Rocks versus Gravel

Where to spend your time and energy? A new job, a new organisation, restructuring, team changes, travel, its easy to get lost in the gravel, and lose focus on the rocks that really matter. For me my big rocks are the customer and the team, and when my energy focuses on these the OKR's get delivered!

In 2014 Jeff Weiner view really reasonated with me right through my executive career and now as I build my own Business. The Magic happens when the team drives impact and innovation by dreaming big, getting things done and we all have fun together!

Below I share some advice on how to lead with focus and help the team to spend their time and energy on the key rocks for success!

Meetings - having worked for a Swedish company for many years your day can be fully booked with meetings and your teams and sometimes it feels its impossible to get things done.

6 actions you can take today:

1. Plan short standup team meetings (max 15 mins)
2. Have walking meetings
3. Pilot no meeting Fridays for at least 3 months for your whole team
4. Schedule weekly 1:1 checkins with your team (25 mins, how you can support)
5. Schedule bi-weekly 1:1 checkins with your boss (25mins focus on offtrack OKR's)
6. Set Guardrails on your and the teams diaries, say No regularly it helps.

Timezone challenges are real, I still remember a colleague in Ireland early in my career sharing how Friday night family dinners were now a writeoff as her Seattle HQ always planned Friday morning meetings (in their timezone), needless to say it did'nt sell the company to me!

6 actions you can take today:

1. Don't schedule or invite the team to out of hours meetings
2. Be respectul of the teams personal time and commitments
3. Record meetings so others can catchup in their own timezone
4. Setup groups on line for key projects or topics, discussion there can avoid unneccesary out of hours meetings and others can catch up on the chat in their own timezone
5. Avoid national holidays, its both disrespectful and devisive
6. Delay email sending till following morning or after the weekend

In addition many European countries now have laws on the Right to Disconnect, Australia just last week: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/26/australia-right-to-disconnect-laws-explained-details-boss-calls-emails

Travel - can be draining and takes a lot of personal time and energy, not to mention the cost and carbon emission impact.

6 actions you can take today:

1. Avoid weekend travel, for you or the team
2. Challenge travel requests/demands, require real business justification
3. Offer Virtual attendance instead
4. Track and benchmark carbon emissions
5. Balance travel time with personal time to explore new countries, plan breaks between trips
6. Give back to the team and yourself personal travel time

When you recover more time resist gravitating towards your comfort zone, take the time to try new things, embrace new technology and widen your lens.

Find your balance, for me its always been important to dream big and have fun. By balancing work and personal time we can all find our own version of our best life, and your team will notice the difference!

Try this at your next teambuilding event, it will stimulate a great discussion on priorities in work and personal life: Rocks, Pebbles and Sand: Prioritizing Your Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgMeKfQFq8

For advisor and coaching, here's how I can support you and your organization

1. Subscribe to this newsletter to get regular updates on topics I feel passionate about
2. Follow Makace AB and reach out to connect and start a discussion
3. Follow Marie Large (Me) for news and topics that I find insightful