Systematic Power
Systematic Power increases team member engagement by defining, consistently following, and improving your company's best practice processes for hiring, managing, developing and retaining people.
Your system for completing work involves planning your tasks sequentially so you complete one before moving to the next, or multi-tasking to labor on multiple tasks simultaneously or at least shifting from one to another.
According to a free report by Mike Dalton, Managing Director, Guided Innovation Group, it is more productive to innovate by working sequentially. My apologies to all you Gen Y folks and the herd trying to multi-task with them, but Mike's conclusions are validated by research I've found elsewhere.
So what's this mean to you? Please consider the following:
FOCUS: Assign one project or task per person. For yourself, focus on one project or task at a time.
TECH OUT: I recommend, and Mike concurs, that you should limit technology interruptions - desk phone, cell phone, voicemail, texting, Twitter, instant messaging... his preference is twice a day. You can even put a Do Not Disturb sign on your door or cubicle for 1-2 hour periods during the day - just be specific as to when you will be available.
PROFIT: Ask youself, "Could we improve cash flow and/or profit by completing some work earlier than the deadline for the entire project?" For instance, working sequentially enables you to complete revenue-generating functionality earlier rather than delay them to be part of a multiple solution product/service introduction.
Yes, we live in a technology-information-work overloaded world. Divide and conquer. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. Whatever analogy you prefer, consider working more sequentially rather than multitasking yourself into confusion, stress and lower quality work than you are capable of achieving.
Systematic Power
Systematic Power is about being as systematic in the way you work with people as you are in accounting, sales, marketing, manufacturing or with technology.
We are all in the "people business" so becoming more systematic with people is in our best interest.
Choosing to be sequential in the way you pursue results is logical. It is also proven to be more productive even though the media hype about multi-tasking is seductive.
Here are some potential questions for your next staff meeting to consider how your people can be more systematic in pursuing results in innovation or any area of your business:
Do you approach your work sequentially or by multi-tasking? Why?
Identify three ways you could be more sequential or systematic in the way you work. Prioritize these in order of the impact each behavior has on your results and weigh the behaviors for how significantly they will affect the quality and quantity (results) of your work. (Total weighting should be 100%.)
Are you willing to commit to doing the #1 behavior on your list for 90 days to determine if working sequentially helps you be more productive? (You can work on all three behaviors, but the first should have the most significant impact.)
Are you willing to allow someone to hold you accountable to demonstrating this behavior that will help you work more sequentially during this 90 day period? Who?
What project is our company currently pursuing that could be done sequentially so we could complete one revenue-generating part of the work prior to the overall project being completed?
Can we agree on a project to test working sequentially; measure the results and adjust the way we approach future projects based on those results?
Make certain your people understand the personal benefits of working sequentially or systematically. Hopefully you pay them based on performance so it is a win-win opportunity.
