In an earlier post: “Plan Your Work/Work Your Plan”, I mentioned “Critical Success Factors”. Well, let’s dig a little deeper on these and and establish their importance in prioritizing.
When making long range plans, you need to know your Critical Success Factors and their associated measures. Measures should tell you priorities. If a measure is not where it is suppose to be, then it is a priority. Let’s say a CSF is to have 1000 meaningful contacts in your online social network (see “Maximizing Relationships” on what defines a meaningful online contact) and a measure may be the number of people you interact with on a somewhat regular basis. If the number of people you are currently in contact with is 200, but the Goal is 1000, then obviously this is a priority. As you can see, the whole process directly relates to priorities and organization.
According to Stephen Covey, you make a what’s called a quadrant out of two factors. One is Important and the other is Urgent. Something is truly important if it relates directly to your Mission. Urgent means you just believe it needs to be done right away. So, quadrant one are those things that are both Important and Urgent. Quadrant two are those things that are Important but Not Urgent. Quadrant three are those things that are not Important but Urgent. Finally, in Quadrant four are those things which are Not Important and Not Urgent. Unfortunately people spend a lot of time in all four quadrants. The true secret to time management is to spend most of the time in Quadrant two or those things that are Important but Not Urgent. This relates to things such as personal development, empowerment and effectiveness within your creative team.
For more on Covey, check out “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. It’s sold millions of copies for a reason. As we approach the New Year, this can be one of many resources to help you think and plan outside of the box you’re currently in.
Hope you have a good one and a Happy New Year!
