But what if keeping our eye on all those balls is limiting our potential?

A friend of mine was talking to me about her business. She’s so busy she can’t see straight as she’s heads-down creating marketing messaging and content for a number of clients. She’s working every day and she’s exhausted.

Her goal is to do the brain work for clients, to share her expertise and knowledge by training folks to do for themselves. But somehow the Gravity of “Focus on customer success” has grabbed her and sucked her down into the doing vs the teaching. She’s doing tactical, execution work for folks who can’t do it themselves, writing emails, designing campaigns.  All work that is necessary but a fairly big waste of her skills and expertise. She’s taking on all that tactical work because she is, indeed, keeping her eye on the ball.  She is solving her clients’ problems.She’s also sacrificing her own growth opportunities, focusing on all those balls.

We’ve all been there. I spent years slowly getting sucked down by the Gravity of my consulting business working with turnarounds.  My focus was to, well, turn them around. Whatever it took.  By the end of ten years I was so deep into the tactical (as well as the strategic) I was spending 100 – 125 hours a week working for my clients, focused on their success and grabbing every ball that needed grabbing to make them successful.  I was catching and lobbing balls into the air with the best of them. Even as my clients stood back and let me drive the changes in their business.

I was focused on the right goal – but catching too many balls on my own.

It’s easy to have it happen to any of us. We see something that can help us move toward a goal and we latch onto doing it. Even if doing that thing isn’t the best use of our skills or time. It means we’re busy, we’re focused and we’re making progress, right? Wrong.

Picking the right ball, continually examining and realigning that focus is the key to growth.

Being busy, grabbing ALL the balls and doing, doing, doing isn’t necessarily the path to growth or success.

Sometimes we get thrown curve balls, or easy lobs, or sliders. It’s best to let them all pass and focus on what really matters; working smart and focusing our energy on the best opportunity, not just the balls that are easy to catch or flying right by us!

Successful companies focus on a goal, and then align all their actions to meet that goal. Successful professionals do the same.

The reality is that you need to keep your business model and processes within the boundaries of OSHA law to prevent lawsuits, and regulatory fines. Nevertheless, let me explain to you one case study and example, something in my own company prior to retirement which always bothered me. We used pressure washers and steam cleaners to clean fleets of vehicles under contract.We would wash Rent-A-Cars, company fleets, school buses, post office jeeps, patrol cars, car sales lots, and trucks for trucking companies. When you use a pressure washer over 2500 PSI you are supposed to use a long wand with a 15-degree or greater tip on the end. This allows the water to spray out in a fan so you don’t cut your finger off. That makes sense right? Sure it does.

However, we found that often times school bus yards had school buses parked way to close together. In doing this you could not clean them with a long wand and maneuver between the buses. And if you tried often the wand would catch on this side of the bus, and it would jab the gun into your body. Not good. Especially when it was cold out with ice, or when there was diesel fuel that had leaked on the ground.

That is an accident waiting to happen. Therefore, it made sense to move the buses out to an area where they could be cleaned. Of course trying to get in between buses, and open the door of the engine compartment to start them up, and bleed the system, could have the door coming back and sandwiching your head, while you were on slippery ground. We chose the lesser of two evils and shortened the gun wand length for safety. By doing this we never had another accident. I believe this is a good case study in risk management. Even if we technically violated OSHA rules, safety first I say. Think on it.

Delving deeper into the specifics of these successful projects, I uncovered a similar pattern. Yes, the individual’s technical skills and the process they followed were important. However, some of the projects didn’t follow a defined process but were still successful. Some of the projects didn’t use the latest and greatest technology and were still successful. What these projects had in common with those that did was the relationship the technologists had with the business (user) community.Asking the head of the business area why they considered specific technology projects successful, their answers varied. Many projects satisfied their needs…many did not. The ones they believe were the most successful were when they could mention a specific person (manager, technologist, analyst, PC Support, or quality control) that made it that much more responsible for the success. They didn’t mention the technology. They didn’t mention the process they followed. All of them mentioned that it was more than just having their needs met…that it was the relationship they had with the technologist that made the project a true success.

Think about this in terms of YOU. Why do you have the job you have? Who really puts the food on your table? It’s the company’s clients and customers. The business person (marketing, sales, executive management) may be your interface but you have a job because they need you to give them what they want. They are the reason why you are fed regularly.

