Are You Focusing on Activity or Result?
Wow what a great trip to the US.? I even had time for a quick NYC food tour including pizza, bagels, NY Strip steak, corn dogs and dessert (gotta over the mini cheesecakes from Eileen’s—a NYC favourite!)It was great to deliver some Client Mentoring sessions as well as see the beautiful autumn colours with the trees starting to change!? Whilst in the US I had a meeting with a CEO and we were discussing some of the challenges he was noticing around his people achieving targets.? He was frustrated that the results were not where they should be given all the opportunity that they have had this year.? The question I asked him was ‘what activity targets do you have them focusing on?’? ??
If we want to get our people to achieve results, we need to get them focused on the activity that they need to take.? When we do not, many of them fail.? It is as if someone has decided to lose weight.? They step on the scale and decide to lose 10 kilos.? Then they talk about all of the things that they are going to do (like exercise, eat more healthy and reduce their alcohol consumption).? They may do a few of these activities and then “get busy” at work.? After 1-2 weeks they step on the scale and they notice they are at the same weight.? The problem is that they are focusing on the result—not the activity (yes this is from personal experience and too many NYC cheesecakes!).?
What they should be doing is identifying the specific activity that they are going to take and how often they will do it.? This could be something as simple as run for 30 minutes five times per week, reduce the amount of food that they eat by 25%, reduce evening snacking by nothing eaten after 7pm and limit alcohol to 2 drinks per week.? All of these are measurable and by focusing on this activity they would start noticing the goal of losing weight start happening.
The same is true for people at work.?? Work with them to clarify what the expectations are around their activity.? It can be something as simple as that they will send 25 e-mails per week, make 15 phone calls per week, have 7 meetings per week with a goal of generating 2 projects or proposals per week.? All of these KPI targets give them something to focus toward—and are easily track able.? You need to ensure that they also take the right approach with the right skills in the right way to ensure quality as well (make sure you train them!).? This is much more realistic than giving someone a target to achieve and then just waiting week by week for the results to come in.?
A few things to remember to focus on Activity Rather than just Results:
·????? Create Work Activity Targets.? This could be around specific activities that you need to take in your role around phone calls, meetings, projects or proposals.? For managers internally it could be a target around ?the number of staff 1:1 sessions to hold per week, team meetings, coaching staff or other activity that will benefit the business.
领英推荐
·????? Create Home Activity Targets.? You can also use this process at home to help you remember to do the small things that matter.? It could be a monthly number of date nights for a couple that has a busy family with children.? Or it could be about ensuring that you have some personal time on your own every month.?
By putting these simple things in place you can start focusing on what is really important—and achieve the results you are after!?
If you're ready to implement these strategies or want to explore other ways to motivate and recognize your team, I’d love to work with you in my Mentoring Program or Team Development Program. ?Feel Free to reach out for a quick discussion on how I can help you and your people!
Stay True to Your Path
Scott