Prioritize for Growth

( C ontinued from page 5 8 ) below. Otherwise when you say you want to see eight percent growth, everyone else in your organization may think you're crazy. You will have no hope for achieving it if you've never done it before. So be reasonable, and don't determine your priorities without leaving the comfort of your penthouse office.

Z.nespecific rather than general

To maintain focus on the top priorities. you must make sure everyone in the organization can relate to them. In other words, they must be more specific than general. For example, simply saying that we need to increase our customer satisfaction rating won't get all two thousand of your employees focused on a goal. But saying that you want to boost your customer satisfaction rate by five percent within three months will.

Also, don't strive for too many goals at one time. Limit your list to three to five priorities so everyone in your organization knows what is most important.

$. Priorities & budget are different

People often confuse budget setting with priority setting. However, the concepts should remain separate. When you tie your priorities to the budget, people start marrying them. Then you end up with people worried about numbers and not thinking about what they're doing and how their actions impact the organization. So keep in mind, setting priorities is not about budgeting; setting priorities is planning your actions from a strategic standpoint.

Also, keep your language simple so everyone can understand it. For example, "get 20 new clients" is easier understood than "sustain customer growth and ensure a lUvo growth."

When your language is simple, no one will doubt what you mean.

{. Open communication lines

The communication lines must work both ways. For example, the senior managers communicate their priorities and the overall progress to the people under them, who relay that information to the people under them, all the way through the organization. And conversely, the people at the lowest levels communicate their perceptions and challenges to their managers, who take that information to their supervisors. Communication must cascade all the way down and all the way up.

$. fnow your strengths, weaknesses

When you determine your organization's priorities and the actions that will support them, take time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Consider any challenges you may have. Where will you experience resistance? What will be easy?

Look at who can help you overcome your weaknesses. Many times, you'll need support from outside your organization, perhaps alliances or friends in other organizations. And again, you must communicate these challenges throughout the company. But really focus on the essence of what is important.

O. no tasks that support priorities

Once you know your highest priorities, then you need to determine the tasks that will make them happen. For example. if your priority is to grow at a rate of eight percent this year, what actions will get you to that goal? Perhaps contacting more customers or improving customer service satisfaction rates are objectives that will help your organization grow by 87o. When everything you do focuses on those objectives that support that 87o growth, then all your actions will be geared toward achieving your highest priority. And if your action doesn't support the highest priorities, then you probably shouldn't be doing it.

/ Ev aluate potential opportunities

Focusing on your highest priorities will require some amount of evaluation. For example, if your goal is to get l0 new clients, then you may need to evaluate 40 or 50 possible clients to get the 10 you need. So when you look at each opportunity, you need to consider your probability of getting that client. Do you know the client? Do they know you? Do you know specifically what their needs are? Do you have the talent to solve their problems?

If you look at each prospect, consider the probability of making him/her a client, and find the probability is high, then everything you do to get that client becomes worth it. But

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