Following up my blog earlier this week, there is no better time for a few quick tips on personal effectiveness.
With no further ado, here are 12 top tips from the team at Shiageto on how to improve your own effectiveness (remember you need to work on these but over time, as they become habit, you'll be amazed at the impact they have - it's also ok to adopt none or just one!):
Work smarter - we all know that there are ways we can work smarter (i.e. getting more from what we put in); be it standing on the shoulders of giants, achieving multiple wins from the same effort, taking a good is good enough approach, etc. (read our blog to get some more ideas)
Just do it - yep, a phrase kindly borrowed from a large sportswear but it really does encapsulate that often the most effective thing when you have a definite task is just to get the ball rolling on it (read more about this here)
Challenge your assumptions - the number one thing holding you back from being effective is often yourself. Adopt a what if mentality and dampen down the passivity and great things can happen (read more about this here)
Think Big - we truly are only limited by our own imagination. Be it when coming up with new ideas or setting yourself a goal, you can never be too stretching
Flex your style - we all too often just operate in one way without really thinking what does this situation/person really need. Having more styles up our sleeve, being skilled at them and using them more often is the ultimate goal (read more about this here)
Listen more - do you talk more than you listen? There's an old saying that we have 2 ears and only one mouth so we should spend twice the time listening than we do talking. By listening more, we can learn more about new things and about others which can lay the groundwork for flexing your style more
Be structured - even for people like me that aren't great planners, using greater structure can be a blessing. Be it by planning more upfront, doing the nth degree of preparation or simply using a to do list, these will all bring more effectiveness. Try to eliminate doing things off the cuff or under pressure and that's half the battle
Summarise more - when you summarise things, it helps your brain absorb them better and really validates that you have understood them. Think of the difference of the notes you took back at school that are just verbatim from what the professor said compared to those that you have synthesised into your own words. This also works when interacting with others; it's proven that people connect better with others that can play back their own thoughts to them
Try more often - this applies to not backing down when you face a few hurdles in life but also the fact that by trying new things more often you will grow and become more effective (read all about adopting a growth mindset for more on this)
Tell more stories - people really do respond to stories; it is such a powerful communication tool that if you're not already using them then have a word with yourself (read more here)
Know yourself better - life is all about adapting to change and responding to events, the greater your self awareness, the better you will be prepared for this. Investing time (and being honest) about what makes you tick and how you are likely to act when faced with good or bad events will make you so much more effective when the time comes
Get comfortable with no - this applies two ways: i) saying no to others, such a difficult skill but ultimately can reduce workloads and increase strength of relationships (here are some tips on how to do it) and ii) saying no to yourself, being able to exhibit greater self control (the single biggest determinant of success) is immensely liberating and amazing how it can make you more effective
That's it! None of the above are necessarily easy to adopt overnight and I must admit, I'm a work in progress on many of these, but what a great list to take into the year ahead :)