Get to the underlying factors shaping your work pattern before figuring out an efficient and actionable 'work smart plan'
Step 1: Record Work Pattern: The first thing I recommend is that you maintain a detailed hourly record of exactly how you spend your time every day. Do this for a month. Be as specific as your coffee breaks, and naps on your desk. The point is that time management is the key to either being a smart worker or a stressed one. Poor time management usually happens when there is tendency to be overwhelmed by the work at hand, a lack of clarity regarding one's role and deliverables, a pessimistic outlook where the task(s) seems too difficult or even an overconfident attitude where one is confident of completing the work at the last minute. All these behaviours lead to an overall tendency to manage time poorly. And that is perhaps the leading cause of work-related stress.
Step 2: Analyse Work Pattern: Once you have collected the data in step 1, analyse it to see if there are too many missed personal milestones, a tendency to cram a lot of work in a short span of time, and gaps between commitments and deliverables,. You need to use your personal work pattern data to identify strengths and weaknesses in the way you work. As importantly, you need to understand your preferences. This is a very subtle and key point. We are all unique and what may work for me (say working early in the morning) may be an impossible ask of you. Studying our work pattern will help us understand our preferences—do I finish most of my really important work in the evening, do I do most of my ideation at home or at work, do I like to work for long stretches or do I prefer taking frequent breaks, and so on. It will also hold you in good stead to speak to colleagues and family to see if you have any blind-spot areas in the way you approach tasks and commitments. You may be surprised by what your wife or even your young child may share. Insights into preferences such as these could be invaluable in figuring out your personal Work Smart Plan .
Before creating your Work Smart Plan , record (step 1) and analyse (step 2) your work pattern, and use time management as the tangible hook to prevent behavioural quirks such as procrastination, pessimism, fear of failure, and boredom from creating stress. Questioning is a powerful tool for introspection. At the workplace, it is sadly reserved primarily for grilling others. Questions can help raise our awareness and help us become more efficient, responsible and productive. Most books suggest open ended questions framed around why, how, who, when and what. I would go further and say that the ‘why' questions can be further sharpened by stating them as, say ‘what are the consequences or reasons for…' Similarly, the ‘how' questions can be framed as ‘what steps would you suggest…' The ‘who' questions can be sharpened by modifications like ‘what are the resources and people that can make this happen...' A good way to start the process of analysing your behavioural pattern at work is to try and answer the following twelve questions suggested by the Gallup organisation:
Do you know what is expected of you at work?
Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
At work, do your opinions seem to count?
Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
Do you have a best friend at work?
In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
A good way to use your responses to the questions above is to see whether dissatisfaction on some of these counts is causing you be less enthused, stressed or unhappy at work. Only if you get to the root cause of your work pattern will you be able to figure out an efficient and actionable Work Smart Plan .
Step 3: Create Work Smart Plan: Now that you have recorded and analysed your work pattern, it is time to create your Work Smart Plan . Stephen Covey's powerful concept of putting the “first thing first” should be the cornerstone of the work smart plan. He writes, “first things are those things we find most worth doing. They move us in the right direction…we can classify activities by their importance and urgency. An activity is important if we find it valuable and it contributes to our mission, values and high-priority goals. An activity is urgent if we or others feel it requires immediate attention.” ( 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey).
Actionable Goals: Seeing your big picture needs a sharp understanding of your role, deliverables, priorities and capabilities. You must know what you need to do, when, why and whether you have all the skills and resources to do those things. Understanding this will allow you to figure out a strategy to accomplish these goals. If there are resources you need, then you must first figure out how you can access them. If there are skill gaps, then you have to figure out how to overcome them. All these lead to reduction of stress by simply creating and following a logical and systematic actionable goal-oriented plan. Covey wants you to ask yourself: “What is the most important thing I could do in each role this week that would have the greatest positive impact?” He goes on to recommend that you limit yourself to a few key objectives. I read an interesting quote somewhere which beautifully captures the mindset with which one must go about setting goals. “If a goal is not realistic, there is no hope, but if it is not challenging, there is no motivation.”
