the other hand you can be a dynamic sales person, make lots of phone calls and have lots of meetings (quantity); if you do not target the right prospects, if you do not know your products well and have poor sales skills (quality), it will be hard to perform.
When we think about people management, we often hear about two different skills: management skills and leadership skills.
You can be a great manager, have clearly defined KPIs for your team, have organised regular one-on-ones, team meetings and reviews, and you spend lots of time with your team; but if you are leading them in the wrong direction, if you do not have the right vision and strategy, it will be very hard for you and your team to perform.
You can have a great vision for your team and have clear strategies in your head to make your team successful but if you do not communicate with them, if they are unclear on this vision, if you do not define clearly the role of each and monitor and coach them on a regular basis, it will also be hard to be successful.
In terms of personal productivity, there are two critical skills that impact personal performance: efficiency and effectiveness.
Quantity, management and efficiency are all linked to ‘how’ you do things. When you are given a task or a project, how well do you do it? Do you carry it out as requested, do you respect the budget, do you pay attention to detail, do you do it on time and respect deadlines? Efficiency can be defined by doing things right.
Quality, leadership and effectiveness are all linked to ‘what’ you are doing. Are you focusing on the few crucial things which will be key for your performance? Effectiveness can be defined by doing the right things.
To be more in control of your workload, to work smarter rather than harder, I will discuss these two skills: efficiency (doing things right, i.e. the ‘how’) and effectiveness (doing the right things, i.e. the ‘what’).
I will start with the ‘how’. Are your work habits slowing your performance? Do you have an efficient filing system? Do you manage as efficiently as possible the flow of information and tasks you receive on a daily basis?
I will then discuss a great efficiency tool: Microsoft Outlook*. To be both efficient and effective, you need a tool to manage your time, your tasks, your focus. In the business world, most people are using Outlook, while some are using Lotus® Notes and a few are using other systems such as GroupWise, a device such as a smartphone, BlackBerry® or iPad, or even a paper tool. The principles we will discuss are equally relevant for Outlook, Lotus® or whatever system you are using. Because most people use Outlook, I will use this tool as an example.
Then I will focus on effectiveness, what I call personal leadership. This is more the ‘what’.
Although I start with efficiency principles, the most important principles are the effectiveness principles. For many years, time management books and seminars have been focusing on saving time, on doing things quickly. Saving time is important but is almost irrelevant if you are not clear on what you want to achieve, if you are not clear on what is important for you.
I’d rather be very effective and totally inefficient than the contrary. In business terms, I believe a person with a messy desk, emails out of control and bad time-wasting habits but who is clear on what he or she wants to achieve, and making some progress towards those goals, will be more successful than a person who is well organised, with a clean desk and an inbox under control, with great work habits but no goals, and who is unclear regarding the few things which are key for his or her performance.
Having said that, I have found it more beneficial over the years to start improving efficiency and then work on effectiveness principles. I found it works better to put the house in order and then discuss long-term goals and focus.
I have found that people are much more receptive to taking a 10,000 feet high helicopter view of their role and goals once they feel in control of their day-to-day activities. Hence my logic in starting with the efficiency principles before the effectiveness ones.
Reading is easy, changing habits is hard
At this point it would be useful for you to be clear on why you are reading this book and what are you expecting from it. Are you reading it for leisure or do you want to see some real changes? Do you want to challenge some of your work habits?
Being clear on your goals will give you the fuel and energy to act. If you want to be successful and achieve your dreams, the most important thing is not the ‘how’, it’s the ‘why’.
Throughout this book I would like to share some principles that are important to perform if you are to be successful. Rather than settle for just showing you, I would like to take you through a journey and challenge some of your work habits, some of those things you are doing every day and that you have probably been doing for many years. The principles are simple, but changing them into habits is hard.
If you do not have strong reasons to change, what I will suggest in this book will be very challenging, and you will struggle to find the motivation and drive to apply these principles.
Let me ask you: Why are you reading this book? What are some of the challenges you are facing in the area of efficiency and effectiveness?
Does your filing system need a good review?
Are you crawling under a ton of emails in your inbox?
Do you wonder every day what to focus on?
Do you struggle to manage your time effectively?
Are you frustrated at the end of every day, wondering where your time went?
Do you have to take some important work at home or stay late in the evening when everyone else is gone so that you can finish it?
And beyond these challenges, what outcomes are you expecting? What do you want to change? What will be the business benefits and pay-offs of working more efficiently and effectively? Will you reach your targets, achieve your KPIs, be promoted to new responsibilities?
As importantly, what will be the personal benefits and pay-offs of working smarter? Will you spend fewer hours in the office and more time at home? Will you be less stressed? Will you feel more in control, able to enjoy your job again?
Reflect on this. Are you ready to take a journey which could transform your life? As mentioned earlier, my ambition whenever I coach someone is ‘to change life.’ I hope I can reach the same goal with everyone reading this book. To achieve this goal, I will need your help. If you want to be challenged and change some of your work habits, reading this book alone will not be enough. You will need to bring two things to the party: practice and persistence.
Practising is learning
Confucius is credited as saying: ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.’
Reading this book alone is not enough. You need to read it carefully and you need to be ready to practise
