9 3/4 Tips To Get Things Done
by Janice Giannini
As a trusted business consultant and advisor, Janice has been helping clients achieve their stretch goals and create a new normal since 2005. She engages with senior executives and teams, particularly in complex businesses where misalignment is blocking their desired success, to develop and execute practical business strategies and plans. Clients have found her especially helpful when they recognize they must integrate an eagle’s eye and worm’s eye view in order to identify and remove obstacles. Janice has consistently taken on those challenges that others chose to run from. This typically involves those challenging times when failure is not an option and integrating business, technology and people changes must be accomplished simultaneously. As a result, many of her clients are complex organizations who won't settle for anything less than developing widespread professional competence.
Part One Video Script
My name is Janice Giannini. Over the past 20 plus years we have been helping businesses to get things done. During that time, we have found that some of the main reasons that "things don't get done" are related to an incomplete understanding of the: scope, urgency, overall risk, as well as customer perspective of the job.
This is Part One of a two part video to share with you our " 9 ¾ tips to help you get things done".
1- Be clear about expectations of yourself and others. Write it down so that team members have a common understanding.
1 ¼ - Assume that people will meet you half way. When negotiating internal schedules, content, & participation, it’s amazing the difference it makes to the overall outcome, if you start from the place that you are on the same team with the same set of goals.
2- Recognize that sometimes work does not always go according to plan. Have an agreed upon process to follow when that happens.
3- Have a mindset that failure is not an option; side by side with a mindset or environment that as soon as something seems "not quite right", surface it so the team can address it .In the words of my first boss, heart mind and gut need to align. When they don't align check it out.
3 ¼ - I rarely use absolute words- I do here- never shoot the messenger
3 ½ - When someone is concerned enough to mention an issue or ask the difficult questions, first before you think or say anything else- say thank you ! It will encourage others to do the same, thereby keeping the team focused at all times.
4- Understand what can get in the way of success; the obstacles or risks that exist and have a plan for each. The more of these obstacles you think of up front, and plan for, the fewer may in fact happen. Depending on the criticality of the project, thorough risk or obstacle mitigation may lead you to mitigate risks several layers deep versus staying on the surface.
4 ¼ -Understand your underlying assumptions and their potential impacts
Thank you for viewing this video. To hear tips 5 through 9 ¾ please view Part Two. For more information on this subject, please visit the Paradigm Associates web site. WWW.ParadigmAssociates.US
Part Two Video Script
My name is Janice Giannini of Paradigm Associates. This is Part Two of our 9 ¾ tips to help you "get things done". We ended part one with continuously validating your assumptions.
5 - Be really clear about the final outcome needed so when warning signs arise you can recognize them. Consider the example of the Titanic. Would anybody today consciously sacrifice 1500 lives to break a speed record? What exactly was the needed outcome: was it to break the record period or was it to keep our passengers safe while we are breaking the record?
6- Don't underestimate the power of please and thank you. Under stress people revert to form and become anxious. It is easy to start to feel underappreciated and de-focus. Saying please and thank you is a reminder that helps people feel appreciated and stay on point.
7- Periodically, based on the activity have updates with the team. It need only take 10 to 15 minutes to keep people focused and allow for necessary interaction.
8- Sometimes to get things done, recognize that doing nothing is a valid and perhaps the best action to take.
9- During times of "change induced anxiety" ( merger, acquisitions, new management team, new product development) people gravitate towards structure. In the absence of sufficient structure people create invalid assumptions and undesirable outcomes to maintain a feeling of control.
9 ¼- What gets compensated gets done. Make sure you are compensating what is needed for the organization as a whole.
9 ½- Another way is to ask the question "does our rewards and recognition system benefit the entire organization or create conflicting priorities and actions".
9 ¾- Over communicate versus under communicate. Lack of clear and consistent and unambiguous communication is the number 1 issue!
So there you have it. Folks- our 9 and ¾ tips to help you "get things done." Thank you for viewing this video. For more information on this subject, please visit the Paradigm Associates web site WWW.ParadigmAssociates.US.