Renée Johnson

In my experience, it’s easy to delegate the most difficult or important tasks to the star players on each team, but doing so can cause burnout and neglect growth for other team members. Knowing your team well in terms of skill and developmental goals will help provide balance and motivation. In one recent role, I noticed another individual was the only one submitting reports for a team. When I asked why, the lead told me they were really good at it. But I knew the person was getting bogged down with this extra duty. My suggestion was to have the expert create a report template for the team and then rotate the task to other team members, giving each a turn.

I still use a method I learned from a Franklin Planner seminar nearly 30 years ago, combined with a couple of other productivity strategies. I keep track of tasks using both a shared digital planner tool and a personal handwritten planner. On my written list, I label tasks I must complete that day with the letter "A." Tasks that I'd like to complete that day are labeled "B," and those that will only be completed if all the "A" and "B" tasks are done are marked "C." Next, I number the lettered tasks according to their priority (A1, A2, B1, B2...). Then, I apply Brian Tracy's "Eat That Frog" method to tackle the least appealing task first—getting it out of the way. I also save low-cognitive-load tasks for my late afternoon energy slump.

It is not enough to simply provide the tools for modern communication and collaboration, it’s imperative to teach people to use them to their full potential. In my experience, most users never move past a tool’s basic functions. One approach I like to take is to incorporate play into learning a new tool. That might look like taking five minutes into a meeting to challenge users to explore a feature they’ve never used before. It might also be demonstrated by asking power users to showcase a favorite setting or component. Most importantly, encourage users to take the time to explore the tool to see how it can adapt to fit their particular needs.

The 20th century way of collaborating was for everyone to be in the same place at the same time. 21st century tools have enhanced collaboration far beyond that model. Like many things, however, not all tools work for every situation or person. When I join or lead a new team, one of the first things I do is establish how and where we communicate and exchange information. It’s important to establish boundaries and limitations people have in order to set expectations early on. This helps team members meet each where they are in order to adapt and foster connections. In many cases, I have found asynchronous collaboration to outperform synchronous sessions, but the most successful is a hybrid approach.

Advanced preparation is absolutely critical. Since I often conduct sessions in unknown environments, I provide a meticulous list of all the peripherals and extremely specific needs down to how I will connect and control my laptop and a/v controls. My checklist is so detailed that I ask for photos and diagrams of all the elements I will need so there are no surprises. I've learned to require these extra steps because it seems many organizations don’t already have a comprehensive accounting of what their meeting rooms have and don’t have. Next, as I itemize each material item, I plan for at least two levels of backup alternatives because it's not a matter of if something will go wrong but when and how I will adapt and overcome.

As a frequent contract facilitator, it never fails to surprise me that many of my participants have no idea why they were signed up for the session and what they are supposed to learn. It's true! Many leaders sign their employees up for training without offering any further details. As such, I had to adapt these sessions to calibrate myself to my audience, but also to guide my audience through their expectations of the session. One approach I often take is beginning with the end in mind. What does success look like for me and for them? This is one of many crucial elements that helps foster implementation of the goals we set out to achieve.