It's Been One of Those Days Again! -- Poor Planning Produces Poor Results
Michael J. Boyle, C.L.C.
We usually awaken each morning with the intention of accomplishing a variety of tasks before days end. Often times the parts and pieces that we want to manage are floating or zipping around in our head and no where else.
The reality is that all too many of us who operate a small company of one or two choose to carry around bits and pieces of paper with notes about our tasks to be completed. They can be in our pocket, written on note-its and stuck around our computer equipment or stuck in a book at a certain page we thought yesterday we would not forget. These bits and pieces are like parts of a puzzle that we have no total image of because we are never looking at the eventual completed picture. Among those things that we don’t get to might have been something that stood higher in importance over other accomplishments of the day. Often what is worse are those instances when an incomplete or overlooked item may have been the linchpin for completing other tasks that follow. This sets us up for more delay, repetition and confusion in the days to come. This is fertile ground for frustration and anxiety. These conditions happen more among the single entrepreneur or the small shop operation. Why does this happen and what can we do to improve?
Coaches encounter people who are victims of this type of time and progress management deficiency which left to languish can eventually become the beginnings of a maelstrom of confusion, frustration and personal feelings of inadequacy. The individual, often mistakenly, relates the inability to manage their responsibilities to something missing in their ability to perform and self doubt develops. They have elevated the problems into a measure of their own self worth. Worse might be their partner or associates negative perception of their apparent lack of progress and continuity often discovered during a comparison of expectations and uncompleted work. Possibly the individual didn’t hold up his/her end of the bargain or maybe it’s not them but their associate who has failed to keep up. Negative things said here tend to reinforce an individuals lack of self worth. Many times they simply need to gain better control over their projects, identifying where their programs are, dependent or interdependent to each other with interim and final time frames to completion. Stated another way they need a blueprint showing the tracking and progression of their work. If something like that does not exist in your working environment create a simple tracking system and follow it religiously. A simple but effective system can be found on the Internet. Start to use it religiously. It’s likely that not using any system is a large part of working environment problems. Not having a system or not using the tools available it is at the root of these problems. People resist these applications at their own peril.
Business coaching is essentially the same as all coaching wherein we are not consultants, psychiatrists or therapists. As a business coach I occasionally find it necessary to venture into areas that “border” on consulting. It’s necessary, at times, to “touch” on consulting because the evolution of day to day happenings in the small business world require the coach to be able to recognize the nature of the clients dilemma and then lead him/her to the personal discovery that it is, in this example, the lack of proper relationships or application of tools that is at the root of their dilemma. Managing responsibilities is a matter of having a good system. Typically a project control system that permits the client to identify a goal, and the essential steps to complete that goal, with dates for completion is all the basic documentation needed. The secret, of course is that you must use it faithfully, daily and constantly changing and adjusting dates as warranted being careful not to get mired down in detail. That last item is what gets many people in trouble. Often, however, there is a need for more delegation to subordinates on the part of the client and the coach must direct the client in such a way as to have them recognize which projects need to be delegated. In a small organization this may not be an option and the process must take a different tact. It may be necessary to break the tasks into smaller parts and spread the deadlines out. If that hurts too much than hiring temporary help might be the answer. The truth is that we are a society of speed—get it done—short cut it---I want it now. So many do not use systems or misuse them because they can’t be bothered with all that extra detail. They say ”why do I have to use my valuable time updating this system when I could be doing some work?” When a person relates to a system in that way it isn’t long before the system is ignored. This seldom happens in a large company because you’ll be found at fault and very likely fired. In the small company you just may go broke and fail.
This is an overview of how a responsible individual can find themselves struggling with their goals and responsibilities without benefit of tools that define the functional next steps to be taken to achieve their objectives. This condition is made noticeably worse when that individual’s lagging projects are some of spokes, of many, intended to meet at the hub of a wheel on time and become a workable part of the system. This condition of unmanageability can create bad emotional reactions, confusion and frustration. This leads to self defeating emotions that cloud our true perception of how to get our arms wrapped around something that seems continually elusive. It’s why we so often find ourselves saying it’s been one of those days again! Poor planning produces poor results.
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About the Author: Michael J. Boyle holds his certification as a Certified LIFE Coach. Michael is founder of Executive Coach Now, an executive and business coaching firm. If you wish to learn more about Michael's work, please visit his website at: www.resume-pro.net.
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