- Force yourself to plan.
- If you fail to plan, you are by default planning to fail.
- Schedule uninterrupted time every day to do your planning.
- Anticipate possible problems you could encounter in your project because of people, material, or mechanical failures. Purposely provide preventive actions and contingency plans in important high risk situations.
- When planning a project, plan in thinking time.
- Plan for tomorrow, tonight. Your subconscious will help organize while you sleep.
- Each day anticipate the sequence of activities that you will do to attain the objectives you are after.
- Think about your entire week. How will important projects be sequenced?
- Do your planning on paper to capture all of your ideas and to be sure none of them get lost. We can only work mentally with about seven pieces of information without losing some- thing. Write your thoughts down and you will be able to utilize everything you think of during your planning process.
- When developing a specific plan, list the activity steps individually on small pieces of paper and then sequence the pieces of paper. Then write the whole plan out in sequential order.
- If you must, leave your office and get away to do your planning in a quiet place where you can think.
- Don't hurry the process. Something will get overlooked.
- When things go wrong, it can generally be traced back to a poor job of planning or failing to follow an existing plan.
- List key words that relate to a project. They will fit into and help you in planning. Keep records of how long it takes to do an activity. You can use this information for future scheduling.
- Take the first 10% of any time block and dedicate it to planning that block.
- Whether you call it planning time, thinking time, quiet time or meditation, the payoff in increased productivity is the same.
- Schedule one weekend away each quarter and make it a top priority. Mini-vacations are refreshing.
- Encourage your staff to create their own plan and then to explain it in detail to you.
- Sit quietly and mentally rehearse the steps in your plan. Use your imagination to visualize the steps being taken. You will sense where additional steps need to be added and will anticipate problems to prevent.
- Consider settling for 90% completion of 90% of the projects. The final 10% may not be worth the cost to attain them.
- Use the first 10 minutes of each day to plan or review your plan for the day.
When starting a new project or activity, take a moment to quietly review, mentally, the steps you will follow. - Set your own due dates for projects earlier than the actual deadline.
- Put schedules in writing. Publish them and then follow up with them.
- If you cannot identify the objectives and steps to take to get to a goal, it is "unrealistic. "
- Mentally organize before proceeding.
- Create and use Gantt charts.
- Create and use PERT charts.
- Stick Post-It-Notes on paperwork to indicate or highlight scheduling and due dates.
- Remember the 6 P's of planning: Proper, Prior, Planning, Prevents, Poor, Performance.
- Schedule formal planning meetings with your staff regularly.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
How to improve your planning skills
Planning is written about and talked about more than it is done. Here are some ideas that will encourage you to plan your activities in advance.
Transform yourself to transform others : By Joshy Thomas
The world has many good leaders but very few great leaders. What separates a good leader from a great leader is his ability to transform his followers and his willingness to create greatness in his followers. All great leaders have one thing in common: they are able to transform themselves and others.
Today's organisations need transformational leaders who can instill passion and energy into everyone and everything. This is the secret of organizational success.
Who is a transformational leader?
Transformational leadership is that leadership that inspires organizational success by profoundly affecting the followers' beliefs and values. The only changes that can last are the changes that stem from the inner core of a person. Transformational leaders influence this core in every follower and transform him profoundly to make him a better human being.
A transformational leader inspires, cares, and nurtures others. He creates in everyone a sense of commitment, involvement and duty. He alone is not responsible for the goals; every one has to actively contribute to the organizational success. He transforms and changes himself, his followers and everyone in the organisation successfully. He promotes problem-solving skills and encourages his followers to take risks and challenges which will ultimately contribute to the welfare of the organisation and followers.
He cares about his followers and rejoices in their successes. He makes them aware of the issues in the organisation and the problems associated with these issues if they are not solved. He communicates freely and genuinely. He leads them to lasting solutions. He creates a vision in the mind of the followers with regard to what the organisation should be. He instills commitment in their minds to achieve this vision and passionately promotes changes required to achieve this vision. He becomes the change that he wants to see in the world.
7 Ds of Transformational Leadership
1. Develop a vision Develop a vision for your organisation. This will tell you what you want your organisation to be in future. This future should be capable of exciting you and your followers. Become passionate about the vision first and then sell the vision to others. Transform yourself first before you preach to transform others. It's around your vision that people will gather and only it will give them a sense of achievement and satisfaction. So develop a challenging and thrilling vision.
2. Deliberate the vision Sell your vision to others constantly. Inspire others to buy this vision. Transform their beliefs and value systems to match your own beliefs and values. Take into your bus people who agree with your vision. Constantly encourage and motivate them to remain with you in the bus till you reach your vision. One of the simple ways to motivate them is to challenge them often and give them opportunities to contribute to the achievement of the vision. Give them credit when they succeed and be sympathetic if they fail.
3. Discover the road to walk ahead A transformational leader first of all knows where he is going and he takes others along with him to reach his destination. Help others to discover the road to achieve your vision. Trust others and seek out for their advice and help as you journey along. They are not mere followers but co-passengers in the journey.
