Coaching to Success

Our business is your success

Decision Making

No need to make a song and dance about it as Queen and Bowie did!

Having worked in both corporate and retail arenas, I’m not unfamiliar with the stress from working under pressure can bring.

At present, I have another pressure due to the discomfort of managing my week while there is incompetence around as a conservatory is being built. Some will know what pressure this is! However, resilience is the key.

Losing your temper with the person who caused the pressure helps no one and certainly doesn’t contribute to a workable resolve. Some thrive on deadlines and the pressures this brings while others struggle.

The solution is not to allow it to impact on you emotionally but step away from the situation looking in on it logically. This sounds like an easy option but when you are caught up in the event, it may be difficult to think this way. Negative thinking adds fuel to self-doubt which in turn, adds further emotional pressure.

However, we cannot always avoid these negative impacts such as an overbearing boss/colleague/partner, dealing with rejection or the wonder that business politics brings to the situation. Here are some useful tips that I have found to help me get through the conservatory problem, grrr.

1. Fix what you can, acknowledge what you can’t: Although it would be nice to be Dr. Who, the reality is there are only 24 fixed hours in a day and you can’t drift forward and back in your Tardis. As a consequence, we try to cram too much in the allotted time.

We then announce to ourselves and anyone who listens, how busy we are. This in turn piles on the stress levels and so the spiral continues.

To help with this, take some valuable time out. Allow a sense of quiet to engulf your mind. Assess what tasks you have to accomplish and ask “what of this ‘Truly’ matters?” with regards reaching your responsibilities or end goal and what can wait?

Once accomplished, prioritise your priorities and set realistic goals (S.M.A.R.T)

2. Identify your stressors: Start to analyse when your calm(er) state gets affected. Is it a person? Unexpected tasks? Time of day? A regular event? Etc.
Recognise how you react when this happens. Chat to others and get a different perspective. Set time aside to relax or exercise of which the argument I often hear is “I don’t have time”. You do if you make it with the return being clarity, reduced stress and a calmer mindset.

3. Manage your time before time manages you: We all have a better time of day. Some like early morning, others after lunch. Mine is late at night (I’m odd!) but whatever time suits you best, do the most important tasks then. Create a to-do list and acknowledge completing each as it comes off the list. Take breaks to gather your thoughts.

4. Accept the things you can’t change: There are things that you are more than capable of achieving and other events you are probably unable to do anything about. I have found that understanding and accepting this allows me more peace of mind and acceptance rather than building unwanted.

This is but a start and Coaching to Success can help you manage pressure to avoid stress and the dangers that this can bring. We can help you turn the tables to help you move away from the fray, rather than asking ourselves, as a line from the aforementioned song goes “Can’t we give ourselves one more chance”, yes, we can by contacting Neil at neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or 07761 187238 to arrange a free consultation on how Coaching to Success can help you. Also, to get a feel for the person, check out our short ‘interview’ video at https://youtu.be/RvCwOL4hPco

Time for ‘Change’? Let’s ‘Manage’ it to secure the best outcome.

Those who know me will know a favourite expression of mine is “If you continue to travel the same path as you always have, you will inevitably end up at the same destination”.

If you want to …

  • Grow (in confidence or self-worth)
  • Improve sales and/or profits
  • Try different avenues within your business field
  • Have your team or team members take on different responsibilities
  • Change your direction with the path you’re currently on

It’s critical you manage the change, or as many will know “Change Management”. But is it that easy?

I recently worked with a CEO concerning an awkward issue and one that ultimately changed the direction that some people were already heading. By truly recognising what the barriers were (both real and presumed) we worked through a programme of events giving a very clear outcome making it not only real but also manageable.

Much like their situation, should you be in the process of or considering change within your company or personal life, but with so many other things stepping in the way to gain that clarity, this may well help get you on track for a successful outcome.

