Tag: Learning

Better Tools 2: Automated Punctuation in Microsoft Word

Written by Martin Coomber on October 27, 2014. Posted in Articles.

This post describes two tools that automate the formatting and punctuation of tables and bulleted lists in Microsoft Word. It complements and earlier post – Better Tools: Efficient Table Management which described Word tools for quickly recording content into tables and numbering the entries.

A key goal is to demonstrate how Office’s development language can be used to automate manual tasks, and to encourage readers to add the ability to create simple, timesaving macros to their skillset.

A link to a free download of the tools is given at the end of the post.

Setting the scene

As a Business Analyst, I am often required to prepare text-heavy documents such requirement statements, risk assessments, business cases and many others. The content needs to be concise, easily digested by the reader, and quick and easy to prepare.

To meet these objectives, I make extensive use of tables and bulleted lists. Both allow me to quickly capture content, and when I’m on a roll, I often find that I haven’t formatted or punctuated the content correctly. If I slow down and get picky with the presentation, I can lose focus on the ideas and information that I’m trying to capture.

I have developed some tools to help me correct the presentation once I’m ready. I have used VBA, the development tool that comes with Microsoft Office. I’ll describe the tools and mention some of the development concepts that they cover.

Formatting Table Content

This tool puts a “.” character at the end of every paragraph in a selected range of table cells. It does this only when there is no other punctuation character already present.

This means you can dump a bunch of ideas and down in a table and avoid the tedious task of checking each entry and adding the punctuation later. You can select the entire table and process it all with a single key press, and be sure that it won’t change anything you have already entered.

At the same time, it removes blank lines at the end of the selected cells. These blank lines are easy to add accidentally, and can be are hard to spot. If they are not removed they can make row spacing look strange.

In this before and after image, you’ll see that the “.” characters have been added and the blank line at the bottom of the cell removed. The existing punctuation “:” has been retained.

From a coding perspective, this routine is simple demonstration of the way that VBA allows the code to step through a range of cells within a table. It then steps through the paragraphs within a given cell, and then through the characters in a given paragraph. You can use the same concepts to step through a document and check for certain content and make necessary changes.

The code also shows how to access information about the current position in the table and do things like skipping the content in header rows and in the first column where punctuation is unlikely to be required. Finally, the code shows how to update cell content using text manipulation.

Automatic Punctuation of Bulleted Lists

Apart from making frequent use of tables, another way of efficiently capturing information in text documents is to use bulleted lists. I like to use bulleted lists because the introduction or preceding statement sets the context for the list entries, and means that the reader can focus on the key messages without distraction.

One of the issues I find with bulleted lists is the varying punctuation standards that my clients expect. Some want grammatically correct clauses with semi-colons and use of “and” to make the list a correctly formatted, if somewhat long, sentence. Other clients like “.” characters at the end of each list entry, just want a “.” character at the end of the final entry.

This variation in style causes me two main problems. Firstly, I tend to dump ideas as quickly as I can and have to punctuate correctly later. Secondly, I often like to reorder the entries, so need to change the punctuation, especially if I add an entry at the bottom.

I decided to create a tool that would punctuate the list according to a chosen style, and correct existing punctuation if I chose a different style or change the order of the entries.

The punctuation styles used are:

Here is an example of how the tool adds punctuation using a “semi-colon” style. You don’t have to select the list, just place the cursor anywhere in the text and the entire list is selected automatically.
	Here is an example of how the tool corrects the punctuation when the entry order is changed. Note that the “and” has been moved to its correct location and the final “.” added.

I have built the tool to handle bulleted lists inside tables, so you can apply bulleted list formatting and the fill in any other punctuation using the tool described at the start of this post.

The tool will also handle bulleted lists in documents that use numbered paragraphs, which share many of the internal characteristics of lists.

From a coding perspective, this tool uses some special logic to determine the extent of the bulleted list. Some of the more elegant methods available didn’t handle the complexity of table cell boundaries and the presence of numbered paragraphs, so I settled on a fairly boring but reliable step through each list entry, looking up to determine the start of the list, and looking down to find the end of the list. This approach allows the code to test for table cell boundaries and changes in formatting style.

Once the paragraph numbers that define the boundaries of the list have been determined, the code simply steps through each of them, making changes and adding the punctuation required for the selected style using simple text handling methods.

To keep things simple, the code strips out all existing punctuation first. This seems a little inefficient but has the virtue of being simple, and the execution is quick enough.

A downside of making these text changes, perhaps unnecessarily, is the potential to create large numbers of change indications if Track Changes is on. I have therefore added logic to temporarily turn off track changes processing when applying the style, and switching it on again afterward.

Conclusion

I use these tools frequently every day, they save me time, and encourage me to make the best use of efficient text entry, and allow me to present this in a consistent and reliable manner with a few keystrokes.

I hope the coding techniques used will provide some useful guidance too.

Downloading the Tools

The table tools can be downloaded (for free) here. You can also find more information on VBA in general, and more specific information on setting the tools up for use. I use them every day, but you should test them thoroughly to ensure that they work for you. Please feel free to adapt the tools to suit your own needs.

Don’t forget to leave your comments below.

A Fresh Look at Requirements and Requirements Elicitation in Complex Projects

Written by Robert K. Wysocki on August 11, 2014. Posted in Articles.

It is widely accepted that the elicitation of complete requirements during project ideation is very unlikely except in the simplest of projects. There are a number of internal and external factors that affect the solution and its clarity that often change during the project life span that accounts for this. The environment is dynamic. It doesn’t stand still just because you are managing a project! These factors create process challenges that can be mitigated by a simple change in the definition we use for a requirement. This simple change of definition simplifies many of the project management process problems and improves the likelihood of delivering the expected business value.

THE REALITIES OF THE COMPLEX PROJECT LANDSCAPE

As part of the Ideation Phase of a complex project we can define
“WHAT” an acceptable solution has to contain and the business
value it is expected to generate.

At the start of a complex project we may “NOT KNOW HOW” to
achieve an acceptable solution.

The resulting incompleteness is a logical consequence of the
Plan-driven definition of a requirement. That incompleteness can
be removed by using a Change-driven definition of a requirement.

Using a Change-driven definition of requirements implies that an
iterative project management approach will be required.

Most project management processes use a Plan-driven definition of requirements. That will not work in the contemporary complex project landscape. This article introduces a Change-driven definition of requirements. That simple change eliminates the obstacle.

