What if…your strategy consultant had a process for a 30 hour working week? (Part 2)
- Are you among the CEOs and business owners who spend too long in the business achieving too little?
- Do you focus on what you want to do instead of what you need to do?
In part 1 of this post on achieving a 30 hour working week, I asked you as an expert in performance coaching:
- How you spend your time in the business?
- Whether only you can do the things you do?
- If what you do is focused on the future of the business?
Achieving a 30 hour week requires you to re-visit how you run your business to ensure you work ON and not IN it. Start by identifying the EIGHT key tasks that only you can do – and which are critical to the survival of the company.
- Review business performance against the plan and decide the most appropriate options/ actions in light of the challenges and constraints
- Take on the role of executive coach. Conduct 1-2-1s with your key executives to coach and develop them to make better choices and decisions. Keep them focused on the strategic goals
- Walk the four corners of the business, see what’s going on and what requires reviewing in the 1-2-1s
- Regularly visit customers and listen to their thoughts and future plans
- Find out what suppliers are working on and what is happening in their markets
- Communicate with all your stakeholders (inside and outside the business) to ensure everyone knows what is happening and why
- Develop yourself by joining a peer group learning forum such as Vistage
- Research future possibilities and attend conferences, exhibitions and events.
What about the management meetings you ask? Yes, they are necessary for the management team to resolve their operational issues on a daily/ weekly basis – but what is covered in them that you cannot deal with in the weekly 1-2-1s? Are they really a good use of your time?
So how does the 30 hour week break down?
| Key Tasks | Hours |
| Business performance and strategy review | 1 |
| Coaching and development 1-2-1s with top executives | 6 |
| Walking the 4 Corners of the business | 3 |
| Visits to customers | 4 |
| Talking to / visiting suppliers | 4 |
| Communicating with all the stakeholders | 4 |
| Self Development – Vistage membership | 4 |
| New opportunity and idea research – attending conferences etc | 4 |
The next stage is to develop a diary plan and a discipline to focus on these eight key activities. As with all new projects give it 90 days and then tell me what you have discovered and how you use those extra days you have in the week. You can also find me on LinkedIn under Richard Bosworth and on Twitter @Richardwhatif
