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Prioritization

Priorities

A wise person once told me to eliminate “I don’t have time for _______” from my vocabulary and replace it with “_______ has not yet become a priority for me”.  And if you think about it, they’re right.  Every time we say things like this, it’s usually as a crutch to hide the real truth.  If I say “I don’t have time for going to the gym”, what am I really saying?  I am saying “Going to the gym has not yet become a priority for me”.  We have time to do anything we want – it may just mean foregoing other opportunities or planned activities.

Bringing it back to the workplace, let’s talk for a minute about how we fill up our calendar and spend our time via prioritization.  Prioritization sounds like something extremely simple and straight-forward.  If I have a list of ten things, I simply need to put them in order or sequence for completion and start knocking them out.  Some of them may be big, some small, but all in all – they have to get done in a certain order in a certain amount of time to satisfy a colleague, a boss, a project, or some other external factor.  And that’s how I prioritize them (or, often times, how I let someone else prioritize them for me).

But, I have found that prioritization always seems to be a lot more difficult than that or yields a poorly prioritized set of tasks.  At a minimum, in my experience, the ability to effectively prioritize things (whether they are projects themselves, tasks, or effort/focus as a whole) is something that is widely lacking across the majority of Corporate America.  Everyone likes to think that they are masters of prioritization, but they usually land on prioritizing the wrong things at the wrong time to drive expected results.  And, once you start chasing your tail, it’s really hard to course correct or reset the clock.

So what’s the answer?  How should prioritization be approached in order to ensure, at a minimum, a greater chance of prioritization occurring accurately enough to fulfill originally stated objectives/mission in a relatively appropriate timeframe?  As with most things, I don’t claim to have all the answers.  But, in my overly-logical and methodical approach to life (at some point I’ll reveal my Myers-Briggs/DiSC/etc profiles and my wider thoughts on those programs – it will be wildly anti-climactic, trust me), I think I can provide at least a blueprint or skeleton of things to consider in your own quest to reach an accurate prioritization:

  • Consider the size, schedule, cost, and complexity of initiatives: Sure, it may sound great to do the hardest, most expensive, longest project first because it has the greatest return – but is there opportunity to knock out a few shorter-term or easier projects to give quick wins back to the organization/team in parallel to kicking off a wider effort with the massive project?
  • Consider your senior leadership and the organizational landscape: What will make the senior team happiest?  What will have the best benefit for the business as a whole?  Asking these types of questions ensures you are keeping your leadership happy and likewise considering yourself and your efforts in the context of the larger group, which may very well already have corporate strategic goals in place that make certain efforts of yours more important (at least on the perception side) than others.
  • Consider your peers and business partners: What types of projects are they completing or taking on sooner which may have synergies or ties to your efforts?  Does sequencing your projects in a certain way make more sense to align efforts and consolidate integration/change management/rollout efforts?  Killing two birds with one stone is always preferable to reinventing the wheel in my experiences.
  • Consider seasonality and planned downtime: Does your organization typically have lots of down time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s?  Will it be really difficult to hit a January 1 launch given all that time off?  Are other people thinking the same as you and trying to cram everything to hit a specific date in which case it might not make sense to have everyone launch their new projects/processes at the same time?  Are there scheduled events which need to be considered prior to developing a roadmap/implementation strategy/plan
  • Consider the existing pipeline: Similarly, it is extremely rare that we get to prioritize new initiatives or develop roadmaps in a silo.  There is almost always already some set of planned activities that are non-negotiable (or, at a minimum, will need to be a lens while reviewing your own priorities), and those have to be taken into account when embarking on any new greenfield set of priorities.
  • Consider the morale of the team: Lastly, and (in my opinion) most importantly, how will the people who are directly (or indirectly) impacted by this event or effort receive the project/task?  Change for the sake of change is never a good thing – people need to know WIIFM (What’s In It For Me – another topic I will revisit many times I’m sure in the not so distant future).  There are projects that boost morale, and those that drain it; be sure you aren’t piling on too many of the draining ones in your sequence, and ensure your prioritization is manageable on the people side.  If you’re unsure of how your project or task may be received – ASK!  People love the opportunity to spill their own ink on plans; it creates a sense of ownership in them (and I have found that people will work much harder if they know they had a hand in the recipe).

