Don’t get crushed by your increasing workload

(4) Take a step back and focus on your team

Even if you were to become the master of time management, it would be useless if your staff don’t know how to keep up. So the first step is to identify the unique contribution your team makes to the firm.

This was according to Liane Davey, vice president of team solutions at Knightsbridge Human Capital, who said: “Begin by asking, ‘What does the company expect from my team that no else can accomplish?’ Don’t answer this alone in your office. Involve your team. Once you all agree on your team’s purpose, it becomes the guiding principle for how everyone should spend their time and the litmus test for what work team members should take on and what they should let go.”

(5) There’s far more to team motivation than company vision

We’ll name this step two – following on from the fourth point on this list. After you’ve identified your staff’s unique purpose and what they’re good at, it’s your responsibility to develop an action plan that allows everyone to be more productive. “This will enable you to insulate teams from low-priority work that may trickle down from senior management,” Davey said.

(6) OK, fine, the business sprint could do the trick – but not on a long-term basis

The Whites had one more piece of advice to offer: “You’ll need to use the tips above to find a sustainable pace. However, you may be able to sprint for a short period of time (say a few months) working at an unsustainable pace to get your business over the hump. This can be successful, if it allows your business to generate enough revenue so that you can take on employees. Then you can delegate work to others and throttle back to a sustainable pace.”

By Shané Schutte

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