10 methods to make work efficient and simple

Reading: Have you ever been chased by your work since you are busy? However, you may not be busy because you have too many jobs, but because you have no focus and unclear objectives, which makes your work more complicated and time-consuming. There are only 1440 minutes in a day. In a complex and accelerated workplace environment, we must complete more and more tasks in less and less time.

 

In today's increasingly complex and compact work, "Simplicity" is the best response principle. "Simplicity" comes from clear goals and directions. You know what you should do and what you should not do. This is what Bill Johnson, a career consultant, recommends to all practitioners.

 

Johnson, based on years of research, found that the most important reason for modern people to become complex and inefficient is "lack of focus ". Because it is unclear about the goal, it is always a waste of time to repeat the same thing or unnecessary things. The key information is omitted, but too much time is wasted on the unimportant information; if you cannot grasp the key points, you must repeatedly communicate the same thing.

 

The following are the 10 most practical and simple ways to work in Johnson's new book:

 

1. Clarify the goals and requirements of the work to avoid repeated operations and reduce the chance of errors

 

The questions you must clarify include: What changes must be made in my current job? Could you advise me where to start? What should I pay attention to and avoid affecting the achievement of the goal? What tools and resources are available?

 

2. Know how to reject others and prevent extra requests from disturbing your work progress

 

For many people, it seems difficult to reject others' requests. Rejected skills are very important workplace communication skills.

 

When deciding whether you should accept the requirements of the other party, you should first ask yourself: "What do I want to do? Or do not want to do anything? What is best for me ?" Do you have to consider whether your request will affect the progress of your work and the delay that affects others? If you agree, can you really achieve what the other party requires?

 

3. proactively remind the boss to set priorities, which can greatly reduce the workload.

 

"I can't finish all the work at hand, but I have to waste a bunch of work on it. It makes no sense ." But is it possible that the problem lies with you? Do you properly reflect the real situation? If you don't mention it, the boss will think you have time to do so many things. Besides, he may not have remembered that he had already given you too much work. The boss needs to be reminded.

 

Of course, you cannot complete so many jobs at the same time. Why don't you take the initiative to help your boss prioritize jobs? You do not do it, But everything comes first. Note: during the discussion, you must always stand in the supervisor's position and be considerate of the pressure he is facing. What you should do is to assist the supervisor in solving the problem, rather than pushing the problem to the supervisor. Of course, you should not bear the problem yourself.

 

4. You must have your own opinions in the report. You only need a small amount of information to make the boss satisfied.

 

When most people report to the supervisor or the boss, they always worry that there is not enough information. "What should I do if the boss cannot answer the question ?" According to a study conducted by psychologist John weaver of the Business psychology consultancy, 10% to 15% of people are afraid of the boss, in addition, if there is not enough data to report to the boss, more people will feel fear.

 

In fact, such concerns are redundant. Too much information will become irrelevant. If there is no explanation, it will not help the boss at all. "Content is streamlined and key points are to be cut. The most important thing is to help me make decisions quickly ." This is the general conclusion Johnson drew when asked by many senior directors about the content of the briefing.

 

What you need to do is to use important information or data to make explanations. You must have your own opinions rather than ambiguous descriptions. When reporting to the boss, you must be able to accurately control the time.

 

5. Increased interaction opportunities during briefing, which can shorten the content and report time of the briefing.

 

A successful briefing is to clearly and correctly convey information, create opportunities for communication and dialogue, and let the other party change their thinking, decisions, or actions because of your briefing content. Therefore, the focus is not on briefing, but on the quality of communication. Instead of "reporting", You need to initiate a two-way conversation and try to influence the other party.

 

Before making any briefing, you must consider the following three principles: What do you want your audience to remember after hearing the briefing? What will the audience feel? What kind of decisions do you want them to make after hearing the briefing?

 

The next step is the actual production problem. The best way to start is to turn the focus of the audience into problems. This will not only immediately attract the audience's attention, but also greatly reduce your workload. The briefing process should not be where you are talking, asking questions, or giving you a chance to interact with the audience. In this way, you only need to prepare 30 minutes of briefing content for the 50-minute agenda, and the rest of the time should be interaction with the audience.

 

6. effectively filter emails so that you can focus on the most important information.

 

The first step in the correct filtering process is to first look at the subject and sender of the letter. If it does not make you feel that today is not a reason, you can delete it directly. In this way, at least 50% of emails can be deleted. Step 2: quickly browse the contents of each other letter, unless the content of the letter is about the work you must do in the near future (for example, within two weeks), or you can delete it directly. In this way, you can delete another 25% emails.

 

7. Simplify the email content as much as possible, save the writing time and increase the recipient's response opportunities

 

"The emails that are the easiest to read, understand, and reply to attract my attention ." This is Johnson's answer to a senior supervisor's habits of email when implementing a "simple pursuit" research program.

 

You must use the least space and text to transmit the most important information, and it must be easier to read and save time on the other side. What should we do? You must:

1. Restrict the content of each email to about 8 to 12 sentences.

2. If there are more than 20 words, a new line should be entered.

3. If there are more than three rows, empty rows are required.

8. When there is no possibility of communication, do not waste time trying to change

 

No matter what kind of ideas or opinions you put forward, every time you leave the door closed. If such a supervisor does not have the possibility of communication at all, you do not have to waste time or effort to do unnecessary communication or try to change. At this time, you must make a choice: Whether you can accept such a work environment, whether to do things only according to the supervisor's opinion, or whether you prefer to have your own space. This is a matter of choice, and it has nothing to do with the good and the bad.

9. As long as you gain trust, you can win the resources you need without repeated communication.

 

The boss's trust in you comes from your ability to solve problems. So you must think from different perspectives: What is the biggest headache for your boss? Cannot be completed according to the original plan, or cannot control the situation, and you are not sure about the future? Do you want employees to do more to reduce costs? When fighting for a budget, you must first understand the problems that the boss may worry about. This is the most effective reason to persuade the boss.

 

In addition, do not only emphasize the needs of your organization or department. The goal of your budget is to help the boss solve the problem and achieve the goal. Therefore, your focus is on the boss's concerns, rather than budget figures.

 

When you make a request for the first time, the most important thing is to let the boss know about your proposal. The shorter the meeting time, the better. It is best not to spend more than 15 minutes. Do not directly request the amount of budget required during the first proposal, so that there is usually no high success rate. Your goal should be to have a second chance of discussion. If the boss is willing to discuss the budget again, the chances of success are generally as high.

 

10. Focusing on the work itself, rather than the performance evaluation, can truly achieve good performance

 

You only need to do the following two things:

 

1. At least ask your supervisor every month: "How do I do it ?" Ask specific questions as much as possible, for example, "Does the boss have any comments on my schedule ?" "I think the meeting process is very smooth. Do you think there is anything else to Improve ?"

 

You should communicate with your supervisor about your performance at any time, instead of evaluating your performance once a year. In this way, you can know in advance where your shortcomings are and make corrections in a timely manner, you can also understand the supervisor's expectations.

 

2. At least ask every month: "Is there any need to adjust the original work schedule ?" Maybe your goal was set at the beginning of the year, or even at the end of the year before. However, the external environment has changed and the previously set goal is bound to be adjusted, therefore, the highest priority should be determined at any time.