In June 2006, I started to capturing my thoughts in relation to what has now become TPAssist 2007. Below is the last of three pieces I wrote on the subject:
"In my last pieces I explored two notions, firstly that ultimate productivity is possibly linked to removal of interference and secondly that it is common place and typical for us to be very poor at effectively managing an independent workload.
In this next piece I explore the practical side of managing an independent workload to ultimately increase personal efficiency and effectiveness.
Let me start by recapping in order to isolate the challenge that confronts us. It is clear that the job of the modern knowledge professional is neither straightforward nor routine. We must capture, process and track requests and activities from any number of sources and incorporating any number of complexities. We need a flexible method that not only records and tracks our activities but also drives our productivity in a proactive manner. If we are to perform to our maximum potential we need both skills and time. The skills are necessary to deliver something of value and the time is required in order to deliver that value. The modern work environment places massive demands on our time. We are subject to continual bombardment from colleagues, staff, customers and bosses. It is not realistic to hide away, free from interruptions. If we are to be effective we need a method that in addition to flexibility, also allows us to quickly and easily capture, process and dispatch or revisit requests.
The first answer I wish to explore is flexible and quick. The notion of the Task Lists is not new. The advent of the FiloFax® certainly had an impact on the wider adoption of Task Lists. The humble Task Lists is a flexible way to identify things that need to be done. Even the paper version or manual art of listing things to do in the calendar page of a future date is quite effective. Electronic equivalents like the Task capability of Microsoft Outlook® provide additional capabilities in that you can configure “Reminders” so that your computer or even hand-held diary alerts you of pending activity. In this way as requests land at your feet, you can quickly appraise the request and then generate a Task to manage the response appropriate to the request. You can also use the Task List to track items you have requested of others, i.e. you can create a Task to remind you that the report is due or person X is visiting customer Y. You may choose to extend this method a little further by blocking out future parts of your diary to “address” or “review” a request. If you are using the electronic equivalents, another little trick is the use the body or notes area of the Task Item to make comments about your activity. You also might choose to note when you received the request or what you asked of whom and by when. In this way you have a “mini-journal” of your related activities that can be reviewed later reducing the time you spend coming back up to speed. Have you ever found yourself asking “when did I send that” or “what did I say to him”? The notes inside your tasks can help elevate that problem. Task Lists are quick and flexible, but are they effective?
Is it sufficient to be on top of what you need to do, when you need to do it and for whom it needs to be done for? Well the simple answer is “no”. The reason is a little more complicated. The very nature of task lists is that they never diminish. As you complete tasks at the top, more items are added to the bottom. Further more, it is rare that any single activity is done in isolation of everything else. More often, even the simplest of activities is linked to a chain of activities or part of a group of activities. The activity may involve one or more people or teams. Those people and/or teams may appear multiple times in your list activities and you will likely want to visit activities in related blocks and not in isolation.
There is one further complication that is far more important. “Ticking” off Tasks does provide you with a list of mini-achievements, but do these “ticked” off items give you a sense of where you’ve come from and where you are going? The underlying and fundamental human need at play here is linked to goal recognition or having a sense of accomplishment. If we don’t often reach this sense of accomplishment we slowly but surely get tired, worn-out and bored with what we are doing. The things that used to have us bouncing out of bed in the morning, don’t matter any more. This situation is known by the likes of Anthony Robbins as overwhelm. The essential theory behind overwhelm is that everything you do must be part of something and that “something” must be clearly identifiable and achievable. Or put another way, a sense of accomplishment comes simply by seeing in every action you take, no matter how small, your own progress against a bigger picture goal.
It should be clear now that whilst at the core of the challenge that confronts us is the ability to quickly and easily capture, process and dispatch or revisit requests, true success and fulfilment requires something more. Therefore the second answer I wish to explore involves a method for putting all those requests and tasks into context. The context is the goals and desires that govern our daily life. If the task lists discussed above, were grouped and facilitated in such away that they were clearly identifiable again goals then each “tick” would be a step closer to that goal. By seeing these completed tasks as steps towards a goal we will have a better chance of achieving the sense of accomplishment on a daily, hourly or even minute-by-minute basis.
The steps appropriate to this approach can be summarised as follows:
- Clearly identify your goals structure. For your professional life, this goal structure should contain no more than 5 top line items (7 at an absolute maximum).
- Under each goal, start to collect the projects or operational aspects that form the basis of your professional life.
- The “task” or “To-Do” items are now listed under the project or operational aspect. It is important that each “task” or “To-Do” has a short-life (typically no more than 1 week). In this way, as you complete each “Task” or “To-Do” you will immediately see progress towards your goals.
This method can be achieved with some success using Categories in the Task capability of Microsoft Outlook®: Assign every Task a category, use UPPER CASE characters to describe the top line goal and then lower case or Title Case to describe the project. Using the “Arrange By” feature of Outlook, you can quickly and easily build and manage your daily responsibilities. A further suggestion is to use the “Master Categories” list to permanent record your goals and projects.
Unfortunately as the complexity and volume of activities increases, the “two-dimension” approach described above becomes less effective. More sophisticated tools are required in order to manage more complex situations. These tools and the associated methodologies are the focus of TPAssist and will be presented and explored in subsequent blogs, in knowledge articles and via the downloadable tools."
