Getting Things Done: Making the Most of your Check In Meeting
- A FREE QUICK COURSE -
My aim is for conversations and simple tools that create clarity. This quick course is designed as pre work inputs for either an individual conversation or workshop .
What this course covers
Purpose Introduce simple frames to support the creation of work priorities and leveraging your strengths as a way to manage the things that need to be done
Process 90-minutes including activities
Outcome At the completion of this course you will
Have prioritised your work task list through the Eisenhower priority canvas
Be able to describe your leadership domain through the lens of the CliftonStrengths leadership domains model
Completed a review with your team around how you delegate, and identify opportunities of where to improve
Step One “The What” Focus on the Big Rocks
“What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.”
Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
We are drowning in a sea or urgent. Most roles run at 110 to 130% of their capacity. The average amount of time a manager spends in meetings is 23. The average number of e-mails received per day is 121
One indication of this overwhelm, is the pervasive use of to-do lists, which attempt to keep a handle on our responsibilities and are, according to one LinkedIn study, used by 63% of professionals. That would be great if we reliably accomplished what we set out to do. But the startup iDoneThis analysed their users’ data and discovered that 41% of the to-do list tasks users inputted were never accomplished — little wonder in a world where the average professional has 150 tasks to be done at any given time, according to research by psychologists Ray Baumeister and John Tierney.
If prioritising is a key management skill, how do we do this?
Action Not all tasks are urgent and not all are important
Review your master task list. Could take a break from your desk and complete this exercise over a cup of tea or coffee?
Print out the template found by clicking the button below, or grab an A4 sheet of paper and fold it into 4 equal squares
Take all your tasks and place them within the 4 task types as per the diagram below
For the delegate tasks, aim to write someone else’s name against this the task
Step Two “The Who” Leverage your strengths and the strengths of your team
“Teams should be well rounded precisely because we as individuals are not".”
It can be difficult to understand every nuance of the 34 CliftonStrengths themes. Looking at them through the lens of the four domains of leadership strength makes it easier. The domains answer the question, "How do I make sense of the world on a greater scale than just my individual CliftonStrengths themes?"
People tend to think about what they don't do well, or what weaknesses they need to work on. The domains can help people understand where they're most powerful, and how to use that power to make their greatest contribution.
The four domains summarise what every leader and team need to accomplish. This is about partnership as teams should be well rounded precisely because we as individuals are not. All leaders and teams need to be able to
STRATEGICALLY THINK “The What” Help consider what could be. Absorb and analyse information for better decisions
INFLUENCE “The Why” Take charge, speak up and make sure the team is heard
RELATIONSHIP BUILD “The Who” Build strong relationships that hold the team together to make it greater than the sum of the parts
EXECUTE “The How” Know how to make things happen
See more in the video below.
Whether leaders and teams can accomplish these using their own Strengths or must rely on partners and their Strengths, the CliftonStrengths Domains help us understand and meet the demands of our roles and responsibilities.
Action Describe how you contribute to a team to get things done by identifying the domains where your strengths naturally sit.
Download and complete the quick activity to identify the CliftonStrengths domains where you strengths profile sits. Look for your Top 5 strengths to see which domain/s they sit in. The domain that has most of your strengths will be an indication of your working preference/leadership style
If your strengths are evenly spread across a number of leadership domains, then choose the domain that most relates to you from watching the videos. Often, you can be in more than one domain
Further understand what each leadership domain means, watch the related video where your Top 5 strengths sit below
Be able to describe your leadership style e.g. I am a Strategic Relator, Influencing Executor, Relational Executor etc
If you haven’t already Complete a CliftonStrengths profile
Step Three “The How” Determine which tasks sit where
Quite simply, people don't delegate because it takes a lot of up-front effort as no one will ever do a task the same as you as. At first sight, delegation can feel like more hassle than it's worth, however by delegating effectively, you can hugely expand the amount of work that you can deliver.
When you arrange the workload so that you are working on the tasks that have the highest priority for you, and other people are working on meaningful and challenging assignments, you have a recipe for success.
To delegate effectively, you have to choose the right tasks to delegate, identify the right people to delegate to, and delegate in the right way. There's a lot to this, but you'll achieve so much more.
For more on the art of delegation, watch the video below.
Action Complete a diagnostic with your team about how and where you can delegate more by asking them the following questions
Don’t have any direct reports? Could you have this discussion with your team leader instead?
Within each area of your key responsibilities are there areas where I am getting too involved?
Within each area of your key responsibilities are there areas where I need to get more involved?
Do you see me doing things that someone at my level does not need to be doing, that I can delegate?
Create your own planning system
Create your own planning ritual that helps prioritise. Next steps will be covered when we meet.
Not registered for a workshop or individual coach? Have a follow up quick chat with Jase to explore.
Further Reading
Check out the Boss to Coach Course Reading List
Meetings and Leveraging Your Calendar
Managing Task and Priorities