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YOUR FOCUS IN QUARTER 3

As we enter Quarter 3 of 2022, it is time to reflect on how far you have gotten on your goals over the last six months, what has worked well, what has not, and what you will keep, start and stop doing. Make the next quarter matter. Continuous execution of small daily changes leads to tremendous results.

NARROW YOUR FOCUS IN Q3

As a business consultant, strategist, and executive coach, I work with successful companies and leaders who share a common practice of conducting quarterly reviews and previews.

By starting each quarter with an initial review, you are taking the time to set a benchmark and do a post-mortem on the past three months’ activity and results.

Analyze wins, identify ongoing challenges, and reflect on lessons learned. Evaluate what you will continue to focus on, what you will stop doing and new initiatives and priorities that need to be implemented.

After the review, you then move on to a preview of what is upcoming in the following 90-day period and identify priorities. These 90-day/quarter priorities ensure alignment and provide a transparent and clear focus.

 

‘You will either look back in life and say I wish I had, or I’m glad I did.’
– Zig Ziglar

 

QUARTERLY REVIEW PROCESS

  1. REVIEW your cash flow and identify your top five activities that provide you profit.
  2. ANALYSE your Key Performance Indicator (KPI) results, shortfalls and gaps. This activity will assist in the identification of areas that require your attention. Your KPIs drive your triple-bottom-line results and can often simply be viewed in terms of profit margin per:
    a.   employee
    b.   customer or client, and
    c.   production or delivery.
  3. IDENTIFY your core areas that can be improved upon to increase operational efficiencies. Quarterly process optimization goals are an excellent way to look at this with your team. Creating core processes saves time and provides standard operating procedures, combined with checklists that can reduce errors and increase efficiencies.
  4. REVIEW your long-term strategic initiatives and identify at least one that you can focus on in Q3 that aligns with your vision, will bring value to your team and stakeholders, and will add value to your customers and clients.

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU CAN DELEGATE THIS QUARTER?

Have you recently thought/said,

‘I don’t have enough time,’
‘There is too much to do,’
‘I never have enough time to focus on what is essential?’

If so, it’s time to evaluate how you spend your time and on what.

STEP 1.   List at least 20 things you do in your job or on a day-to-day basis, the more detail you have in your list, the better.

STEP 2.   Draw up a quadrant and in each box, write the topics you see on the image below.

Jenny Reilly Consulting | How To Delegate

STEP 3.   Of all the items you listed in Step 1, please put each one into the most relevant quadrant. Tally how many you have in each quadrant.

STEP 4.   Your objective should be to have most items in the top left quadrant. Everyone is more effective and productive when they work to their strengths and are engaged. If your quadrants are bottom-heavy, work towards making some changes and, when possible, delegate a minimum of one task per quarter to others where they may be a better fit.

 

‘The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.’
– Warren Buffett

 

QUARTERLY THINKING

ONE:   What do you want to accomplish by the end of Q3?

TWO:   How will you unwind, unplug and recharge to ensure you bring the best version of yourself to the job weekly?

THREE:   Identify three core professional areas of strength and three core areas of weakness. In Q3, aim to work more in your areas of strengths and do some professional development work in at least one area of challenge to help you improve in the job.

FOUR:   Identify at least five areas you can say ‘no’ to this quarter. One of my TEC members, Joseph Fry, Founding Principle of Hapa Collaborative, operates under a ‘hell yes’ or ‘hell no’ system when defining where he will spend his time. I love his energy and focus on working in areas that matter to the business.

 

If you have any questions about your quarter 3 review and planning or want to learn more about the powerful benefits of executive coaching to elevate your professional success, please reach out to +1 604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com and book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session. If you want monthly leadership and professional development tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

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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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