A SOLUTION TO INCOMPLETE REQUIREMENTS

To a certain extent we have become trapped by our own view of requirements and their elicitation. The IIBA definition may fulfill its objectives but at what price? The IIBA definition of requirement is a Plan-driven definition and it tries to define both the “what” and the “how”. In independent projects that works. But in complex projects that seldom works. The Effective Complex Project Management (ECPM) definition of requirements proposed below is a Change-driven definition. It focuses only on the “what”. The “how” is developed within the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the project execution phase.

THE ECPM DEFINITION OF REQUIREMENTS

The IIBA definition is all well and good and I’m not going to challenge it. I assume it accomplishes what its creators envisioned. But let me offer a different perspective for your consideration. I believe we execute projects to solve critical problems or exploit untapped business opportunities with the ultimate goal of generating business value.

The need to deliver business value

Using cost, time and scope as the variables for measuring project success misses the point of doing a project. The success of a project is measured by the achievement of business value – the more the better. The total cost of the project is measured against the business value generated to calculate Return on Investment (ROI) and compare against other projects competing for the same resource pool.

Complexity and uncertainty

The IIBA definition of requirements is a one step Plan-driven definition. That gives rise to incomplete requirements except in the simplest of situations. The definition of an ECPM requirement given below is a two step Change-Driven definition. In the first step the requirements definition focuses on the “what”. At this level requirements are complete. Think of them as defining an ideal end state. With requirement defined the focus of the solution turns to the second step – the “how”.

DEFINITION: ECPM Requirement

An ECPM requirement defines a component of the desired
end state and when integrated into the solution meets one
or more business needs and delivers specific, measurable
and incremental business value to the client business unit.

The set of ECPM requirements forms the necessary and
sufficient set needed to establish the desired end state and
attain the planned business value.

Adapted from: Wysocki, Robert K, (September, 2014), “Effective Complex
Project Management: An Adaptive Agile Framework for
Delivering Business Value”, J. Ross Publishers

“How” is usually not known at the outset of the complex project. It can only be discovered through successive learning and discovery iterations that build upon a solution that is converging to the desired end state. So at the start of the complex project the definition of “how” is incomplete. Very little of the solution might be known at the outset or most of the solution known with only a few details missing but the solution is not completely known at the outset. So the “how” is the second step of the ECPM requirements definition and its discovery is imbedded in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

The necessary and sufficient conditions statement means that all requirements are needed in order to achieve the planned business value and none of the requirements are superfluous. This is important because the project was justified based on the expected business value as described through the success criteria in the Project Overview Statement (POS). Linking requirements to the success criteria provides a basis on which to prioritize requirements.

This definition of a requirement is quite different than the IIBA definition but in its simplicity and uniqueness it puts the connection between requirements and the business value in a much more intuitive light. I have no particular issue with the IIBA definition but I believe that a working definition linked to business value is a better choice. I will use the ECPM definition throughout this article.

An example of an ECPM Requirement
from a project to establish a
Workforce and Business Development Center

A Business Incubation Center (BIC) (Figure 1) to support the needs of students, workers, entrepreneurs and local businesses for career and professional development and business growth.

Figure 1: The Business Incubation Center (BIC)

Requirements will be the causal factors that drive the attainment of the success criteria as stated in the POS. Every requirement must be directly related to one or more project success criteria stated in the POS. This definition results in a small number (less than 12 for example) of high level requirements at the beginning of the project, whereas the IIBA definition generates hundreds and even thousands of requirements which can never be considered complete at the beginning of the project. The last time I applied the IIBA definition resulted in my client and team generating over 1400 requirements! The human mind cannot possibly absorb and understand that many requirements. To expect that a decision as to completeness can be made in that example is highly unlikely. Subject to the learning and discovery that may uncover other requirements, the list generated using the ECPM Requirements definition can be considered complete at the beginning of the project. An ECPM Requirement is a more business-value-oriented definition than the IIBA definition. The learning and discovery derived from completed project cycles will clarify the requirements through decomposing them to the function, sub-function, process, activity, and feature levels. The first-level decomposition of a requirement is to the functional level and can be considered equivalent to IIBA requirements but in ECPM parlance it is no longer a requirement. It is a function that must be present as a condition of achieving the requirement. So while you can identify all requirements at the beginning of the project you cannot describe the details of the requirements at the functional, process, activity and feature levels. This detail is learned and discovered in the context of the cycles that make up the project.

BENEFITS FROM USING ECPM REQUIREMENTS

Framed in the language of the client
Relate directly to the generation of business value
Helps create and maintain client ownership and meaningful involvement
Integrates all of the steps that define effective complex project management
Reduces the number of requirements from hundreds to less than 12.
Become the basis for solution development
Related directly to project success criteria

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Current definitions of requirements include both the “what” and the “how.” This leads to incomplete requirements specification for every project except the simplest. The result is confusion and problems associated with the execution of the chosen complex project management process. The ECPM Requirements definition focuses on the “what” and with few exceptions will be complete. Choosing the best fit complex project management process becomes a well-defined decision. The “how” is identified incrementally through a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) derived from the set of requirements.

Deploying this ECPM Requirements definition across the project life span introduces changes to the project management process that have every reason to significantly improve project performance and reduce the risk of project failure. The discussion of those changes is beyond the scope of this article.

Don’t forget to leave your comments below.

What Melts Your Employees’ Butter?

Written by Jim Finkelstein and Melissa Mead on November 20, 2012. Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on What Melts Your Employees’ Butter?

Incentives & Rewards in the 21st Century

“Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love” – David McCullough

There’s no law that says you must actually like your job. But what is it that motivates people to get up every day and go to work? And think about this, if your employee population all won the lottery tomorrow – that is, they were all financially set for life – 95%-98% of them would not show up the next day! Can you really and truly afford to not understand what melts their butter?

Maybe it has something to do with the rewards, recognition and incentives that accompany showing up and staying for years on end. Some will argue that the bona fide way to a committed and loyal employee’s heart is solely through monetary earnings, not to mention the gratification of a steady income. Or maybe, it has to do with working in an inspired environment, where appreciation and respect for fellow co-workers and employer not only exists but is the norm. People want to feel wanted and appreciated. It’s only human nature.

Preventing the Butter from Hardening

Let’s first start with understanding what are the turnoffs to an employee are. Performance appraisals in the workplace are frequent, and nearly impossible to avoid. They are the quintessential “CYA” activity. But why do people shun the word “appraisal” as if it were the plague?

