You can’t buy time, but you can spend it wisely

As Theophrastus wrote, ‘time is the most valuable thing a man can spend’. If you’ve made the transition from working from a big institution to working for yourself you’ll realise how true this is. Time management is a crucial skill for the sole practitioner and needs to be given the attention something of such value deserves.

Working independently, your flexibility and freedom to react to situations more rapidly than someone working within the constraints of a large, ponderous organisation are key advantages. The ability of a sole practitioner or SME to respond quickly to a client or potential client unimpeded by bureaucracy is a distinctive plus point. However agility doesn’t always mean efficiency and you can end up paying a price.

Dashing from meeting to meeting, travelling to and from your office and following up client leads can lead to large chunks of time being used inefficiently. You don’t want to lose your nimble edge and the advantages it brings but planning your time and being flexible around that plan allows you to retain more control over your most valuable asset.

I urge you to review your use of time. I realise I’ve recommended this before and I do so again because it’s important to regularly take a look at how you spend your time – you’ll be amazed how quickly bad habits can creep back in.

Keep a time journal. There are software programs available to help with this, but a notebook and paper will suffice. What you are primarily concerned with is logging how much time is wasted, or could be used more productively, so it’s worth noting down not only what you are spending time doing but what you actually accomplish in that time.

Use the findings from your journal to inform your future decisions. If you are required to travel somewhere on a certain day, what else could be planned to coincide with that location or that route? If you know you are likely to be making a long journey or spending time waiting between meetings, what work can you allocate to that time? Ensure you use the time in your office to complete tasks which require all the resources that location provides. Allocate other tasks, which only require a Wi-Fi connection, to fill these transition periods.

The secondary use of this journal is to form a realistic picture of how long tasks actually take. It’s all very well planning to spend an hour to complete a certain activity, but reviewing a time log will tell you if this is a realistic goal. If your journal indicates that the task normally takes you far longer, give it the time it deserves or, if an hour is all you have, do a job you know you can do justice to.

Thirdly, studying how you spend your time and what you achieve in that given period should indicate when you’re working at your most productive. We like to think we already know this, and happily tell others ‘I’m a morning person’ or ‘I’m a night owl’. However, does the evidence back this up? You might think of yourself as a night owl but, if your late nights actually produce very few results, why burn the midnight oil? If your journal suggests you achieve far more in the morning, call it a night and recommence, rested and alert.

This is particularly useful for managing the time we all know is important but all tend to neglect. Work/life balance is vital but rarely treated as such. When it comes to allocating yourself free time, the decision to ‘down tools’ becomes much more palatable when you have evidence to suggest that you’re unlikely to achieve much past/before a certain point. Time is your most valuable resource, but you need to ensure you’re not too tired to use it – timetable yourself a rest.

Consistency, Selfie Sticks and Giant Anthropomorphic Mice

Once upon a time, in an age when taking ‘selfies’ was not common practice, Disney hit upon an idea. Back in this forgotten era, a friend of mine returned from Orlando and remarked that his family holiday photos from Disneyworld were different to the rest – all of his family were in them. Normally someone was out of shot because they were the one actually taking the photo. I checked my own photos from a similar holiday and the same phenomenon had occurred.

Like or loathe the American customer service model, I’ve always found Disney’s approach to be a great example of consistency and attention to detail. Investigating the photo quirk I discovered that all park staff, regardless of their primary role, are given the same training with regards to photos – instructed that, should they see a family taking a group shot, they are to offer their services as photographer to ensure no-one is left out of the picture.

If only the world had cottoned on, we might have been spared the invention of the ‘selfie-stick’. However, it’s not the idea that stays in my memory so much as the application. Many businesses worry about the consistency of their service. Will customer number 100 receive the same treatment as customer 1? If this hasn’t occurred to you then perhaps you should give it some thought.

Human nature tempts us to be inconsistent – the prospect of working with a big name client may (should?) excite you. You might pull out all the stops and go the extra mile for this particular customer. Great for them, but what about your reputation overall? What happens when the next customer only gets the ‘standard’ service (however high that standard may be)? Reputations are precious and hard won and you don’t want to dent yours with evidence of inconsistency.

