Anything sustainable has a process associated with it. Processes allow us to repeat performance, and good processes are formulas for ongoing success. As a leader, one of your main jobs is to grow the productivity of your people. You always hear not to sweat the small stuff, and yet it is the small stuff that eats our time. Every organization has this challenge. There's already too much on our never-ending to-do lists, so we tend to react to what matters next rather than what matters most. In the chaos of every day, we tend to do, not think. This means we end up constantly correcting our course — an expensive approach to business.
The good news? We have created a formula for optimal productivity. It's called TPM: Think. Prepare. Move. No, it is not brain surgery and if you get your team to consistently use this process, you will be surprised by the results.
TPM: The Optimal Productivity Formula
Thinking and preparing is a habit we don't teach people. The boss says, "This is what I want," and everyone runs like a shotgun went off, forgetting to stop and think through how best to deliver. Think of the impact: people do things twice instead of once, or don't deliver on the expectation because they didn't take the time to fully understand and think through it.
Stopping to think allows people to prioritize and ask: what is our ultimate goal and how can we get it done most effectively? Preparation catches potential problems and streamlines execution. In the end, thought and preparation actually save time. Stop reacting. Start anticipating. To prevent backtracking and re-dos, it's time to teach your people how to TPM: Think. Prepare. Move.
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TPM for Optimal Productivity
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THINK
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Stop & Consider
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1. What must I deliver?
2. What will I need to learn and understand first?
3. What materials, support and information will I need?
4. What matters most?
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PREPARE
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Gather & Plan
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1. What needs to happen?
2. What processes will I use?
3. Who else needs to be involved?
4. What is my plan?
5. What else?
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MOVE
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Execute & Review
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1. Work the plan. If you wait until circumstances are 100% perfect, you will never get started.
2. Track your progress
3. Stay focused on what matters most
4. Stay agile
5. Sometimes new information requires plan modification. Be proactive to what needs to change.
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The Lesson
Sometimes we get lucky. And yet, luck favors the prepared. TPM for Optimal Productivity helps leaders identify where their teams spend time and how to improve their processes. Every process within an organization should include all three elements to be effective. Have you blocked time to think, prepare and move — both for yourself and for the people in your organization? Use TPM to break down where you spend the majority of your time and find balance to bring about optimal productivity in your people.