SYSTEMS, TEAMS & MASSIVE PRODUCTIVITY (HOW WE GET THINGS DONE)
HERE S WHAT YOU LL LEARN IN THIS VIDEO
My philosophy on growing a great team Our 3 part system for collecting ideas & giving yourself the time and focus to get them done How we run the day to day business (daily, weekly, yearly) to stay focused and achieve maximum results
MY TEAM GROWING PHILOSOPHY
Remember Start The Right Business - it s vital that every entrepreneur build the size and scope of business they most want I ve always dreamed of a small, lean team of A+++ players who I loved working with and who were dedicated, ambitious self-starters My first team member was a part-time VA, later my business was profitable enough to comfortably bring on a full-time employee
Now we have a small team (5) of full-time employees and our goal is to make our company the BEST place to work. We have health insurance, 401K, 2X per year team retreats, performance bonuses, vacation time, inspiration days and more We also work with other talented folks on special or seasonal projects
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I VE LEARNED ABOUT RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY RELATES TO THIS...
I NOTICED THAT THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF WHAT AN AVERAGE PERSON COULD ACCOMPLISH AND WHAT THE BEST PERSON COULD ACCOMPLISH WAS 50 OR 100 TO 1. GIVEN THAT, YOU RE WELL ADVISED TO GO AFTER THE CREAM OF THE CREAM A SMALL TEAM OF A+ PLAYERS CAN RUN CIRCLES AROUND A GIANT TEAM OF B AND C PLAYERS. - Steve Jobs
CLEAR SIGNS A PERSON IS AN A PLAYER
A Players don t want to do a good job - they want to do an OUTSTANDING job A Players take responsibility for their results and own up to mistakes without drama A Players communicate effectively -- both in written and verbal form
A Players take initiative and proactively solve problems even before you ask them to A Players don t shy away from tough situations, believing Everything is Figureoutable A Players will not put up with C Players, so heads up, if you have C Players in your business, you ll need to let the C players go because A Players will not waste their time with C Players
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC: check out Topgrading by Brad Smart
OUR 3 STEP SYSTEM FOR MASSIVE RESULTS
1. Brainstorm Big Ideas 2. Strategically Map Them Out 3. Get Them Done
1 BRAINSTORM BIG IDEAS
Once a year, you should have a strategic meeting with yourself and/or your team. Take away all distractions and set aside time to REALLY think through the next year (12 months) and what you want to get done Remember - if it s not scheduled, it s not real. Schedule at least an entire day for this process
Brainstorm on a whiteboard or easel pad ALL of the things you want to do in your business and life. Don t hold back here - list everything out! Examples: Rebrand website, sell your book to a publisher, have a live event, build 2 new products, do 5 interviews with the press, submit guest blog posts to 10 TOP sites, take a two week vacation, etc.
2 STRATEGICALLY MAP OUT IDEAS
After writing everything out, go through and ask yourself whether or not you can or will commit to getting that idea done in the next year Cross out everything that is not realistic, that won t make money, and/or that doesn t light you up Now create another page on your easel pad and create 12 large squares. These represent each month of the year - here s a sample blank page...
STRATEGICALLY MAP OUT IDEAS
2 STRATEGICALLY MAP OUT IDEAS (CONT.)
Write things in each month that you KNOW have to happen. Examples: promoting partner s book launch, your cousin s wedding, a birthday trip you ve always wanted to take, etc. Go through your list and start plugging in the items that made the cut into the rest of the squares
Be aggressive but realistic. Don t overdo it. Realize other things will come up along the way so don t bite off more than you can chew By the time you re done, you should have a single sheet of paper with the next 12 months and all of your major projects in it This piece of paper is GOLD and needs to be looked at constantly
Create a Google Doc or spreadsheet with categories for each of your main monthly initiatives Brainstorm all of the little tasks that need to happen in order to make that project come to life and add them to the gdoc Here s an example:
You re going to come up with ideas more than once a year, so any time you have a new idea, refer to this master list, add your idea, and write out all the steps you need to do to make that idea happen Hint: Don t worry about being over the top organized here. The goal for this document is to keep track of ALL of your ideas in one place so they re not all floating around in your head
3 GET THINGS DONE
Create a new weekly ritual. Every Thursday or Friday spend time getting your plan for the following week ready to go. Here s how... Look at your 12 month calendar for the projects coming up. Then go look at your master list document - the fancy spreadsheet we just went over
Create another tab in your Google Doc or spreadsheet that lists what you ll work on the following week Name that tab something like This Week or Week of 3/19 - whatever the date is Start pulling projects and tasks from your master doc and add them into your weekly priorities plan
Reminder: you re working from your master list which was generated from your 12 month calendar Make sure you and your team are paying attention to the important things you said you wanted to accomplish in that month or time frame General rule of thumb: keep the amount of projects you re working on each week to 3 or less. If one project is massive, then it may be enough
List out every task you ll need to focus on each day, who is responsible, what day of the week that task is due. Do NOT skip this step Let s take a look at an example...
3 GET THINGS DONE (CONT.)
Don t forget - make time every Thursday or Friday to get your weekly priorities plan ready for the following week Check your calendar and account for travel, appointments or anything that could impact how much you/your team will realistically get done When you first start, you have to guesstimate on how many projects you can handle and how long things will take
It s vital that each week you evaluate what worked, what didn t and adjust your plan for the following week accordingly Over time you ll know better how long things actually take to get done - like a pilot adjusting her flight plan to get to her final destination, you ll always be adjusting your priorities doc as you go!
3 GET THINGS DONE (CONT.)
Daily or weekly meetings: we have a daily team call for 15-20 minutes to make sure we re staying accountable and getting things done on time We share updates, progress, news and go through our priorities list. As a 100% virtual company, this connection time is vital for us If someone needs a 1-1 conversation we stay on the line or schedule an additional meeting time for bigger, more in-depth discussions
Our calls take place at the same time, every day of the week If you re a one-person shop and don t have a team, have a short (10 minute) meeting with yourself at the start and end of each day to stay on track and adjust your priorities list as needed
Muy Importante: Don t pay attention to everything on your master list all at once - it will overwhelm you. Only look at that list 1X a week to create your priorities list for the NEXT week The majority of time is spent looking at your weekly tasks - your weekly priorities document and making sure you re staying on track with your 12 month calendar
Remember, your master list is the place to add NEW fabulous ideas, however you should only focus on your weekly priorities list which generally has 1-3 priorities at a time
FINAL THOUGHTS TO KEEP IN MIND
This system is simple and that s the genius of it! Whether you re a one-person shop or you ve got 7-10 people on your team, this works as long as you use it consistently
It will take time to turn this into a habit, but it s worth it. It took our team a few months (2-3) to really make this a core practice. Now we would never dream of not using it It s especially great for ADD creators like me. I go right to my list of things that have to get done, and I do them :)
THE SECRET OF GETTING AHEAD IS GETTING STARTED. THE SECRET OF GETTING STARTED IS BREAKING YOUR COMPLEX OVERWHELMING TASKS INTO SMALL MANAGEABLE TASKS, AND THEN STARTING IN ON THE FIRST ONE. - Mark Twain