A technically effective, but ultimately self-defeating approach is to ensure you work to the lowest common denominator. If everyone only gets the one-star treatment, everyone is equal and everyone is happy, right? No, the real challenge we all face is to ensure consistently high standards. The key to this lies in systems, processes and, if yours is a growing business with staff other than yourself, in training.

‘Systems’ does bring to mind the US customer service model, which is not necessarily a good thing to all people. However, our aversions tend to be cultural. A stranger telling us to ‘have a nice day’ may grate on this side of the pond, but knowing that you will be offered iced water at your table or a refill of your coffee at breakfast is often welcome. That system is in place for all customers, not a select few, and our expectations are managed. Look past the cultural differences and you can see the advantages.

Disney’s photo system is a broad approach. Every ‘cast member’ from street sweeper to shop assistant to giant mouse impersonator (assuming their gloved hands can work a camera) is trained to perform an additional role so that, wherever the need arises, someone is on hand to help. No customer loses out because the ‘right’ member of staff wasn’t present at the right moment. The specifics of this system may not be relevant to you, but the concept might resonate.

Introducing systems and processes does not automatically mean acting like a robot, treating clients like numbers or turning your bespoke service into a production line. A tailor will still have a system for measuring each customer, even though each finished suit is unique. Systems are in place to ensure the same level of service is given to every client, not the same service. You want a second, different suit so you return to the same tailor. Systems build trust and secure loyalty.

Every client journey will be unique. Not everyone will accept the free refill of coffee (there’s only so much coffee one can or should have in the morning) but the offer is there. Without the process and staff training, customers could be sat at their table looking enviously across the room at others. Why do the other customers get their coffee refilled, they may wonder? Are they friends of the owner, regular customers – am I not deemed important enough to warrant that attention? Systems provide everyone with the same opportunity and the same high standard of service. Everyone can be in the photo if they want to be, without the need for a selfie stick.

Can you help me?

It’s easy to point out the splinters in other people’s eyes and miss the plank sticking out of your own. This is particularly true when it comes to the idea of asking for help. No doubt you will have experienced the frustration caused when a member of your team or an individual you’re working with has made a complete mess of a task by trying to go about it without really knowing what they’re doing. ‘Why didn’t you ask for help?’ is often the resulting question.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we know the answer. Most of us associate asking for help with weakness. The further we progress along our careers, the more acutely this is felt. The more experience we have gained, the damning it would seem in the eyes of others if we were to admit that we didn’t have all the answers and were forced to ask for assistance. The hypothetical individual didn’t ask for help for exactly the same reasons we wouldn’t.

However, if we are able to put pride to one side and think about the situation logically, there are obvious benefits to asking for help and avoiding the potential pitfalls of trying to go it alone. The fact that business has become so specialised in recent years helps to reduce the worries about doing so. IT specialists, for example, exist because not everyone can be expected to be an expert in technology as well as in their main role.

Using IT as an example brings to mind the phrase ‘have you tried turning it off and on again?’ which serves as a reminder that whilst there is no shame in asking for help, it pays to first explore the options which are obvious or clearly within your grasp. Coming to terms with the acceptability of asking for help does not absolve you from all responsibility. This is yet another balancing act. You need to refrain from taking the easy option and passing the buck but possess the discretion to recognise when you need assistance.

Not only does ensuring you’ve investigated possible solutions yourself confirm that you really do need help with your issue, when asking for help it is always beneficial to accompany a request with evidence that you have attempted a solution and, importantly, what you’ve identified won’t work.

Even better is to arrive with a set of options you’ve compiled outlining possible solutions that may prove successful but that you need help implementing. If this all still smacks of weakness to you, remember that if a problem has ground you to a halt, at the very least you could bounce ideas off of someone else.

Things are slightly different outside of the corporate structure and as a sole practitioner it is not so much the shame of asking for help that holds people back, more the fact that the thought doesn’t occur. You have talented individuals amongst your contacts so why bang your head against the wall when one of them might have the solution to hand.

Running ideas by other people isn’t a fully collaborative project, but it’s always good to be able to be able to repay someone for their help. If you possess a strong presence on social media, a piece of advice can always be repaid with an online mention, thank you and the publicity this brings. However, you’ll never know if anyone can help unless you ask them.