Performance appraisals shouldn’t be feared. In fact, they should be welcomed with open arms. In an ideal world, employers wouldn’t “manage” people like two-year-olds. Rather, they would encourage skill development and offer training, mentoring and coaching to make that happen. This way, there would be a whole lot more empowerment going on, instead of nitty-gritty micro-management, which everyone just loves.

Rather than scrutinizing every little minute detail or skill involved with an employee’s work style or work ethic, or way of going about daily tasks, it’s certainly more encouraging to ground oneself in a comprehensive knowledge of individual and organizational development and thus learn to recognize and address the achievement of success through valuing, motivating, and rewarding people.

The focus of monitoring and assessing workplace performance should undoubtedly be placed on setting attainable and collaborative goals, making collective decisions, and being able to tackle and solve problems within one’s own relative sphere of responsibility and authority along with one’s colleagues.

Yes, while workplace performance is frequently monitored (as perhaps some believe it should be), there’s no reason why appraisals shouldn’t focus on the positives and be a catalyst to cooperation and communications. The butter will start to soften up a bit.

Understanding UMPs

Increasing the value of people, and truly understanding why people show up to work, and why they stay, is just as important as why they leave.

The tricky part, however, is that not everyone is motivated by the same things. One very important item to realize about motivation itself, is that it is an incredibly individual expression. Figuring it out might prove to be quite the challenge in larger organizations, but probing and prodding for what melts your employee’s butter—their unique motivational profile (“UMP”)—is just an expense that is certainly worth spending.

It goes hand in hand… both employers and co-workers need to be willing to understand and pay attention to the profile of the individual, which is why listening is a vital component of maintaining goal and action-orientated motivation. Communication is crucial, and practically nonexistent without listening. Along with the ability of employers and employees to actually listen and comprehend what the other has to say, comes the increasing potential to recognize, encourage, and motivate.

That being said, do you really understand your own employees?

Melting the Butter

People are inclined to leave their job because they: don’t like their boss or co-workers, they don’t have the tools to be productive and move forward, and/or they’re working in a toxic environment.

People in the workplace can be motivated by a myriad of things. Yes, some of these things might be ‘extrinsic’ motivators. In fact, to this day, some of them are very basic even in late 2012. Having (and keeping) a job that can pay the bills ranks noticeably high in everyone’s profile.

Money is notoriously viewed as a motivator. But it’s surely not the only thing that gets you out of your flannel PJs, into your car, and onto your rollie-chair inside your cubicle. Compensation is an extrinsic motivator, and one of the best at that. The anticipation that rests in such satisfaction through rewards processes (i.e. paychecks and raises and the occasional bonus) is enough to coax employees to tackle mundane tasks and things they really could care less about.

But obviously, if money were the only motivating factor in existence, it wouldn’t take very long for people to become exhausted with those tedious tasks, and risk leaving their secure occupation for something better, or for potentially more money.

A large portion of motivators in the 21st century just so happen to be ‘intrinsic’ motivators, which most certainly include: the excitement that one’s work brings them, engaging projects, the interesting environments in which people work, the captivating people whom which they work with, the work-life balance that one’s job allows them to have, not to mention the ongoing search for meaning and purpose within their life and passion for their work.

This is due, in large part, to both the newness to the workforce of the Millennials – the youngsters with high ideals – as well as the fatigued experience of the Boomers – the older folks that were supposed to be gone by now who now feel stuck in their jobs. Money, while important, is just not what it used to be.

What’s In It For Me

For every ten articles you read on compensation five will say money is key and five will say lifestyle, workplace accommodations, etc. are key. Here is the scoop—the one with the cherry on top. In a workplace populated today with 18-80 year olds, they all expect both.

Above all, there are no “best” practices that can apply across the board to all organizations and all people in a highly diverse and divergent world of cultures, values and opinions. There are a plethora of tools to use; your job is to find the right mix for your people.

People want it all, and in the 21st century they are tuned into WII-FM (What’s In it For Me). Thus, if you can tap into and listen to the music they enjoy, determine their UMP, then, you can put together the right mix of incentives, rewards and motivation to melt their butter.

Don’t forget to leave your comments below.

Fostering Team Creativity: The Business Analyst’s Sweet Spot

Written by Kathleen B. Hass, PMP on October 23, 2012. Posted in Articles.

The 21^st Century BA Series From Tactical Requirements Manager to Creative Leader of Innovative Change

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

—Bill Gates, American business magnate, philanthropist, author, and is chairman of Microsoft

The need for effective team leadership in the business world can no longer be overlooked. Technology, techniques, and tools don’t cause projects to fail. Projects fail because people fail to come together with a common vision, an understanding of complexity, the right expertise, and effective methods and tools. Team leadership is different from traditional management, and teams are different from operational work groups. Successfully leading a high-performing, creative team is not about command and control; it is more about collaboration, consensus, empowerment, confidence, and leadership.

Effective Teams

If a business analyst is to step up to the task of becoming a credible project team leader, she must have an understanding of how teams work and the dynamics of team development. Team leaders cultivate specialized skills that are used to build and maintain high-performing teams and spur creativity and innovation. Traditional managers and technical leads cannot necessarily become effective team leaders without the appropriate mindset, training, and coaching.

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

––Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist, author, lecturer

Teams are a critical asset used to improve performance in all kinds of organizations. Yet business leaders have consistently overlooked opportunities to exploit the potential of teams, confusing real teams with teamwork, team building, empowerment, or participative management.[i] We cannot meet 21st-century challenges––from business transformation to continuous innovation––without high-performing teams who are comfortable with turning uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity into innovation.

The Power of Teams

Examples of magnificent teams are all around us: emergency responders, symphony orchestras, and professional sports teams, to name just a few. When we see these teams in action, it feels like magic. These teams demonstrate their prowess, creativity, accomplishments, insights, and enthusiasm daily and are a persuasive testament to the power of teams. Yet the business project environment, especially the IT project environment, has been slow to make the most of the power of teams. It is imperative that business analysts who aspire to develop into creative leaders understand how to unleash this great power.