Again, I know these may seem to be basic and largely common sense tips, but you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve seen prioritization fail even with the brightest of teams.  So, next time you go to roadmap or prioritize a set of efforts, please have some consideration.

Til Next Time,

Michael

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SWAG

No, not the cool stuff you get at beer festivals or vendor conferences.  Rather, the “Scientific Wild A** Guesses” we all make sometimes in order to provide a somewhat-reasonable estimate when asked a seemingly difficult question about something’s progress, cost, or effort.

I am not fearful to admit: I’m a big proponent of SWAG (see my post on BS).  Not because I think it’s usually highly accurate within a great percentage of confidence, but because it starts to draw a line in the sand.  It gives a baseline to work from.  It gets everyone talking in similar terms.

I fear that far too often, everyone is afraid to quantize things in a manner that allows for healthy conversation.  People’s reluctance to SWAG (believe me, in the professional services industry, it’s practically a four-letter word…  wait…  bad #UnintendedPun?) leaves us talking in generalities, with no real sight on the prize or the end goal.  As long as you set the expectation that what you are providing is only an educated guess at best, clients and colleagues will (for the most part) be receptive of your guess.  Because, guess what?  You’ve been there before.  You know it.  They know it.  That’s all they are after: your professional opinion based upon year(s) of experience dealing with similar situations at similar clients in similar organizational circumstances.  The elephant in the room should be revealed – we all know there will be roadblocks.  We know there are setbacks.  It’s on us all collectively to manage through those and figure out ways to mitigate risks and work through issues.  That’s what we are all paid for.

So – next time someone asks you something that may be difficult to forecast – please don’t give them a traditional “Well, uh, you see, uh, it depends on a lot of things” (my least favorite consulting jargon ever).  It doesn’t help anyone.  You are losing credibility with your boss/coworker/whomever, and you aren’t helping set expectations and drive forward progress.  Just do it (apologies to Nike?).  Take a SWAG.

Til Next Time,

Michael

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Year End Reviews

It’s that time of year again!  The time when most of us look forward to haphazardly rewording all of this year’s accomplishments to fulfill our obligation to perform our annual reviews.  It’s always a bit of a race (for me at least) and generally something we all resolve to do a better job of throughout the year (and, subsequently fail to deliver on by the time February rolls around).  But what if it didn’t have to be this way?

A very good friend of mine works at a startup.  They don’t have a formal performance appraisal process.  No year-end reviews, calibrations, roundtables, or personnel profile edits to make.  No application to update with highlights and no dashboard with their personal Key Performance Indicator results.  I don’t even think they have KPI’s; they have “Total Sales”.  On one hand, they have made a conscious effort as a company not to bog their employees down with these sorts of reviews and deemed it as something they manage on a recurring basis throughout the year (i.e. rewarding success and reprimanding failure).  On the other hand, the employees don’t have much to look back on in terms of a “year in review” unless they complete it in silo.

I, conversely, work at a massive company with over 100,000 global employees.  We have applications and processes to manage our annual performance reviews.  We have a timeline of year end review activities to complete with our mentors and our management, and a multi-layered evaluation form we are called to complete which aims to provide a holistic view of our accomplishments and progress across the full spectrum of defined functional areas our company has designated as relevant for assessment purposes.  We have KPI targets; our scores are tracked against the goals.  Each year, I PDF my annual review and archive it so I can more easily update my resume so I am not losing sight of everything I have accomplished.  But, truth be told, the process is largely extremely painful and the last thing I look forward to doing heading into the holidays (let alone the fact that I am responsible for presenting my counselees reviews in roundtables as well – an added layer of accountability and yet another speedbump in the race to the New Year).

So – which company is doing it right?  What if I told you it was neither?

I honestly think it’s time to completely scrap the traditional performance appraisal process.  And, time to get anyone who isn’t managing performance more proactively on board with a new school of performance management thought.  I firmly believe performance management is something that should be done on a rolling cycle.  Don’t wait til the end of the year – reward people for positive performance WHEN IT HAPPENS.  Also – take the opportunity to coach and learn from mistakes in real time (again, not waiting to align it with a formal review cycles).

