Workplace productivity is a huge challenge for nearly every company, business and organization. Leaders struggle to get their own work done (and do the RIGHT work,) while also guiding, empowering and motivating their people to achieve maximal productivity. While the projections vary, estimates suggest that businesses worldwide lose hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars annually due to underproduction.To help my clients address this important issue, I have divided the path to increased productivity into 4 steps:

Plan it. Plan the process in advance to get really clear on task, process and outcome

Share it. Involve others in the work through meetings, communication and delegation

Do it. Get the work done by removing distractors and optimizing your time and energy

Sustain it. Develop a mindset and self-care approach that ensures continuity

Each “step” contains five action items, for a total of 20 items.In this post I will address Step 1, “Plan It.”

Get Your People Out of Their Caves

Dear Leader,

Your people are living in a cave and it's your job to get them out of it.

That may sound kind of crazy. But stay with me.

If you’re like most leaders, your people are showing up every day, doing their thing and they don't really have the time, the bandwidth, the interest in learning new things.

They certainly don’t make the time to understand best practices and the innovations, the creativity, the change, that's happening in the world around them.

Often, they’re completely clueless.

Choose Empathy Over Efficiency

When you speak with clients, customers, or prospects, do you focus more on empathy or efficiency?

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Efficiency: the ability to accomplish something with the least waste of time and effort.

When you focus on empathy, you can’t be as efficient.

When you seek efficiency, empathy must be kept to a minimum.

Delegate But Don't Abdicate

Leaders want to delegate so they can clear their desks and get more done.

But many make the mistake of punting away the work, or abdicating, and not offering those that are helping them the tools they need to succeed.

Learn how to empower and support your people to help ensure the success of your next delegation project.

Delegate to Accelerate Lesson 4: Empower and Monitor to Ensure Success (DTA Registration is open!)

This fourth and final “Delegate to Accelerate” recording addresses how to empower your people and monitor their progress to ensure a delegated project is completed properly.

We cover these topics:

Granting authority
Learning to trust others
Being prepared to assist
Monitoring progress
Correct or redirect as needed

Listen in to the below recording to learn more and to bring yourself that much closer to true acceleration!

Oh, and by the way, I describe a special offer in this video that you don’t want to miss!

Delegate to Accelerate Lesson 3: How to Plan the Delegation Process to Ensure Success

This third “Delegate to Accelerate” recording (first can be found here; second can be found here) addresses how to plan the delegation process to ensure its success.

We cover these topics:

Why we need to develop a delegation culture
How to decide what to delegate
Building others’ skills and efficacy
Be clear on tasks and outcomes

Listen in to the below recording to learn more and to bring yourself that much closer to true acceleration!

Oh, and by the way, I mention a special offer in this video that you don’t want to miss!

Delegate to Accelerate Lesson 2: Who to Delegate to

This second “Delegate to Accelerate” recording (first can be found here) addresses who we should be delegating to and how to get them up to speed so that we can trust them to do the job right.

We also address what to do if such a person is not presently employed by you.

Listen in to the below recording to learn more and to bring yourself that much closer to true acceleration!

Delegate to Accelerate Lesson 1: When (and When Not) to Delegate

Do you want to learn how to delegate so that you can accelerate your business and life? Well, this is the place to be!

This first “Delegate to Accelerate” recording addresses key elements of delegation, including…

what delegation is… and what it isn’t
what to delegate… and what not to
my own “Delegate to Accelerate” journey
the “Delegate to Accelerate” journeys of two of my clients

Listen in to learn more and to bring yourself that much closer to true acceleration!

Feedback from My "Delegate to Accelerate" Survey

I am so excited to report back on some of the survey feedback I've been getting for my upcoming "Delegates to Accelerate" Masterclass. The feedback has been incredible. So many of my friends and connections - thank you if you are one of them - for taking the time to complete the survey, and just to answer a few critical, though simple questions about delegation. One question was, what is your biggest challenge? And we all have challenges when it comes to delegation. So what is your biggest challenge? And what must this Masterclass include if it's going to be most impactful for you? What questions, what concerns, what issues must it address for it to really deliver? So even though it's dreary outside, you may be able to see behind me and you kind of hear the rain coming down and all of that, I am juiced. And I want to share this with you.

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Oh, and by the way, I describe a special offer in this video that you don’t want to miss!