When you are newly promoted as a manager there are multiple things to handle because your job profile is no longer the same.
There are expectations from you but no one to tell you what to do and how to go about it.
You suddenly find yourself surrounded by multiple problems and there is a constant push and pull.
You are stressed and overwhelmed with things at hand not knowing what to do.
Whatever you do, you find you are unable to get control over things and you find yourself multitasking and micromanaging often.
And there is a fear of making a bad impression on people around.
Nothing seems to be working well, you feel frustrated day in and day out hoping to make things right the next day ….
Am I right?
From my own experience, I know how challenging it is to handle multiple things and keep your focus on the main things, while still maintaining your calm and control over matters.
Research statistics show that 60 %of the New Managers fail within the first 18 months.
Do you know why?
Well, it is because they do not choose their actions wisely and are ineffective with their efforts.
The biggest mistake New Managers make is ,trying to dabble with everything all at once and they spread themselves too thin , making poor impact and remain stressed , feel unconfident and out of control and create a bad impression on all around them .
But hold on it does not have to be that way.
You can be much more effective with the way you do things and create much better impressions on everyone around you.
Thinking clearly , choosing wisely and focusing on one thing at a time will help you create a better impact .
Are you ready?
So let us go .
According to Pareto’s 80/20 rule, 80 % of your problems come from 20% of your actions.
In this post , I’ll share a powerful strategy used by experts to identify one action which will solve 80 % of your problems in just 90 days and make you feel confident, calm, and in control and make a greater impact.
You may be at any level in your career, managing for the first time, or have been managing for the last 3 to 5 years. The strategy will work for any stage because the problems are the same at any stage.
You can use this strategy over and over again
So let us go step-by-step !
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1.SELECT A POWERFUL GOAL .
This is the first step ,selecting a powerful goal .
What would be the 10 most important things that you would like to work on in the coming months?
Here are some examples :
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Having a Mentor.
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Get clear about your role and what is expected of you.
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Define your goals and set up personal routines and systems.
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Get to know your team and schedule 1 on 1
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Address changing relationships with people who were once upon a time your peers.
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Develop your team.
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Develop your emotional intelligence.
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Practice communicating effectively.
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Develop Standard operating procedures.
Write 10 priorities that you have at the moment. These are some examples to help you. You can look around the challenges you are having and write 10.
Now pick out the 5 most important ones which you think you must work on now. Put a circle or start around them.
Go one step further and shorten the list to 3 . Which 3 would you like to work on in the coming 3 to 6 months. Pick the 3 from the list of 5. So here you get the 3.
Now put a sequence to them. Rank them on a scale of 1 to 10 in order of importance.
Ask yourself, which is the one thing from where most of your problems are coming.
Suppose you have outlined 3 things as –
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Define your goals and set up personal routines and systems
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Develop your team.
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Develop standard operating procedures.
So the most powerful thing you have to do here is to identify which is the biggest source of your maximum problems.
Say for instance you need to have SOPS to put things under control, then Working on developing SOP will be your number 1 priority.
Or if you feel that the team needs to be developed, then developing the team will be your priority.
Whatever may be the situation in your job place, you have to define your priority.
So here is the first foundational step which you get for the next 90 days.
Your Big Goal!
2 ACTIONS FOR THE GOAL .
This is the second step to outline some actions for the goal .
Now think of 3 to 5 things you need to do for the goal.
Suppose your goal is to make SOPS.
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Then write down 5 to 6 things on which SOPS need to be developed.
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Preparing the SOP is the second step.
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Getting the SOP approved with your seniors is the third step.
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Notifying your employees is the fourth step.
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Implementing and monitoring is the fifth step.
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Making the necessary changes and adjusting them to be more effective is the third step.
So all these steps at the Milestones you will be achieving in the next 90 days.
3 CREATE A POSITIVE BELIEF AROUND THE GOAL
Creating a positive belief around the goal is important. A positive mindset is critical to success.