I have helped develop performance management systems for clients in the past, and the one thing I have found to be “stickiest” is giving an employee ability to see their metrics in real time.  Coupling that with a holistic set of accurate and meaningful KPI’s that are within an employee’s control is the perfect potion to drive the needle in key functional and technical business measures.  I think often times, though, senior leadership focuses on the wrong metrics to drive results, and they are largely unable to clearly identify for employees how their individual contributions bubble up to drive top-line corporate initiatives (if they even relate at all in the first place).

I wish I had the right answers in terms of which metrics work in which industries at which sizes of companies.  I don’t have that though.  But there is one thing I know for sure – if members of the senior leadership teams are not all on board and don’t believe in performance management as a tool to make employees feel more valued and drive results, it’s a waste of time.  Strict performance management protocols, when they become a chore rather than an activity everyone enjoys doing (i.e. ongoing rewards and recognition programs, spot bonuses, appropriate celebrations of successes), they will garner much resentment from the front-line and never ultimately yield the originally intended result.

Til Next Time,

Michael

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Twitter Insights

I know Twitter isn’t for everyone, but I think we all owe it to ourselves to at least see what people are saying in this vehicle as it is really a powerful platform which many industry leaders, visionaries, and highly intellectual people go to for their most personal, unabridged, and raw thoughts.

That being said, I would like to offer a couple great follows on Twitter:

  • Tim Ferris: the man behind the 40 hour workweek and all things productivity-centric
  • Richard Branson: the CEO of Virgin Air and a true visionary in technology and society
  • Mark Suster: a technology entrepreneur-turned-venture capital guru who has authored a very popular blog Both Sides of the Table
  • Cindy Ratzlaff: a marketing expert with great insights on creating buzz for your brand (perhaps I should heed her advice more?)
  • Jason Fried: Co-Founder of 37 Signals (a Small Business software) and author of one of my favorite books: Rework, for which I, sadly, don’t get commissions upon referrals 🙂
  • Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook COO and visionary for the advancement of women in the professional environment
  • Malcolm Gladwell: best-selling author of several of my other favorite books including The Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink, and his newest – David and Goliath among other professional accomplishments (and, lesser known fact, he’s a big sports enthusiast)
  • Mark Cuban: a professional idol and consummate businessman/entrepreneur (and owner of a sports franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, another profession on my to-do list)
  • Steven Colbert: talk show host and all-around funny guy; hey, we need someone to add humor to life events every once in a while right?

Anybody you follow that’s worth paying attention to?  Drop me a line, would love to hear!

Til Next Time,

Michael (clearly I am more of a follower than a poster on Twitter, unless pushed 4square checkins count!)

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Business Cards

Funny Workplace Ecard: I need to get some business cards so I seem like the kind of person who has business cards.

So a quick blurb about business cards.  You know, those things your company helps you get in your first couple weeks on the job, mostly so they can teach you how to use your internal procurement systems (which, by the way, will definitely have their own rant at some point – promise)?  The 500-pack that you swear you’ll never use, and laugh about a few years from now when it’s still unopened?  Those pieces of ancient history which are no longer relevant because everyone has embraced the digital age, wants to reduce our carbon footprint, and hates the thought of killing trees?  Don’t shoot the messenger, but…

I actually think they are wildly useful.  And have formed the basis of many key relationships for both myself and many of my close colleagues.  And you should never leave home without them.

Think about it: when you first meet someone, 99% of that interaction is going to be words spoken between you, your ability to engage with that person, and the common interests, products, needs, or skills which you are able to discuss.  I am not going to debate that.  And, whether or not you choose to follow up with someone is definitely up to you and will likely be influenced by the mutual perceived value of that interaction and your ability to help each other later on down the line.

