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USE 4 D’S TO DEAL WITH UNFINISHED PROJECTS

unfinishedprojectsThis is the third post in a monthly series dedicated to preparing your business for the upcoming economic recovery.

We all have them. Many times, they sit in stacks of papers in our office, the “someday I will get to that pile.” Not addressing this pile of projects before business growth is like trying to run a marathon with an extra 40 pounds on your hips, knees and ankles – it can be done but it takes longer and it hurts a lot more. Everyone has their own system but for me, I like to follow the 4D’s approach:

Do It! These are the projects that support strategic objectives, have high payback and cannot be delayed. They were a great idea before the recession and they are an even better idea now.

Delegate It! Do you have employees looking for more challenging assignments? During a recession when money is tight, performance development projects without restrictive schedules can be delegated to employees who are trying to develop new skills. In a tight market, if you cannot offer raises or other financial incentives, providing employees with enhanced duties and opportunities to develop new skills helps foster positive morale.

Consider smartsourcing the work to a freelancer. Besides the traditional online jobbers such as Monster.com or Hotjobs.com, check out Craigslist.com, elance.com, guru.com or odesk.com as terrific resources to locate highly credentialed professionals. Ask for referrals on your social networks such as LinkedIn. There are many unemployed or underemployed professionals on the market willing to freelance while between jobs. If the projects require administrative or computer skills, you can use web-based productivity tools such as Google Docs or Zoho for virtual collaboration.

Dump It! In my experience, at least 50% of the projects in the “someday” pile should simply be dumped. If you haven’t made it a priority by now, what has changed? Why wasn’t it critical enough to rise to the level of importance before? Was it lack of staff? If so, why didn’t you outsource the work while the business was stronger and money available? Was it because no one can do it like you? I hope not – those kinds of projects will kill your business whether we are in a recession or on the upswing.

Delay It! These are great ideas that have positive impact on the business but are not as high a priority as “Do It Now” items. They are not essential enough to pay someone else to do (or they are difficult to delegate or outsource) but they are worth getting done. For example, you may have a list of blog changes you want to make but they don’t raise to the level of critical enough to hire a webmaster to complete. Avoid putting everything you cannot do immediately into the Delay It category – you will simply end up right where you started with a big pile of unfinished projects. If you designate a project for delay, be sure to put these projects on your plan and schedule time to accomplish them within a short period of time. Any project that continues to miss its planned start and finish over and over again must be questioned as a possible “Dump It” project.

Please schedule regular reviews on a monthly or quarterly basis – mark it on your calendar. Use the opportunity of a business downturn to establish the practices and disciplines that keep you organized and focused upon profitable activities and projects.

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MAKE ROOM FOR THE RECOVERY

filing boxes on dollyThis is the second post in a monthly series dedicated to preparing your business for the upcoming economic recovery. Yesterday, we discussed how you need to clear out your thinking and today we talk about how we must clean up and make room in our office space to prepare for growth.

* Are your files over stretched to the max?
* Are your computers running out of space?
* Is your facility/office running out of files space?
* Do you have stacks of unfinished projects?
* Lists of to-do’s are everywhere?
* Daily email traffic filled with subscriptions and newsletters you never read?
* Daily snail mail filled with postcards and sales letters, magazines you never read?
* Books on your shelf?
* Is your office furniture laid out in such a way as to be highly productive?
* Old supplies in your drawers?
* Are you so disorganized that you buy new supplies because you cannot find the old supplies?

Isn’t it time to clean out your workspace? The process of cleaning up serves several purposes:

* Cleaning up allows you to symbolically remove past mistakes.
* Cleaning up and making room allow you to acknowledge your past accomplishments. You will run across old to-do lists, goals, projects, customer letters and other items that remind what an excellent job you do at what you do! Cleaning up your office can be like looking through an old picture album.
* Cleaning up inspires your future. Old projects and customer files may spark an idea that has been latent for a long time. Start making a list of your inspired thoughts.
* Cleaning up creates space for new customers, new sales, new processes, and new product innovation ideas.
* No one can do their best thinking when surrounded by disorganization. Just think how pleasant it will be to work in an organized space.

For some great ideas on how to organize your filing systems, here are some books for further study:

Organizing from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life by Julie Morgenstern

Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity by Chris Crouch

You can also browse the web for “office organization” or “home office organization” and you will find many resources available from professional organizers.

As you go through the process, put aside all “unfinished projects” which we will review tomorrow. Are you ready to make room for the economic upswing?

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Don’t Go It Alone – Partners Help You Climb Higher!

web slider climb mountainIf you run a business, you know how essential it is to regularly monitor and measure the vital signs of your business, such as sales, profits, and project milestones. No matter your size, very simple processes can be put into place in a few key operational areas which can scale and grow in complexity as your business grows. But for me, it is not just the structure of processes which creates the framework for accountability – it is the key people and partnerships which keep me on track and help give life to the creative ideas that may otherwise be stuck in the “what if?” file in my mind.

Mastermind Team: I am in a group of 6 fellow business owners (4 original members) which has been meeting semi-monthly for almost 10 years. Initially begun as a group of ex-colleagues meeting to stay in touch, we became a formalized group with a structured agenda. All of us are entrepreneurial moms who work from home and have found that meeting regularly, declaring our goals, sharing our successes and struggles helps us to develop and maintain strong individual businesses (and balanced lives). Each of us began this journey with different corporate and life experiences only adding to the richness of the collective – synergy, if you will.

