A big part of keeping control of your energy, time and workflow is the concept of effective and efficient delegation. Delegation is an art form, and one that is frequently bungled. Ineffective delegation yields two people doing the same job, re-working tasks or processes being dropped. The overall net effect is waste, inefficiency and loss of quality in the service or product. Necessities for effective delegation There are several common characteristics to effective delegation, no matter the size of the task and whether they are inside or outside your organization: Identify the task … [Read more...] about Managing Yourself Part 3
Office Management
Managing Yourself Part 2
One crucial piece of effective self-management is the ability to have access to information at any location. This starts with very simple concepts and is very well supported by tools readily available now. The major shift can be between your ears, as is true of many types of new approaches. The key idea is to keep everything electronic and to set up a system so you can remotely access your information. Communications All of your contact information should be housed in your main computer. This can be a desktop or a laptop, depending on your preference. This should be the main workstation … [Read more...] about Managing Yourself Part 2
Managing Yourself Part 1
Our workplaces have become progressively less rigid and structured over the past few decades, but particularly over the past several years. Our time is chopped up into smaller units, and the demands on our attention and energy grow exponentially. Self management becomes a progressively more important skill set in this type of environment, approaching your primary skill set. One powerful and necessary practice is to read outside your immediate field, and allow the concepts of others to stimulate your imagination. One of my favorite resources for this is the Harvard Business Review. There … [Read more...] about Managing Yourself Part 1
Completion of Cycles Part 2
There are a few basic ways to reach a timely completion for routine business actions. They all take discipline and require you to follow basic prioritization concepts. The good news is that you get to set the rules, you just have to follow your own rules! In addition, you can gain insight by noticing where the system is breaking down and taking simple steps to re-formulate. Here are the three ways to reach completion: The obvious one is to actually complete the action! The second way is to delegate the completion to someone else. The third way is to declare that you are not going … [Read more...] about Completion of Cycles Part 2