Aim for Progress, not Perfection

Many of us beat ourselves up at the end of the day because we haven’t been able to complete our ToDo list - which just gets longer and longer.

However instead of bemoaning what we didn’t do, we should recognise and celebrate what we did.  What have been our achievements today? What good things have we done?  What bad things have we stopped happening?

There might be times and tasks where we need completion and perfection. - but they tend to be few and far between. For most, celebrate progress made.

Ask yourself, “What three things have I done today that I am proud of? 

If you change to positivity, you will feel better about yourself - and, ironically, will probably get more done! 

Return ing to Work must be planned

 Many organisations are bringing employees back to the office - perhaps not full-time but maybe on a hybrid working basis.  When uyou do this there are all sorts of logistical challenges.

Do you bring everyone back at the same time?

Do you require returners to have been vaccinated?

Do you need to maintain social distance?

Do you need s one-way routing around the site?

Do you need s testing regime for COVID?

Do you stagger breaks?

Do you have enough capacity in restrooms?

There are lots of questions to answer.

The problem is the many organisations concentrate exclusively on these questions without addressing the personal/emotional needs of employees.

How do you we allay employee fears?

How do you rebuild relationships and teams?

How do you get staff to accept ‘the new normal?

Leaders tend to concentrate on what is in their sphere of experience and their comfort zone.

Real gains are made when you think outside of of your own box and address the difficult issues.

Where’s The Passion

Some organisations concentrate almost exclusively on the numbers, on pushing sales, on improving efficiency and productivity.

It is good to do this but sometimes those organisations forget the passion.  What drove the business at the start was the passion and belief of the entrepreneurs who started the business.. That passion needs to continue, to underly the consistency of mission and vision, to inspire and motivate staff.

Don’t throw out the passion when you bring in the logic.  The business needs you to be a good manager but it also needs you to be a strong leader.

Who is responsible for productivity?

There is no one ‘secret’ to improving productivity.  It must be a team effort looking at big things like strategy and culture; and little things like execution and motivation.  None of these can be left out.  

The leaders of the organisation, set the mission, vision and strategy and are responsible for investment in key factors such as capital equipment, talent and skills.  They also create the underlying culture.  All of these create the potential for high productivity.

That potential is only realised when the workforce applies their talent snd skills to the execution of the action plans derived from the strategy.  It helps tremendously if they are self motivated because of the supportive culture and effective communication so that everyone knows their value to the organisation and their role in the overall system. 

So, don’t ask who is responsible for productivity improvement.  You are? Along with everyone else in your organisation.