Small is do-able

Small is do-able

by | Jan 20, 2022 | Action, Blog, Facilitation, Stuckness

A lot of us at this stage in the pandemic are – frankly – knackered. We have very little energy left – so we need to use it wisely.

So I’m going to offer five tips and ideas about the small things that I think can make a big difference. Small can be beautiful, but better still, small is do-able!

1. Treat yourself to a 15 minute review

One recent study found that as little as 15 mins a day refection can increase your productivity by 20%. Put another way, unless you find an hour to review how things are going Mon-Thu, you’re wasting your time working on Friday!

As well as generating learning I also find reflection motivating. Whether things have gone well, or been a bit of a disaster, working out what I got right and what I’ll do differently next times always means I feel better.

And it can be as simple as asking yourself a short set of reflective questions like these.

2. Prioritise with the impact/effort matrix

Too many ideas? Don’t know what to do first? Then look no further than the impact/ effort matrix.

Use the 4 boxes on the grid to sort all your options and ideas into impact they could have (high or low) and the effort it would take to achieve (high or low). Focus on what’s in the high impact/ low effort box first. And think very carefully before embarking on any of those high effort ideas….

3. Set yourself up for success

One of my highlights of this month has been conversations with my fellow coach Isabel Mortimer with whom I’m co-designing two new short courses around leadership, teams and coaching – you can find out more about these here.

We’ve been discussing what underpins successful leadership and how the principles and techniques of coaching can be used by line-managers and teams. It struck me that in coaching we’re much more explicit about boundaries, expectations and ways of working than is often the case in the workplace – maybe some of these coaching questions would help you be clear about what you’re doing and how and help you be more productive?

Taking 5-10 minutes to ‘contract’ in our meetings with others can help ensure we get off to the most productive start with new projects, or review and realign those already underway.

4. Shake up your brain

It might seem counter intuitive if we feel tired, but a bit of physical activity actually perks us up when energy runs low. It’s really easy when we’re busy to chain ourselves to the computer – but our brain functioning has been proven to increase if we take short breaks.

Anecdotally I have noticed that if I’m stuck with work going for a run or walk often leads to fresh thinking – I like to imagine the movement shakes up my brain, but I’m sure there’s probably a proper scientific reason why this happens. I’ve also learned a huge through being active – as I’ve shared before in my post about how lessons of endurance sport apply to getting through Lock Down.

5. Get into some good habits

I was unfortunate to catch COVID at the end of June (despite being fully vaccinated) and I’m still feeling very tired as a result, so one thing that’s been on my mind a lot this month is recovering full health. Wellbeing is a topic that comes up plenty in coaching too, and I wrote a short blog post to share some tips about creating habits. Whether you want to create some good work habits, or some healthy habits for wellbeing these tips can help embed new ways of doing things. 

Keeping going: the art of momentum

Keeping going: the art of momentum

by | Jan 20, 2022 | Action, Blog, Facilitation, Momentum

Recently I had an enquiry about help maintaining commitment of a team through a period of long-term incremental change.

Creating a big change can be dramatic and our excitement can provide the energy needed to make it happen. Incremental or ongoing smaller changes are just as important but need resourcing in a different way – excitement can only get you so far. 

I’ve been involved in helping people create change for over a decade and one of the lessons I’ve learned is that it usually takes (a lot) longer than you think. And sometimes we run out of steam to fully complete what we started. So how can we keep going, how can we maintain our momentum?

This question about maintaining energy for change struck a chord with me. Not only as a coach, but also as someone involved in endurance sport I often find myself helping others keep going, literally and metaphorically. Yesterday Facebook reminded me it was 3 years ago this weekend that I ran alongside my friend Miyako through the dark on the last leg of a 60-mile ultra to help her keeping going. Later this evening I’ll be packing my kit to support another friend on another endurance adventure in the dark this weekend. So before I go and look for my head torch and compass, here are some of my favourite resources around keeping going professionally.

Be clear what you want to achieve (and why)

Research tells us a clear and exciting goal is more likely to happen than a vague or bland one. The ExACT goal-setting model is a great way to generate clarity and energy. Write your goal down, look at it often, and make sure what you’re doing every day contributes to it.

Give yourself some feedback on how it’s going

Reflecting on how things are going has two main benefits: it helps us learn about what works (and doesn’t) and therefore improve in future, but it also can help with motivation.

Reflection needs to focus on what’s within your control, to be honest, appreciative and future-focused. The questions I use most often with coachees to help them reflect can be found here. I also regularly ask myself these same questions and without fail I find they help me feel more motivated and confident.

Pace yourself

Endurance requires us to move at a pace we can sustain. In a work sphere that means not trying to achieve too much, too quickly. This sounds simple but by Monday 5pm each week I’ve usually forgotten this and worn myself out….

A very simple tool we can use when we have too much on the ‘to do’ list is to prioritise: what needs to happen today; what can wait until tomorrow, or next week or month; what could wait until next ‘term’. Try listing out each task on a separate Post It note and moving them into different time zones on a big sheet of paper.

Get some peer support

Finally, whilst there is a lot we can do to motivate ourselves – we can do more when we support and are supported by others. Mutual support is part of the ethos of long distance running (like the Bob Graham Round that I’m supporting this weekend).

For anyone looking for peer support (and learning) you might be interested in joining an Action Learning set. I offer ‘open’ Action Learning sets about 3 times year, and the next one will be starting after Easter 2022 – sign up to my newsletter to hear more once dates are fired up, or get in touch.

Right – I’d best go and pack. In the meantime there’s only a few weeks now until we launch the first of the new courses I’ve co-designed with Isabel Mortimer so if you’d like some new tools and skills to help you a great manager or be a great team leader don’t miss these courses.

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