|
April, 2007 In this month's issue, Debra Snider shares the 5 Ds Approach, one of her favorite productivity tools, with The Maraia Minutes. In her distinguished legal career, she served as both General Counsel of a major financial institution and as a partner in a large law firm. Debra is also the author of three books. Her most recent work is a novel, A Merger of Equals, which thoughtfully explores gender issue in the workplace. While I don't typically read fiction, I suggest that anyone interested in gender issues will want this book in his or her library. It should be required reading for every law firm leader who wants a balanced look at gender issues. Debra is a dynamic speaker on a variety of business and career topics. For more information about Debra or to read more about her newest book, visit her website: www.debrasnider.com. As always, thanks for reading! Mark ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Maraia Team's tip of the month: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before you do something, always be clear about your purpose for doing it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEATURE ARTICLE - Starved for Time? Adopt the 5Ds Approach ©1998-2007 Debra H. Snider. All rights reserved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whether it's that pile of work on your desk, a project you need to manage, an event you need to plan, or any other collection of tasks you have to handle, you have a choice to make before you start working. Choice 1: You can simply plow into the work, starting with whatever is on top and working until you've finished. This is a tactical approach and, while your work ethic and sense of responsibility will cause you eventually to finish the work, you will likely waste some time, encounter some frustration, and personally handle some tasks better handled differently, whether by others or in terms of the nature of the task. OR Choice 2: You can apply the 5 Ds Approach to your work. This is a strategic approach and it will, without fail, make you more efficient and productive, lead to a higher quality result, and let you spend more time on things you are good at and like to do (thus, making you happier). It will sometimes even give you a chance to offer a developmental opportunity to someone else, build a relationship or create a reusable tool. Here's how the 5 Ds Approach works: Instead of simply working, spend a few minutes before you start doing to examine each piece of work to see if it can be: Dropped. Does the work need to be done at all? Who needs it and why? How does it tie to the accomplishment of a goal or project? How does it tie to the achievement of your organization's strategic goals? If it's not necessary or valuable, drop it. Deferred. Does the work need to be done now? How should it be prioritized in light of the rest of your work? If it doesn't need to be done now, put it in your tickler file so it comes back to you in time for you to finish it by its deadline. (This has the added benefit of clearing stuff off your desk.) Downsized. Does the work need to be done as presented or is it really a smaller or different task when you think about it in the context of project deliverables and overall goals? If a modified or different effort would more clearly or efficiently lead to the right result, then do what actually needs to be done rather than merely doing the work as presented or requested. Delegated. Are you the right person to do the work? Would it be better handled by someone senior (who could get the result faster), a peer (who has more expertise, experience or time and could get a better or quicker result), a subordinate (because it doesn't require skills where you add value), an outside service provider (who has more bodies to throw at it, more expertise, better process or other tools), etc. If the right result can be more effectively achieved by someone else, enroll that someone else and delegate. [For more on effective delegation, please see the December 2005 and January 2006 issues of The Maraia Minutes: www.markmaraia.com/newsletterlibrary/newsindexform.htm] Do. Finally, once you have dropped, deferred, downsized, and delegated work as appropriate, what's left is what you DO. The Maraia Minutes newsletter library
Maraia
& Associates, Inc. * Phone
303-791-1042 || Why Relationship
Development Coaching || Programs
for Lawyers || Testimonials
|| |
*
E-mail