Dear Reader

When you’re swimming around in that corporate fish pond, whatever its size, it can be difficult to raise your head above water and take a look at the bigger picture. Perhaps you feel you’re drowning in admin, running from meeting to meeting or too wrapped up in the day-to-day management of your staff even to consider taking the long-term view?

But what if looking around you and surveying the bigger picture could actually free up your own valuable time, as well as reaping huge benefits for your organisation?

Ask yourself the question: Where do I see myself or my business in five year’s time?

If your answer is vague, it may be that you need to take a step back from the minutiae of the day-to-day and take a look into the future instead. No-one has a crystal ball, but there are some tried and tested ways you can achieve business success. And what is wrong with reaching for the stars?

In last month’s issue of REACH! we gave you our Top Ten Tips for Success – a great starting point for a successful year. So now you’ve had a chance to ingest these ten important tips, and hopefully put them into practice – it’s time to move on.

In this February issue of REACH! we look at the importance of answering the question, “What’s Expected?” to improve your effectiveness. You’ll be surprised how doing something as simple as defining what’s expected can improve your performance and enable you to invest some time in long term planning; something vital to sustaining business growth.

Best wishes,

Trese Rowe

Only the most foolhardy of people would set off on a long journey without planning their route first and following the map (or in today’s hi-tech world the sat nav!). And to save time and aggravation, you naturally plan the most efficient route to reach your destination.

Of course, there are bound to be snags and pitfalls along the way, but good planning for a long journey comes naturally – you don’t really have to think about it; it’s what’s expected.

The same applies if you cook – if you’re good at making cakes, you seek and find the most delicious recipes. You use the ones that work. Following a recipe is something that’s expected. If you make it up as you go along, what will that cake taste like? If it turns out more like a brick than a light and airy sponge, where have you gone wrong? More often than not, it’s down to not doing what’s expected and following the recipe.

So when you’re reaching for success for yourself and your team, you should seek and provide answers to that simple but vital question:

“What’s Expected?”

Having the answers to this question is a fundamental ingredient to improving both individual and team performance because wherever you are heading, you need a plan. Things may not always go according to the plan, but at least you and your people will know in which direction you are going and whether you are off track. And of course, you need to follow the plan not just consistently, but constantly.

Take time to identify what’s expected of you and what’s expected of your team members – write it down, make it clear and you’ll reach your destination in record time.

Now has never been a better time to start mapping out your business and following the road to success. So how good are you at defining what’s expected? Do you truly understand what’s expected and do your people?

Use our checklist below to help you identify what’s expected and discover where there are big white spaces that should be filled. There are bound to be some gaps for whatever reason – whether you’re too busy ’fire-fighting’ or dashing from one meeting to another, or because you simply haven’t identified everything that’s expected. You may find that the reasons you’re not getting the performance you’re looking for is simply a matter of not having clearly defined what’s expected in the first place.

This checklist is just a prompt. Can you think of any other ways you can answer the question, What’s Expected?

Where do you go next? Put an action plan together to close the gaps. For example, if your team don’t have job descriptions, provide them. There will be several benefits: recruitment will become more effective, understanding of roles will increase and coaching and feedback will become easier. If you don’t have clearly defined processes, for sales, management or order fulfilment for example, document them. Do this and the day-to-day will manage itself, your people will become more accountable and you’ll be free to take the long-term and strategic view of your business.

Getting clear on what’s expected is just the beginning. High performing businesses and teams do more than this; they follow up. In next month’s issue of REACH! we’ll explore this second step to business success. In the meantime – Mind the Gap!

Goals and Goal Setting – Achieving Measured Objectives (50-Minute Series). This book by Larrie A. Rouillard provides a useful reference on the topic of goal attainment. Read it online here.

Beyond The Summit: Setting and Surpassing Extraordinary Business Goals – Todd Skinner. Todd is a mountaineer and motivational speaker who sees climbing mountains as a natural metaphor for business challenges. To climb a mountain you must know how to define your objective, plan the best strategy, prepare your team and overcome any obstacles on the way to the summit. Truly inspiring stuff and even if you’re not into scaling the heights of Everest– the metaphor is powerful.

Make Success Measurable! : A Mindbook Workbook for Setting Goals and Taking Action – Douglas K. Smith. "Performance begins with focussing on outcomes instead of activities," says Douglas K. Smith, one of the world’s leading management consultants. His advice and the workbook format help you focus on what is really important. Douglas believes that you should shape your goals and methods to fit your own working environment rather than following a pre-set corporate structure. An interesting book, especially for people who work in complex organisations.

All the above books are available at www.amazon.co.uk or at www.waterstones.com.

Try this online resource: Goal Setting with Tony Buzan – software from the inventor of the Mind Mapping that’s used by millions of people.

Reaching Further

We’re now approaching our third year of publishing REACH! – the e-mail newsletter for business professionals. During this time, we’ve published an extensive range of topics to help you improve the performance of your organisation. If you would like to re-visit any of our previous issues, click here to visit the amplia website.

You are receiving this email because you are a friend or client of amplia or you have requested the newsletter from us. If you no longer wish to receive this please click here.
[[edit_details]]