New Product Development Teams

Business success stories based on the strategic use of teams for new product development are plentiful. For example, 3M relies on teams to develop its new products. These teams, led by product champions, are cross-functional, collaborative, autonomous, and self-organizing. The teams deal well with ambiguity, accept change, take initiative, and assume risks. The company has established a goal of generating half of each year’s revenues from the previous five years’ innovations and the other half from new products not yet invented. 3M’s use of teams is critical to meeting that goal.[ii]

Another success story is Toyota, despite the company’s engineering problems that led to unprecedented recalls in 2009–2010. Toyota continues to boast the fastest product development times in the automotive industry, is a consistent leader in quality, has a large variety of products designed by a lean engineering staff, and has consistently grown its U.S. market share. Teams at Toyota are led by a chief engineer who is expected to understand the market and whose primary job is vehicle system design. The chief engineer is responsible for vehicle development, similar to the product champion at 3M.[iii]

Economists have been warning us for years that success in a global marketplace is contingent upon our capability to produce products on a tight schedule to meet the growing demands of emerging markets. The same is true of projects to develop software products and solutions for business problems, to improve business performance, and to use IT as a competitive advantage. It’s not enough to deliver projects on time and within budget, and scope; it is now necessary to deliver value to the customer and wealth to the organization faster, cheaper, and better.

The Wisdom of Teams

For the business analyst who is struggling to understand how to build high-performing teams, a must-read is The Wisdom of Teams by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith. The authors talked with hundreds of people on more than 50 different teams in 30 companies to discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and how to enhance team effectiveness.

Wisdom lies in recognizing a team’s unique potential to deliver creative results. Project leaders strive to understand the many benefits of teams and learn how to optimize team performance by developing individual members, fostering team cohesiveness, and rewarding team results. Katzenbach and Smith argue that teams are the primary building blocks of strong company performance.[iv]

The Stages of Team Development

As a member of the project leadership team, the business analyst is partially responsible for building a high-performing team and fostering creativity and is fully responsible for building a high-performing requirements team and proposing innovative solutions. To successfully develop such a team, it is helpful to understand the key stages of team development. We use the classic team development model from Bruce Tuckman as a guide, since the Tuckman model has become an accepted standard for how teams develop.

The Tuckman Model

The Tuckman model that outlines the five stages of team development—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning—has become the gold standard for studying team dynamics.[v]As a team transitions from one stage to the next, the needs of the team and its individual members vary. A successful team leader knows which stage the team is in and skillfully manages transitions between the different stages. The following figure depicts the typical stages of team development.

Stages of Team Development

In the forming stage, participants are introduced when the team is established and also as new members join the team throughout the project. The goal of the project leadership team in this stage is to quickly transition the individuals from a group to a team. During the forming stage of team development, members are typically inclined to be a bit formal and reserved. They are beginning to assess their level of comfort as colleagues and teammates. There is likely to be some anxiety about the ability of the team to perform, and there might be hints about the beginnings of alliances between members.

During this stage, the project manager’s job (with the support of the business analyst and other project leads) is to encourage people to not think of themselves as individuals but as team members by resolving issues about inclusion and trust. Team members may wonder why they were selected, what they have to offer, and how they will be accepted by colleagues new to them. Individuals have their own agendas at this stage because a team agenda does not yet exist. It is during this stage that the team leaders present, and give the team members the opportunity to refine, the team vision, mission, and measures of success. Allowing the team members time and opportunity to express their feelings and collaborate to build team plans will help members begin to make the transition from a group of individuals to an effective team. During this stage, team members form opinions about whom they can trust and how much or how little involvement they will commit to the project.

Storming is generally seen as the most difficult stage in team development. It is the time when the team members begin to realize that the task is different or more difficult than they had imagined. Individuals experience some discrepancy between their initial hopes for the project and the reality of the situation. A sense of annoyance or even panic can set in. There are fluctuations in attitude about the team, one’s role on the team, and the team’s chances for success.

The goal of the team leaders in this stage is to quickly determine a subset of leaders and followers and to clarify roles and responsibilities so that the team will begin to congeal. Individuals will exert their influence, choose to follow others, or decide not to participate actively on the team. For those who choose to participate actively and exert their influence, interpersonal conflict might arise. Conflicts also might result between the team leaders and team members, particularly if team members believe the leadership is threatening, vulnerable, or ineffective.

It is important to realize that conflict can lead to out-of-the-box or out-of-the-building thinking (described in Chapter 4), so the team leaders should encourage new ideas and viewpoints. For team leaders who do not like dealing with conflict, the storming stage is the most difficult period to navigate. Although the inevitable conflict is sometimes destructive if not managed well, it can be positive. Conflicting ideas, raised in an environment of trust and openness, leads to higher levels of creativity and innovation.

The job of team leaders is to build a positive working environment, collaboratively set and enforce team ground rules that lead to open communication, and gently steer the team through this stage. The common tendency is to rush through the storming stage as quickly as possible, often by pretending that a conflict does not exist, but it is important to manage conflicts so they are not destructive. It is also important, however, to allow some conflict because it is a necessary element of team maturation. If new ideas are not emerging, and if team members are not challenging each other’s ideas, then creativity is not happening.

Norming is typically the stage in which work is being completed. The team members, individually and collectively, have come together and established a group identity that allows them to work effectively together. Roles and responsibilities are clear, project objectives are understood, and progress is being made. During this stage, communication channels are likely clear, and team members are adhering to agreed-upon rules of engagement during exchanges. Cooperation and collaboration replace the conflict and mistrust that characterized the previous stage.

As the project drags on, fatigue often sets in. Team leaders should look at both team composition and team processes to maintain continued motivation among members. Plan to deliver short-term successes to create enthusiasm and sustained momentum. Celebrate and reward success at key milestones rather than waiting until the end of a long project. Continually capture lessons learned about how well the team is working together and implement suggested improvements.

During the performing stage, team members tend to feel positive and excited about participating on the project. There is a sense of urgency and a sense of confidence about the team’s results. Conflicts are resolved using accepted practices. The team knows what it wants to do and is reveling in a sense of accomplishment as progress is made. Relationships and expectations are well defined. There is genuine agreement among team members about their roles and responsibilities. Team members have discovered and accepted each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Morale is at its peak during this stage, and the team has an opportunity to be highly creative.

The performing stage of team development is what every team strives to achieve. It is difficult, however, to sustain this high level of performance for a prolonged length of time, so capitalize on it while you can. The business analyst and project manager need to hone their team leadership skills to develop and sustain this most creative stage. The best course of action for the team leaders is to lightly facilitate the work: consult and coach when necessary, encourage creativity, reward performance and achievement of goals, and generally stay out of the way.

Adjourning can be thought of in the context of loss and closure. This stage of team development can be easily overlooked, as it occurs before and during a project or phase and for a short time after a project or phase is finished. During this stage of team development, the team conducts the tasks associated with disbanding the team and, to a certain extent, breaks the everyday rhythm of their contacts and transactions.

