Week 16 Focus – Project Management 101
Focus Question: What are the projects you are involved in with your business and work right now?
​
Description
As small business owners we will often be managing a series of projects. Not all of us are trained in the areas of project management. Quality of a project is determined by a balance of Time, Cost and Scope. If one of these qualities change, there will be an impact on the other two elements.

Projects may be as big as a book creation which is scaled over several months or years, or as discrete as writing a newsletter.

• Certain elements are key in managing projects
• What are the main tasks?
• What do you need to ensure you get done?
• Who is responsible for what?
• What are the tasks which are required?
• What will success look like?

Story - Project Management 101
As a former project manager my world was always framed in program starts, mid-points and end of project reviews. Spending time on end-of-project review helps us reduce learning and mistakes in a second iteration.
Regardless of how big or small the project is it can be useful to talk stop and pause and see how things are going.
​
Some of the questions at the midpoint could include:

• What's working well?
• What changes are needed?
• What resourcing needs to change?  (Think: human resource is, IT, other resources…)?
• Who else can we learn from?
• Are there other projects with have experienced a similar status?

In the world of project management, we want to make sure that projects are on time, on scope, and on budget. This is often known as the triple constraint and in any given project these three elements are interdependent. Think about a triangle.
If time changes, the budget or scope needs to change. For example, if you had originally ear-marked 6 months to have a book published, and all of a sudden it needs to be ready in the next 3 months, you will need to explore:
Adding more resources – paying for rush service, or bringing other people on board to help
OR perhaps you need to make the book shorter, so instead of having it be 20 chapters, publishing it as a 10 chapter book this year, and aiming to publish Part 2 of the book as a follow-up next year. 

There is a whole slew of project management tools available. Tools to explore include Asana, Trello, or other apps. 

Activity
Consider a project you are working on. What is the time, scope and budget?
Break things down into project tasks and activities.
What are the major milestones?
What needs to be done by when?
What do you want to do each month or week of the project?  Map it out/create a timeline.
Who are the key stakeholders you need to engage with and keep updated?

​Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Every month use Monthly Daily Tracker to capture key learning from projects. Noting data (milestones, completions, meetings) may help with things like Time Estimation, Process mapping or other learning for this project or others.
As you complete your Monthly To-Dos each month note any projects, tasks and activities you are working on.

There is space in each of the Monthly One-Page Planners to note projects you are starting, continuing and ending.

You can also adapt the Content Trackers or monthly trackers to track the different stages of the projects you are engaging with.
 
Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here.

Best wishes, 
Jennifer

Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track
​

For many years in my global career I faced multiple complexities which would get in the way of a regular work day. From regular periods of no electricity, to political and natural disasters which pulled work off course. I learned early in my career the value of two things which continue to help me flourish today –

#1 – Focus – Focus when you can, even if it is for a short while. Productivity is not always about the long haul, it can also be about the short burst of focused effort. This is especially true in my world where I am regularly juggling roles, hats, responsibilities and clients. As much as I would love to have huge swaths of time to undertake my work, it’s unlikely. Therefore, focused burst of work, coupled with #2, help me (and the business) keep moving!

#2 – Be clear on the top 3 – 5 goals for the day, week and month. My world was the world of contingency planning on steroids, so being clear on what top 3 or 4 to-dos were for the day, or the week, or the month, created a powerful anchor to planning, and also feeling satisfied when EVERYTHING on the list did not get done (which was almost every day).
​
What are your top 3-5 goals TODAY? This week? This quarter? Do you review these regularly throughout the week/month/quarter and adjust accordingly?

Best,
​Jennifer

Week 12 Focus – Systems
Focus Question: What are the tasks and activities which need to appear seamless in your work, like the same person is doing it, whether the task is completed in Toronto, Las Vegas, London, Auckland, or Shanghai?

Description
Systems help us scale a business, reducing the time to do things, ensuring tasks are done consistently, and enabling us to accrue information so we can learn, and pass on to others as our team grows.

