It’s that time of year again. The annual opportunity to plan, scheme, and build a budget. Generally, this is the time of year when we think about what new programs or technologies we could add in the upcoming year. We dream of slick technology or powerful new programs that we could implement if we are lucky enough to be given the budget to do it. It’s a fun time of year. Planning and thinking big thoughts is important.
But, this year, while you plan and dream and budget, set aside a little time for another powerful exercise that we often overlook.
Set aside some time this year to ask these questions:
- What should we STOP doing next year?
- What tasks, process, or technologies are taking a lot of our time, but where we aren’t certain of their impact?
- What can we take off of our plate?
Making a major impact on your organization may not be about the new stuff you can add next year. Instead, the biggest impact may lie in doing less of the things that really don’t matter so you can make room for executing the things that do.
The key is knowing the difference and having the courage to take action on it.
Jason, great point — the key is not to simply pinpoint new projects, tools, and processes. That’s the easy part! The key is to locate areas that aren’t working and to be courageous enough to drop an established process in the hopes of devising a new one, even if it means a rocky transition period. Employers would do well to scrutinize how they’re finding new talent, for example, or how they’re managing new hires to support company culture and productivity.