There is some discomfort associated with this stage. Surprisingly, even people whose teams have had performance issues can experience sadness or grief during this closing stage. The project leadership team should act quickly to recognize the accomplishments of individuals and the team as a whole and to help team members transition quickly to their next creative opportunity.

Traversing the Team Development Stages

The stages of team development are very much an iterative dynamic. Any change in the makeup of a team throws the team back to the very earliest stage of development, even if for a very short time. This is due to the natural evolution of teams, the addition of new members, removal of support, or changes in roles.

The balancing and leveling of power is another constant dynamic present in teams. The shifting of practical power among the core leadership team members might cause a team to revert back to the forming stage. Although this reversion might last only a short while, it is still significant; team members will have to accustom themselves to the new order. The time spent in any of the stages subsequent to the reentry into forming can vary, but make no mistake; the team will experience storming again before regaining a foothold in the norming or performing stage.

As a member of the project leadership team, you should acquaint yourself with the cycles of team development so that you can understand what the team is experiencing and manage any changes in the team’s composition or dynamics. The following table provides a quick reference on the characteristics of each team development stage.

Characteristics of Team Development Stages

Leadership Modes through the Stagesof Team Development

There are many team development models that one can use to guide team development at any given point in the project life cycle. David C. Kolb offers a five-stage team development model that suggests leadership strategies for each stage, from the team’s initial formation through its actual performance.[6]

Each stage of Kolb’s model suggests that the business analyst and project manager continually adjust their leadership styles to maximize team effectiveness and creativity. Kolb contends that a team leader subtly alters his or her style of team leadership depending on the group’s composition and level of maturity. The seasoned business analyst moves seamlessly between these team leadership modes as he or she observes and diagnoses the team’s performance. The business analyst needs to strive to acquire the leadership prowess described by Kolb. In the following table, Kolb’s stages are matched with essential leadership skills. It is particularly important for the business analyst to know when and how to assume a particular team leadership role as teams move in and out of development phases during the life of the project.

FacilitatorKolb Team Development Model

In the business analyst’s function as a facilitator (the BA’s sweet spot), the main goal is to provide a foundation for the team to make quality decisions. When the team first comes together, the business analyst uses expert facilitation skills to guide, direct, and develop the group. Skills required include understanding group dynamics, running effective meetings, facilitating dialogue, fostering creativity, and dealing with difficult behaviors. Expert facilitators possess these skills:

Understanding individual differences, work styles, and cultural nuances
Leading discussions and driving the group to consensus Solving problems and clarifying ambiguities
Building a sense of team
Using and teaching collaborative skills
Fostering experimentation, prototyping, emergence of many like and dissimilar ideas
Managing meetings to drive to results
Facilitating requirements workshops and focus groups.

To become more credible as a team leader, the business analyst ought to acquire professional facilitation credentials such as those offered by the International Association of Facilitators (IAF). IAF’s work has identified the following six areas of core competency required for certification of facilitators. Each area is defined in more detail.

Create Collaborative Client Relationships
Plan Appropriate Group Processes
Create and Sustain a Participatory Environment
Guide Group to Appropriate and useful Outcomes
Build and Maintain Professional Knowledge
Model Positive Professional Attitude.[7]

Mediator

Transitioning from facilitator to mediator poses a challenge for new business analysts. It requires the business analyst to refrain from trying to control the team and lead the effort. The business analyst must be prepared to recognize when conflict is emerging (as it always does in teams) and be able to separate from it to mediate the situation. Although the mediator does not have to resolve the conflict, he or she must help the team members manage it. Meditation skills include:

Conflict management and resolution
Problem-solving and decision-making techniques
Idea-generation techniques.

Coach

Coaching and mentoring take place at both the individual and team levels. Coaching is appropriate when trust has been established among the team members and communication is open and positive. The business analyst as coach uses experiences, perceptions, and intuition to help change team members’ behaviors and thinking. Coaching tasks include:

Setting goals
Teaching others how to give and receive feedback
Creating a team identity
Developing team decision-making skills.

Consultant

As the team begins to work well together, the business analyst transitions into the role of consultant, providing advice, tools, and interventions to help the team reach its potential. The business analyst then concentrates on nurturing the positive team environment, encouraging creativity and experimentation, removing barriers, and solving problems. Consulting tasks include:

Assessing team opportunities
Supporting and guiding the team to create a positive, effective team environment
Aligning individual, team, and organizational values and strategic imperatives
Fostering team spirit.

Collaborator

Few teams achieve an optimized state and sustain it for long periods, because such a state is so intense. At this point, both the work and the leadership are shared equally among team members. The business analyst might hand off the lead role to team members when their expertise becomes a critical need during different project activities. Collaboration skills include:

Leading softly
Sharing the leadership role
Assuming a peer relationship with team members.

Clearly, project team leaders need to understand the dynamics of team development and adjust their leadership styles accordingly. Once a high-performing team has emerged, it is often necessary for the team leader to simply step aside. The following table maps the variations in leadership modes to the two team development models we have presented.

As you plan your professional development goals, it is wise for you to include training in facilitation, mediation, coaching and mentoring, consulting, and collaborating.Mapping of the Team Development and Leadership Models

Best Team Leadership Practices for the Business Analyst

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
—Henry Ford, a prominent American industrialist, the founder of The Ford Motor Company, pioneered the development of the assembly line and mass production

The business analyst has dual team-leadership roles: (1) in general, he or she helps the other team leaders (the project manager, lead technologist, business visionary) build and sustain a high-performing project team; and (2) he or she is directly responsible for building a high-performing requirements ownership team—a team of business subject matter experts (SMEs) who take ownership of the business strategy to be advanced, the business need to be satisfied, and the business benefits to be realized by the solution. In addition, the business analyst instills in the requirements ownership team the understanding that it is their responsibility to spend enough time and energy to truly understand the business, to “think out of the building” by conducting research and analysis of the opportunity, and to collaboratively create to develop an innovative solution, as opposed to simply meeting requirements.

Who Should Take the Lead?

As a member of the project leadership team, the business analyst strives to help the team members determine who should take the lead depending on the expertise needed. For example, the project manager takes the lead during planning and statusing sessions. The business analyst leads during problem definition, opportunity analysis, solution and requirements trade-off analysis, requirements negotiation and conflict resolution, cost-benefit analysis, business requirements elicitation, solution requirements elicitation, and requirements analysis, review, and validation sessions. The project manager and business analyst may jointly lead discussions centered on issue resolution and risk analysis. The business representative should assume the lead when talking about the business vision, strategy, and benefits expected from the new solution. Then the business analyst again assumes the lead when the team is validating that the business benefits will actually be realized. Likewise, the lead architect or developer (or both) leads discussions on technology options and trade-offs. The challenge is for the core leadership team to seamlessly traverse through the leadership hand-offs so as not to interfere with the balance of the team.

