Improve My Business

I’m interviewing admins, with mixed results; this post-interview letter “I’m sorry I bit you during the job interview” sounds… well… like it might happen! A warning to us all…

Technorati Tags: funny friday, humor, job interview

It’s the last Friday of the month, which means that it’s “Funny Friday” - the time when we post something that may (or may not) teach a lesson, but definitely is not in the serious vein!  This month’s post is ad placement - you can design a great advertisement, but it may backfire depending on where it shows up in the media, as evidenced by these posts on Business Insider:  take a peek!

Technorati Tags: ads, funny friday, placement

One of the things we spend time on here at McDonald Consulting when we first engage with a client is to help them get organized, so we can work more efficiently together.  For some clients this is more of a challenge than others.. 

Although these tips and tricks are for businesses, they can work equally well for your home life also.

1. Determine what you need to keep, and put it away.
2. Determine what you can get rid of, and do it - now.
3. Don’t let things build up once you get it organized.

Let’s look at them one at a time:

1.  Determine what you need to keep, and put it away. Is your desk a pile of papers, files, books, receipts, post-it notes, etc?   Do you shuffle through things to find what you need, knowing it might be ‘1/2 way down that pile on the right’?  Instead, as you touch a piece of paper, TAF it - Toss it, take Action on it, or File it away.  You shouldn’t be touching a piece of paper more than once (toss) or twice (action and file).

2.  Determine what you can get rid of, and do it - now. If getting rid of things all at once is too overwhelming, do it in small doses.  For example, the thought of cleaning out my supply closet may be overwhelming as a huge task, but if I identify something I no longer need (downlevel versions of software, an older style keyboard, etc.) I can easily get rid of those things now.  I use freecycle (freecycle.org) to let someone else use these things that are working but no longer needed (and got rid of several things that were broken - someone scooped ‘em up for spare parts) which is an environmental alternative to throwing them in the trash.  That way, I can do it at my pace, and not be overwhelmed.  However, if you DO decide to do this method, schedule yourself to identify x things per week, or clear off y shelves per week, to ensure it gets done.  If you don’t have freecycle in your local area, get a box, put these things in them as you identify them, then when the box is full, donate the box.

Another thing you can easily do is recycle old magazines and trade journals.  I used to have a stack of magazines that I was going to cull ’some day’; now, every time I’m on hold on the phone, or my computer is frozen, I’ll flip through the magazine and rip it apart - articles that I want to file or read I put in one file folder, and articles and ads I have no interest in go in the recycling bin.  I carry the folder around with me when I know I might have time to read the articles; and then when I’m flying, or in a waiting room, I can read and annotate articles without having to carry around the bulk of the magazine.

3.  Don’t let things build up once you get it organized. OK, now that you may be a bit more organized, you can see the top of your desk, your supply cabinet or storage cabinet (or junk drawer, or closet) is getting pared down to what you need vs. what you had — you gotta keep it up.  It does little good to have a clean-out, a tidy-up, etc. only to get back in the junk habit right away.   So set aside a few minutes at the end of the day (or at least the end of the week) and go through the TAF exercise again - toss, action, or file.  and again.  and again, until you do this by habit.  Once you have that down, take a few extra seconds to TAF it as you do it - toss right away, or take action and set aside for filing as you go.  You’ll be amazed at how quickly you become organized, without ever being overwhelmed!

When looking at how to make your business (or your life) better, look at whether you’re really doing your best, trying your hardest, or… whether you’re “phoning it in” - saying you’re trying when you’re not (not really, anyway) or doing things that sabotage your efforts because ‘it’s too much bother’ to do it right or ‘too difficult/no benefit’ to doing it better.

I’ve noticed this in my business lately.  I’m working to ensure that my business continues to grow in the coming year, and was surprised to see that I’ve been slacking off in some areas - doing the very things I preach to others not to do:

• I’ve disappeared down a few rabbit holes courtesy of Twitter or Facebook - I click on one interesting link, then another, and presto change-o!  I’ve lost 45 mins of my day.
• I make excuses for people - before I’ve even called them.  “They’re probably too busy.”  “It’s too late/too early/lunchtime and they probably won’t be there”.  Etc., etc., etc.  Shame on me.
• I spend time culling e-mails - too much time.  I want to get my inbox below 200, so I’ll read things that really could wait, just to hit an arbitrary number so I can ‘reach my goal’.  What goal?  It’s not real… and cost me some time that should have been spent (on calling up contacts?)

This goes to personal time as well.  I was in a mastermind group where we were just meeting each other, and had to list two business and one personal goal - I  kidded that “Business goal #2 is to reach level 68 in FarmVille…” - how much time do you spend on Facebook, or watching TV, or doing other ‘mindless’ stuff?  Once you get past the initial 30-60 mins of relaxing/zoning, how much more time do you really need to spend on it?

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about picking some words as guideposts for the year - if you’re not familiar with the concept, here are some creative posts from Michael Bungay Stanier who chose 11, and Chris Brogan who’s got 3, (and the single word chosen by 300 words a day, as 3 were too many to focus on for them) to give you an idea of the words and why they were selected…

All of which got me thinking - what would my words be?  What guideposts would I benefit from focusing on for 2011?  What would  help me be a better business person, as well as a better human?  And it came down to the old list that we were taught as kids — God, family, others.  If I truly work on being a better person, on making better decisions based on this triage, wouldn’t that make me a better business person also?  Someone you’d delight in working with?  Someone who you know would treat you ethically, and with respect?

Sometimes I think we overthink things.

Sometimes “out with the old, in with the new” has no value.