The emphasis is not just on managing time but also giving you the resources to help team members in handling stress and expectations, ensuring a fair process and workload distribution.

Here are a few of the things we will discuss:

• Organizing Work with Kanban Boards: One common approach showcased by Sarah, during the video,  involves using Kanban boards to organize tasks and priorities on a monthly basis.  Managers like you can outline priorities, key deliverables, and tasks to start at the beginning of each month. It will also help you  provide a space for tasks that you are thinking (on the radar), offering visibility into potential priorities that may arise.
• Team Priorities Meeting: To help teams define their priorities, Sarah recommends conducting a monthly meeting.  This tool facilitates open discussions about key deliverables, allowing the team to define priorities collaboratively. The session begins with a review of the previous month, marking completed tasks, discussing challenges, and transitioning to the new month’s objectives.

How to manage your time.

Effective time management is the cornerstone of successful managerial roles for a myriad of reasons. It empowers managers to optimize their productivity by focusing on tasks that truly matter, enhancing overall efficiency and resource utilization. By meeting deadlines consistently, managers instill confidence in their team and stakeholders, building a reputation for reliability. Additionally, proper time management reduces stress levels, fostering a healthier work environment and enabling managers to make well-informed decisions.Lastly, mastering time management contributes to achieving a sustainable work-life balance, ensuring managers can maintain their performance levels over the long haul. In essence, adept time management is not just a managerial skill; it’s a fundamental driver of success for both individuals and the organizations they lead.

So, let’s begin with organizing your work.

We recommend using a Kanban board, such as the ones shown here, to arrange your tasks and priorities each month. Add the Kanban board tool to your Leadership Hub as demonstrated in the video, and at the start of each month, outline your priorities, the key deliverables due by the end of the month, and the tasks you need to start.

Additionally, you have a section for items on your radar, a fantastic place for sticky notes that may not be current priorities but could become ones as you make progress.

For your team, on a monthly basis, we recommend conducting a brief meeting to openly discuss the main deliverables they need to complete.

Even though the tools I will be sharing with you are widely used by most managers, I still recommend exploring our tool library to find other options that might be a perfect fit for your needs or can be customized to suit your requirements.

• OKRs: Managers often set Objectives and Key Results on an annual basis, and we have two top choices for this.
• Employee Performance Reviews: Providing clarity on what is expected from each employee is crucial for team empowerment. Employee performance reviews offer an easy way to provide feedback on teamwork, objectives, and more.
• KEAP for Hiring: KEAP is designed to assess candidates fairly based on the skills and capabilities needed for the role. In here you see all the skills and capabilities that are important for the role. All organized based on the importance of those skills.
• One on ones and coaching sessions: There’s a versatile tool for one-on-ones that’s incredibly popular, so let me start with that one and then introduce a few others that can be helpful in specific situations.
• Team Building Workshop.
• Team Culture Discussion.
• Thriving teams survey: (Team Survey) This Survey helps you assess areas requiring improvement for your team to thrive.
• Thriving teams workshop.
• Team onboarding.
• Candidate Interview Questions (Hiring Tools).

Templates and tools empowers managers to work more efficiently, maintain consistency and accuracy, save time, enhance the quality of their work, make informed decisions, foster collaboration, and adapt to changing business needs.

These resources are essential for modern managers striving for effective and successful leadership in their organizations.

Meetings are a bit like a thermometer. They help you evaluate how healthy your organization is, how well your organization is adopting new technology, and how easily you can scale.

Here are a few questions that can help you evaluate what meetings are revealing about your productivity and organizational health.

• How many meetings do you have per week to check in on progress?
• Do you use your 1-on-1s to discuss the progress of things?
• Do you have a way to check progress without adding a meeting to the calendar?
• How often do you have meetings to explain the process and what is expected from people?
• How easy is it for you (if you are a manager) to delegate work?
• How often do people need to redo work because it wasn’t what you needed or expected?
• How often do you have or join meetings where you don’t say a word? Are we talking about one a month or four a week?
• How often do you go to meetings where you are sharing or someone else is sharing just information, and your participation is not required? Are we talking about one a month or two a week?
• How often do you come across a challenge and need to discuss it with a few people, and you can’t chat about it within the next two hours or the same day because their calendars are fully booked, so you put things on hold?

