The Last Day Before Vacation

Sometimes I think about how productive we can be on the last day before a long vacation. That day when all open issues are being followed up upon and all those lose ends are being tied up before we finally leave a clean desk behind in the office. What if we could live every day like that? Do you know what I am talking about? The focused energy, the swift hustle and no time wasted. What about living every day like it was your last while you plan for tomorrow!

You Are Not The Fire Department!

When you are leading people at a distance, like you do in a virtual organization, you have lost the ability to fire-fight effectively since you are removed from the immediate action. Instead you have to rely on trust, process and early indicators to stay informed. You stay ahead of the game by managing to clear objectives focusing on the results and not the activities.

Focus On Your Key People

According to the Pareto Principle (the 80/20-rule) 20% of your people are responsible for 80% of your results. Pay attention to these key people in your organization. Too often management is busy with straightening out the low performers. This should not be so. Your key people drive your success. Focus your attention on making them even more successful and your organization as a result will be successful too.

Don't Wait For Inspiration

Everything worth while is hard work to some extent, even if it is fun. Don't sit around and wait for inspiration. Get started and do the first small step. Using writing as an example, I have been writing on this blog for nearly a year. And by now, there is enough material for an entire book. Here is how you can do it; get a theme, organize your thoughts, create an outline, type away and write a paragraph. Usually by that time inspiration is there to meet you.

Share Information In Your Team

Historically people of power (bosses) withheld information as a means of ruling over others. In today's networked world, with its virtual project organizations this no longer is practical or even advisable. The effectiveness of an organization depends on how well it shares information between its members. Figure out the best way to share within your unit and involve your people and agree on the principles for information sharing in your team.

Focus Management

You can't manage time. It just happens. What you can manage is your focus and your energy. As a leader it is your job to help create focus so everyone know what to do and how to prioritize and make the right choices in any given situation. Involve your team in shaping and refining that focus. When you involve your people, they will accept a higher degree of ownership and commitment to the cause and it will help them focus.

Review Everything Weekly

To check on progress regularly is a great habit and necessary if you want to stay ahead and proactively prepare next steps. Make sure you have a designated time slot in your calendar, each week, when you review your projects and your activities and any delegated actions in your team. Find a time that suits your schedule. I suggest Friday afternoon but the most important thing is doing it. Put it in your calendar today!