Managing Your Productivity in a New Demanding Executive Role was originally published on Ivy Exec.
Landing an executive role is a dream come true for many people, but it comes with greater responsibilities, which can be demanding. If you don’t plan your work, you might become less productive and deliver below expectations. Poor performance and failure to meet deadlines will then hurt your chances of moving up the career ladder.
Having an executive role doesn’t mean you’ll always be busy or carry work home and lack time to connect with your loved ones. You can manage your workload and enjoy your new position with the right strategies.
Here are some tips to manage your productivity.
📈 Delegate Some Tasks
Assigning tasks to juniors who were your peers before you got a promotion may feel weird. But you can still maintain a good relationship if you are respectful and authoritative.
List your tasks and identify those that need your expertise so you can focus on them. You may then delegate the rest of the responsibilities to your juniors. Ensure you pick colleagues with the right skills for each task so you don’t compromise on the quality of your work.
Delegating will improve your productivity by taking some work off your plate. It allows you to benefit from the expertise of other employees, and you can mentor them in the process. You also interact with your juniors, which empowers them and strengthens your leadership.
📈 Improve Your Skills
If you don’t have all the skills needed to do your job, you will find it more stressful. While your colleagues may help, you may sometimes need to wait for them to complete their work.
Working on your skills will make you more independent and help you do well in a demanding role. Identify the tasks you have difficulty doing and outline the steps you should take to improve.
For example, sign up for training if you have limited technical literacy. Further, work on your leadership skills if you have difficulty connecting with your team.
The skills needed by execs change as companies adapt to industry trends. While you may have met the job requirements, you also need other abilities to be an efficient leader.
Here are essential skills to help you manage productivity in a demanding role:
- Strategic thinking and execution
- Employee development
- Change management
- Emotional intelligence
📈 Plan Your Work
Handling several tasks simultaneously is overwhelming and stressful. It can lead to costly mistakes and undermine your authority in the workplace.
Plan your work properly to manage your productivity in a demanding executive job. If you have a big project, break it down into several stages and set deadlines for each. After that, create a checklist to track progress and assess how much work you have left.
For tasks that you do daily, set a schedule and include reasonable timelines. Besides, have an allowance of about an hour or 30 minutes to handle unexpected work that might be urgent.
Goals are vital in a work schedule because they serve as a road map to career progression and encourage you. Setting them can boost your work morale and make even the most stressful tasks bearable. Use the SMART concept to set your goals and share them with your team. This step will help you be more productive by focusing your energy and resources on essential tasks.
📈 Communicate Effectively
Your productivity as an executive will depend a lot on how you communicate with your colleagues. If you don’t give your juniors proper instructions when assigning work, they may interrupt your day with inquiries. They may even need to redo some tasks, which will eat up time meant for other responsibilities.
Effective communication will save you from a lot of trouble. It helps your juniors get the bigger picture so they can match their efforts with your company’s goals. Every employee will know what you expect from them, which boosts accountability. The less time you spend correcting people working under you or overseeing their work, the more productive you’ll be.
While emails are great for workplace communication, they can be pretty distracting. You may spend several minutes per hour checking your inbox or reviewing past emails.
Opt for communication methods that are more effective and less distracting to stay productive. For example, get software that supports group chats instead of emailing multiple employees. Moreover, use tools like Zoom and Google Meet to hold some meetings virtually.
📈 Avoid Procrastinating
Putting things off may seem harmless when you have long deadlines. However, time may run out fast, and before you know it, you are stranded and can’t finish a project on time. Take charge of your productivity by avoiding postponing as much as possible.
Some helpful tips to prevent procrastination include:
- Reward yourself when you complete tasks
- Hold yourself accountable for finishing work on time
- Take breaks when you are tired instead of postponing
📈 Avoid Stress
A new executive job can be demanding and stressful, but you shouldn’t let it affect your performance. Identify the things stressing you and establish ways to deal with them. For example, if you’re having a hard time adjusting to new duties, find someone to guide you. This can be another executive at the firm or a career mentorship coach.
Sometimes, a fresh perspective is what you need to improve your productivity at work. Attend networking events to connect with other executives. Find out how they dealt with stress when they were new in their role and apply the tips you find helpful. You can also ask for advice on solving nagging work-related problems.
A comfortable environment can help you control stress and boost your productivity. Make your workspace more efficient by eliminating noise and limiting unnecessary conversations. You should also clear clutter from your desk and get a comfortable chair. These steps may seem minor, but they prevent frustrations that eventually affect productivity.
Succeed in Your New Role by Taking Charge of Your Productivity
Managing your productivity doesn’t have to be complicated, no matter how demanding your new job is. Small steps like organizing tasks and honing your skills make a big difference. If you are strategic, you can become a better leader, connect with your team, and have enough time for yourself.
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