If business had its way, it would pick a team of technologists that had the best relationship with them. They know the project may be late, over budget, and some of their requirements may not even be met. Again and again, they would select the individual they find easiest to work with, the one who listens and understands them. What type of relationship do you have with the non-technical community? Meeting the business needs is only satisfaction. Having them request you over and over again… that’s loyalty.

Think about this in terms of YOU. Having a loyal relationship with the business community gives you first priority to work on the top projects. It gives you priority to learn the skills you need. It builds systems that they will remember you by. It provides a future reference. Surprisingly, it may even provide a lifelong relationship.

Your technical skills and process are important. It just shouldn’t be the first two in the list of what skills you need. Building great systems that meet or exceed business expectations requires relationship building. Relationship building provides more avenues for technologists to play with the latest and greatest technologies and less likely you will get laid-off. Yet, this is the one area that is often ignored, avoided, and least trained.

Think about this in terms of YOU. How may classes have you attended on building business relationships? How many articles or books have you read on the topic? The answer to both questions is either none or not enough. Now, how many classes have you attended on technology or process? Do you see your gap? Shouldn’t you change your focus a bit?

Now for some tough questions. Answer them on a scale of 1 to 5 (five being a loyal relationship):

* How quickly does business return your call or email?

* How often are you requested to work on the next juicy project for them?

* How long does the key business person stay involved with the project?

* Are you caught off guard with “scope creep”?

* Does the business community dread a meeting with you?

I dare you to actually ask 5 business people the following 4 questions (of course, that is if they even take your call):

* Why was the project I was on successful?

* Did you enjoy working with me on the project?

* Would you select me to work on your next project?

* How involved will you be in the project?

Your technological skill set and the process you follow is not what is keeping you fed. It’s how you exceed meeting the needs of the business. Exceeding goes beyond satisfaction, it creates a loyal partnership. CIOs and business systems manager will always select a person the business requests. Said in a technical way, technology skills and process are commodity items. Relationship building is what separates you from the pack. Building the relationship starts with YOU!

There are “rules of engagement” which illustrates sincerity and respect. Once understood and put in practice, the sincerity and respect will go both ways. It only works if you believe that the Relationship is important in the long run. It only works if you believe that relationships are more important than your technical skills and process. No matter what technical position you hold, business relationship building skills must be your top priority (Rule of Engagement #1).

Beware! Relationship building does not happen overnight. It will take up to a year to form a permanent bridge. The rewards are endless. These skills will help you build better systems and build a better relationship with business personnel (as well as other technologists, family and friends) for a lifetime. It will become part of your brand and lead you towards continual success.

Over the next week, identify specific business individuals you want to have a better relationship with by year end.

If a business entrepreneur cannot identify a need in their audience, the next best thing is to find an idea that taps into a passion – a want. When people are passionate about a subject, their rational mind is relegated to the back seat and their heart takes over. Often, wanting something defies logic. All luxury goods in the world defy any rational reason for their existence, but companies make millions from selling them.Combining a needed product with desired qualities is a sure-fire way to make money. Everyone in the developed world wears shoes, therefore you’d class them as necessities, but it is the fashion industry that has turned shoes into must-have items.

Thus you have this third hybrid group of products:the must-haves. Not simply needed, not only desired. Must-have products are a marketing dream, and this should be the pinnacle for any business entrepreneur.

The must-have entrepreneurial idea

So where exactly would you look for the next big must-have? One area that is arousing increasing interest and is set to continue in that trend is the whole eco-friendly and sustainability business. As the earth’s natural resources are plundered to death and we all belatedly wake up to the realization that we need to reverse the damage we have done to the planet, ideas and products designed towards this end are becoming ever more popular. These might not create the products we usually think of when we imagine a must-have item – which in truth are usually quite dispensable luxury goods – but as we are forced to readjust our priorities, eco-friendly products and services may well come to define the ultimate in must-have, and business entrepreneurs who can tap into this vein will, and already do, make serious profits.

Another evergreen area for entrepreneurial business ideas is the personal health and fitness industry. Anyone reading about the shocking and worsening obesity statistics in the developed world might think that people no longer care about their health and well-being, but the inevitable by-product of this is a massive backlash in the form of a parallel quest for increased fitness in the non-obese, and a desire to shed the weight in those who are obese.

The bottom line is to find something that a person can feel truly passionate about. Both the longevity of the planet and our own personal longevity are ideal candidates for the genesis of some great entrepreneurial ideas.

You can’t have it both ways
If any of the meetings you attend are unproductive; what are you doing about it? Are you contributing to the late starts, lack of focused agendas or digressions that make the meeting run over? A little self-discipline and efficient time management can transform the effectiveness of meetings, improve decision making and develop powerful teamwork. But it is all about keeping the fundamental principles in mind.

