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A great tool in a busy person’s life is the checklist. As David Allen rightly says: “Get it out of your head.” I think his analogy of visual RAM is an excellent one, particularly as I upgraded the RAM in my MacBook by a Gb and now it is running a lot smoother, thank you.

But I’ve also found that checklists can become their own enemy. Particularly when it comes to business checklists.

I joined a new company recently and the Induction process is basically a checklist of things to do. Good start. However, not so good when things are checked off that haven’t been fully completed. And the new start employee can’t be the judge of that. There is a trust level that the Induction has been completed correctly - only to be verified over the next few days and weeks when gaps start appearing in the mind of the new employee.

Personal Checklists

Personal checklists are great because the creator of the list knows the level of detail required to successfully complete their tasks. If modifications are required, they will make them on the fly and the list will be completed.

Business Process Checklists

… are a different story altogether. The creator of the list needs to have a balance of detail and yet allow for some initiative on the part of the user. And yet when the chips are down and the day’s tasks are mounting up, the easiest thing to do is just check the list. Initiative and “extra mile” thinking is sacrificed for “completion”.

So What’s the Solution?

Well, to my mind there is and there isn’t one.

There is in the sense that, along with a checklist itself, there needs to be some recognition of the value of each part of the checklist. Why it is being done, the consequences of it not being done properly versus the benefits of a doing it well.

An example might be:

Task: introduce new employee to key contacts within the company

Benefit 1: employee can get up to productive speed with right contacts quicker

Benefit 2: employee feels connected with company quicker by developing their own contacts

Benefit 3: you are interrupted less with questions like: “who do I see about this again?”

But the alternative can be disastrous, particularly with the current skills shortage here in Australia. Any disaffected employee can leave, produce less effective work and contribute an overall lessening of productivity.

All because the task of “introduce new employee to key contacts” was completed on the checklist, but it wasn’t really Done!

But how much detail will a company want to provide to these checklists?

That becomes the issue when developing corporate checklists or processes. A high level view, in my opinion, isn’t enough. A 1-page overview of the importance of the process needs to be provided, or easily accessible or the company runs the risk of poor implementation (or no implementation!).

It also provides the value of reviewing the checklists in context. Reviewing a flow chart or checklist is one thing but reviewing it with the background of its inception is another altogether.

Action:

1. Grab a checklist at your work and try and follow it.
2. Do you understand its context?
3. Do you know who developed it?
4. Is it easily accessible?
5. Is there a brief explanation as to its purpose?

Could this “Completed but not Done” syndrome be causing serious productivity issues at your place of business?

Being a new HR Manager in the construction and engineering industry, I am finding people are doing things the hard way. Particularly when it comes to managing people. I guess I have to say I’ve been fortunate to be well managed during my career and have endeavoured to manage well, learning as I go and making small improvements.

So, I think I can be reasonably well qualified to offer some thoughts to those people struggling with getting things right with their teams.

The list isn’t exhaustive but I can almost guarantee an improvement in morale and productivity if these 5 ideas are followed religiously. Ok, let’s see how we go…

1. Plan to acknowledge people - get it into your head now that people like a pat on the back, a thank you, an acknowledgment of some kind on a regular basis. I don’t care what you want. They want it. I have interviewed people who leave our company, I have facilitated sessions on staff development and this comes up time after time. The thing is, you don’t always have to throw money. In fact, you rarely do. So stop. Throwing money is easy but ineffective. It doesn’t connect you with your staff - it actually highlights a certain lack in management ability. People know it, people will respond to it. Pay enough attention to what your team is doing and be quick to let people know you noticed something good about their effort today.

2. Create clear objectives - This may sound easy, maybe it is, but my experience is it is not done often enough. Clear objectives means being specific about what you want the outcome to be. That may mean spending time thinking through exactly what you want in the first place. I was speaking with a manager the other day who rewards performance based on hours spent at work! To me it is obvious you would reward people for what they produce - and you can only measure that by knowing what you want done.

