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Insider's Link to Productivity Newsletter September 2011
In this edition of Insider’s Link to Productivity, we will explore the concept behind communicating to create context and alignment. Partner and Executive Consultant John Wittry will walk you through the model behind how to effectively create context through communication that aligns your team.
For the first time ever, McGhee Productivity Solutions is offering the Take Back Your Life! seminar open to executives in the Washington, D.C. area. Typically the seminar is only offered within companies; however, now executives from different companies will have an opportunity to participate and see what Take Back Your Life! is all about. The seminar will take place on Friday, December 9, 2011 in Washington D.C. For graduates looking for a refresher or for professionals who would like to introduce the methodologies of the course to their team and organization, this will be an excellent option.
Finally, Senior Consultant Jennifer Wilmoth shares with you one of the biggest traps in productivity: the trap of getting it all done. Her article reviews how to decompress by focusing on strategic tasks versus trying to do it all.
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Communicating to Create Context and Alignment
By: John Wittry, McGhee Partner and Executive Consultant
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I would like to share a scenario I encountered some time ago. Within an eight hour period of time, my boss cancelled our 1:1 meeting (for the third time in a row), my wife bailed out on our date night, and a client postponed a project status meeting (for the second time in a row).
All of a sudden there was a fair amount of white space on an otherwise packed calendar. What to do? My true desire was to go hit golf balls. Guilt had me thinking I should do something a wee bit more professionally productive. In the end, taking my laptop to the cigar bar seemed a pleasant compromise.
As it turned out, it was fortuitous. Contemplating the impact of the cancelled appointments allowed me to come up with a model that has since helped me and many of my clients.
Communication → Context → Alignment
Gaining and maintaining alignment with other individuals is an art and a skill. I've made a profession out of facilitating this process. And the reality is that you are never truly IN alignment. Consider the following analogy:
A boat charting a course from point A to point B requires constant course correction. Once the destination is aligned upon, constant course correction is required to land there. These course corrections come from consistent and meaningful input. Obstacles arise, the winds change direction, currents shift and in some cases, the destination changes entirely.
This is the same with personal and professional goals. Once alignment to a desired outcome is obtained, there must be constant course correction to achieve the goal.
For any group of people to gain and maintain alignment on an objective requires that sufficient context be provided. Lack of alignment is often a result of a lack of context. Each party communicating to provide context promotes understanding. That context shapes the desired outcome to such a degree that alignment can be achieved.
Definitions for the purpose of this article:
Alignment - particles moving in concert with the minimum of friction
Context - circumstances or perspectives that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed
Communication - the imparting or exchanging of information or news
In my experience, the greatest threat to alignment is insufficient context typically brought on by a breakdown in communication.
Communication is a fundamental skill. For a myriad of reasons, there is constant opportunity for communication breakdown. In the above examples, it was simply that the meetings created to communicate were de-prioritized. Over time, without sufficient communication, context is often lost due to ever changing factors. This lack of context can become a lack of alignment (or particles going in opposing/conflicting directions) which results in upset in one form or another.
Where are you de-prioritizing opportunities to communicate in order to establish and/or maintain context and alignment? Meetings of sufficient time and structure; conducting effective 1:1 meetings, project status meetings, or prioritizing date nights to talk about meaningful subjects?
If you find yourself out of alignment, I would challenge you to first look at what you have in place to promote effective/sufficient communication to ensure appropriate context so that alignment can be achieved/maintained.
NOTE: The example used in this article is fictitious. Of course my boss would never cancel our 1:1, I'm the one that messes up date night and clients always keep their meetings with me!
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Take Back Your Life! is coming to Washington DC!
McGhee Productivity Solutions will be offering the Take Back Your Life! (TBYL) seminar open to professionals and executives in the Washington, D.C. area on December 9, 2011. This is the first time that the TBYL seminar is being offered in an open format, rather than inside one of our partner companies!
This seminar enhances the productivity of managers and teams by utilizing Microsoft Outlook® to create and maintain an Integrated Management System. Attendees will learn how to focus effectively on responsibilities despite the non-stop pressure of required--but not necessarily urgent--input, decisions and actions. Attendees will also learn a three-phase workflow approach, and will immediately begin to apply the concepts taught to their current work.
Key issues addressed will include:
• Eliminating e-mail overload
• Powerfully managing multiple projects
• Effectively dealing with interruptions
• Integrating personal and professional priorities
This format will allow executives from large corporations a chance to learn more about the TBYL seminar. If you’re interested in transforming your culture to improve productivity and work/life balance, this is a chance for you to experience the methodologies taught in the program. If you would like to attend this seminar or share this opportunity with those in your team or organization, we invite you to Register Today!
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Productivity Tip
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Are you still trying to get it ALL done?
By: Jennifer Wilmoth, McGhee Senior Consultant
One of the most dangerous threats to productivity is the trap of getting it all done. The illusion that getting one more thing done today equates to one less thing to do tomorrow can stop productivity in its tracks while causing frustration, stress and fatigue.
I recently had a client call where she was struggling to “get caught up.” When I asked her what getting caught up meant, she realized it was about getting it all done. She acknowledged she was chasing the wrong thing; it was time to reconnect and embrace the idea that she’d never, never ever get it all done and that prioritizing and completing the strategic things is the most productive thing she could do. Here are a few failsafe steps that I suggested that may help you if you find yourself off-course.
1. Review your business and personal Meaningful Objectives to get perspective on what is most important to you and what needs to be completed before the upcoming quarter.
2. Capture the Strategic Next Actions (SNAs) that you’ll need to tackle in the next week or two in your Outlook system to focus on moving your Meaningful Objectives forward.
3. Get realistic with the calendar and schedule all those things you find yourself doing but don’t have on the calendar, such as: preparing for 1:1’s, travel time, writing meeting summaries, email time, inputting action items from meetings, etc.
4. With your updated calendar in place, prioritize and plan your SNAs remembering that you’re going for quality actions not quantity.
5. Then take a breath or two; notice you're not going to get it all done and that’s okay.
These steps are extracted from the McGhee Productivity Solutions Weekly Review process. I find that doing the process in its entirety (or as many steps as you have time for) is the best way to get back on course when you find yourself running around with the “super-hero-I-can-get-it-all-done” cape on (okay, maybe that’s just me). To download a list of all the Weekly Review steps, click here
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