  1. Create a ‘Change Plan’ – Before you can start any changes, it is crucial that you formulate a project plan looking at why change is necessary, a timeline, the major tasks involved and how it will be implemented. Assess all the possible options available, then select the most appropriate. Keep any other ideas for back-up. Allow it to breathe so it’s a work in progress of which improvements can be introduced.
  2. Clear Direction (Establish a persuasive case and a sense of urgency) – It’s no good having changes just because you’re bored of the way things are! There HAS to be understanding as to why change is necessary and that a clear set of arguments for change is laid out. Not only this, but a planned ‘action’ timescale for it to be within. Although emotions will be involved, try to step away and look at it logically.
  3. Clear Leadership (& ownership) –Not only from the leader(s) but for the teams and members of the organisation too. Should there be more than one leader, then a united front needs to be forged to give a clear message to all affected. Once established, accountability is given to introduce ownership. ‘R.A.C.I.’ is a great model for this (Responsibility, Accountability, Consult, Inform). Coaching to Success are here to help with this.
  4. Consistent Communications (Early and often) – I have to admit that this is my biggest gripe with most businesses. With all the means to communicate, this is still one of the core problems affecting most organisations. Poor communication is the bane of many a working environment. It is critical that poor communication is NOT a factor when change is imminent. There’s an old adage that goes “Tell them what you’re going to tell them… Tell them… and tell them what you told them”. Make sure the message is as clear as day. People perceive things in their own manner which may well be different from the intended outcome. Keep re-enforcing and making sure everyone involved are kept up to date with progress. Do not simply rely on ‘email’ to get your message out. Use face to face through to conferences to presentations to text (if it helps!). To be kept informed insures that innocent comments or ideas don’t grow to uncontrollable monsters.
  5. Maintain & Measure the Progress – Once the change has been started, make sure the momentum is kept up and communications (as stated before) are flowing. If those affected by change don’t see what’s happening, they can easily ‘presume’ that the change will not be happening, or they presume the ‘Need’ has also dissipated! As part of the original plan, develop the relevant milestones which can be celebrated loudly at every juncture. This then keeps the process clear in everyone’s mind so that all can work towards it.
  6. Anchor New Approaches – People need to see the change and the leadership team’s role is to insure that this is embedded in. This can be brought about by recognising and reinforcing the positive behaviours in those directly involved; Insure the ‘Vision’ is kept alive by communicating it; Create the ‘We’ approach rather than the ‘Them or They’; Set challenging and realistic goals; Show clear links between the objectives set and the team success; Recognise those individuals or teams that do well and celebrate as a team. Finally, from the offset, make the ‘New’ way the ‘Normal’ way!

These are the outline areas for a successful transition of change. Each case of change is unique to the company or individual and helping to gain that clarity, as we did with the CEO, is what we’re about.

To gain this for yourself, contact Neil neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or 07761 187238 to arrange a free consultation on how Coaching to Success can help you. Also, our short ‘interview’ video can be seen at https://youtu.be/RvCwOL4hPco.

There’s no Compromise to Prioritise…

A new client recently explained to me how he was at a stage where he wasn’t sleeping well, his lack of focus was affecting his work and with so many things that all needed to be done, seemingly at the same time, that he was at his wit’s end.

Now with the best will in the world, there are only 24 hours in the day and if you have 26 hours’ worth of tasks, physics simply states that “it ain’t gonna fit!” So how did we go about dealing with this situation? How was he able to regain a peaceful night’s sleep, becoming the less irritable and more pleasant guy that colleagues and family had missed?

Everyone will have their own criteria or needs, no two people will be the same and although there were specific requirements for the aforementioned, there are certain things that we can all adopt to help us gain some clarity. The simplest of all is to Prioritise your workload.

