Your Business IQ

There are times in our career that we need to take a hard look at how we do business and figure out if it’s time to make changes to get ahead. Why make changes at all?

A blurred vision of the future, lack of productivity, ineffectiveness or the inability to get things done can be the culprits that diminish the success of your company. Making some changes in these important areas or re-engineering your work, can impact your company’s future and the bottom line.

Effectiveness
Have you ever thought that you needed to be more effective at work yet you weren’t really sure where to start? Getting the job done means doing it well, feeling satisfied with your performance and succeeding at each specific task along the way. And it’s a real plus if you actually enjoy what you’re doing so that all those work hours are more meaningful.

One of the keys to being effective is to simplify. This applies to any task, large or small. You need to continually ask yourself and your associates how you can simplify any job or task. Sometimes this can mean that you delegate or outsource by finding someone who can do the job as well but at a lower rate.

When you do, you’re freed up to do other, maybe even more specialized jobs, and will have time for more strategic planning. You may even find time for the projects that you’ve wanted to tackle but was never sure how to fit them in.

It may be painful to admit that you must eliminate a task completely or have to downsize a task or even an entire department. View these moments as opportunities to prioritize your work efforts and to see the future and the direction of your job and your company more clearly.

Productivity
Are you unorganized, unfocused and easily distracted at work? The way you work is critical to how well you do and to how well you’ll be rewarded. Your work habits can’t be ignored; you need to take a realistic look at them to make sure you’re on track. To be productive means that you put your energy, effort and concentration on your most important goal(s). If you don’t know what that is, then define it right now.

Get into the habit of asking if what you’re working on right now is in keeping with achieving your most important goal. If not, you need to switch gears and change what you’re doing.

As you raise the question more often and make the necessary adjustments and tune-ups along the way, you’ll notice you're less willing to get sidetracked and both the quality and quantity of what you do will increase.

Being productive has everything to do with making the right choices and focusing on the important tasks and goals. Unfortunately, we can’t do everything at once and let’s face it, as much as we’d like to stretch or change time, there are only 24 hours in a day. Some of those precious moments are spent sleeping, eating, brushing our teeth and commuting to work.

You focus on what will advance you and your company and commit to the company goals and values by working on the tasks that support them first.

Completion
Our brains love closure. A sense of completion will not only put a smile on your face but will actually signal the brain to release endorphins into your bloodstream so that you feel good, have a sense of well-being and may even get a boost of energy. To make this natural phenomenon happen isn’t always easy. Consistently complete the important tasks that you’re working on.

Set deadlines and stick to them. No matter who comes into the office to chat or who is on the other end of the phone to lead you astray, hold your position and don’t waver. As you do, you will develop a single-minded ability to stay focused on the task at hand. You’ll find that your creativity increases and your associates may wonder why you’re humming.