Let’s discuss a few of those questions.

For instance, having too many check-in meetings can be a symptom of a few things, such as a lack of trust between the manager and the team, a lack of processes in place to guide the team and ensure they know what the expectations are, or even a lack of digitalization.

Companies may not be using technology to track progress and have to depend on meetings, but this is key.

Another example is the use of meetings to share information or updates where there is no collaboration between team members or stakeholders, but the only objective is to inform. Often, this is a symptom of bad habits and a lack of digitalization.

Sometimes, this implies that there are no processes in place to track “who has read it or watched it,” and meetings end up being the only way to do that. Even if that means that people are just “present” while doing other things during the meeting. This is so common that it has become normal.

In how many of your meetings today did you not say more than 2 words?

Another example is the constant use of meetings to share proposals, ideas, new designs, or new strategies, whether the goal is to get them approved, get feedback, or gather information from stakeholders. These meetings tend to be ineffective in a live format, as people usually need time to digest the information. Many negative things can happen as a result, but this is a symptom of a lack of trust, lack of digitalization, and lack of processes — to mention just a few.

Additionally, we see that very few organizations have quick calls to troubleshoot a problem or have changed some of their meetings to workshops. We have found that teams manage their work and time based on their meetings. So, if they have something important to solve, they often don’t just call the team and add a quick meeting to their calendar because there is no time available. This leads to the inability to adapt to what is important now and puts things on hold. These are the meetings (workshops and troubleshooting meetings) that we should be having more of as they bring instant progress — but instead, we are spending a lot of time checking in and sharing information when that should be done asynchronously.

So let’s discuss a few of the things you can do:

1. Leverage technology to track progress. It’s important that you know if things are done or in progress without having to depend on a meeting or without having to send a message. To start, you can use any task management platform.
2. Document and track of how decisions are made over time and how stakeholders are involved in each decision. You can do that by organizing your projects and documents effectively and defining a process for it or using tools like Nova.
3. Move some of your meetings asynchronously. You can start simple, like moving all your check-ins into a message, where a team member sends the team or client an email with all the updates. Ideally, this is not done manually. You can also move your informative meetings asynchronously by using a tool like Loom or any other video recording tool. You can also keep track of who has watched it and make it more interactive by using Nova [watch this quick video]— and you can move a lot of your meetings asynchronously with tools like Nova.

Do you spend your entire day in meetings, wondering how you’ll find time to get things done?

You’re not alone!

However, let me clarify, meetings themselves aren’t the issue. Meetings play a crucial role in bringing teams together and facilitating progress. The problem lies in how we’ve been using them lately — excessively and inefficiently.

So, let’s examine your calendar and review the various meetings you have.

• One on ones: These are excellent meetings for establishing a connection between two people, especially when working remotely and social interactions are limited. Leave these as traditional meetings or go out for coffee whenever you have a chance to build a stronger relationship with your team.
• Workshops and Team Building Meetings: These meetings are valuable for fostering teamwork and often involve hands-on activities that engage everyone’s minds. Well facilitated, this workshop and team buildings will help you build a workplace where people want to work.
• Check-Ins: Consider how frequently you meet with your team to assess progress. Some check-in meetings can potentially be moved to asynchronous formats, and I’ll show you how shortly. To give you an example, at Nova we only have one check-in meeting a month using this tool, the rest of check-in meetings are done asynchronously.
• Team Formation or Planning: Meetings of this nature are essential for discussing and devising plans collaboratively. They provide opportunities to define roles, responsibilities, and identify areas where the team may require additional support or anticipate challenges.

For all these meetings, except check-ins, it’s often best to keep them as they are. Ensure that these meetings include an agenda and have a facilitator or leader to guide discussions and achieve meeting goals effectively.

Now, certain meetings occur regularly and can be effectively shifted to asynchronous formats, often working better than traditional meetings because it lets participants have a bit more time to digest information and provide well-thought input.