The Requirements Ownership Team: A 21^st Century Imperative

The business analyst’s leadership role undoubtedly involves forming, educating, developing, and maintaining a high-performing requirements team and keeping the team engaged throughout the project. The first task is determining the appropriate business and technical representatives needed to navigate through the requirements activities, then securing approval to involve them throughout the project. This is no small task, since business teams are accustomed to providing minimal amounts of information to project teams about the requirements (and these often are phrased in terms of the solution instead of the business need), and then sending the team off to do the real project work. The business analyst uses her influence, negotiating skills, and credibility to secure the participation of key business SMEs throughout the project. This involves building a strong relationship with the business owner, who is often the project sponsor, as well as other key business leaders who are influential in committing the essential SMEs.

As the requirements team comes together in workshops or other working sessions, they will inevitably pass through the same team development stages as the larger project team. The business analyst must navigate the team through the challenges of each stage of team development. The goal for the business analyst is to optimize the dynamics and expertise of the business SMEs to foster an innovative and creative atmosphere for determining business opportunities and solutions. Remember: business analysts are not note takers—they are creative leaders.

What best practices should you as the business analyst employ as the requirements team leader?

Meet face-to-face with business representatives, customers, and end users early and often.
Devote time and energy to guide the requirements ownership team through the stages of team development, changing your leadership style as the team moves in and out of stages.
When forming the requirements team, utilize the core team concept (small but mighty collocated teams that work collaboratively). Involve key technical SMEs (architect, lead developer, application portfolio manager) in the key working sessions of the requirements ownership team.
Spend enough time training requirements team members on the requirements practices and tools the team will use so that they will be comfortable with the process before they jump in head first.
Build a solid, trusting, collaborative relationship among the project team members and the requirements technical and business SMEs.
Bring in additional SMEs and form subteams and committees when needed to augment the core requirements ownership team.
Establish a requirements integration team to structure requirements into process groups and to manage interrelationships among requirement groups.
Encourage frequent meetings among the core requirements and project team members to promote full disclosure and transparency as the inevitable trade-off decisions are made.

It is not enough for the business analyst to develop requirements engineering knowledge and skills. It is also important to understand—and use—the power of teams, which leads to much more creative solutions.

Creativity: A Right-Brain Pursuit

A creative team that comes up with brilliant ideas is one of the most valuable resources any organization can have. If you want to give your creative team the best possible chance for success, give them clear ground rules and then let them run free.
—Bill Stainton, TV executive producer, speaker, author

At this point, you might be questioning our assertion that business analysts should serve as creative leaders. You might be thinking that analysts are just that—analytical, logical, methodical, questioning, reasoned, and rational. Isn’t this left-brain stuff? In fact, the business analyst needs to learn how to optimize both sides of her brain. How is the business analyst to become a creativity catalyst? By using creativity-inducing tools and techniques that make use of structured, proven problem-solving and decision-making methods (left brain) and cleverly augmenting them with investigation, experimentation, and yes, experiencing a little bit of chaos along the way (right brain).

As business analysts rise to the top of their game, they will skillfully learn to balance both the left and right sides of the brains of their SMEs (see below) in addition to their own brains. They will inspire teams to invent, imagine, and experiment. But they also will have a keen understanding of the business opportunity, the customer desires, the market window, and the executive team’s tolerance for ambiguity and research. The seasoned business analyst will instinctively know just the right moment to end experimentation and have the team put a stake in the ground. They will understand the concept of last responsible moment decision-making (i.e., do not shut down experimentation and lock into a design until it would be irresponsible to delay solution construction any longer; a delay would mean that the solution would be suboptimized and the opportunity lost.)

Right Brain vs. Left Brain Preferences

Getting There: From Ad Hoc Group to Working Group to Creative Team

According to Bill Stainton, whose presentations combine “business smarts with show biz sparks” (this is a great mental model for the creative business analyst leader), the only difference between creative and non-creative people is that creative people believe they are creative.[8]Stainton suggests that it is the job of the leader of a creative team to make its members believe that they too are creative. The leader of innovative teams does this by providing:

Direction. Set down boundaries, rules, and clear targets for the team. Some believe rules and boundaries limit creativity. In fact, clear targets focus us on the task at hand and liberate us to be creative.
Freedom. Do not tell your team how to achieve the targets. Creative people need the space to “play, explore, and discover.”
Stimulation. Creative people thrive in an inspirational environment, but their creativity dies in a sterile one.[9]

Commonly Understood but Little-Used Practices

The team leadership practices leadership consultant Don Clark suggests are well known, but they are not implemented often enough. A great team leader is constantly assessing the extent to which his team possesses these critical elements:

Inspiration: Continually reinforce the importance of the creative process to the organization as well as the value of the opportunity at hand.
Urgency: Develop and maintain a sense of urgency; this keeps the creative juices flowing and time-boxes decision-making.
Empowerment: Keep the team informed; challenge them with fresh facts and information. New knowledge just might redirect their effort or rekindle their creativity.
Togetherness: Teams need formal and informal time together to build constructive relationships and trust each other. One team member remarked, “We did our most creative work on a sailboat.” The team leader serves as the catalyst that brings the team together.
Recognition: Recognize accomplishments and communicate enthusiastically about successes. Insist on working toward small wins to sustain motivation.
An overarching goal: Although your team might have a number of goals, one of them must stand out as nonnegotiable.
Productive participation of all members: If certain members of the team are not truly engaged, the team decisions will not benefit from their perspectives, and the team may miss out on creative ideas. Communication, trust, a sense of belonging, and valuing diversity of thought and approaches are all elements that encourage full team participation. Diversity is a vital ingredient that fosters team synergy. If team members are not all engaged in articulating new ideas and challenging each other, the team has not yet reached its most creative point.
Shared risk taking: If no one individual fails (we all sink or swim together), then risk taking becomes a lot easier.
Change compatibility: Being flexible and having the ability to self correct.[10]

