November 2009
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| Learn the purpose behind the chart and the Blackberry. |
Ah-Ha! Moment – November brought awareness to several instances where the "Situational Leadership" model was vividly illustrated.
In the first instance, I continued working with an associate on the "Relationship Management" project, with large amounts of both our time being devoted to this. My time was about 70% of my associate's time (75% in October), and her time divided among Define (30%), Work (65%), and Checkpoint (5%). The time investment we both made in detailed "One Minute Goal Setting" – the key portion of the Define stage – in October paid dividends this month. My involvement trended down, and her time shifted much more heavily into Work (from 50% last month to 65% this month), and away from Define and Checkpoint. These numbers are definitely showing improvement!
A second instance came as a result of an "ah-ha" moment with this associate while working on "Relationship Management" and our overall Marketing Plan for 2009. We came up with a creative way to reach some of our best referral sources – fellow CPA's – before the holidays and their busy season, which runs from around December 15 through April 15. The two of us listed the key deliverables and overall completion date for this outreach effort, and believed we were done. Wrong! What we both failed to do was spend the extra time to do "One Minute Goal Setting" for the details of the project!
The result of this? Once my associate began to execute our ideas – which involved creation of new materials, ordering of books and supplies, and coordination of activities to pull the pieces together – things were not well-coordinated with our practice management folks. Accordingly, there were a number of missteps throughout the process, causing confusion and frustration, especially near the end of the project.
We all – my associate, my practice management folks, and myself – learned the importance of:
- "One Minute Goal Setting," especially for a project which needs to be executed quickly.
- Taking the work and communication styles of others into account.
- Key project management "tricks" such as "managing the critical path," "identifying and removing the bottleneck," and "keeping one step ahead of your assistant."
The bottom line? Many lessons were learned the hard way, which none of us will soon forget.