Here are the meetings that you can move to asynchronous formats:

• Informative Meetings: Meetings where one person shares updates or information about a topic or project and may conclude with a few questions or seek feedback on how participants feel about it. This meeting can be conducted asynchronously.
• Feedback and Approval Meetings: Teams often spend a significant amount of time requesting feedback or approvals from managers or team members, or even clients. However, these meetings can be ineffective because people struggle to digest information in a way that allows them to provide valuable feedback. This leads to more meetings, more emails and more questions.
• Document Approval: Often, team members ask managers or clients to review and approve documents, and these requests can get delayed or lost.
• Idea Feedback.

In this video I will be walking you through each type of meetings and how you can work asynchronously.

Changing your business culture to be more productive is a deliberate choice. Even agencies working extensively with clients have managed to reduce the number of meetings without compromising collaboration or productivity. It’s a matter of making that choice and implementing a few small changes initially. Once everyone becomes familiar with this way of working, scaling and achieving results become more attainable.

To start choose one or two types of meetings and move them asynchronously and then keep adapting overtime.

For further tips, please follow our blog and our social media channels, where we regularly share tips about productivity, innovation and collaboration.

Meetings have become essential for any role, and having strong skills and understanding how to best run productive meetings can help you improve how you work, save you time, enhance your relationships with coworkers and how they perceive you, improve your output, and even access more and better career opportunities.

This skill is not just about being able to share a good story (storytelling) or creating a good presentation/deck; what makes a meeting productive is the ability of the person leading the meeting to achieve the meeting objectives efficiently. In other words, having one meeting to accomplish the objective and making decisions during that meeting is better than having two meetings to discuss the same thing and still needing to chat on Slack about it for a week.

However, even facilitating meetings is a key skill; the majority of us haven’t been trained to be good at it, so we often make the same mistakes everyone makes because we have learn by mimicking our leaders.

So we often make these mistakes:

• We tend to start the meeting by sharing the agenda but don’t often share or clarify what the objective of the meeting is.
• We often share information (proposals, designs, strategies, updates…) and ask people to ask questions or raise their hands if they have any additional comments.

“Do you have any questions or comments?”

This is very similar to what we have seen in our school. The teacher shares information, and people have a chance to ask questions. It also follows traditional organizational hierarchy — where “the boss” used to be the one making decisions. So he/she would be presenting and then just letting everyone else ask questions.

This traditional way to lead meetings ….are just not aligned with the way we work anymore. Especially for knowledge workers and specialists, where each person (or stakeholder) in the meeting is there because they bring certain knowledge, perspectives, ideas, etc., to the table. So what you want is to leverage that!

To help organizations and teams have access to a training course that anyone can watch to improve their facilitation skills, our team has decided to start a training course on YouTube.

We wanted to make it accessible to everyone and ensure individuals and teams can use it to train their teams and ensure they have the basic skills to lead productive meetings. So this post can be shared with your team, or you can copy the links from the videos and make your own onboarding or training course for your team.

Intro

1. What Meetings Reveal About Your Productivity and Organizational Health

Run Productive Meetings

1. What to Do and What Not to Do During Meetings.
2. How to Run a Productive Meeting.
3. How to Run a Productive Meeting — A Practical Framework That Your Team will Remember. The OFQ Meeting Framework.
4. How to Encourage Your Team to Get Better? They can Ask for Feedback Like This! Learn About PI Meetings.

Move your meetings Async. Less meetings, more productivity: Get things done!

1. What Meetings Can You Move Async?
2. How to Move Your Informative Meetings Async?
3. How Can You Move 30%-60% of Your Meetings Async?

You can access the training program here for free. 

You can also begin by familiarizing yourself with the QFQ Meeting framework, a simple system that outlines three fundamental rules for all meetings. These rules are easy for your team to memorize and learn – and you can set the precedent by being the first to follow them (leading by example). The framework concentrates on aspects that can readily improve your meetings, making them more productive and engaging. Over the last three years, our team has tested these principles with multiple organizations, effectively evaluating their positive effects. Watch the video below to learn more.

One-on-one meetings with direct reports often feel disorganized and even a bit strange.

