As a Director, Executive or Manager of a company you have an obligation to manage the day to day operations of the organisation, its people and resources.
Each year you many go through how you would like things to be. Making sure to meet your obligations to the company and still ensuring you have quality time for yourself and your family.
You find that for the first few weeks you are able to implement these changes, but somewhere along the line you find yourself back to the way things were.
- Staying back at work when you have promised the kids that you would be home on time.
- Doing more of the workload than you anticipated because you can’t seem to get your team to do it, or it’s not to your standards
- Finding that you feel withdrawn from work and just not feeling that drive anymore
What if you could change this. You working fewer hours and still increase the profits and performance of the company consistently every month.
For some they would say this is impossible, but what if it was possible, what if it was a win-win for all, the company, your staff, you and your family.
Here are 5 strategies to get you started:
1. Set the intention
How do you see your day play out, what does it include? Plan your day out where the most urgent things are completed in the first half of the day. Many times your day gets a little chaotic when the unexpected things turn up, that’s when you start to feel some pressure that could have been minimised with some planning and factoring in some time for the unexpected.
2. Block out time
Don’t let things drag on longer than they need to. For example, when setting meetings make sure to have an agenda that is communicated to all attendees and make sure to stick to it and the time scheduled for that meeting.
Have you been in a situation where a meeting goes over time and find yourself all day trying to make up that time? In some cases, that’s when it results in you staying back that night at work.
3. Attitude/Mindset
Think about the current mindset you have around challenges. If the first thought that pops up in your mind does not support your intention for the day, then you need to change it.
4. Set some rules
Have some general rules you instil in your day to day activity at work. For example, don’t set meetings at 4:30 pm when work hours are until 5 pm. People will not be as attentive to the discussion that time of the day as they are more focused on leaving work on time.
Another example is setting up a meeting with yourself (yes, yourself) for the first half an hour of your day to work on getting a few thing done without any disruptions. Something that would normally take you an hour you can achieve in half an hour when you can stay focused.
5. Challenge the status quo
How many times have you heard people say, “but that’s how we have always done things around here.” What if you did things differently, maybe not do them at all. For example, sending out a monthly report that takes one day to complete. What if you were to stop sending that out? See if anyone notices or asks for it. If they do ask for it, question them as to what they do with the report. Do they only take one thing from it which can easily be sent to them in a simple email that takes five minutes saving you one day?
Tomorrow make sure to have your intention already mapped out. Take fifteen minutes at the end of today and write these down. Start with the top three activities, allocate time to each activity and make sure to schedule them in your calendar. Remember, challenge the status quo and be aware of your daily thoughts and whether they support the needs of the company, its stakeholders, your staff, your family and you!
EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutons, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au