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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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Onboarding internal or external senior executives during COVID?

One of the areas I specialize in for executive coaching is the critical transition of internal or external appointed executives. Onboarding during COVID has moved from in-person to virtual; however, the key categories and areas of support required remain the same. 

 

If there is one take away you have from this post; I hope that it is this…

vancouver_business_consulting

Internal Executive Advancement

Internal applicants who advance into executive positions have different challenges, albeit require the same level of onboarding attention to ensure a smooth and supported transition. They often come into an executive position with an excellent record, know and understand the key players, are well versed in the company culture and strategies, and have a defined view of the changes they feel should be made. 

 

More often than not, internal applicants are not provided with the same level of briefing, support, or strategic communication upon promotion to the executive level. It is assumed they know what is needed and can hit the ground running. That’s why some might need executive coaching.

 

Providing planned support for an internal incumbent to help them deal with expectations or perceived bias from staff who have worked with them in a previous position can be extremely beneficial in the transition stage. Jenny Reilly Consulting provides executive coaching to assist internal appointments over their first 90 days, define what success will look in the position, develop leadership attributes and skills, and work on the mindset required to make a successful transition to the executive level.

 

Other areas of focus typically include:

 

  1. How to transition into the new role and perform a non-biased (not personal) business review 
  2. Focused identification of the critical business drivers 
  3. Conducting a risk management analysis
  4. Developing, planning, and implementing a growth strategy 
  5. Promoting a redefined (when necessary) vision
  6. Issue processing and decision-making strategies
  7. Timing of new priority roll-outs
  8. Team building strategies
  9. Personal branding – how they want to be perceived, communication, and meeting strategies …
  10. 90-day feedback assessment from internal and external stakeholders 

 

Vancouver Executive Consultant

External Executive Appointment

 

The first 90 days are critical for any new incumbent of a position; it is a time when individuals prove themselves through defining actions. This time is often seen as a predictor of future success or failure, and the importance of a well laid out plan during this period cannot be understated. 

 

There is a great deal of scrutiny when walking into a new role and company. This critical time is when relationships need to be formed, credibility built, early wins attained, and influence levels determined. If time is not spent in the first 90 days familiarizing yourself with the key stakeholders, building relationships and alliances, and learning about the culture and the business environment, it will impede trust, consume energy, and set a negative imprint on your desired direction. If bad decisions are made too quickly, credibility will be lost, leading to resistance to any future ideas being put forward. 

 

A thorough onboarding brief can provide valuable information to assist in the incumbent’s business orientation, stakeholder connections, and expectations alignment. 

 

Within the first 90 days, the individual should be able to:

  • Achieve alignment and understanding of strategy, priorities, and business culture
  • Build credibility
  • Build the team, form alliances and coalitions
  • Define priorities to improve organizational performance, and
  • Implement self-management tactics, and define how balance can be put in place to ensure success

 

‘What got you here won’t get you there,’ you have heard this statement before, and yes, it is so very true. Individuals who come into a new environment and try to implement the same tactics and duplicate success they had in their past role do generally not get a lot of kudos. Intentional time is required to be set aside to develop critical relationships and build trust. Taking action too fast, with little input from key players in the organization, will undermine success. 

 

Intelligence, not ego, needs to direct action in a new role. Setting lofty or unattainable goals, from not listening to stakeholders and their needs and expectations, nor paying attention to the organization’s cultural environment are sure ways to alienate employees. 

 

 

What to Do: 

  • Learn about the business environment, the operating model, planning systems, KPI’s, planning and evaluation metrics, and talent management. Evaluating performance, understanding the organization’s causes and history will be beneficial and help you form a base of knowledge that will enable you to navigate through pivotal and challenging issues and opportunities.  
  • Put in the time to develop critical relationships, achieve alignment, and develop supportive and positive alliances.
  • Develop and build your team. 
  • Define how you want to brand yourself in the position. How you want to be perceived, your level of influence, and your stamp will be on the job.
  • Develop a strategy based on an informed knowledge of key players and promote to achieve buy-in and support.
  • Make good decisions, be transparent in your desire to make changes along with the rationale and benefits. This will increase your credibility and develop greater levels of trust.
  • Once you have your background information, support, and back up your decisions in need for change, work towards early wins. This can only be achieved by preparing yourself and putting in the time to learn what you need to in the new environment.
  • For every challenging situation, ensure that you spend time investigating the problem, diagnosing the next best step, developing an action plan, and matching your strategy to the specific situation. 
  • Remember to keep a good balance during your onboarding, the first 90 days can be all-consuming, and if you are not looking after yourself during this period, you risk the potential of making poor decisions. 

 

Moving into an executive position can bring mixed emotions including, excitement, nervousness, anxiety, and vulnerability. 

 

What is needed to bring the new incumbent (whether internal or external to the organization) up to speed more quickly?

 

What areas do you envisage will be the most challenging, and what measures could you put in place to make this transition smoother in these areas?

 

What are some of the key milestones that would be expected to be achieved in the first 90 days? 

 

Communicate these in the onboarding material for full transparency. 

 

There are vital areas a new executive should focus on:

 

  • Understanding the vision and strategy of the organization
  • Getting to know key people and processes
  • Understanding the culture of the organization
  • Identifying areas of challenge and opportunity
  • Finding out potential areas to avoid or barriers that may impede progress
  • Aiming to attain early wins

 

Navigate the Work Environment with Executive Coaching

Navigating today’s complex work environment and taking control in a new position during a global pandemic is no mean feat. I have worked with multiple clients over the last six months who have successfully onboarded senior-level positions during COVID. These techniques and tips have been instrumental in their success.

 

The return on investment (ROI) for the support provided through Jenny Reilly Consulting for incoming executives is invaluable. If you are interested in learning more about how the team at Jenny Reilly Consulting can assist in the onboarding of new internal or external executives into your organization, or if you are in the transition phase yourself and need support, please reach out to us on askme@jennyreilly.com or call +1-604-616-1967 to learn more about how we can help you with our executive coaching.

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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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