Moving faster by slowing down

I recently started doing some management consulting work with a company of 60 employees. They are a company who has grown substantially, but are currently at a place when many huge projects are on the road to the next level of growth. Some of these obstacles are operational in nature, some technological, some manpower, and some financial. It is safe to say my time on site is a whirlwind, with project after project on the to do list.

If my time on site is a whirlwind, I can only imagine what it is like to be in the center of the whirlwind every day. In my one on one meetings with the managers, they rattle off all of the things they are working on. And the list is many. But what I see from the outside is that because there are so many projects going on at once, they are not making near as fast of progress as they could if they broke things down into smaller chunks.

They need help prioritizing. What is the most important project for me to tackle today? How can I tailor my day so I am focusing on the tasks that will accomplish those goals? What do I do about the other projects that I might not get to if I prioritize?

There are many of us caught up in the whirlwind. When that happens, you can’t ask those questions, better yet answer them. My advice is to take a small step back, take a deep breath, and analyze all of your projects. Figure out which is the most important and which is the closest to completion. And create a daily timeline. “No matter what, I will spend three hours today on project XYZ.”

And then tell your caught up in the cyclone co-workers what you are doing. Your focus may be just what they need. They’ll either pitch in or see what you’ve done and do they’re own prioritization.

You will then see yourself and your company moving forward faster by taking the time to step back.