Productivity with Purpose
Posts tagged competitive advantage
How To Use Feedback To Improve Performance
Aug 27th
Many people do not want to hear opinions or assessments from others about their work and/or life quality. It is an unfortunate part of human nature that we prefer to avoid all potentially negative information in order to insulate ourselves from criticism. Why do we do that? And why do we assume or fear that the feedback will be negative? Maybe it’s the underlying feeling that we are not good enough that is so pervasive in American Society or the habit of only giving feedback when something is wrong. I’m not a psychologist, so I won’t delve into the reasons here (though I have my theories.) The plain fact is that feedback is an often overlooked, yet extremely valuable component of productivity. If used properly it can be an indispensible tool in your productivity arsenal that can give you a competitive advantage over your peers.
Feedback is simply a tool; an instrument if you will for both validation and growth. Be cautious not to attach personal feeling to this information. Keep it in its proper perspective however and only give it the importance it deserves. Feedback is not about you as a person; it is about assessing and improving work or activities that you do.
A few weeks ago, just about when I had started questioning if anybody was listening to me or cared what I had to offer, I received a gift from Ezine Articles that made a significant impact on me. Every individual wonders if they really can do the job and we all need a pat on the back once in a while. The beauty of this gesture was twofold for me: first, it provided validation that I do quality work that does indeed have value in the marketplace; second, it was a great example of how can give appropriate feedback to others with whom I work and live.
With that in mind, let’s talk about how to use feedback properly:
- You must ask for it – Many people just do not think to give feedback or only do so when it’s negative. Make it a regular practice to ask your co-workers, supervisor, clients or customers how you are doing. (You may also consider asking your partner or children if you dare.)
- Listen – It does no good to ask for feedback if you do not really listen with an open mind.
- Filter – Consider the possible bias or perspective of the other person before you decide how much importance to place on their opinions. Do you respect the person’s views? Are they knowledgeable in the specific area? Do you trust them to be honest with you? If not, feel free to disregard them.
- Analyze – If the feedback is positive, how can you use it to continue to improve? Don’t dismiss praise or accolades! If it’s negative, what can you learn from it? Where is there room for improvement? Note: Any feedback that is purely destructive has nothing to offer you and should be ignored. Feedback that is mean-spirited is not useful to anyone.
- Give positive feedback – Learn to offer positive feedback to others. Be honest, thoughtful and constructive in your opinions. Even if your assessment is negative, find a way to offer it coupled with helpful ideas.
Don’t be afraid of feedback or opinions of people whom you value. Use it, bask in it and learn from it. Open your ears and open your mind; grow and thrive.
Do you have any feedback for me? I’m all ears….
Brand Yourself as a Productive Person
Aug 3rd
Productivity is about more than getting things done. It is also about positioning, branding or marketing (whichever term you choose) yourself not only as a productive person, but as a dependable, responsible and hard-working professional. You really want to build a reputation as a person or business who gets things done, who can be counted on and who is respectful of others efforts and time. You may not think about your demeanor, your communication or your business practices as being markers of productivity, but in the eyes of prospective customers, clients and colleagues they increase your competitive advantage. I may not be the most experienced in my field or arguably the most talented, but I certainly try to be the most reliable. That is one of my major differentiators along with my honesty which you are about to get a dose of.
I have to warn you, if you aren’t prepared for some professional coaching tough love, then stop reading now!
I have assembled a short list of those “best practices” that help me to determine whether I want to do business with a professional or their company. They are compiled from years of dealing with professionals who I have witnessed or interacted with in professional, personal and volunteer situations.
- If someone leaves you a voicemail, return it – It really doesn’t matter what form of communication you use to reply; what matters is that you do reply and in a timely manner (within 24 hours is dependable, 2 – 3 days is adequate and 1 week is poor, but better than nothing.) I once had a volunteer committee member tell me that she got my VM the week before, but did not call back because she didn’t know the answer to my question – I no longer work with her on my committee.
- Leave a detailed message – This may be a subset of the prior practice, but phone tag drives me so nuts that I’m making it separate. Don’t just say “Call me,” say what you are calling about and what you need. This way the other person can be prepared with the necessary information for the return call and if a return voicemail is necessary, then the answer can be relayed in a message. (Hint: I try to also leave in the message when the best time to reach me is.)