So believe that you have already accomplished the goal and a statement like –
‘’I have implemented SOPs For 6 things on the 6th of September.’’
4 IDENTIFY ALL THE CHALLENGES AROUND THE GOAL.
It is important to identify the challenges and prepare for them ,to ensure that you are successful in achieving your goal .
Make a list of all challenges around the goal.
Eg –Who can object -Your seniors, your employees. List all the people who will be impacted and the objections they might have.
Later on, when you have completed your work, you will work on this part, what to say to whom, how, and when, because then you will be in a better position to explain to them the benefits of the SOPS.
So here you have identified all the challenges and will keep solving them as you go by.
5 ORGANIZING AROUND THE GOAL.
Organising is one of the most important part ,because without organising you will flounder at every step .organising helps you to carry out your plan seamlessly .
Now take the list of tasks you need to do. Think of all the things you need to accomplish the goal and make a list of the things you need. Put a date, place, and person who will help you get them.
So here you are getting yourself organised around the goal.
6. PUTTING THE PLAN INTO ACTION.
Detailed planning is half of the success achieved. It will make you feel that your goal has become more attainable.
Dale Carnegie has rightly said –
“An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing”.
Here again, go to step No 2 – Set priority to the milestones you need to go.
Rank them in order of importance.
What must come before everything else? What next and next. Keep ranking them.
So by setting priorities you are now going systematically one step after the other.
Now take the first important task from this list and write it as the month’s goal in a planner and break it into 3 to 4 small chunks to do each week.
Now prioritize and sequence the task into weekly goals.
In the week’s planning sheet you will be writing your priorities, important events, additional tasks to create more balance and fulfillment.
Now take 1 small task to finish in the week and break it into 3 to 5 simpler action steps to accomplish each day of the week and write them in the space below.
Now rank the tasks again and sequence them in order of priority for each day.
What must be done first, next and next?
Take one task in order of priority and schedule in your day.
Now commit yourself to take action.
I have two quotes to cite as an example to accomplish successfully.
‘’Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.” –Stephen King
Work on this plan every day.
Read your goals every day, as you wake up and before you go to bed at night.
Work on your main goal first, then focus on the other priorities.
‘’Do the Hard Jobs first, the easy jobs will take care of themselves.’’
Dale Carnegie.
List one Project, Personal and Additional task to bring more balance and fulfilment in the day.
7.PREPARE TO REVIEW EVERYDAY AND SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS.
Review, restructure, re-adjust and rewire consistently to make progress each week.
Review progress every day and become more productive.
Reviewing helps you to have more control on the work progress and know what is working and what is not , so that you can take quick decisions to make necessary changes and progress faster .
Reflect regularly on your goals and note your progress in a journal.
See whether you are moving closer or away from your goals.
By reviewing your progress every day, you’ll discover your strengths and things you truly value in life.
Be consistent and flexible and enjoy your journey.
And go confidently in the direction of your destination.
Please read this post –7 Reasons Why Problem Solving Is Important for New Managers
NOTE :
You have to create momentum and flow and make a bigger impact by designing a weekly and daily flow of actions.
Take one month, one week, and one day at a time.
Remember it takes twice the time you set out to accomplish your goal. So be practical about time estimation.
As you complete one month’s tasks, take another month’s priorities and tasks and focus on them and repeat for the third month. And you will find yourself having accomplished the goal.
So here you are with a powerful strategy to make more impact.
This is the strategy used by all experts. I hope you find this strategy very helpful.
And to help you with this, I decided to create a tool for you that will help you go around with things more strategically and systematically, be more effective with your efforts and time, make a positive impact, feel more confident, calm, and in control.
You can use this tool over and over again to help you be more effective and make a better impact and help others in your team to do the same.
Now I would like to ask you one question. How helpful was the post?
What did you learn from this post?
Please share your comments below.
