Planning, Preparation, and Follow-up: Effective Working for Better Productivity
Jump straight to task, and move on when it is done. ‘Don’t waste time planning!’ This may sound like a prescription for efficiency. But it’s certainly not a route to effective working. And being productive at the price of doing the wrong things is a poor bargain.
Effective productivity means 3 habits:
1. Planning
2. Preparation
3. Follow-up
Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*.
See below for more details.
This video is part of course module number 1.6.1
Program 1: Managing Yourself
Course 6: Personal Productivity
Section 1: Effective Working
PRelevant videos in the same section as this video include:
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– The Power of Habits: Productivity through Effective Working
… https://youtu.be/kXmz_E8yUGw
– Organization: How to Enhance Your Productivity by Being Organized
… https://youtu.be/2eUYH0z2yiQ
– Planning, Preparation, and Follow-up: Effective Working for Better Productivity
… https://youtu.be/XZUCfd9xov0
– Milestones and Deadlines for Self-Motivation and Greater Productivity
… https://youtu.be/hH7w-Fwa_uU
– Conquer Procrastination: How to Avoid Putting Things Off
… https://youtu.be/YK0u1yXGYlY
LESSON NOTES
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The 5 steps to creating a good plan:
1: Where are we going? Goal and objectives.
2: How do we get there? Tasks and timing.
3: What resources do we need? People, materials, equipment, assets, and budget.
4: What could go wrong? Dealing with risk or making a Plan B.
5: How can we measure progress? Keep to plan, or adjust it if you’re slipping.
Preparation
Never go into any situation without taking time to prepare yourself:
‘Perfect Preparation Prevents Poor Performance’
To get the best results at meetings, prepare in advance. Then make sure you have a few minutes to gather your thoughts before the meeting starts.
Back-to-back meetings? Schedule them for 25, 50, or 75 minutes, instead of 30, 60, or 90.
Follow-up
Reflect, review, and honor any commitments you made as part of the process.
Here’s A New Word for Follow-Up: ‘Postparation’. If you can prepare, why can’t you postpare?
People who deliberately reflect on their experiences learn better than people who don’t. You’ll make better judgments and be better-respected. Decision-makers who analyze the outcomes of their choices – successful or not – become better decision-makers.
So, tidy up after yourself physically and mentally. Do what you committed to do, say thank you, and review what happened and what could do differently.
RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
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1. If you are not in the planning habit, set aside an hour to plan the next few working weeks. (3 MC CPD Points)
2. At the start of each day, for the next week, spend 20 minutes preparing for the day – and the most important parts of it in particular. (5×1 MC CPD Points)
3. At the end of important activities and meetings next week, set aside time to postpare – to follow-up. Do that every day for a week. (5×1 MC CPD Points)
4. At the end of the week, reflect on the impact of having a plan, preparing each day, and postparing after each activity have had. What benefits did they bring? (2 MC CPD Points)
5. Do the same for the next 3 weeks, to bake this into a habit. (3×2 MC CPD Points)
DOWNLOADS
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Free Resources
– CPD Tools – https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Paid resources
– Management Courses Onboarding Kit – https://gum.co/MC-ObK ($3)
RECOMMENDED READING
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I’ll be as modest as I can. I’m something of an expert on effective working, personal productivity, & time management, with 4 best-selling books by 3 international publishers:
– The Time Management Pocketbook
… https://geni.us/gHa4
– How to Manage Your Time
… https://geni.us/Cpvp
– Powerhouse: Turbo Boost Your Effectiveness and Start Making a Serious Impact
… https://geni.us/H7GDizc
– The Yes/No Book: How to do less… and achieve more
… https://geni.us/yhF90n
And here are my picks from the thousands of other books on personal productivity, effective working, & time management:
– The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
… https://geni.us/Zulp
– The Power of Habit: Why we Do what we Do, and How to Change
… https://geni.us/vNtXd4
– Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
… https://geni.us/JxTY
– Eat that Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating
… https://geni.us/48Y1LlC
Management Courses Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points
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You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
Download it here: https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
– If you simply watched the video, record 2 MC CPD points
– If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 23 MC CPD points
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Note:
Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon
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