But I cannot tell you how many times I have met someone, really enjoyed their presence, and then totally forgotten their name or moved on to something else requiring more focus 5 minutes later.  Hence, no ability to add them on Linked In, shoot them a follow up note, or do deeper research into their role, company, or industry.  And, you know what?  Shame on me for that.  But the bigger “shame on me” in my opinion is not at least giving them my business card.  I have zero excuse.  I should have them on me at all times.  Because even if they don’t carry theirs with them – I should be confident that my interaction with them was engaging enough that, when they go to clean out their pockets that day (or later that week, the next month when they finally do dry-cleaning, whatever – I don’t judge!), odds are that seeing my business card will make them recall that interaction.  And, in the event that I am able to get one of theirs in return – I am going to do the exact same thing.  I may not follow up immediately, maybe not even in the next month.  But when I stumble upon that business card later or add that person to a professional network/contact list of mine, I have provided some form of cement, something tangible, to that relationship which may not have been there without the trusty business card.

Listen, I know they aren’t for everyone and some people are anti-business cards.  I get that. But for those of the rest of us that still need some traditional crutches or subtle reminders over time to connect with someone, look someone up, or add someone to our professional records – they are a fantastic way to ensure there is something physical to back up a relationship besides the memory of a great chat.  I am a huge advocate and invite you to reassess whether or not it may be time for you to issue your next order for a fresh set.

Editor’s note: Sorry for all the continued someecards images alongside the articles.  To be honest, I was really just aiming to get some color behind the blog.  And – I’ll admit – I think they are generally wildly entertaining and provide witty commentary on issues facing us all.

Til Next Time,

Michael

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Air/Hotel Travel Tips

At some point, I’m going to convince a few of my friends to do some guest posts on Air/Hotel Travel Tips and Rewards Program Best Practices.  They are much more intelligent than me when it comes to those things, although I’m not completely asleep at the wheel when it comes to frequent flying and maximizing hotel points.  Whether you travel once a day or once a year, it doesn’t make sense not to take advantage of preferred rates, loyalty programs, and the host of deals that are available if you’re willing to look.  It’s free money.

In the mean time, though, I wanted to point you all to a couple good articles run by Travel & Leisure recently on how to maximize Air/Hotel Travel:

Air Travel Tips

Hotel Travel Tips

Also, be on the lookout for the December issue of T&L/online for the full writeup of 100 Ways to Travel Better.  Fair warning though: don’t sign up for anything from them.  Ever.  You’ll be handcuffed to an obnoxious mailing list where they send you hardbound travel books and conveniently charge your credit card something absurd like $34.95 every time you don’t return to sender.  I seriously cannot figure out how to delete my information from their records.

Til Next Time,

Michael

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Mentorship – A Two Way Street

I always appreciate mentorship programs, not only because of the value they provide the mentee (a possibly fictitious word that I’m going to use to mean “one who is being mentored”), but the great value that they are able to simultaneously provide the mentor.  Having been on both sides of the equation many times before, I may even go so far as to say being the mentor may actually be more of a useful learning experience.

For the mentee, mentorship provides substantive value in that it allows for them to have a sounding board and an outlet to feel like their voice is heard.  It gives them (hopefully) independent, unbiased people to talk to about whatever may be of concern to them, and get valuable feedback from another experienced lens.

For the mentor, mentorship provides a great way to hear things from another person’s perspective.  It allows for them to gain insights and observe thought processes for other (typically more junior) individuals.  And in an age where everything is changing seemingly all the time, that can be invaluable information.

There is something to be said for helping someone air concerns, talk strategy, or generally discuss life events or work activities.  One of the greatest qualities I think we all can have as members of society, corporate citizens, or friends in friend circles is the ability to listen.  And that’s what being a good mentor is all about: the ability to listen, understand another person’s situation, and respond with something constructive or useful for that individual.  Often times, the conversation or net outcome is something that both sides can index in their memory bank to recall moving forward.  Then, in the future, there is a reference point from which to start when dealing with similar situations.  Some of the wisest people I know are not wise because of anything they personally have done in a vacuum.  Rather, it is their ability to always recall in vivid detail a relevant story to draw on which provides the best “Aha!” moments for everyone involved.

One final point: age really is nothing but a number in this case.  I have seen several mentorships take place where the person being mentored was in fact older or longer-tenured in an organization.  And that is not a bad thing!  These types of relationships and mentor arrangements can be equally as valuable as any other more “traditional” setup.

