Lots of doing, but what is actually being achieved?

Productivity

Recently I went to a local restaurant for an evening meal and found myself observing the way the staff were operating.?Because after standing around for a while waiting to be shown to a table, it was some 20 minutes later that our order had yet to be taken and I was getting a little bored.?Not that the restaurant was busy, it was about 30% full, yet the staff seemed to be running around doing something that didn’t seem to involve serving the customers.

Made me think of the projects I’d observed over the years that always seemed to be doing massive amounts of work but not accomplishing anything.?So, I thought maybe a look at some useful tips on productivity might help.

1.?????Have a goal

If you don’t know where you’re going any road will do!?

Have clearly defined, measurable and achievable objectives to keep your eyes on the prize and help your team understand where they are going and how to get there.

2.?????Realistic timeline

Have a set of targets through the work that can be measured so progress can be tracked.?Hitting realistic milestones will give the team a real sense of achievement and motivation.

3.?????Break it up

Big tasks look unattainable, break them up into smaller chunks that can be prioritized into what is important to deliver to hit milestones.?Also makes it easier to track real progress and show achievements.

4.?????Know your limits

Limit your work in progress, if you try and work on too many tasks at once then your progress on each one will be slow.?Focus on 2 or 3 tasks at a time and you will see much more progression.

5.?????KIS it

Keep it simple!?Look for the minimum number of steps to get a task accomplished.?Don’t do anything that doesn’t add value to getting your work done.?If its not making the boat go quicker, chuck it overboard!

6.?????Optimize and automate

For each step make sure you do it as efficiently as possible and if you can, automate it.?This ensures you’re not wasting time in each step of work and if you can automate tasks then it frees you up to do something else.

7.?????Delegate effectively

Recognize you can’t do everything yourself, delegate tasks intelligently to the team.?Assigning responsibilities will then ensure those tasks get focused on whilst ensuring you can make progress on others.

So going back to the original trigger for this article, I believe project teams, like restaurant staff, all have a part to play in getting things done.?Be CLEAR, CONCISE and by working COLLABORATIVELY together with shared responsibility, this will help your project work more productively.

Fore more tips and advice to help you and your business maximise your productivity, please do follow me and my QRB Consultants page. We are also happy to discuss any specific concerns you may have, so please to feel free to connect and message me on here to set up an initial call. Nothing to lose but potentially a lot more free time to gain!