Dig deep for efficiency

For some months, I have been considering adding an additional member to my team, to support in administrative matters. One of his/her key duties would be filing. Filing is the Medusa’s head of office work – as soon as you file, more paper just piles up. Paper, even in neat piles is clutter and has the effect of cluttering my mind, so that I am unfocused and unsettled. Each week, “filing” is on my list of things to do. And each week, the piles get higher. So it seemed imperative for me to get some help.

Then I realized that there are two sides to the equation that would minimize the piles on my desk – get someone to remove it regularly, OR minimize the amount of paper I put into the piles. With that “aha”, I decided to go paperless and I described this in my newletter of May 16 – click to view newsletter.

One month later, the results are already astounding. I am probably now at about 90% paperless and it feels great!

The pile on my desk has not grown (the backlog is still there though).
I feel much calmer and less flustered as I am handling much less paper.
Travelling is much easier and lighter – grab laptop and go! Much better for my achy shoulders that used to be weighed down with books and papers

Now, I don’t need help filing – there’s very little to file!

THE BALANCED SCORECARD

Departing Kingston Jamaica for Toronto on Sunday, I was thrilled beyond bits to see the Island Grill Strategy Map displayed in their outlet at the airport. They are really using their Strategy Map to communicate their strategy to ALL team members.

Kaplan and Norton were initially quite surprised at how the Strategy Map quickly became a valuable tool for communicating the strategy. Why is this?

It’s visual, and most human beings are highly visual. I always make sure it’s colourful and fun, reflecting the particular nuances and differentiators of my client’s strategy and culture. I will use the company logo, company colours, emblems that are meaningful for them (my own strategy map has smiley faces all over it of course).
It’s simple – team members quickly see their role in the strategy and understand where they fit.
It’s a one-page talking point for your leadership – there’s so much expressed on that one sheet that leaders have hours of content with which to engage team members in deep conversation about the strategy.

TAKE ONE ACTION

Identify a task with which you could use some help. Now brainstorm ways to get the task done. And when you are finished, ask yourself “Is this even necessary”?

Dig deep and test all assumptions.

INTERESTING LINKS

There’s nothing like the human touch! And perhaps technology is demanding that of us even more. Always remember that the person clicking that laptop is a human customer or a human employee!
– click to view article

“The boss who talks too much” – could this be you? Remember, humans have two ears and one mouth for a reason – to listen twice as much as we talk.
And that applies to leadership.
– click to view article