As always, hope you enjoyed the quick thoughts.

Til Next Time,

Michael

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to introduce the person you've been dating to the people they'd eventually have to endure.

Thanksgiving is a great time to sit back and reflect on ourselves and review our personal and professional growth throughout the year.  We should all be thankful for all that we are given and continue to find the silver lining and aggressively target opportunities to play to our strengths while still growing ourselves and our competencies.  And, in the event you are traveling with significant others, in-laws, or other family – I hope all goes well!

Hope your turkey turns out great!

Til Next Time,

Michael

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Customer Service in the Social Age

The social age is wildly fascinating to me. The ability for all of us to connect electronically at a moment’s notice has totally revolutionized the way we engage in and maintain professional relationships and friendships. Thus, it should not be a huge surprise that we have let some of this social media connectivity creep into our retail relationships. We now, more than ever, expect our big box retailers as well as many of our beloved boutiques to have an online social presence so that we can stay abreast of their latest sales and products. More importantly, we have started to lean on these retailers to provide us support when transactions or interactions go south. And, naturally, the truly exceptional retailers have adapted their offerings to acknowledge this level of support we require. To someone of my parents’ generation, though, the concept of social customer service is incredibly baffling. So I wanted to take a moment to recognize some of the great ways to optimize your own customer service through social media outlets.

Live Chat is a lifesaver for those of us who don’t have the time or the energy to wait on the phone on hold. It allows us to multitask and remain active as we wait for a message response from a specialized agent on the other end who is able to access back office support systems to investigate our concerns. Simply have the relevant order, product, or shipping information at your disposal, and be sure to provide the online rep all of the required information for them to leverage the tools at their disposal (i.e. their internal systems for CRM, Billing, Order Management, etc) to provide you quick and easy help. Also – don’t be afraid to ask for partial (or full) refunds if you were not satisfied. Many companies will be quick to provide you a coupon or gift certificate towards your next purchase for your trouble.

Facebook messaging or Tweeting has given us an outlet to issue cries for help directly to our retailers, either by direct messaging, tagging, or mentioning them in a post. Superb retailers will almost always respond in a timely manner to social outbursts, and in many cases they will look to follow you in order to provide more immediate resolutions the next time you need assistance. When dealing with these sorts of conversations, try to get the company’s representative to have a direct conversation as soon as you can so that you can provide them critical information like frequent shopper/traveler numbers without having those be publicly visible. Allowing reps to have more direct access to your consumer profile (if applicable) will always get you better service than an ordinary customer off the street.

Online help forums or complaint sites can be useful as well for ensuring that your complaint is rightfully handled.  It’s as easy as googling “Delta Complaints” (or, of course, an equivalent mechanism for your preferred company of complaint) to get to the right place.  Often times, you are simply asked to indicate the time and nature of your complaint, and you will be rewarded with amenities from the appropriate customer care department in order to repay you for any inconvenience you may have endured through a transaction or interaction with your company of interest.  I personally have chosen this route many times and, while the repayment might not be to my liking, I am at least usually given something in return for my woes.  And something is always better than nothing.

I’m not the king of complaining and I don’t try to be, but if there is a provider out there who isn’t meeting your expectations, the only way to change that is by saying something.  So please be smart when you embark as a consumer in the social age.  You might be pleasantly surprised at what the customer service you are provided yields you.

Til Next Time,
Michael

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Working Smart While Traveling

Quick note on working while traveling…

If you plan to work (or do personal activities) on devices while traveling, be sure to do the following to make sure you are being safe and not inviting your neighbors to eavesdrop on your personal data:
-reduce screen brightness
-angle devices away from those sitting next to you
-reduce volume on calls, webinars, or online training/videos
-wear a headset or earbuds to ensure you are the only one hearing your audio
-invest in a privacy screen for your laptop/devices that will make sure only those looking straight onto the screen can see it
-be aware of people all around you, not just those in your immediate proximity

I know I have said before that most times it does not matter what we are working on because nothing is hardly ever that “top secret”, but in some cases it is just a respectful thing to do and makes you less of a target in case you do run into a bad apple that it trying to poach or stalk on your information.

Til Next Time,
Michael