Medium-term Deliverables: Someone once remarked that planning for the long-term is foolish because in the long term we are all dead! I prefer creating medium term action plans which also incorporate more urgency in our actions by maintaining closer proximity to event. Long term planning often ends up being just that – plans without action. What one requires is a sound action oriented attitude with an outside-in perspective. In other words, figuring out ways to achieve your goals by complete your medium term deliverables through your list of immediate action items.
Immediate Action Items: This is the functional manifestation of your actionable goals and medium term deliverables and can be done on a weekly or daily basis. This is where you focus on the means to achieve the ends in your life. Carefully prioritise and break down the tasks; identify the help you will need and make sure you know if you will get it and when; and assess your progress at the end of the day by marking all your weak and strong areas. Executives often get too hung up on multi-tasking, which often leads to open-ended loops on various fronts. Often, it helps to spend time on one focused activity to get the most out of your time. Many CEOs like to set aside an hour or so exclusively to reply to emails in the morning. Similarly, some executives like to set aside time to return calls and run meetings. Technology has given us great access to various tools to maintain action item lists. In addition to your action items, also include your breaks, naps, internet surfing time, and other activities. Be realistic, honest and committed to this action items list because this is the only way you can achieve your larger objectives.
Step 4: Continuous Learning: Finally, you need to constantly review, assess and improve your work smart plan. Change the things that are not working for you, figure out innovative ways to stay committed, use your colleagues as a support system to stick to your plan and learn from your mistakes. Stephen Covey suggests answering the following questions to help evaluate your progress:
Was accomplishing these goals the best use of your time?
What unmet goals should you carry into the coming weeks?
What patterns of success and failure do you see in setting and achieving goals?
What keeps getting in the way of accomplishing your goals?
Are you creating unrealistic expectations?
Managing your time well allows you to be more efficient, credible and reliable. It also shows you the value of your time which is the only way that you will begin to use it more sensibly on things that matter most. Add to that the fact that you can now free up more time to relax and create a better work-life balance. But please remember that you must first understand your behavioural quirks and preferences before making choices to truly work smarter. Therein lies the key to a happier and more productive experience at work. Given the fact that more than half your waking life is spent working, it must surely be worth the effort.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Saurabh N. Saklani
Courtesy Business World Dec 06
From India, Bangalore
3Step 1: Record Work Pattern: The first thing I recommend is that you maintain a detailed hourly record of exactly how you spend your time every day. Do this for a month. Be as specific as your coffee breaks, and naps on your desk. The point is that time management is the key to either being a smart worker or a stressed one. Poor time management usually happens when there is tendency to be overwhelmed by the work at hand, a lack of clarity regarding one's role and deliverables, a pessimistic outlook where the task(s) seems too difficult or even an overconfident attitude where one is confident of completing the work at the last minute. All these behaviours lead to an overall tendency to manage time poorly. And that is perhaps the leading cause of work-related stress.
Step 2: Analyse Work Pattern: Once you have collected the data in step 1, analyse it to see if there are too many missed personal milestones, a tendency to cram a lot of work in a short span of time, and gaps between commitments and deliverables,. You need to use your personal work pattern data to identify strengths and weaknesses in the way you work. As importantly, you need to understand your preferences. This is a very subtle and key point. We are all unique and what may work for me (say working early in the morning) may be an impossible ask of you. Studying our work pattern will help us understand our preferences—do I finish most of my really important work in the evening, do I do most of my ideation at home or at work, do I like to work for long stretches or do I prefer taking frequent breaks, and so on. It will also hold you in good stead to speak to colleagues and family to see if you have any blind-spot areas in the way you approach tasks and commitments. You may be surprised by what your wife or even your young child may share. Insights into preferences such as these could be invaluable in figuring out your personal Work Smart Plan .
Before creating your Work Smart Plan , record (step 1) and analyse (step 2) your work pattern, and use time management as the tangible hook to prevent behavioural quirks such as procrastination, pessimism, fear of failure, and boredom from creating stress. Questioning is a powerful tool for introspection. At the workplace, it is sadly reserved primarily for grilling others. Questions can help raise our awareness and help us become more efficient, responsible and productive. Most books suggest open ended questions framed around why, how, who, when and what. I would go further and say that the ‘why' questions can be further sharpened by stating them as, say ‘what are the consequences or reasons for…' Similarly, the ‘how' questions can be framed as ‘what steps would you suggest…' The ‘who' questions can be sharpened by modifications like ‘what are the resources and people that can make this happen...' A good way to start the process of analysing your behavioural pattern at work is to try and answer the following twelve questions suggested by the Gallup organisation:
Do you know what is expected of you at work?
Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
At work, do your opinions seem to count?
Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
Do you have a best friend at work?
In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
A good way to use your responses to the questions above is to see whether dissatisfaction on some of these counts is causing you be less enthused, stressed or unhappy at work. Only if you get to the root cause of your work pattern will you be able to figure out an efficient and actionable Work Smart Plan .
Step 3: Create Work Smart Plan: Now that you have recorded and analysed your work pattern, it is time to create your Work Smart Plan . Stephen Covey's powerful concept of putting the “first thing first” should be the cornerstone of the work smart plan. He writes, “first things are those things we find most worth doing. They move us in the right direction…we can classify activities by their importance and urgency. An activity is important if we find it valuable and it contributes to our mission, values and high-priority goals. An activity is urgent if we or others feel it requires immediate attention.” ( 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey).
Actionable Goals: Seeing your big picture needs a sharp understanding of your role, deliverables, priorities and capabilities. You must know what you need to do, when, why and whether you have all the skills and resources to do those things. Understanding this will allow you to figure out a strategy to accomplish these goals. If there are resources you need, then you must first figure out how you can access them. If there are skill gaps, then you have to figure out how to overcome them. All these lead to reduction of stress by simply creating and following a logical and systematic actionable goal-oriented plan. Covey wants you to ask yourself: “What is the most important thing I could do in each role this week that would have the greatest positive impact?” He goes on to recommend that you limit yourself to a few key objectives. I read an interesting quote somewhere which beautifully captures the mindset with which one must go about setting goals. “If a goal is not realistic, there is no hope, but if it is not challenging, there is no motivation.”
Medium-term Deliverables: Someone once remarked that planning for the long-term is foolish because in the long term we are all dead! I prefer creating medium term action plans which also incorporate more urgency in our actions by maintaining closer proximity to event. Long term planning often ends up being just that – plans without action. What one requires is a sound action oriented attitude with an outside-in perspective. In other words, figuring out ways to achieve your goals by complete your medium term deliverables through your list of immediate action items.
Immediate Action Items: This is the functional manifestation of your actionable goals and medium term deliverables and can be done on a weekly or daily basis. This is where you focus on the means to achieve the ends in your life. Carefully prioritise and break down the tasks; identify the help you will need and make sure you know if you will get it and when; and assess your progress at the end of the day by marking all your weak and strong areas. Executives often get too hung up on multi-tasking, which often leads to open-ended loops on various fronts. Often, it helps to spend time on one focused activity to get the most out of your time. Many CEOs like to set aside an hour or so exclusively to reply to emails in the morning. Similarly, some executives like to set aside time to return calls and run meetings. Technology has given us great access to various tools to maintain action item lists. In addition to your action items, also include your breaks, naps, internet surfing time, and other activities. Be realistic, honest and committed to this action items list because this is the only way you can achieve your larger objectives.
Step 4: Continuous Learning: Finally, you need to constantly review, assess and improve your work smart plan. Change the things that are not working for you, figure out innovative ways to stay committed, use your colleagues as a support system to stick to your plan and learn from your mistakes. Stephen Covey suggests answering the following questions to help evaluate your progress:
Was accomplishing these goals the best use of your time?
What unmet goals should you carry into the coming weeks?
What patterns of success and failure do you see in setting and achieving goals?
What keeps getting in the way of accomplishing your goals?
Are you creating unrealistic expectations?
Managing your time well allows you to be more efficient, credible and reliable. It also shows you the value of your time which is the only way that you will begin to use it more sensibly on things that matter most. Add to that the fact that you can now free up more time to relax and create a better work-life balance. But please remember that you must first understand your behavioural quirks and preferences before making choices to truly work smarter. Therein lies the key to a happier and more productive experience at work. Given the fact that more than half your waking life is spent working, it must surely be worth the effort.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Saurabh N. Saklani
Courtesy Business World Dec 06
From India, Bangalore
Hi Rekha, Very useful contribution. Nevertheless, planning, communication and execution are very important for success in any function. Regards, PRADEEP
From India, Hyderabad
From India, Hyderabad
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