It’s important to check in regularly with each of your employees, but how can you make the best use of the time? How can you make the meetings about their growth? How can you better support them? What do you need to change as the manager, and what do you need to ask your direct report to do differently as well?

Experts say that your main goal as a manager during these one-on-ones is to show your “commitment to helping them develop and grow,” while also “bringing the organizational perspective to the table and thinking about how best you can work side-by-side with this person to get things done while ensuring the organization also achieves its goals”

Hiring and onboarding can be challenging, especially because it doesn’t always happen at the most convenient time. It often takes longer and involves more work than expected.

As a manager, it can consume a lot of your time.

I believe managers and HR teams need clarity on the skills and competencies candidates must possess. These should be evaluated based on the tasks they will actually perform 60–80% of the time. Achieving this clarity begins with defining a framework for everyone involved in the process.

Looking for the ideal candidate for your company? The key lies in asking the right questions during interviews!

By delving into the individual beyond their resume, you can assess whether they possess the suitable personality for the job and whether they will flourish in your company culture. Don’t pass up the chance to genuinely understand your candidates — incorporate these questions into your interview process and manage the whole process easily.

Best Interview Questions

Screen Call Questions:

1. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your professional background?
2. How do your skills and experience align with the requirements for this position?
3. Tell me a little bit about your experience in [X]?
4. What are your salary expectations for this role?
5. What is your availability for interviews and potential start dates?

Interview Questions:

General questions to learn about the candidate.

1. Introduce yourself: Tell me about yourself. Maybe add: 👉What are your greatest strengths? What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
2. What do most people get wrong about [business/marketing/product…]?
3. How do you handle unexpected changes or challenges? or Tell me about a time when you were under extreme pressure and remained calm and focused at work.
4. At times, you may be asked to do many things at once. Tell me how you would decide what is most important and why.
5. What’s your motivation for choosing to leave your current employer? or What are you looking for in a new position?
6. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? 🤓
7. What was the last gift you gave? 👾
8. What is your proudest achievement outside of your career?
9. Are you a hunter or gatherer?

Accountability Questions:

1. Tell me about a time when you had to deliver on a commitment that was difficult for you. What did you do to motivate yourself?
2. Have you ever been in a situation where your role or responsibilities haven’t been clearly defined? What did you do?
3. Tell me about a time when you felt compelled to immediately address a difficult situation with your boss or supervisor when others wouldn’t. (You had to do the right thing). What happened? What was the outcome?
4. Describe a situation in which you forecasted a problem and prepared a strategy for handling it. How did it turn out?
5. We can sometimes recognize a small problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give an example of how you acted to prevent a larger problem from occurring.

Teamwork Questions:

1. Tell me about a time when someone else neglected or failed to deliver on their work commitments — and it had a negative impact on your productivity. How did you react?
2. Describe a time when you put your needs aside to help a co-worker understand a task. How did you assist them? What was the result?
3. Tell me about a time when you improved a process by creating a cross-functional team. What was the issue, and how did it turn out?

Communication Questions:

1. At times your workload may feel unmanageable. Describe a time when you recognized that you were unable to meet multiple deadlines. What did you do about it?

Problem Solving Questions:

1. How many balloons could fit on a Tesla?
2. How would you describe the taste of salt to someone who has never had it?
3. If given no other choice, would you rather fight one duck the size of a horse or 100 duck-sized horses?
4. In terms of square feet, how much pizza do people eat each year in the U.S.?

Learning and Adaptability Questions:

1. Describe your biggest failure related to your respective field. 👉
2. Tell me about a time when you used creativity to overcome a dilemma. 🤞
3. What’s the best idea you’ve come up with on a team-based project? 💥

At the same time, if you are managing an interview process, you know how difficult it is to manage all that process. Sometimes you want to get your team involved in the process or the HR manager or the leadership team is involved; sometimes the process is just complex, includes multiple interviews, multiple steps, and you have way too many candidates to evaluate. It’s never easy to manage all of that effectively. If you are looking for some tips and solutions, you can stay on this post and read further; if this is not a problem for you, we hope the list of questions provided above was helpful. Please share your favorite questions with our community in the comments below so we can all ask the right questions.🤞

When Managing a Complex Hiring Process:

When managing a complex hiring process with multiple interviews, a lot of candidates on the backlog, and maybe even a lot of team members that are involved in the interview process, it’s not easy to manage the process, know what’s done for each candidate, what are the notes from each interview, and even have a cohesive framework where all team members involved are evaluating candidates fairly and based on key competencies for the role.