Collaboration: The Glue That Binds Creative Teams

Perhaps the most essential element of great innovation teams is collaboration. Jim Tamm, a workplace expert specializing in building collaborative work environments and the co-author of Radical Collaboration, tells us that collaboration does not magically happen. He contends that collaboration is both a mindset and a skill set—both of which can be learned—that can make a big difference to a company’s bottom line. After almost two decades of teaching collaborative skills in highly challenged and hierarchical organizations, Tamm discovered five essential skills for building successful collaborative environments:

Think win-win. Foster a positive attitude among your team members; recruit and reward people who are fun to work with and aren’t afraid of (and in fact, actually welcome) challenges and hard work.
Speak the truth. Dishonesty is toxic in the workplace. Always be open and honest, and expect others to do the same.
Be accountable. Take responsibility for your performance and interpersonal relationships. Focus on innovative solutions—the hallmark of successful teams.
Be self-aware—and aware of others. Work hard to understand your own behaviors, and work just as hard to diagnose and optimize the behaviors of your team.
Learn from conflict. Expect and capitalize on conflict—it happens whenever people come together. The secret to success is to use the conflict to learn and grow.[11]

The Innovation Imperative

Every organization—not just business—needs one core competence: innovation.
—Peter Drucker, writer, management consultant, and self-described social ecologist

The United States has enjoyed a preeminent position in the world economy for decades, largely riding the wave of success brought about by the world’s greatest innovators: Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, George Eastman, Harvey Firestone, John D. Rockefeller, George Westinghouse, Andrew Carnegie, and of course, Thomas Edison. However, the 21^st century brought with it immense global competitive pressure that is putting the U. S.’s economic domination at risk. Studies indicate that global innovation leadership is shifting away from the U.S., heading east to the emerging markets of China, India, and South Korea. Now is the time for us to revisit tried-and-true innovation skills and practices and once again seize competitive advantage. Business analysts are well positioned to play a vital role in this effort as they work with teams across the enterprise.

Innovation Is a Team Sport

According to Jon R. Katzenbach, author of Teams at the Top, and Stacy Palestrant, a team is “a small group with complementary skills committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and working approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”[12] It may be easy to define what Katzenbach calls real teams, but they are very hard to build and even harder to keep going.

Sustained Inspiration

Katzenbach and Palestrant write that teams can initially sustain their inspiration, motivation, and drive if they are presented with a compelling performance challenge. As BAs begin to work on mission-critical innovation projects, they are undoubtedly presented with a compelling performance challenge. At the outset, teams seem to ride on the wave of their instincts and desire to do good work. Real teams, however, succeed only if their leaders make sure the team members consistently apply what is referred to as the essential discipline. In a situation where performance challenges are changing rapidly, which is almost always the case in today’s Internet-speed business cycles, it behooves team leaders to continually assess team health and instill team discipline.[13](*Is this entire paragraph based on Katzenbach & Palestrant? If so, insert new note.)

A Team Culture of Discipline

As Jim Collins writes in Good to Great, it is important that organizations build a culture of discipline.[14]It is a commonly held misconception that the imposition of standards and discipline discourages creativity. A project team is like a start-up company. To truly innovate, the team needs to value creativity, imagination, and risk-taking. However, to maintain a sense of control over a large team, we often impose structure, insist on planning, and institutionalize coordination systems of meetings and reports.

The Entrepreneurial Death Spiral

As we have discussed, the risk of requiring too much rigor is that the team becomes bureaucratic. Collins calls this the entrepreneurial death spiral. He contends that “bureaucracy is imposed to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline—a problem that largely goes away if you have the right people in the first place.” The goal is to learn how to use rigor and discipline to enable creativity. Great teams (think emergency responders and surgical teams) almost always have rigid standards; they practice the execution of those standards over and over again until they become second nature; and they work hard to examine each performance and improve the standards based upon experience. So, as Katzenbach tells us, “Team performance is characterized at least as much by discipline and hard work as it is by empowerment, togetherness, and positive group dynamics.”[15]

Quick Team Assessment

Jim Clemmer writes, “Despite all the team talk of the last few years, few groups are real teams. Too often they’re unfocused and uncoordinated in their efforts.”[16]Clemmer developed the following set of questions based on his consulting and team development work. This team assessment and planning framework can be used to help newly formed teams come together and get productive quickly or to help existing teams refocus and renew themselves. Use this simple approach to assess team performance by having your team develop answers and action plans around each question. Perhaps add a question or two about creativity, innovation, and operating at the edge of chaos.

Why do we exist (our purpose)?
Where are we going (our vision)?
How will we work together (our values)?
Who do we serve (internal or external customers or partners)?
What is expected of us?
What are our performance gaps (difference between the expectations and our performance)?
What are our goals and priorities?
What’s our improvement plan?
What skills do we need to develop?
What support is available?
How will we track our performance?
How/when will we review, assess, celebrate, and refocus?[17]

Putting It All Together: What Does This Mean to the Business Analyst?

The lesson for the business analyst is this: work hard with other project leaders to impose a culture of discipline in your project team. Build improvements into the team’s interactions, imaginings, experimentations, problem-solving, and decision-making processes at every feedback point. Become an expert at developing and sustaining high-performing teams. To do this, you need to develop your unique leadership style, one that makes high performers want to be on your team.

Don’t forget to leave your comments below.

Endnotes

[1]. Thomas A. Stewart, “The Corporate Jungle Spawns a New Species: The Project Manager,” Fortune (July 1995): 179–80.
[1]. Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1993), 20-21.
[1]. Poppendieck, LLC, “Reflections on Development,” www.poppendieck.com/development1.htm (accessed May 2011).
[1]. Ibid.
[1]. Katzenbach and Smith, 24-26.
[1]. Bruce W. Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups,” Psychological Bulletin 63, no. 6 (June 1965): 384–399.
[1]. David C. Kolb, Team Leadership (Durango, CO: Lore International Institute, 1999), 9-18.
[1] International Association of Facilitators. Online at: http://www.iaf-world.org/index/Certification/CompetenciesforCertification.aspx (Accessed May 2011).
[1]. Bill Stainton, “How To Lead a Creative Team,” http://ovationconsulting.com/blog/how-to-lead-a-creative-team (accessed August 2010).
[1]. Ibid.
[1]. Don Clark, “Growing a Team,” http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtem.html (accessed August 2010).
[1]. James W. Tamm, “The ‘Red Zone’ Organization,” Innovative Leader 14, no. 5 (January–March 2006), http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles.html (accessed August 2010).
[1]. Jim Clemmer, “Harnessing the Power of Teams,” http://ezinearticles.com/?Harnessing-the-Power-of-Teams&id=109593 (accessed August 2010).
[1]. Ibid.
[1]. Jon R. Katzenbach and Stacy Palestrant, “Team Leadership: Emerging Challenges,” Innovative Leader 9, no. 8 (August 2000), http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/451-500/article482_body.html (accessed May 2010).
[1] Ibid.
[1]. Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001), 120–143.
[1] Jon R. Katzenbach and Stacy Palestrant, “Team Leadership: Emerging Challenges,” Innovative Leader 9, no. 8 (August 2000), http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/451-500/article482_body.html (accessed May 2010).

