Ask Coach: How Can IT Solutions Providers make Quadrant II Time More Effective
By Rich Anderson, executive coach with HTG Peer Groups
Q: What Should Solutions Providers Do During Quadrant II Time To Make IT More Effective?
A: Time for a bit of wisdom from Nebraska. Vietnam veteran, retired U.S. Senator from Nebraska, and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel once said that America would be better off if more of her leaders would spend more time looking out the window thinking. Warren Buffet, Omaha’s favorite son and the world’s most successful investor, has said the most important meeting he has every week is the meeting he has with himself. Strategic leaders spend time alone … thinking. That is wisdom.
Your question refers to Quadrant II.For those of you not familiar with Steven Covey’s time management matrix and its four quadrants, I will refer you to a recent BSM article written by my colleague, Laurie Sorensen. In her article, Laurie notes that “Quadrant II contains tasks that are not urgent but are important. These are the things that require us to be intentional in taking time to pursue them. Things like planning, relationship building, and even exercise fall in this quadrant. This is the time we spend focusing on opportunities, on strategic thinking, on our values.”
I like to summarize the focus of Quadrant II as dedicated, regularly scheduled time when you intentionally engage in planning, preparation, prevention and re-creation across the important roles in your life.Depending on what you sense the focus of your Quadrant II time ought to be, the following may provide some help as you strive to make it more effective:
Your Place. Come apart from others. Be alone. Be uninterrupted.
Your Mind. Pick a time when you are fresh and alert. Rest. Be still. Quiet your racing mind.
Your Higher Purpose. Reflect on your personal vision and mission statement. Those determine what is important. Those set your priorities. Be brutally honest with yourself. Are your strategies, action steps and tasks aligned with your highest priorities?
Your Important Roles. Identify the roles in life in which you want to succeed: spouse … parent … child … friend … owner … boss … supervisor … mentor …. Focusing on the important should not be limited to your vocational roles.
Your Goals. What are your long term goals for each of those roles? Long term goals are achieved by short term goals. What should you accomplish this week? What is your next step?
Your Time. Have you scheduled time on your calendar this week to work on and achieve your priorities and goals? If you want to do more of what is important to you and avoid trivial insignificant things, you must calendar time.
Your Tasks. What is your highest and best use? What should you not be doing? If certain tasks need to be done, but you ought not do it, to whom can you delegate it? When will you do it?
Your Leadership Team. Who are they? What do they need? How do you provide that? When will you? Book it on your calendar.
Your Legacy. What impact do you want to leave behind? What needs to be in place for that to happen? Who do you need to invest time in?
Your Accountability Tool. Just as your company needs a scorecard for factual reporting of progress, so do you. You should have a tool which simply sets forth your priorities, roles, goals, ties into your calendar, and allows you to adjust when needed.
Your Risk Factors. You have risk factors that will keep you from achieving your goals. They may be pleasing people, lack of discipline, fear of failure, unbalanced focus, saying yes too often or a host of other risks. Which ones do you need to be mindful of and manage against? Perhaps it would be good for you to stand in front of a mirror and practice politely saying, “I am honored you have asked me, but no, I won’t be able to …”
Your Accountability Team. Who are your accountability partners? Mentors? Friends? Protégés? Sharing your plans with these people and asking for their accountability will move you a long way toward an effective Quadrant II time and help you achieve your important priorities.
Rich Anderson is an executive coach with HTG Peer Groups where he is most energized by helping people around their priorities. He also presents leadership workshops and seminars including team personality and judgment assessments and training. Prior to his affiliation with HTG, Rich was a private practice attorney where his practice included advising small business owners from startup through succession, estate planning, and conflict resolution. Rich also served four terms in the Iowa Legislature. You can reach him at randerson@htgpeerpgroups.com.