- Finish your projects on time – Be reasonable in your estimated due dates and let the other party know if you cannot meet the deadline and the reason for the delay. Remember, under-promise and over-deliver.
- Stay on top of your email – Clear your inbox every day (preferably by noon, though my goal is much earlier.) I get approx. 80 emails per day through several email accounts. About half of those are waiting for me when I open my inbox in the morning with a few being spam. I allow myself an hour to process those 35 – 40 emails and then the rest of the day I check my inbox every hour or two. Your volume or work schedule may be different, but you need to find a way to make it work. It is a terrible thing to have missed an opportunity or to be known as the person who never responds to their email. The time frame is the same or shorter than voicemail. Don’t make people send reminder emails; it is waste of time for both of you. If you have trouble with this; either you are getting too much email – unsubscribe to some newsletters (not this one of course) or delegate more (you probably don’t need to be copied on everything) or you don’t have an efficient way to process your inbox. (Hint: it is not meant to be storage.) If you need a refresher read, Get Control of Your Inbox.
- Be very good at follow-up – When you have finished a project or completed follow – up actions, let the person who requested the work know that it’s done and if possible provide a brief summary. This may be as simple as a quick email just saying “This task is done” or it may be paragraph or bullet points describing what actions were taken and what was the end result.
I would be glad to hear your comments on these practices of mine. Agree or disagree! One thing I know is that having a reputation for being Miss Reliable has paid off for me and may help you be more successful as well.
Don’t Overestimate Your Capacity
Jul 15th
Do you have too many projects? Who doesn’t? Sure, I do too, but for some reason it never occurred to me that I could do something about it in a way that could help me to be more successful. Who in their right mind would throw away a perfectly good project? Apparently some very smart, productive people; people and businesses that by the way are more successful than I am and probably less stressed too.
I was introduced to this concept by Anne Messenger, a colleague of mine of Messenger Associates Inc., after she returned from a WPO conference this spring. One of the speakers, Dr. Rebecca Henderson, of the Harvard Business School had given an address on overloading your capacity. She called this concept “Kill Project #26.
It is really a very basic philosophy when you stop and think about it.
Most people, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners consistently overestimate their capacity.
So, take a few minutes to examine all of your projects and possible commitments with a critical and realistic eye; whether they are ongoing, in the planning phase or tabled for a later date.
- Do you have any projects that have been hanging around for quite a while?
- Projects that have been started, but are just dragging on and don’t seem to get completed?
- How about projects that everybody is in favor of, but nobody has the time to tackle?
- The toughest are the projects that you are just so attached to and desperately want to get off the ground, but you don’t have quite enough time to get to today, or this week or this month.
Hint: If you find yourself saying, “I’ll get to that tomorrow,” “maybe I’ll schedule some time for that next week,” “after the busy season is done,” it is a tip off that it is a doomed project.
These projects are wonderful, worthwhile and possibly valuable undertakings. The problem is that there just aren’t enough resources to devote to them. The kicker being that even if you did clear the decks and power through the aforementioned project; it would turn into a “time-suck,” draining resources and time away from the rest of your business or your life.
What do you do then? I like Dr. Henderson’s advice, but “kill” seems so unkind and 26 seems so overwhelming to me. I would be overcapacity way before # 26. I prefer, “Terminate project 10.” Why? Simple, because “terminate” brings to mind having to let go of an employee that everyone loves and has such a great personality, but just can’t do the job. It’s similar to terminating a friendship or relationship that you have been clinging to, but has just turned into a toxic drain. I chose 10, because that seems like such a nice, round, even number. It would seem to your mind that you should be able to do 10 projects at once; it sounds reasonable, but it isn’t.
It won’t be easy. In fact it may be painful if you are emotionally attached to a certain endeavor, but for your own sanity and the health of your company you must say farewell. Do you want to retain your competitive advantage or not?
Your task, should you choose to accept it: Get out the ax and terminate project 10!
Then toast “Bon Voyage” and let it go.
