We’ll get to that – Doing the things you always meant to

It's been 30 years since the publication of the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". Yet the third principle, First Things First, is still relevant - It's easy to lose sight of important projects among so many urgent things to do. Enterprises face the same challenge.

Enterprises always have things on the “We’ll get to that” list. These are tasks that need, and managers want, to get done. These are assigned to interns, new employees, or as “special projects” when an experienced someone is in transition. Many times, real value is not gained as the engaged worker isn’t as familiar with the enterprise or the task knowledge to “find the pony”.

One of the key ways to surface Enterprise “always meant to” gems is to organize the records of past projects – and the paid for learning – that got done. These can look like:

1. Operational analysis, cost studies, and plans that capture the requirements, the assumptions (especially!), and the results of work.

2. Technical evaluation, test data, or experimental results (along with test plans, budgets/costs, and actuals).

3. Plans from vendors hoping for more business… that capture their views of requirements, costs, and possible improvements.

Some records are more easily monetized than others. Production improvements for quality and process savings that would “slow down the line” when demand is high might be ignored – and the time to do them is during a forced shutdown. Product improvements to open new customers and to upsell existing customers that were only “incremental” may mean closing the big deal now. Operational savings can be the difference between losing positions/jobs and keeping good people. In each case – the time to “get to it” is now!

What to do today:

1. Tell your group what you want to accomplish – and why – and ask them for the best ideas and results “not used”. The best ideas come from people up close, and people further away with perspective. (“Your Group” are the close consumers, and people who work with you.) Tell people you only want the best 3 things from each of them.

2. Use management judgment to add a few ideas to the list – ideas that may reduce costs, stop some work, or require vendor changes.

3. Sift and sort the list – you’ll probably be surprised how short (or long!) and creative the ideas you get are. Focus when dollars and work are short helps.

And then:

Start doing something with what you learned. It didn’t take long to find out, and it might time to get done. Start now.