, and provide support for your leadership team to feel more confident—time to invest in your leadership development and support your people management. Contact askme@jennyreilly.com for more information on how we can support your leadership team through this transition and how we can get moving forward.

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Planning + Action + Consistency + Outcome Recording = AMAZING RESULT.

Consistency is Key

 

Being relentlessly consistent in your actions will enable significant results. Just like compound interest, your continual and focused effort towards your professional and personal goals will reap considerable results.

 

It is so easy to get distracted from working on what is important. We all walk a tightrope of responsibilities that cross over between our busy professional and personal lives, and the following are some of the most common challenges that are shared with me:

 

  • Since COVID, I am working remotely; however, I now feel like I am on 24/7. I am exhausted and have no time for myself.
  • I don’t have the time to work on what matters. I know I have to; however, my day-to-day responsibilities and leading my team take up every waking hour.
  • I am overwhelmed. Everything has become more complex, and I know I need to simplify, but I am just too tired even to start.

 

These challenges are real, and without intentional action to make a change, it won’t miraculously occur. I can honestly share with you that I want to make a significant impact, be effective and productive, demonstrate innovation, be creative, continually grow, attain stretch results, and all while enjoying what I love to do. Do you?

Do you need a reboot?

It can be done. You need to decide to make the changes necessary, schedule time to focus on the action required and… simply start. Given the climate that we are working and living in today, getting back on track and doing so quickly will benefit you in so many ways. You do not need to struggle with stressors, complexity, ambiguity or uncertainty in your professional or personal life. So let’s get back on track to enable you to be the best person you can be, and while doing so, enjoy yourself. If you decide to raise your game, guess what, you will do so. When you raise your game, others will notice, and you will then be more impactful to your team. Think of this as an expansionary action. You will need to be motivated to work on what matters, be consistent in your action and be dedicated to carving time in your schedule to make things happen.

 

Review your processes

Daily routines, scheduled blocked off uninterrupted time to work on goals and identified processes in all aspects of your work to streamline what you do and how you do it are all key. Processes help you stay on track, provide consistent levels of service, take away the complexity of task management, save you time and enhance your performance.

Stick with a system

Whether you use Trello, Asana, Evernote, a paper day timer, or a CRM, commit to a system to keep yourself organized. Keeping on top of what needs to be done by when ideas and scheduled follow up will help you stay focused and productive. In my system, I keep track of my quarterly goals and actions, weekly focus points and a running ideas list of ideas to ensure I remain innovative in my approach to work. You may have to play around with multiple systems initially; however, limit the time you will give yourself to find the right one for you. If you have a system, yet have not been using it, now is the time to go back to the basics. Commit to your system (new or current) for the next 90 days and then circle back to me and let me know your results.

 

Raise your game

You want to be the best you can be, so rather than thinking about it, start acting that way. Step up your game, practice the Golden Rule of treating others how you wish to be treated. Be true to what you need to focus on, and do not let other priorities take over from the time you need to work on your goals. When you focus on how you work, how you want to be perceived and lean into the changes that you know you need to make to improve your ‘presence’ factor, it will occur. Listen intently, be aware of your posture and body language (yes even if you are only in front of a computer screen on a zoom call – it matters), choose words carefully, smile often and look for the joy in what you are doing, it will be acknowledged and is contagious to others. How successful are you in meeting your daily, weekly or monthly targets? It is so easy to get bogged down with the day to day and fall into busy, rather than strategic work. Focusing on the right thing, and being consistent in daily action to move forward is the key to success.

 

 

Get comfortable with saying ‘No’ more than ‘Yes.’

Allocate 30 minutes to look closely at your schedule for the next three weeks. If there are any meetings or activities that are in your schedule that you do not need to attend, send your regrets, and either have someone else attend on your behalf or advise why you do not need to be involved. Compare your schedule against your goals. If you have time blocked off to work on items that are not in your top 7-10 goal areas, then determine if this is the right way to be spending your time. For every new request, before automatically saying ‘yes’ really think about your answer, it is just as easy to say ‘no,’ I promise!

 

Batch tasks

Create a checklist of tasks that can be batched and schedule them in your weekly calendar.

I have a running list of quick 2 minutes jobs that I schedule in an hour block daily. I use the hour after lunch, where my energy is a little waned, and I need a kickstart to the afternoon. I batch social media postings and also writing time, whether it be for blog posts or project proposals.

 

Track your outputs

Your outputs are in your control – you will see that tracking them and being relentlessly consistent in your action will expedite your ability to move your work forward.

 

Delegate when you can

The answer is not to do more. Life does not have to be lived in a constant state of emergency, nor do you have to do everything alone to feel that the task at hand is done in the right way. Delegate when you can, you do not have to do it all. There is no merit in continuously pushing items onto the ‘I have to do this later’ mile-long list. Focus on where you add value. Work out how your time is best utilized and as other tasks arise that are not in your superpower zone, then move them on.

 

Contact Me

So many tips, so much to do but really – the first step is the most critical, and that is STARTING.

 

If you would feel like you would be a good candidate for my Executive Coaching Program, please book a time through my Calendly link, and I would be happy to have a 15-minute introductory connection with you.

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