In growing a virtual or coaching business there are five key areas which can be important to focus on. This is an area we continue exploring at both the Teams365 Leadership Lab (for virtual and remote professionals) the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual group focused on coaching business development).

If you are a remote or virtual worker, as the team context becomes more fluid with people becoming part of matrix teams where things may be one differently, systems create clarity and efficiency. They also help to capture key institutional learning as organizations grow, making it easier for people to step into roles that others once held.

As a business, systems help us automate and scale, reducing the time to complete tasks that may not require as much effort.
​
Common areas which entrepreneurial businesses or virtual workers may find a focus on are:

• Sales and Marketing – Promotion
• Customer and Client Supports
• Registration and Onboarding
• Financial – Budgeting
• Communication 

Activity
Review the systems you have available to you in your business or work. What helps streamline? Ensure consistency? Allow you to scale?
What are the areas you want to focus more around?
Who can help you build your toolkit in these areas?

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Refer to Section 3 in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack for more on systems.

Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here.

Best wishes, 
Jennifer

Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track

One of the favorite things I enjoy about the PlanDoTrack and Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planners are the Trackers. I’ve included 12 sets of Monthly Daily Trackers in each publication, so that you can track the most important elements in your work (and life) over the course of a year.
Making things visible, and intentionally tracking items, can provide valuable information and data. This can help us with our decision making, and prioritizing.

Remote Workers might be tracking:

• Time spent on projects or tasks
• Meeting time
• Feedback provided
• Hours of work
  

Virtual Businesses might track:

• Revenue
• Sales
• Expenses
• Presentations or Pitches Given
• Client Meetings
• Services Delivered
  

What are the elements you are tracking?

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019),  Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon
Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326
Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at  your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course.
Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram

Leveraging our time is as much about getting organized, as it is getting clear on what’s important. Against the backdrop of complexity, ongoing change and disruption, getting ruthless with our time management can be so important to many.
As a business owner, or remote worker, this is especially true. We can’t get our time back. So, when we go down a rabbit hole (whether it’s doing too much research online, following a shiny red object or thinking we just need to learn “one more thing”), the costs can be tremendous. Not just in NOT getting things done, but in terms of our focus, our motivation and also our profit line!

Discernment is about getting clear on what’s important and what’s not. It is about being clear of what’s going to provide impact now, later or never.

As a remote worker or virtual business owner, we are do often have greater control over our time. Our colleagues and/or superiors may be hundreds of miles away, or several time zones ahead. As remote workers, it’s not always about how we manage our time, but how we get our results. Those who feel the crunch in getting something over the finish line is usually only us (and those loved ones around us!).

With this in mind, what is the cost of not being discerning around where your time goes, or how clear your projects are, or what is a more important priority than another?

As we embark on new projects, or start a new week, it can be useful to ask ourselves, and our stakeholders:

• What’s most important today?
• What are the top 3-5 things I want to get completed?
• What are the MUST Dos?
• What will success look like with this project/task?
• As it relates to this project/task, what’s important?
• Have I considered the short-term, medium-term and long-term in making decisions?
• What would my colleague/boss/peer/customer say is most important to focus on today?
• What impact will this activity have? And that one?

 
What questions do you want to ask as you decide one priority to another?

Let us know using the comments below!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019),  Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon
Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326
Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at  your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course.
Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram

Welcome to the first of a series of weekly Wednesday planning hacks. In the spirit of all things planning, doing and tracking, I’m pleased to offer this new weekly series here at the PlanDoTrack blog. Similar to other weekly series I host at my sister blog, Teams365 blog (found at Potentials Realized.com), my hope is that these weekly posts will not only serve as a quick focus area for you, and over time will add up to be a valuable resource. I'll also be doing a live video on each of the tips every week, sharing it over at the PlanDoTrack Facebook page.

Let’s get started with the Pomodoro Technique, the focus of weekly planning hack #1.

Have you heard about the Pomodoro Technique (often associated with the icon of the Tomato)?