If this resonates with you and your team, you may want to leverage a visual process, where you can see how the process starts. For example, you can see what the key competencies needed for the role are; you will have the first questions the team will have to ask during the first call, and then even each candidate that has passed the first screen call and will move to the first round of interviews. In there, the team can even have the questions ready and a way to evaluate the candidate as a collective. Also holds all notes from all interviewers.

Also, it provides even templates for parts of the process when the candidate doesn’t move forward and when the candidate actually does. Like the email they will receive so the team just has to copy and paste this and send the email or automate this on the platform they use to accept and decline resumes.

Every year when we define our objectives. We ask each department to define their action plan, their commitments, and their team norms.

This is something that helps us create a plan and especially helps us create the environment and mental models to work with clarity and velocity.

You start by adding or defining your company vision and mission.

Step 1: Define your Vision & Company Mission

Think about: ‘What do you want to be? What’s your dream and ambition?’

How is your team going to reach that vision? What motivates you every day?

Your company’s Vision and Mission are going to define everything else. Your team needs to be excited and committed to that vision and mission.

Step 2: Company objectives.

Create a list of objectives. How would your team reach your ‘Vision’? What are your main objectives for the next 12 months? What are the ✔💯 key priorities?

What choices do you need to make based on your strategy, current resources, and vision?

🔥🔥Tips:

• Select 3 to 6 priorities for the year.
• Be specific. Define the objective and key metrics.

If your organization and team is driven by results, metrics should serve as a guiding force. Rather than focusing solely on what needs to be delivered, encourage your team to shape their strategy around achieving specific results, rather than completing a list of tasks. While plans may change, the desired results should remain constant. This can help to ensure that efforts are focused on achieving meaningful outcomes, rather than simply completing actions.

Step 3: Actions.

What needs to be done?

What actions need to be done in the next 90 days to help you achieve those objectives?

What actions need to be done in the next 12 months to help you achieve those objectives?

This will be your action plan and it will include key projects and activities.

Step 4: Define your intentions and commitment.

Now that you’ve identified the actions required to get what you want, you must set intentions to implement them. We call them implementation intentions (also known as commitments)

They are commitments to perform an action at a specific time and location — you specify what you’re going to do when you’re going to do it, and where.

Add each implementation intention should follow this framework:

“I will [ACTION] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”

Step 5: Values and Principles.

Define your company or team values and work principles. Culture’s values are the ideas and behaviours that determine what is good, right, fair, and just — and ultimately these values and principles should help people make decisions with confidence (having a fair and just system that supports them)

I highly recommend reading this book >>‘ Principles’ by Ray Dalio. My business partner got one for me when we decided to incorporate our business years ago — and today we use some of the principles he highlights inside the book.

Here are a few examples from that 👆👆book that we love:

✔ Perceive and don’t tolerate problems. Inventing and implementing solutions for them — move us forward.

✔ Be loyal to the common mission and not to anyone who is not operating consistently with it.

✔ Don’t let loyalty to people stand in the way of truth and the well-being of the organization.

When stepping into a management role for the first time, one of the biggest challenges is delegation. As you gain experience in your industry, you quickly realize that effective delegation is an art that requires careful planning, clear communication, and well-defined processes.

In this educational blog post, we’ll discuss some of they key tips you need to follow and walk you through the process of building a good structure for your team.

