Stop Getting Derailed – Podcast Transcript
Have you ever wondered why many of our best laid plans fail?
You may have heard the quote, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine”. My podcast this week looks at why our plans end up being derailed, and how we can stop this from happening in the future.
Hi, I’m Barbara Best and this is humans working remotely, a podcast where I’ll show you how to meet the expanding needs of your organization by utilizing alternative solutions for operational staffing. Through expert insight and meaningful conversations with business professionals, we’ll talk about common challenges and proven strategies that will provide you with more time to focus on your organization’s mission, relationship building and other high-value growth activities.
Problem 1: The most prominent problem is that we let the lack of planning by others constitute an emergency for us. We let others do this to us; we let other people’s urgent issues poor time management, poor planning and procrastination, take priority and control over our work schedule.
The solution: Learn to say NO! Of course, it may feel disastrous at the time. However, if you survive saying no, and not let yourself get dragged down into other people’s problems, you’ll eventually be able to stop messing up your own goals and schedule and actually find yourself being more successful and productive in your job, or whatever you’re working toward.
Problem 2: “Crisis management is expected in any project”. I’m sure you’ve heard that one before! There’s two ways this can derail you: first, it can be a crisis totally irrelevant to the project you’re working on, or second, it can be a crisis within your project
The solution: You need to probe deep into the root causes behind the everyday recurrence of this usual crisis. If you sit back and really analyze your day to day, you would quickly find that you’re dealing with the same old problems because they never really get resolved. Awareness is the first step; make plans for change.
Problem 3: The lack of sufficient time being built into project schedules to actually do a good job. Part of that is driven by that sense of urgency mentality that infuses business today. There’s never “slack” to handle the unexpected built into any schedule, especially if you work for someone else.
The Solution: Just two things on this one: say NO and plan extra time into a project for the unexpected.
Problem 4: Focusing solely on results. That’s an obsession with “efficiency” over “effectiveness”.
The Solution: Have a well-designed plan that addresses what needs to be done. Also, allocating enough time to do the job right is also as important as planning for the unexpected. Remember, “Plan B” is just as important as the original plan.
The Big Takeaway: Obtain the ability to stay on track, focus on what’s really important and don’t get derailed from the tasks you deem important, despite all those whose lack of planning is expected to be your emergency.
In closing, I’d like to thank you so much for listening today. I hope this information was helpful, and I look forward to providing more. I’m Barbara Best, CEO of Virtual Works Inc.
Here’s a few action steps:
- feel free to leave me comments or feedback on this platform.
- If you’d like to be considered for a future podcast, please drop me a line at info@virtualworks.ca
- You can visit our website at http://www.virtualworks.ca and,
- You can always find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/virtualworks
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