Imagine that you never know the score of a hockey game, because someone assumes caring about the game is enough? It wouldn’t be very satisfying. Keeping track doesn’t matter if you don’t care. In a working environment we should care, so measure success.
Keeping Track
Take control and keep track of your own achievements. Sometimes we get so busy “doing” that we forget to focus on those things that are the most important, and will generate the right results. Do you know what the right results look like, and what you should be focusing on? What are your high pay-off activities?
Once you are clear about what you want to achieve, take this two-week challenge and clarify that you are actually working on key items. At the end of each workday consider these questions and write down the answers:
- What did I do today that should have been done by someone else?
This highlights what you should have delegated to someone else or you allowed someone to delegate up to you; times you took on their monkey (problem) instead of guiding them to find a resolution themselves. Either way, you spent time working on something that was not the best use of your time and may not help you achieve your goals.
- What did I do today that should not have been done by anyone?
What do we do because we are following processes that add no value? With better planning, what things would not have been necessary to do now?
- What did I not get to today that I should have made time for?
This will track what important things did not get done but should have.
Take Action Based on Tracking
Track these answers for two weeks, then analyze the results and determine what patterns emerge. What behaviours do you need to adjust or radically change in order to get the results you require? What should you be delegating? Are you spending valuable time doing things that don’t contribute to your success? Are you planning and safeguarding time to complete important projects or actions?
This tracking will help you to determine how well you are doing and allow you to answer the following questions:
- Am I meeting the expectations of my role?
- Is there anything else I should be doing?
- Have I shared my analysis with my coach (or person I report to) and do they have the same perceptions of what I should be doing to be even more successful?
Tracking is a valuable tool to help motivate us and focus our energy on getting results. If you want to have fun, fully enjoy your work and get results then keep TRACK. Click on the link to receive a copy of our electronic goal success plan. This helps you determine the goal, what you will measure, and the action steps to success.