As I wrote last January 2018 at the Teams365 blog, the Pomodoro Technique is an invaluable tool in creating focus in today’s digitally distracted world. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1470 on Minimizing Distractions – 

“Creating "focused work" periods. Whether it's 30 or 60 minutes a day, focused times, which have no immediate distraction allow us to get things done. Many studies find that our immediate productivity can be boosted by giving projects time windows and time frames. The Pomodoro technique is one example of accelerating productivity. It posits that focused activity for 25 minutes can be followed by a 5-minute break. Read more about the Pomodoro Technique from its' creator here.”
 
How might more focused bursts of attention support you and your projects right now?
What would it be like to experiment with more focused bursts of time where the rings and bings of everyday digital life are silenced?"
​
Let us know if you get the chance to experiment with this!
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019),  Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon
Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326
Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at  your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course.
Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram

Did you know it’s national time management month across North America?
With this in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate a couple of posts specifically to time management. Over the last year in my writing and publication of Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack, I have been brought back to my roots in the area of personal productivity and time management, an area I have supported many leaders and teams in over the years.

I thought it would be interesting to note 3 books I’ve recently read on the topic, in case you are looking to add a little focused reading to your task list:
1. Laura Vanderkam : Off The Clock– I loved Laura’s 2010 book – 168 Hours : You Have more time than you think. Late last year I picked up a copy of Off The Clock – Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. A quick read, Laura’s got great stories and research around time management.

2. Chris Bailey- I  read Chris’ book Hyperfocus last week, and particularly found his writing around productivity and distractions to be very on the mark. As I have written about for a couple of years now, distractions are one of the greatest challenges we have as teams and also solopreneurs. One of the biggest questions I get these days usually revolves around "How can we minimize distractions?".
Check out my Teams365 blog post #1470 Minimizing Distractions.

2. Carson Tate – Work Simply –- I  love the idea that we each have a “personal productivity” style – consider yours and how it influences your ways of working and being – from how you dress, to how you make decisions. I love her framing of Prioritizer, Planner, Arranger and Visualizer, as well as the tips around Meetings.

Given that meetings are such a key challenge for all professionals today, be sure to check out my chapter 9 in Effective Virtual Conversations, including the 8 Essential Meeting Questions to be asking. I shared these a few weeks ago as part of the Teams365 19 for 2019 Productivity tips. Read them here. https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-1836-productivity-tip-9-amp-up-your-meetings

What are some of the books you have been enjoying on time management recently? Please share with  us using the comments link below.

For more on this topic, be sure to check out Section 4 of Plan Do Track where I include several core activities for you to explore around your own time management.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
​

 
​FEbruary has been earmarked as National Time Management month. As such, I thought that it would be appropriate to focus several of our posts specifically to time management and personal productivity, two key themes as part of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner. Stay tune for posts this month focused on getting your remote workspace more organized (Next Monday February 11th) as well as a number of other time management posts.
Our first post of the month gets you to step back and do a bit of planning BEFORE you embark on your monthly activities. As a former project manager myself, I know how important planning is in creating more focused effort! An old project management adage goes "5 minutes of planning can save you 60 minutes of unfocused effort". 
As much as some things change, many things stay the same, and whether you plan on paper, the back of a receipt or on your phone, planning is planning.
To get you started, here are a couple of questions to consider:

• What's important for you to tackle this month?
• What are the key priorities you want to keep top of mind?
• What will success look like around these key priorities?
• What is the dedicated time you are going to protect to make sure that these priorities do get done?
• What do you need to say no to (by delegating, deferring or saying no) this month?
• What are  you going to track to make sure you are on target?
• Who else do you want to enlist to support you with your key priorities this month?

I'll be doing a few more extra posts this month, focused specifically on time management and personal productivity. I hope you'll join us!

If you have a copy of the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner, be sure to check out Section 4 where I include several different tools and resources to support you with prioritizing.

Enjoy!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best PRactices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)