Working hard is not the way forward if you want to achieve sustainable results. It is no longer the case that working hard and long hours will bring success and I am not sure that it ever was.
The answer is to focus on the results and the outcomes we need to achieve. This holds true on an individual level as well as an organisational level. There is nothing new about working smarter rather than harder, but despite this many organisations still fail to grasp this simple concept. People at all levels of organisations are busy working away as fast as they can, but the question is are they working on the right things? Most of us will have heard Stephen Covey talking about managers doing things right and leaders do the right things, but is that really the case in most organisations?
In his seminal book, Seven Habits of High Effective People, Covey uses the analogy of managers hacking their way through the jungle with their machetes, only for a leader to announce that whilst they are making good progress they are in the wrong jungle. This still seems to be the case for so many organisations that have people working hard and fast, but working on the wrong things.
So how do you get managers and subsequently the people in their teams to focus on the right things? This month’s free template tool aims to do just that. The tool aims to link individuals to key accountabilities and actions in the areas of people, strategy, finance and operations, in a single document. Used for planning, communication, reviewing and briefing, Focusing on Results is a comprehensive management tool.
Download your copy of the Focusing on Results Tool.