Know yourself…and know your business partner

Choose your business partners and closest associates wisely. Failure to do so can hurt in more ways than one. Reading the biographies of notable individuals you encounter stories of serendipitous professional relationships and successful partnerships. You read far less about the many failed joint ventures, of which there are many. History is written by the winners.

People can write with happy hindsight about how partnerships came to be ‘naturally’, but in reality it is a decision that requires much consideration. It’s not simply a case of separating the sheep from the goats or the winners from the losers; it’s about creating a partnership with a fellow winner who you can work effectively with.

A common word of warning is not to pick your ‘twin’, but looking for your polar opposite is not guaranteed road to success either. In fact, similarities are important. Whilst different skills can be complementary and two people from very different professional backgrounds can complement each other practically, anyone you are tying yourself to this closely needs to be on the same page.

When you’re pitching a sale you tell yourself that people buy the person before they buy the idea, so why should finding a business partner be any different? There are plenty of stories warning against going into business with friends or family, as your personal connection may cloud your judgement as to their ability or suitability. However, the situation can happen in reverse.

It is of little use allying yourself with an individual who has the perfect skill set and commercial experience for your project when you simply cannot stand that individual. Personal differences may not be apparent if you’ve only met one another in work scenarios when you’re both ‘in character’. To be business partners means working closely to such an extent that your real selves will become apparent and it is vital to get to know one another properly before making any decision.

You also need to be on the same page financially. If you see this potential partnership as part of the expansion of your successful, growing business, it would be dangerous to enter into a partnership with someone who sees this collaboration as an effort to try and save their struggling enterprise. Again, you aren’t necessarily looking for an exact twin, but the very word partner implies a sense of parity.

Obviously trust is important between the pair of you but, if you attach the same critical importance to ethics that I do, then you both need to be on the same page with regards to operating with honesty and integrity in a wider sense. If you’ve spent significant time and effort developing a positive reputation, allying yourself to someone with a less ethical outlook can undermine all your hard work and can take your business in directions you are distinctly unhappy about.

If you are seeking to create and nurture a business for the long term whereas your partner is looking to get rich quick and get out, you are clearly not on the same page. To recognise when you are, consider the fact that the individual you are considering may well be called upon to represent you. If you are confident that, if called to a meeting in your stead, they will not only make the correct decisions, ask the right questions and achieve the right results but will do so in a manner that you are comfortable with in terms of honesty, integrity and trustworthiness, then you may be sharing that page. You’re not looking for your twin, who appears like you, you’re looking for someone you trust to act as you.

How List-Making might just save your business… and your sanity!

I have always found that writing a commitment on paper increases the likelihood that you will actually do it. I thought that this habit of list making and putting pen to paper was merely a personal quirk, something that happens to help me work more effectively.

However, it seems that writing things down is not just beneficial for a few individuals like me. It is a proven method for increasing your own effectiveness at work, reducing the stress levels of life in general, and something well worth adopting.

Firstly, writing down your commitments makes you more likely to act on them. A written commitment focuses your mind on a task. It’s easy to get side-tracked by low-priority work and to (consciously or subconsciously) avoid the bigger, more important, or more unpleasant issues. Having a written promise draws your attention back to what you have promised to do.

Secondly, as simple as it may sound, ticking items off a written list produces a greater sense of achievement. Just as success breeds success, feeling more productive increases your productivity. There’s certainly no harm in creating a sense of satisfaction and progress.

Thirdly, if the task is not urgent and does not need to be focussed on straight away, writing it down clears your head and allows you to think freely about the important issues of the here and now. Simply put, writing something down means you can devote your mind entirely to thinking instead of remembering.

Fourthly, it provides a reality check. It’s easy to keep nodding in agreement when in conversation with someone and agree to take action on a number of points. Writing down each action gives you a realistic idea of the scale and timescale of what you are agreeing to, allowing you to manage expectations and avoid overreaching yourself.

Finally, for the more emotionally intelligent, it can act as a sounding board. When making large scale, life-changing decisions we are likely to want to talk them through with a friend. Referring every single decision to a contact would paralyse our activity, but seeing your own promises in writing and assessing your feelings towards them gives you a good indication as to whether you are pursuing the correct course of action.

Writing down your commitments helps you to ensure you are committing to the right actions, makes sure they get done, prevents you from distraction and provides satisfaction when they are done. It’s a simple and effective method for improving the way you work.