Getting Things Done – (Part One).
The most common issue I hear from business owners and leaders is not that they have a drought of ideas or opportunities but they lack the time to implement them.
My observation is that time and energy management is often the difference between the super achievers and those who just do a good job. So for the next few weeks I’m going to share what I’ve learned from many brilliant speakers and writers and how I’ve adapted their proven methodologies and helped many clients to become highly effective.
The first process is built on Pete Wilkinson’s superb ‘1-3-5 Action Plan’, (showcased in his book ‘Unstoppable’), which I’ve turned into the ‘1-3-5-14’.
The 1-3-5-14 works like this:
1. Start with a single Desired Result (the 1). This should be neither too broad nor too granular. I prefer an annual objective and like it to be detailed. For example it might read as follows:
“It’s the 5th April 2020, and we have had a record year with turnover up 30%, PBT up 40% and we’re number one in our sector by market share. Our client NPS rating is +70% and our team engagement is “Highly Engaged” (using the 12Q assessment).”
2. From the Desired Result, then identify three Key Objectives (the 3). Continuing with the same example:
Objective One – Turnover up 30%, PBT up by 40%, having increased fees by 20% and volumes by 15%.
Objective Two – NPS rating of client experience up from +55% to +70% and we’ve achieved “Exceptional” rating in the Best Estate Agent Guide.
Objective Three – Employee recruitment and retention is improved as measured by number on waiting list to join (from 20 to 40) and churn (reduced from 15% to 10%) as a consequence of Team Engagement moving from “Engaged” to “Highly Engaged”.
3. The next step is to identify Five Goals for each of the Three Objectives for the next 90 days (the 5). These might look like this for Objective One:
Objective One
1. Create social media marketing campaign to increase awareness.
2. Introduce second 45 minute prospecting session each day.
3. Raise fees from 1.5% to 1.6%.
4. Remove option for Tenant Find only (other than in exceptional circumstances that requires Director approval).
5. Implement Valuer training programme with monthly sessions.
The final stage is the 14 – this is where you schedule time to work on your identified 90 day Goals over the next two weeks (in what Agile Methodology calls a “Sprint”). A week isn’t long enough in my experience, too many current work interruptions cause project time to be eaten into, however spread over 14 days I’ve found there’s normally enough time to get decent chunks of the Goals completed.
Using the 1-3-5-14 method, over the course of the year, you will complete 90 Goals to achieve your Three Key Objectives and in turn your overall Desired Result. What’s more, by making good progress each 14 days, you’ll enjoy ticking off the bite sized chunks you’ve achieved rather than dreading to even look at what often is described as a “never ending To Do list”.
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