Let’s start with eight most important criteria you should keep in mind:

1. Know Your Team: Get to know your team members, what they’re good at, and what they like. Give them tasks that match their skills.
2. Make Things Clear: When you give someone a task, be very clear about what you want. Tell them what the job is, when it’s due, and why it matters.
3. Define What You Want: If you have specific things in mind, like how the task should be done, be sure to explain it. People have different experiences and ideas, so it’s important to be clear. If you don’t have preferences, say so. It’s frustrating for everyone to redo work because the boss changed their mind.
4. Set Priorities: Before adding more work, think about what’s already on your team’s plate. Help them understand how the new task fits in with everything else. Not everything is equally urgent or important.
5. Define the process and the thinking criteria: Think about how your team works together. Create some basic rules for everyone to follow. It’s like a structural roadmap to help your team work well and understand what needs to be done.
6. Lead by Example: Be a good role model. Speak up, ask questions, and use the company rules. For example, if you set a deadline for your team, stick to it.
7. Trust Your Team: Once you give a task to someone, trust them to finish it. Checking every little thing can make your team unhappy and less productive.
8. Learn from Mistakes: If something goes wrong, figure out how to do better next time.

Now that you have this simple list, let’s see how you can put it into practice.

Many times, as organizations grow and hire more people, they forget to set up good ways to share tasks, make decisions as a team and work together.

Even with a bigger team, the work might not get better or faster, and things might feel more confusing.

To make sure your team can work together and get things done as your group gets bigger, focus on number 5, which is defining the process.

Create some simple rules for how your team works and what’s the thinking criteria.

This won’t take a lot of time, and you already define this on daily and weekly basis whenever you explain things to your team. Now is time to turn your “silo conversations” and emails into processes that will help you scale and delegate.

Understanding the Delegation Dilemma

Delegating work isn’t just about handing them over; it’s about ensuring everyone is on the same page, working efficiently, and making informed decisions collectively.

However, as a manager, you are often held accountable for the success of the team, the department, and the decisions made therein, all of which significantly impact the organization’s success.

It’s not easy to let teams determine what to deliver, how decisions are made, and not have clarity on what is happening, how decisions are reached, or have visibility on progress.

For a good leader to effectively delegate, there must be clarity on decision-making processes, a basic structure defining deliverables, and a common standard of work across all team members, departments, clients, and other stakeholders.

In other words — a process!

While some team members are better at keeping their managers informed, it’s not always that simple. Even with constant communication, the delegation process can fail. Frequent manager-employee communication might make the team member feel micromanaged, eroding trust.

The only way a manager can effectively delegate is by first having a good organization. Ensure your documentation is well-organized so that people can find information easily, including yourself.

Secondly, define your processes. It’s not about specifying every single detail; it’s about outlining what is most likely to be delivered and considered during the process. Define the thinking process and criteria for making decisions.

Think about the emails or Slack messages you send, explaining what your team needs to deliver and the factors they must consider.

For example, perhaps your team always needs to evaluate costs, examine case studies, and factor in delivery costs.

Here lies the dilemma:

Should you continue delegating as you are doing now? This often involves sending various messages, arranging multiple check-in meetings to track progress, and frequently requiring people to redo their work.

Alternatively, should you try delegating effectively? This approach involves fewer messages, fewer check-in meetings, and automatic tracking of progress, decisions, and overall work. The process becomes transparent for everyone involved, enabling smoother collaboration and ensuring tasks are completed with precision and efficiency.

When considering OKRs, it’s common to focus on only one or two concepts. For instance, some organizations may solely concentrate on revenue when defining their OKRs. However, it can be helpful to broaden the perspective and think about objectives, results, and activities related to the following areas:

1. People: Consider team members, necessary knowledge, and experience. Identify training requirements for continuous improvement and the implementation of other objectives.
2. Cash/Revenue: Focus on financial aspects and revenue generation.
3. Processes: Evaluate things that need removal, improvement, or change. Determine the type of training and implementation needed to achieve the objective.
4. Strategy: Encompass various elements such as product, service, communication, branding, etc.

How to build systems that help us achieve our objectives?

As the new year begins, we often find ourselves contemplating “what’s next” and setting new objectives for the year. 

This process can bring about a wave of insecurities and may be particularly overwhelming for those who have held the same goals for years or for those who are unsure of where to start.

These goals not only extend to the business realm but are also prevalent in individual team members who are taking action.

We will share insights on how to define your goals for greater success, guide your team in defining their goals if you hold a leadership role, and help you articulate goals for your team or organization. We’ll delve into where to start, what distinguishes a good goal definition from a bad one, and identify approaches that consistently yield positive results. By exploring these details, your likelihood of success will multiply.

