RELEVANCY : Putting First On First

Saturday, 24 August 2013

RELEVANCY : Putting First On First

"Effective Leadership Is Putting First Thing First.

Effective Management is Discipline Carrying it Out."

It's easy to be overwhelmed when the to-do list gets too long. Here's how to cut things down to size.

I’m sure you know the feeling of getting up for work in the morning with the feeling of having so much to do that you don’t know where to start. Oftentimes, everything that you have to do seems like a priority, which makes it tough to figure out where to begin.

First things first! In order to move the ball forward you need to start somewhere. Here are some planning tactics that I’ve found helpful when you need to set your mind on immediate execution. Although long-term prioritization and planning is also essential, these techniques help me to make progress on the micro-level, day-to-day basis.

Make a List: First thing in the morning, write down everything that needs to get done that day. Once you have everything down, separate the items into urgent vs. non-urgent to determine the top priorities for that day.

Assess the Value: Completing certain tasks will offer more benefit than others. For example, I have a rule that client work comes before internal work. Because client work not getting done has bigger ramifications more often than internal work.

Be Honest: When creating your list of priorities, be realistic about your bandwidth. Setting unattainable goals will only cause disappointment down the road.

Be Flexible: To be able to effectively prioritize, you must be able to deal with changing priorities. Take them as they come and decide if they are urgent or not.

Cut the Cord: As a perfectionist, this is the one that I struggle with the most. When something is really important, it’s easy to get caught up in the details and end up spending way too much time on a project or task. Spending too much time on one priority, however, prevents you from getting other stuff knocked off your list. Acknowledge when you’re doing this and enforce strict deadlines to prevent yourself from going down the rabbit hole.

Having a lot on your plate at once can feel very overwhelming, but almost anything is manageable if you learn to prioritize effectively.

Relevancy and Impact for Today and Tomorrow

Meeting and addressing the challenges of this century will require that higher education institutions in the United States contribute to two important goals. First, we must educate for the jobs of the future as well as the present, creating graduates who become learners for life, capable of adapting to changes in the processes and nature of work in a global economy. Second, we must continue to create, disseminate, and apply knowledge that drives economic development and creates jobs locally and globally. It is the combination of both significant job creation and an educated citizenry that will move our nation toward a more sustainable prosperity and, ultimately, lead the world in solving problems of global scale and consequence—problems that link all nations. Education is the key to developing jobs that not only employ the world’s population but also employ it to the betterment of all citizens and the planet.

RULES FOR STAYING RELEVANT IN THE WORKPLACE PART 1

The workplace depending on the organizational structure of various firms can be a place where accomplishments are recorded; as well as the easiest place to loose relevance. In today's commodiitized environment, the competition gets stiffer by the second as companies struggle to survive in the red ocean. More than ever companies are now dependent on their employees to be their game jokers considering the fact that consumers are being offered more quality and quantity at a lower price.

The pressure to be the best, capture the largest market share, while remaining profitable has left most companies doing, selling and offering almost the same thing to the delight of the consumers. Gone are the days when an organization would put up loafers who themselves employee with a cavalier sense of responsibility to their work. Employers have now become irascible and would only make do of first class cadre of personnel. to avoids getting the boot, it's best you position yourself in a place of relevance and need in your organization.

1.KNOW SOMETHING OTHER DO NOT

Regardless of how many people are there within an organization (100 or 10) you are bound\d to be easily recognized if there is something of value you have or can do which other do not or cannot do. The level of commoditization not withstanding there is always a difference between you and the next person.that difference is what makes you unique.Its your sole responsibility to ensure that this difference is of benefit and adds value to your organization. for instance, it does not matter how well you can piano if you work for an investment of financial company. your skill will be disparaged. Your ability to interprete, analyze or forecast issues in the world of finance or business would be of more value to your employer.

I read the story of a young chap who made it his business to know all the local nightlife and great spot in town than his colleagues. initially it seemed irrelevant but when the firm began to have clients from out of town who needed to stay over, guess who became most wanted? the young chap! not only was he needed to take them out and entertain them, he was also a part of the winning and dinning in the company of High Net worth Individuals and his bosses. it was not long before this young chap became one of them.

Take note that whatever skill you decide to develop and display, make sure it is;

Relevant

Topical

Interesting

That way , knowing or having what other do not can take you from being a mere employee to being a consultant!

2. SHOW COMMITMENT/ STAY COMMITTED

To be committed to your workplace means for you there is no time off, no down time, no lounging around time, no slip ups, no mistakes, no coasting. you level of commitment to the job says a lot about you. it requires you to put in those extras which others might not. staying committed or showing commitment is easy when the going is good; but requires a lot of personal effort even when you don't feel like it. your desire to stay relevant or advance your career ambitions ought to be the fuel that drives you. in the absence of a goal or something to look forward to commitment becomes a task.

the reason I added "show commitment " is that if not seen or observed commitment cannot be evaluated. It requires that you come early to work, avoid slacks, maximize idle time and down time; do everything to show that the most important thing on your mind is getting the job done excellently. once you are perceived as a committed streak, you are entrusted with more responsibilities, loafers cease to hang around you for obvious reasons and you automatically move up the scale of relevance.

"Never question the relevance of truth, but always question the truth of relevance."

"Relevance is a search engine's holy grail. People want results that are closely connected to their queries."

"Learning is about more than simply acquiring new knowledge and insights; it is also crucial to unlearn old knowledge that has outlived its relevance. Thus, forgetting is probably at least as important as learning."

"THINGS THAT MATTER MOST MUST NEVER BE AT THE MERCY OF THINGS THAT MATTER LAST."