What’s your front bumper?
A single slogan directs your attention to what’s important.
My accounting director is a bright, talented, and enthusiastic colleague. She loves her job, numbers, and the story numbers tell. She loves the numbers so much that she loses sight of the results she needs to produce. She spends hours fine tuning the general ledger, journal entries, and projections, and is late turning in the financial data I need to make decisions.
Employees have several distractions: meetings, social media, phones, email. When under pressure they choose the tasks they like the most or feel confident doing. Their choice may not be the tasks that are most important and they spend time inefficiently.
To help my employee stay focused and prioritize, I developed a front bumper for her: Accurate, Timely, Financial Data. Every time she got distracted I asked, “What’s your front bumper?” She answered, “Accurate, timely, financial data.” I reminded her that 80% is good enough and that I need the data. Done is better than perfect.
Develop a front bumper for each team member. It helps them to stay focused and prioritize tasks, especially when shiny objects appear.
Develop your front bumper and share it with your colleagues.
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