4. Dare to walk behind The transformational leader forms his followers so well that they know how to lead themselves even when he is not there. He doesn't need to be there at the front always. He is often at the back guiding and moulding them. But at the same time he is visible and will be at the front when a problem arises. He motivates and inspires the followers to belief in this vision when they begin to doubt.
5. Depend on others The transformational leader shows a strong desire to learn form others. He is open to their influences. He creates excellent relationships with others and pursues the needed transformation together. He empowers the others to fulfill the vision. He has a strong determination to make his vision real. In moments of self-doubt, grief and fatigue, he seeks out the help of others.
6. Develop a culture of collaboration Transformational leaders develop a culture of collaboration instead of conflicts. They value the contributions of others and always show that they are dependent on them to achieve their vision. He doesn't believe in command, control and punishments but treats every failure as an opportunity for growth. People are free to suggest new ideas and he encourages them to remain flexible and adaptable. He continuously improves them to make every one a leader.
7. Drink to others success Transformational leaders use every occasion to cheer their followers when they do something good. They celebrate every progress and encourage creativity. They are people oriented and believe that success will finally come. They do everything to bring out the best in their followers. Transformational leadership encourages original solutions to organizational problems. It brings in better performance, extra effort from employees, makes them more loyal, helps them to create better interpersonal relationships, makes them trust their colleagues and find satisfaction in their work. He is able to create synergy and win-win situation to give a new level of success to everyone. As he gets transformed the world gets transformed.
Today's organisations need transformational leaders who can instill passion and energy into everyone and everything. This is the secret of organizational success.
Who is a transformational leader?
Transformational leadership is that leadership that inspires organizational success by profoundly affecting the followers' beliefs and values. The only changes that can last are the changes that stem from the inner core of a person. Transformational leaders influence this core in every follower and transform him profoundly to make him a better human being.
A transformational leader inspires, cares, and nurtures others. He creates in everyone a sense of commitment, involvement and duty. He alone is not responsible for the goals; every one has to actively contribute to the organizational success. He transforms and changes himself, his followers and everyone in the organisation successfully. He promotes problem-solving skills and encourages his followers to take risks and challenges which will ultimately contribute to the welfare of the organisation and followers.
He cares about his followers and rejoices in their successes. He makes them aware of the issues in the organisation and the problems associated with these issues if they are not solved. He communicates freely and genuinely. He leads them to lasting solutions. He creates a vision in the mind of the followers with regard to what the organisation should be. He instills commitment in their minds to achieve this vision and passionately promotes changes required to achieve this vision. He becomes the change that he wants to see in the world.
7 Ds of Transformational Leadership
1. Develop a vision Develop a vision for your organisation. This will tell you what you want your organisation to be in future. This future should be capable of exciting you and your followers. Become passionate about the vision first and then sell the vision to others. Transform yourself first before you preach to transform others. It's around your vision that people will gather and only it will give them a sense of achievement and satisfaction. So develop a challenging and thrilling vision.
2. Deliberate the vision Sell your vision to others constantly. Inspire others to buy this vision. Transform their beliefs and value systems to match your own beliefs and values. Take into your bus people who agree with your vision. Constantly encourage and motivate them to remain with you in the bus till you reach your vision. One of the simple ways to motivate them is to challenge them often and give them opportunities to contribute to the achievement of the vision. Give them credit when they succeed and be sympathetic if they fail.
3. Discover the road to walk ahead A transformational leader first of all knows where he is going and he takes others along with him to reach his destination. Help others to discover the road to achieve your vision. Trust others and seek out for their advice and help as you journey along. They are not mere followers but co-passengers in the journey.
4. Dare to walk behind The transformational leader forms his followers so well that they know how to lead themselves even when he is not there. He doesn't need to be there at the front always. He is often at the back guiding and moulding them. But at the same time he is visible and will be at the front when a problem arises. He motivates and inspires the followers to belief in this vision when they begin to doubt.
5. Depend on others The transformational leader shows a strong desire to learn form others. He is open to their influences. He creates excellent relationships with others and pursues the needed transformation together. He empowers the others to fulfill the vision. He has a strong determination to make his vision real. In moments of self-doubt, grief and fatigue, he seeks out the help of others.
6. Develop a culture of collaboration Transformational leaders develop a culture of collaboration instead of conflicts. They value the contributions of others and always show that they are dependent on them to achieve their vision. He doesn't believe in command, control and punishments but treats every failure as an opportunity for growth. People are free to suggest new ideas and he encourages them to remain flexible and adaptable. He continuously improves them to make every one a leader.
7. Drink to others success Transformational leaders use every occasion to cheer their followers when they do something good. They celebrate every progress and encourage creativity. They are people oriented and believe that success will finally come. They do everything to bring out the best in their followers. Transformational leadership encourages original solutions to organizational problems. It brings in better performance, extra effort from employees, makes them more loyal, helps them to create better interpersonal relationships, makes them trust their colleagues and find satisfaction in their work. He is able to create synergy and win-win situation to give a new level of success to everyone. As he gets transformed the world gets transformed.
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