There is a popular and often misquoted piece of research from the 1950s by George Miller that the maximum number of items a person can hold in their mind at once is seven. More recent findings show that actually we can only hold about 4 items or concepts in our mind at any one time. It reduces rapidly to only one if things get more complex, if we are tired or if we are over or under-stressed in any way. For example, you may find it easy to keep 4 numbers in your mind, but can you recall the four sentences in this paragraph without rereading? No wonder meetings often seem so chaotic and full of misunderstandings – no one can really understand what is going on!

Keeping you on track
There is a bewildering amount of information out there about how to run a meeting but I like to keep things very simple – the way your brain likes it! So here are the four fundamental principles of effective meetings to keep you on track.

1. Why? – Are the purpose and outcomes clear?
2. What? – Is there a clear Agenda with specific times allocated for each item?
3. Who? – Who really needs to be there? What contribution will they be expected to make?
4. When? – Is the timing appropriate? For attendees and availability of information: i.e. time of Day, Week, Month, Year?

Keeping the above in mind when planning for a meeting or considering them when you are invited to a meeting may help you decide if it will be a productive use of your precious time, or not. Can the outcome be achieved without holding a meeting? Will a phone call or brief one-to-one chat suffice?

A little more detail
Keeping to the theme of simplicity, let’s look at each of the four principles in a little more detail.

1. Why? – Are the purpose and outcomes clear?
Regularly reviewing the purpose and effectiveness of meetings is a healthy activity. Things change and evolve so the original purpose of the meeting may no longer be relevant; this is especially true in Small and Medium businesses.

2. What? – Is there a clear Agenda with specific times allocated for each item?
There are really only four key purposes for a meeting and it can be helpful to identify each item on the agenda with one of the following:

* (I) For Information
* (Di) For Discussion
* (Dc) Requires Decision
* (A) Requires Action

Some other tips for the agenda include:

* Keep it short and have stated objectives including the coding above: know what you want to accomplish.
* Put the difficult or contentious issues first. Otherwise time runs out and they get conveniently avoided or put off.
* Use a logical order of items. Check if any items require other items to be completed first.
* Give a specific amount of time to each agenda item. This is one of the most critical skills of the chair.
* Avoid allowing too many items under Any Other Business (AOB). If possible, avoid AOB altogether, if it is not on the Agenda it needs a separate discussion.

Consider what sort of record or ‘minutes’ you need from the meeting. Most meetings only require the agenda, who attended and the key action points agreed. There should also be a strict rule about when the minutes will be distributed, ideally within 24 hours of the meeting.

3. Who? – Who really needs to be there? What contribution will they be expected to make?
If you find that there are people in the meeting who are not contributing, it is important to ask why they are there. Are all people attending required to contribute? If not why not? Perhaps they only need to be there for part of the meeting.

It can be very useful to have a revolving Chair and Scribe. This means that at each meeting there is a different member of the team taking the minutes / action points and they become the chair for the next meeting. This is a great way to empower team members and give them an understanding of the challenges of running an effective meeting. It also has the added value of them respecting the Chair and Scribe roles and being a better participant.

You can also consider the costs of everyone attending, including the ‘lost opportunity’ costs. It uses a simple calculator to estimate salaries of everyone in the room and provides a running cost of the meeting as the seconds tick by.

4. When? – Is the timing appropriate: for attendees and availability of information: i.e. time of Day, Week, Month, Year?
Businesses usually have a particular rhythm including management accounts, sales and marketing activity and production / service cycles. It is good to plan the meeting on a regular basis so it becomes a deadline for the collection of relevant data, reports and actions. Most of my clients use a monthly senior management meeting to review the Key Indicators of Performance and the Actions to address specific issues. This is where they hold each other to account and identify allocation of resources to specific problems. Many also have a longer quarterly or 6-montly off-site meeting to look at specific issues in more detail and take some time to work ‘on’ the business rather than ‘in’ the business.

Continuous improvement
Making a number of minor improvements is easier and less disruptive than implementing major changes so why not review and evaluate your own meetings with our simple ‘Meeting Evaluation Form’. You can distribute it to attendees and ask them to complete it at the end of the meeting to get some instant feedback. Then simply choose one area to tweak at the next meeting and measure the impact with the same form. This is particularly useful feedback for the Chair when you implement the ‘Revolving Chair’ idea mentioned above.