Look for Next Month’s Article: Igniting Creativity in Complex Distributed Teams

[1]. Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (Boston: Harvard Business Press, 1993), 20-21.
[2]. Poppendieck, LLC, “Reflections on Development,” www.poppendieck.com/development1.htm (accessed May 2011).
[3]. Ibid.
[4]. Katzenbach and Smith, 24-26.
[5]. Bruce W. Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups,” Psychological Bulletin 63, no. 6 (June 1965): 384–399.
[6]. David C. Kolb, Team Leadership (Durango, CO: Lore International Institute, 1999), 9-18.
[7] International Association of Facilitators. Online at: http://www.iaf-world.org/index/Certification/CompetenciesforCertification.aspx (Accessed May 2011).
[8]. Bill Stainton, “How To Lead a Creative Team,” http://ovationconsulting.com/blog/how-to-lead-a-creative-team (accessed August 2010).
[9]. Ibid.
[11]. Don Clark, “Growing a Team,” http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtem.html (accessed August 2010).
[11]. James W. Tamm, “The ‘Red Zone’ Organization,” Innovative Leader 14, no. 5 (January–March 2006), http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles.html (accessed August 2010).
[12]. Jon R. Katzenbach and Stacy Palestrant, “Team Leadership: Emerging Challenges,” Innovative Leader 9, no. 8 (August 2000), http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/451-500/article482_body.html (accessed May 2010).
[13] Ibid.
[14]. Jim Collins, Good to Great (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001), 120–143.
[15] Jon R. Katzenbach and Stacy Palestrant, “Team Leadership: Emerging Challenges,” Innovative Leader 9, no. 8 (August 2000), http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/451-500/article482_body.html (accessed May 2010).
[16]. Jim Clemmer, “Harnessing the Power of Teams,” http://ezinearticles.com/?Harnessing-the-Power-of-Teams&id=109593 (accessed August 2010).
[17]. Ibid.

Mission Complete! Five Ways to Know When You’re Done with What You’re Doing

Written by Jason Womack on October 23, 2012. Posted in Articles.

If you often feel like you’ve barely skimmed the surface of what you should have accomplished on a given workday, I have a secret for you. When you learn to “know when you’re done” with projects, tasks, and everything the work day throws at you, you’ll free up a lot more time to focus on those things that truly matter.

The curse for many of us modern-day professionals is that we never seem to have enough time to do everything that needs doing. There simply aren’t enough hours in the workday (or even the work week!) to accomplish everything on our to-do lists. Worse yet, when we finally do get on a productivity roll, there always seems to be a distraction (or two, or three) waiting in the wings to throw us off course. But the reality is that we could actually accomplish a lot more each day if we would just learn to recognize and acknowledge when we’re done with what we’re doing.

One of the biggest time wasters we all face is spending too much time on those things that don’t require it. When we do so, we lose the time we actually should be spending on more difficult or time-intensive tasks. But when you learn to recognize when you’re done with a task, you’ll have valuable minutes and maybe even hours added back into your day.

It often seems that we put off the most important things on our to-do lists until we feel like we have the ‘time’ to work on them. When you learn to recognize when you’re done with projects, big and small, you’ll immediately find that you have a lot more time than you thought you did—time you can use to focus on those things that truly matter.

Read on to learn more about how to know when you’re done:

Stop majoring in the minors. Many of us spend a lot of time on projects and tasks that are easy for us. Then we convince ourselves that we “just didn’t have enough time” to get to the harder stuff. But when it comes to knowing when you’re done and freeing up time during your day, completing these easy tasks quickly and efficiently is essential.

Before you start your workday, think about both your high-leverage and low-leverage activities. For the low-leverage activities, force yourself to move through them as quickly as possible. With these tasks—for example, writing an email to a colleague—perfection isn’t necessary, and there’s no need to waste time wringing your hands over every word. When you can accomplish these minor tasks more efficiently, you’ll have the time you need to do those major tasks justice.

Don’t overwrite emails. Much of your time—probably too much—each day gets eaten up by email. Make a conscious effort to keep your emails as short and sweet as possible. Get to the point quickly and use action verbs in subject lines so that both you and the recipient know what needs to happen before the email is even opened. And while long emails waste the time it takes you to write them, keep in mind that the person receiving the email doesn’t want to have to spend so much time reading it either. Chances are your boss doesn’t want or need a three-paragraph rundown of how your client meeting went. He just wants to know if the client is happy and continuing business with you.

Quit over-staying at meetings and on conference calls. Often meetings and conference calls will take as long as you’ve allotted for them. Set an hour for a meeting and you’re sure to go the full hour. Pay close attention to how much of your meeting is actually spent focused on the important stuff. If you spend 15 to 20 minutes at the beginning or end of the meeting discussing your coworker’s golf game, then next time reduce the amount of time allotted for the meeting. And always know the meeting or call’s objectives before you begin. That way you can get to them right away.

Set your own deadlines and stick to them. It’s very easy to get distracted or sidetracked by things you think you should do or things others think you should do. Having a self-imposed deadline will help you ignore those distractions. If a colleague calls you about a non-urgent task, you can let him know you’ve got a 3:00 p.m. deadline that you have to meet. There’s no need for him to know that it’s self-imposed! And then as 3:00 p.m. draws near, start wrapping up that particular task.

Know when it’s time to ask for help. Have you ever been stumped by a certain project or task? Did you walk away from it for a while and then come back to it hoping you’d suddenly know what to do? Sometimes knowing when you’re done is knowing when you, specifically, can’t take a project any farther. You simply might not have the right expertise to finish a certain project completely. And that’s okay. Wasting time on something you’re never going to be able to figure out is much worse than asking for help!

When you put in place steps to help you know when you’re done, you’ll be surprised and pleased with how much you can accomplish. It will truly free up time in your day that you can use to focus on areas where it’s really needed. As a result, you’ll have a more gratifying workday and you’ll be happier overall.

Don’t forget to leave your comments below.