  1. Get it written down – Our thoughts are all vying for the #1 slot. It’s tricky to ascertain which is more important than others when there are so many. First thing to do is get them out of your head and written down.
  2. Time-frame – Now they are out, give each task a simple recognisable title and write a realistic amount of time you envisage spending on it.
  3. Urgent vs Important – What needs the immediate attention? What has a deadline that has to be met (eg Applying for a job that has a closed deadline). What will have a seriously negative outcome if not met?
  4. Scheduled To-Do – Go back to #2 and plan your day(s) according to the amount of time each will take. Write a START time and END time and block this out in your diary. Remember to add time between tasks for all those inevitable unexpected things!
  5. Log – Regardless if a new task or a repetitive one, we can so easily assume they should take less time than expected so don’t ‘assume’, know and log the amount of time you ‘actually’ spend on each to help you plan for future similar tasks.
  6. Order of effort – Look at the tasks that will take you the most effort. Deal with these when you are most productive. If you’re an early morning person, crack on with it then but if you don’t get into your flow until later in the day, take on board the smaller jobs and clear the decks of them.
  7. Manage distractions – know what your distractions are and manage them. I’ve found that one of the biggest is Messenger and/or Emails. TURN THEM OFF!!! Unless you are a business that relies entirely from email orders, you don’t need them. Be brave! Difficult though it may appear, turn them off and only visit them at ‘scheduled’ If it is urgent, people will soon learn you don’t immediately respond unless they call you.
  8. Multi-tasking – It’s a lie! Yep, multi-tasking isn’t time saving, it’s time draining. You start numerous jobs and keep going back to them spending time familiarising yourself with them. Start a job, give it your undivided attention and as far as you can go with it, complete and then move to the next. Refrain from jumping from one to another. From your To-Do list, you’ll have plenty of jobs but you’ll do them more efficiently by concentrating on them one at a time… trust me, it works!
  9. Cut it out! – Literally, cut tasks out if they don’t fit into the priority listing. Delegate what you can and what’s left, leave to one side and concentrate on the priorities you know are critical to the business and/or you. You can’t do everything so if there are areas to be sacrificed, this way you can be honest with yourself as to what are the least important.
  10. Review – Check your task list and see what can be delegated. Trust others to do it. If, as a sole trader or entrepreneur, you have to manage many aspects of the business, ie admin, then set a time (we refer to this as a ‘default diary’ entry, same time every day, week, fortnight etc depending on required frequency) and then don’t add this to the worry pile as it has its allocated slot. Also, keep assessing the priorities as later, those tasks that initially appeared high on the list may not necessarily be that important so keep revising.

Well there are ten areas to help start the process. An author who I totally admired was Stephen Covey and he once quoted “The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”. A great mantra to take on board.

Coaching to success understand the headaches that a busy career or life can bring and we have the expertise, much as the client mentioned earlier, to help you through those harrowing times. To help you set clear parameters and offer the motivation to see you through to the end with positive and profitable outcomes.

Take the first step to gaining this clarity and contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk who, with tools and techniques, can assure you of a smoother, quicker transition from despondency to joyful completion.

It will only happen if you decide to make that change!

Holiday blues are inevitable if you enjoyed a great break. We return wishing things could be different, a change in career, a move forward in your existing organisation. But we accept what is before us, just ‘wishing’ things could change.

“By changing nothing, nothing changes” (Tony Robbins). The only person who can make those steps forward is you. You can allow others to plan your journey and destination but you do have choices. They may not be easy, but there are choices nonetheless.

I was made redundant in 2008 while working in the building industry! I was also recovering from Cancer. Unable to work full time and no work in my field, I had to make changes. Through hard work, perseverance and the support of those close to me, I pushed not only through illness but also developed and grew my business.

Let me share one of the tools I used to help me gain the focus I needed. And that is a big clue to making change, ‘Focus’ on what you want to change. I refer to it as the Wheel of Progress.

Firstly, think of the area you want to change, for example, managing a work team. Look at all the components within this, ie (1)Relationships (2)Leadership (3)Influence (4)Work skills (5)Management skills (6)Stress.

Take each subject and give yourself a score marking from 1 (couldn’t be worse) through to 10 (Perfect).

Draw a wheel with increments from 1 to 10, being the outer wheel. Divide it equally into the number of segments you are considering, ie example is 6 equal slices. On the outside, write your subject header against each slice. Use the inner circles to highlight your given score, ie if 7 in relationships, count 7 from the centre circle out towards the rim and highlight that part of the circle within your given slice.