Before we provide a few actionable frameworks to define your goals, we want to give you more insights into what can influence your success, as some of us need more support than others or certain things to be true to feel “confident” about it. Here are several factors that contribute to increasing the likelihood of achieving goals:

1. Specificity: Clearly define your goals and commitments. The more specific and well-defined they are, the easier it is to create a plan and take actionable steps. It’s essential not to think about goals as mere “one-sentence” statements to write and forget; define your goals as if you were outlining a commitment. Instead of saying “I want to go to the gym this year” or “I want to grow my business by 10%,” define the commitments you will have to make.
2. Measurability: Establish measurable criteria to track your progress. This allows you to assess how far you’ve come and provides motivation to continue.
3. Achievable: Set realistic goals. It’s not just about how big your goals are; it’s about understanding that our time is limited. We tend to add things to our lives without considering what we would have to change or remove to make time for that new thing.
4. Relevance: Align your goals with your values and long-term objectives. When goals are meaningful and relevant, you are more likely to stay committed to them. Additionally, explore other commitments you have and determine if this “new” goal is actually a priority.
5. Time-bound: Set deadlines for your goals. Having a timeframe creates a sense of urgency and helps prioritize tasks, preventing procrastination. When thinking about timelines, consider the amount of time you will need to achieve it and to maintain it. Things and people don’t stay if you don’t dedicate time to continue to nurture them.
6. Planning: Develop a detailed plan outlining the steps needed to reach your goals. Break down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks.
7. Consistency: Consistent effort over time is crucial. Establishing daily or weekly routines can help maintain progress and build momentum. This is probably the key ingredient for success.
8. Accountability body: Share your goals with someone who can hold you accountable. This could be a friend, family member, or a mentor who can provide support and encouragement.
9. Adaptability: Be open to adjusting your approach based on feedback and changing circumstances. Flexibility is key to overcoming unexpected challenges.
10. Positive Mindset: Cultivate a positive attitude. Believing in your ability to achieve your goals can have a significant impact on your motivation and perseverance.
11. Social Support: Surrounding oneself with a supportive network can positively impact goal achievement. Building relationships with people who share similar goals or who encourage and inspire can enhance motivation and accountability.
12. Peer Influence: Positive peer pressure can be harnessed to create a supportive environment. When individuals are part of a group that values similar goals, the shared commitment can drive motivation and persistence.
13. Role Models: Identifying and learning from role models who have successfully achieved similar goals can provide guidance and inspiration. Observing others’ success stories can instill confidence and determination.
14. Feedback Mechanisms: Establishing regular feedback loops, whether through mentors, peers, or self-assessment, allows individuals to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments. Constructive feedback can be a powerful motivator.
15. Cultural Expectations: Shifting cultural norms to value and prioritize personal development and goal achievement can create a more conducive environment. Encouraging a culture that embraces lifelong learning and growth fosters a mindset conducive to goal attainment.
16. Educational Programs: Implementing educational initiatives that teach goal-setting strategies, time management, and resilience can empower individuals with the necessary skills to pursue and achieve their objectives.
17. Recognition and Rewards: Creating systems for acknowledging and rewarding goal achievement, either within social groups or organizations, reinforces positive behavior. Recognition can enhance motivation and encourage continued effort.
18. Reducing Negative Influences: Minimizing exposure to negative influences or environments that hinder goal pursuit is crucial. This may involve distancing oneself from individuals or situations that undermine progress.
19. Public Commitment: Making goals public, whether through social media or other platforms, can create a sense of accountability. The awareness that others are aware of one’s objectives can provide an added incentive to stay on track.
20. Mindset Shift: Encouraging a growth mindset, where challenges are viewed as opportunities for learning and improvement, can reshape individuals’ perceptions of setbacks and foster resilience in the face of obstacles.

Not all have to be true, and you don’t always need a new objective for the year. In fact, for some objectives, you may only need two of these factors to be true, and maybe some years you don’t have any new goals. Remember that even in a fast-paced world, you are the one defining what success means to you and to your company(or team).

For additional tips go to our blog.