3. Set a Quality Standard - be clear about how you want the work done. It’s not good enough today to “just get it done!” It has to be quality and people have to see the quality. Otherwise it just doesn’t count. Maybe you’re looking at error rates, re-work, presentation, longevity of the product. Whatever it is for your product, specify it with your team. They will work towards the standards set down - if they are clear.

4. Deadlines - all these things combine together to be completed within a set time frame. If it’s not done on time, what slowed it down? Was the time frame reasonable? Was the team member adequately trained? Were other areas responsible for the slow down? You have to know these things as a manager and as a competent leader. People need to know all the parameters of a job. Many times it is really a lack of management ability that causes these problems. And yet the staff are blamed for poor performance.

5 . Pick the Right Person - speaking with a colleague the other day and they were bemoaning how their work was distributed. It was given to junior, inexperienced staff first (supposedly to help them develop) and then to be corrected by senior staff. Sounds okay but the pressure on senior staff became unbearable. Times frames became short, work had to be re-done which wasn’t properly calculated into the job. Longer hours, lower morale - poorer productivity. Get the right people to do the right tasks and develop the others as you go.

Once the job is completed, go back to Step 1.

Take Action

Try these 5 rules for 1 month.

Make your appreciation genuine, work hard on clarity. You will see an improvement in your team. Over time you will also see a reduction in stress and micro managing.

That’s when management really becomes enjoyable.

I just wrote a really good post on 10 Things to do in a New Job and when I went to publish it, I lost it! Two full pages at least - gone! My wife crept away and started doing things to keep out of my way! (wise woman!) I have no idea what happed. I refreshed, back tracked. Nothing I did worked. So I’m angry! I can’t write it again now because I have to go out. AArrgghh!!

(Sigh!)

So, I will leave you, dear reader, with two things I discovered yesterday when cleaning my home office.

One is a quote that I found quite inspiring. I don’t know who wrote it so if you know who did I’d love to find out.

The other is a list I wrote out on leadership probably over 15 years ago. When typewriters were cool. I found myself nodding at each point and thought “that’s just as good today as it was then.”

Quote:

“Out of knowing who you are and what you want (self-awareness) comes a positive passion to make a difference. Find something that excites you, something that scares you a bit because it’s so big and challenging and wonderful, then trust your positive passion to make it happen. That’s what winners do!”

And the list on leadership. Note that even if you are not actually in a formal leadership role, we still lead, or influence others, so this is for everyone:

Qualities of Leadership

1. Have you ever broken yourself of a bad habit? To lead others, one must be the master of oneself.
2. Do you retain control of yourself when things go wrong?
3. Can you think independently?
4. Can you handle criticism objectively and remain unmoved under it? Do you use it productively?
5. Do you readily secure the cooperation and win the respect and confidence of others?
6. Can you secure discipline without the need for a show of authority?
7. Can you bring conciliation where there has been disagreement?
8. Can you be trusted to handle difficult and delicate situations?
9. Can you induce people to happily do some legitimate thing which they would not normally do?
10. Can you accept opposition to your point of view without viewing it as a personal affront?
11. Do you find it easy to make a keep friends?
12. Can you hold a steady course in the face of disapproval?
13. Are you at ease in the presence of your superiors or strangers. Do your team members feel at ease in your presence?
14. Are you really interested in people? People from all cultures and generations?
15. Are you tactful? Can you anticipate the effect of a statement before you make it?
16. Do you posses a strong and steady will?
17. Do you nurse grudges and resentments? A leader readily forgives and moves on, there are more important things to do.
18. Leaders are optimistic.
19. Do you have a “master passion”. there is one thing above all else that excites you?
20. Do you welcome responsibility? (A test: when the phone rings, are you pleased?)

Okay, I feel better now and it’s time to get ready to go on the day’s bike ride.

Hello and welcome to Thank God is Friiiiiday!

I have to confess I don’t think these up. I get them from a great guy - Phil Humbert. And he gets them from friends.

But I find them very funny and it’s a great start to my week as I get them on Sunday. I thought it would be a good way to end our week with a smile.

A couple are political or a bit risqué, but I think you’ll enjoy them. Smile everyone!