Coach/Mentor: Anne is a powerhouse sales executive who I was lucky enough to meet in my early 20’s when she took me under her wing. Initially supporting me as I navigated the corporate rat race, she was the first person to encourage me to become a coach and consultant and remains the person I can call for counsel with “I have this idea. What do you think?” Anytime, any day, she gives it to me straight.

Virtual Communities: I have been joining online communities and forums since the start of my business. There are so many amazing communities focused on small business and niche topics. Recently, I joined two new membership forums (ProBlogger and Third Tribe) focused on blogging and internet marketing, communities focused upon skills I am developing in support of my business strategy. In both cases, I was looking for the support of others who have “been there, done that” because I wanted to learn from the best. Communities provide a place of mutual support for entrepreneurs like me to declare tactical goals and check back with progress and feedback on work in progress in a positive learning community.

Each Accountability Partners fills a different place in my life and business and I take the responsibility for my role in the partnership very seriously.
My short list for making these partnerships successful:

1. Respect time. Whether paying a fee or not, show up when you say you are going to show up.

2. Respect the commitment. Do homework and follow through on your promises. Respect yourself and the process enough to invest time outside of the scheduled meetings.

3. Give – as much and as often as you can. Everyone wants to know you value their contribution to your business. Even in a mentor partnership, the mentor appreciates a word, a card, a written recommendation, a referral, a small token of appreciation. Yes, even the truly altruistic are grateful for appreciation – we all want to know our lives mean something to others.

Do you have Accountability Partners? How do you make the relationships successful?

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Books for Business Inspiration

nullOver the holidays, I caught up on some much needed rest, relaxation, and reading (love my Kindle!) I was looking for inspiration and found it in two books which are now among my personal favorites. I share them with you for encouragement as you begin the New Year and New Decade.

Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void

Although this book was released a few years ago, I finally got around to reading it and consider the advice timeless. It is worth every bit of positive press it has gotten for MacLeod’s irreverent way of inspiring creativity using his own story of success and art created on the back of business cards. Hugh’s wisdom will kick you in the pants and inspire your imagination. Here are a few gems from the book:

“The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.”

“Good ideas have lonely childhoods.”

“Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on earth to climb.”

“Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.”

“The best way to get approval is not to need it.”

Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change by Jeremy Gutsche of Trend Hunter
Believe everything you have read about this book – it is simply amazing! Some of the 150 points of wisdom were so inspirational; I found myself putting the book down just to absorb the meaning and consider applying the ideas in my business. Best of all, the points were presented with concrete suggestions for spotting trends and applying them with the Trend Hunter Adaptive Innovation Framework. A few of my favorites:

“Don’t become a boiled frog.”

“Exploit crisis to accelerate change.”

“The right questions don’t change as often as the answers do.”

“Make failure a part of every day.”

“Fight the confidence that you know your customer.”

“Convey everything in 7 words or less.”

These two books will stay within handy reach of my desk in 2010 for those moments when I am searching for motivation, inspiration, or renewed enthusiasm. If you’ve read them, let me know your thoughts. What other books do you reach for when searching for business inspiration?

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Nurture the Soul of Your Business

Are you creating a new year plan for your small business? If you are like most entrepreneurs, your plan includes a full list projects, strategies, campaigns and promotions requiring investment of your time and budget. As you reflect on past successes and look towards the future, don’t forget to plan for activities which nurture the “soul of the business” – you! You cannot do your best if you are “running on empty” – here are a few suggestions to fill your tank with energy.

1. Increase your social networking participation and expand your professional circle of contacts with Groups. Thousands of business and professional groups have active memberships on Facebook, LinkedIn and Ning focused on every conceivable topic and business segment – you will surely find one that suits your interests. Once you join groups, participate! Listen and learn from other experts. Giving freely of your expertise as a mentor is a heartening experience and helps build connections with other professionals (and generate leads). Linked In has a remarkable Answers section where you can ask a question which is open to the millions of LinkedIn professional membership for their collective wisdom.

2. Join a Twitter Chat. A Twitter Chat is an open virtual meeting uses the micro-blogging platform Twitter. I make chats a part of my weekly routine and have become connected with a great group of professionals and small business owners throughout the world. You can find a live chat on a large selection of areas of interest such as business branding, marketing, social media strategy, and other small business topics. A spreadsheet list of Twitter chats is located at http://bit.ly/7QYqrZ.

3. Commit to your personal development with web-based education. Every possible level of education is available to the small business owner. Community colleges and universities have an amazing array of credit and non-credit courses. One of my favorite sources of high quality online education is www.ed2go.com which provides a wide range of small business classes which augment online instruction with group forums for interacting with other students and facilitators.

Webinars (web based seminars) can be found on any topic, personal and professional, and are provided by consultants, technology vendors, government and small business associations. Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks provide listings of business events sponsored by their millions of members. Don’t worry if you can’t make the scheduled class time – most webinars are recorded so you can participate at your convenience. Nurture your body and business soul at the same time – download a webinar or podcast to your MP3 player and go for a walk.

4. Create a virtual Mastermind Team. A Mastermind Team is a small group of non-competing entrepreneurs who meet on a regular basis to support each other’s businesses with advice, constructive criticism, and encouragement. Meetings can easily take place using software such as Skype, GoToMeeting, or similar web-conferencing options.

5. Hire a business coach. Regular phone meetings with an accountability partner fully dedicated to your success and willing to act as a confidential sounding board regarding strategic thinking, issues resolution, or decision-making is a tremendous gift every entrepreneur deserves.

There are countless ways to leverage the internet which contribute to your personal growth, reduce feelings of isolation, provide inspiration, and increase your sense of contribution to the world at large. But, it’s not enough to simply join a group or sign up for a class. You need to make your personal and professional development a priority – show up and engage!

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