Continue for each subject. See how uneven your wheel is, then consider how uncomfortable the journey would be if this was the construction of your bike’s wheel! Ideally all would be at 10 but this will rarely ever be the case. The best approach is to make the ‘rim’ as even as possible, even if the overall score is just 6 or 7.

For each subject ask these questions:

  • What is the Final Goal you wish to achieve? …
  • What are the 1st and subsequent journey goals to move you forward?
  • What Barriers do you foresee that may hinder or prevent you from achieving these initial steps or the ultimate goal?
  • What actions are required to move you forward?
  • What are your strengths that you can call on to help you along the route?
  • When do you intend reaching your Final Goal, what date specifically?
  • When are you going to complete each journey goal, when will you review them?

A business coach will ask those questions you will avoid. We look hard at each area and push questions deeper than if left to your own device. The surface questions and consequent actions you plan to take will certainly help you start that journey of change.

Coaching to Success are here to help you dive deeper and retrieve those answers to help you make those changes more succinctly and motivate you along the journey. When you’re ready to make those changes, contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk who, with tools and techniques, can assure you of a smoother, quicker transition of change for the positive.

Pink Floyd had it “Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way”

As summer has now descended, this season affects us all in many ways where ‘time’ is concerned. Some businesses may find trade is a little slack, others find it turns exceedingly busy along with the added pressure of people being on holiday to complicate matters further.

Other areas include consideration of how you’ll effectively handle the workload you already have before going on holiday yourself. Then there’s that bugging question of maybe taking just a little with you!

However we look at time, we cannot change the fact there are always 60 minutes to an hour and 24 hours in a day. Time has value! Consider this:

  • 1 Year to a student who just failed their exams
  • 1 Month to a mother who gave birth to a premature baby
  • 1 Week to a weekly magazine editor
  • 1 Hour to lovers waiting to meet
  • 1 Second to someone who just avoided a car accident
  • 1 Millisecond to an Olympic athlete

Managing what we have to achieve in the time we have and to maximise the return on that time will forever be a changing. The key is realising the signs, priorities and the importance, so here are a few tips to help you.

Often we do all those little jobs with the intention of approaching those larger projects later. Funny how that larger project either constantly gets put off or, worse still, suddenly looms over us demanding our immediate attention. I was guilty of that until I realised it’s best to deal with the larger job and fit the other items around it.

When next online, look up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38U_rLLW-qM to see how important it is to plan around the significant things in our life/work first, then the necessary areas, then minor/leisure and finally the usual stuff that takes up time.

When we prioritise on the bigger things, allowing the diminishing importance items to fill in around, we find we use time more efficiently.

One of the biggest time thieves is ‘Procrastination’. To help you understand what affects you, look at these following questions…

  1. Overwhelming – What appears insurmountable at this moment in time? How could you break it into manageable parts?
  2. Unclear flow – Look to set ‘Clear’ tasks with defined outcomes. What questions do you need to ask to make yours clearer?
  3. Unclear Goals – Obtain clear objectives! What outcome are you looking for?
  4. Overcommit – Some will take on more workload when they have enough already. Be honest with yourself and search deep, when found, what would be the outcome of turning work away?
  5. Fear of Failure –What are your areas that you may not feel confident about? What is the driving fear behind simply getting on with it?
  6. Fear of Change – What areas of work/life could you start to make small constant changes to allow you to become more open to larger changes?

These are some areas Coaching to Success help their clients with. Often it is easier to have someone ask these questions rather than working through them on our own. We can avoid those questions we don’t wish to answer but are okay to open up (almost like giving yourself permission) if someone else asks.

Should you be looking to find ways to improve your own time management, or, in reality, managing tasks within a given time frame!, contact Neil on  07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk who, with tools and techniques, can assure you a little out to work on this, you’ll be amazed at what you will be able to achieve.