• Constipated People Don’t Give A Crap.
• If You Can Read This, I’ve Lost My Trailer.
• Horn Broken…Watch For Finger.
• The Earth Is Full - Go Home.
• I Have The Body Of A God - Buddha. (my kids just looked me up and down when I read this one!)
• So Many Pedestrians - So Little Time.
• Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult.
• If We Quit Voting, Will They All Go Away?
• Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway.
• Illiterate? Write For Help.
• Honk If Anything Falls Off.
• Cover Me, I’m Changing Lanes.
• He Who Hesitates Not Only Is Lost - But is Miles From The Next Exit.
• I Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With An Unarmed Person.
• You! Out Of The Gene Pool - Now! (Love this one!)
• I Do Whatever My Rice Krispies Tell Me To.
• Fight Crime: Shoot Back!
• (Seen Upside Down On A Jeep) - If You Can Read This, Please Flip Me Back Over…
• Guys:  No Shirt, No Service - Gals:  No Shirt, No Charge
• If Walking Is So Good For You, Why Does My Mailman Look Like Jabba The Hut?
• Body By Nautilus; Brain By Mattel.
• Boldly Going Nowhere.
• Caution - Driver Legally Blonde.
• Heart Attacks: God’s Revenge For Eating His Animal Friends
• Honk If You’ve Never Seen an Uzi Fired From A Car Window.
• How Many Roads Must A Man Travel Down Before He Admits He is Lost?
• All Men Are Animals; Some Just Make Better Pets.

And Finally…

• "Politicians And Diapers Should Be Changed Often And For The Same Reason"

Enjoy your weekend.

Email is one of those things we used to love. And I mean “used to”.

There was a time when getting an email was the best thing.It was so cool and almost instant. Way better than snail mail.

Until now.

If there is a day when I get less than 50 emails I jump for joy. Most days however, there are over a hundred and many times over 200. And I think I am doing okay!

These days, there are times we’d like to take a break from email and, for many, the novelty wore off years ago. But, many people still allow email to be today’s “ringing telephone”. You know what I mean. If you’re in a meeting with someone and the phone rings, you feel compelled to answer it. (Well, for those of us without PAs!)

It used to be the phone but these days it’s email.

Yet, there are many tools and options in Outlook that can minimise the impact of email on our daily lives and allow us to focus on what we need to achieve each day. When I mention these to people, I am surprised how many don’t know of them. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Many IT departments just install the software. Few, from my experience, take on the responsibility of helping people become productive with it.

So here are 5 simple tips to put Email in its place and get you back on track.

1. Open Up Calendar First
Most effective people would want to be focusing on their high priority tasks each day. So, set up Outlook to open into your calendar and tasks and not into email! This small change actually gets you to see exactly what’s on that day and helps you focus. The alternative is to get hit with hundreds of emails first thing in the morning and that is not a motivating experience.

2. Bells and Whistles - Not!
It’s lovely how Outlook notifies you each time an email comes into your inbox. Sure, you can ignore it but we often stop what we’re doing just to make sure it’s not important. Focus on task? Gone! Outlook wins! You can turn off these notifications and set a time (a task if you will) to check your emails 2 - 3 times a day that will then allow you to get on what with you have to do.

3. Use Your Signature File
To help you get others on side, you can add a line to your signature file to let people know you only check your email 2 - 3 times per day. If the matter is urgent, ask them to pick up the phone. Most people won’t!

4. Drag n Drop
I am old enough to remember when this feature was first introduced! Very cool. But in Outlook most people don’t realise they can do it with emails to create tasks, calendar events and update your Contacts. Just drag the email to the relevant panel on the left hand side and you’ll find a lot of then information is already completed. Saving you time and effort. Not just now, but also later when you’re looking for the information.

5. One Filing Folder!
No, not your InBox! One thing I learned from filing emails in a wide array of folders was that I was always searching all the folders anyway. So, a friend of mine suggested I have one folder to file emails in: a “Filing” folder. Once the email is finished with, I drag it to the filing folder. If I need it again, there is only one place it will be and searching it is a cinch!

Now not all these tips are for everybody.

But before you toss them, try them. Your day will be so much easier when Outlook is in its rightful place.

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