What you need to get productive right now

I meet a lot of people who are overworked, stressed out and generally feeling like everything is piling up on top of them. Many of these people work in IT, and for them I think that’s part of the problem.

The peculiar thing about tech-savvy people is that they tend to look for technological solutions to their productivity issues. They look for productivity software, mobile applications, collaboration tools and the like, but usually don’t get long term value from these gadgets. There is an initial flush of productivity when these tools are first adopted, but within a few weeks they’re back to where they were: stressed and overloaded. And their technological solution is languishing on the hard drive, half full of weeks-old actions and tasks. The ’solution’ has just added to their workload.

Solve the issue

If you’re trying to get productive, there are really only 2 things that you need:

1. CLARITY and
2. FOCUS

Clarity

CLARITY is being specific about what the task is that needs to be done next. Define it, quantify it, and describe precisely what you’re going to do about it.

Focus

FOCUS is a decision to get that task done, forsaking all distractions till it’s finished. The phone rings – ignore it and get on with it. An email arrives – ignore it (or better still, close your email). Every time you decide to stay focused is a victory for you and it makes it easier to stay focused for the next task. And the next, and the next.

Productivity tools can help, but only after you’ve got clarity and focus.

So decide NOW to have clarity and focus, and your productivity will start to build. And as your productivity gains momentum, you’ll find your stress and sense of overwork will fall away – no technology required.

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Is email ‘efficiency’ making you look bad?

Email is a great way to collect information from a group of people. An email will whip around the team, or bounce between the project and the customer, collecting information as it goes.

You, as the project manager, are often the hub of these communications, directing the flow and prompting the appropriate people to contribute.

Once an email has accumulated the information for a task, have you ever forwarded it as-is to one of your team members as the supporting information? E.g. Hi Bill, the information for Task X is in the attached email…

If so, you may have created a few problems which could easily have been avoided:

• Emails that have gathered details from a number of people can be quite lengthy, so the delegate will spend time finding the details they need to commence work.
• Some of the information may be incorrect, replaced elsewhere in the email during discussions or negotiations. Depending on where they are looking, delegates can accidentally use the wrong information.
• If you are simply forwarding emails, what value are you adding to the process? Your team will certainly ask that question as they sift through long email trails to find the information they need.

It’s not difficult or time-consuming to avoid these issues, both during information gathering and when the task is assigned.

As an email skips from recipient to recipient, periodically:

1. Summarise the information so far, and identify what else is needed.
2. Truncate the trail of information.
3. Send it on its way again.

You’ll make it clear where the information gathering process is up to, clarify what has been gathered and highlight what needs to be contributed.

When you’ve got all the information, create a final, concise summary and provide it to the team member who’ll do the task. They’ll be able to get work straight away, using the right information.

Summarising and truncating emails will improve the efficiency of information collection and task assignments. It will also build your focusing skills and confirm your reputation as a value-adding, get-to-the-point project manager.

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