Many of us are trained to expect low growth, especially if you work in mature industries. 2 – 3% growth ahead of the market; 5 – 7% growth with new product introductions bringing in new customers. What’s the fun working your butts off to get single digit growth?
But that is the macro picture. For a whole company or venture to move that pace, we actually need lots of multipliers at the local level, aka us. Let’s not limit ourselves.
How can we do the same work and achieve 2x, 5x the results?
Prioritize and Focus: 20% of your Input will drive 80% of the Output. This applies to projects, products, customers. Yes there are mandatory elements of every role, but to the degree you can shift and dedicate energy towards the important few, you will achieve more and overcome the misses. But of course, align on those choices with your manager first. Apply this to the whole company and you multiply the multiple as resources concentrate on the few things that make the most impact.
How do you best leverage power from the sun? Use a magnifying glass.
Build and Improve Tools: For tasks that you will repeat (and most do), invest in making them easier and simpler. It will pay back for you, and many others. Create standard process and templates. Make that simple and clear. Not all decisions need to be elaborated EVERY TIME. Make decision criteria transparent, and your team will be able to work towards a solution approved before they need to be approved.
“Give me a 6-hour task and I will spend the first 4 hours sharpening my tool.”
Learning and Development: Send one member on training and bring back knowledge and application to the whole team. Rotate over time. You get multiple on multiple impact as the whole team become better at what they do. Individual domain knowledge gets amplified by advanced tool or approach, and cross training allows the new way to be operationalized much quicker.
Nothing motivates people more than growth, whether that’s personal, professional or belonging to a growing team.
How can we reduce efforts or complexity by over 50%?
Simplify, Standardize, Automate: Every role has elements of repetitive, administrative work. Can we cut down elements of reports that do not drive decisions, or unneeded (extra) details so we can decide sooner? Can we automate report generation so we can put our mind towards interpreting drivers and recommending action? As business becomes more complex and data driven, our ability to outperform will hinge on how well we articulate and improve processes. Automation tools are becoming more accessible and ever easier to use.
Who wants to be a DJ for business processes?
Working on vs. Talking about the Work: On your project / role, what is the ratio of time spent between planning/discussing/reviewing/reporting progress vs. actually working the project itself? Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate the importance of communication and coordination. What I suggest is to take a step back and reflect with the team. Is our current discussion vs. delivery ratio right given the nature of the project and how we work? How can we be more productive together? It can mean streamlining updates (use standard templates, stop PowerPoints, use email updates, green/yellow/red coding). Collaborate on ideas, but be consistent on process.
Whenever I sit in a meeting, I imagine competitors laughing at us talking among ourselves all day.
More Working, Less Non-Working (duh?): On every marketing budget, there are dollars that consumers will see (advertising, events, etc.) and others that they won’t (agency, testing, etc.). The goal is to maximize the ratio of working vs. non-working so most benefits / values are seen by consumer. What elements of your work directly contribute to solving your end customer’s problem, in a way that is valued?
Are you dancing on the stage with the lights on?
Touch things once: Of the emails you received each day, how many do you touch multiple times? Remember each time you switch task, your focus and attention drop. So if you are switching back and forth small tasks, you end up taking a lot longer to complete the same tasks vs. batching and focusing on them – and get them done in one go. Apply this to emails, reports, tasks, for you and your team….
Would you rather: Be a master juggler or the one-shot-one-kill sniper?
It is true that often lots of hard work do not turn the needle, the frustration will not make the situation better. Each of us can find, between what we work on and how we work (not limited to an intersection), ways to multiply results. Your company is counting on you.
