It’s that time of year again. The schools are on their break for summer and many of you will already be enjoying a two-week break from work. With that in mind, your summer holidays are a great time to reflect on where you are now and what you should aim to achieve in the months ahead.

So, whether you’re going to be lying by a pool, camping in a tent or simply having a few days at home, ask yourself these questions?

Personal Effectiveness

  • What demonstrable improvements in your capabilities have you achieved since last summer, and where are you treading water or going backwards?
  • Where could you best use your strengths to help your organisation achieve one of its key objectives?
  • What lower priority activities can you either stop doing or significantly reduce your time investment, in order to improve your overall productivity and effectiveness?

Team Effectiveness

  • How clear are your team’s goals and priorities, and does everyone know what success looks like?
  • Are all the members of your team playing to their strengths, with clear and stretching individual objectives?
  • How would you rate your team’s overall effectiveness and what barriers to better performance does it face?

Organisational and Strategic Effectiveness

  • How clear and compelling is your organisation’s strategy and priorities?
  • How well engaged with the strategy are teams from across the organisation?
  • What opportunities exist for better ongoing collaboration and more effective delivery of your operations and initiatives across departments?

Customer Impact Effectiveness

  • What can you do to spend more time with your customers (internal and external), observing how they use your products or services and identifying new needs and opportunities?
  • How can you and your team get more feedback from your customers to improve the value you deliver?
  • What can you, your team and your organisation do to create stronger relationships with your customers, increasing their loyalty and their likelihood to recommend you to others?

Oh, and most importantly, I wish you all a great summer break!

 

Off The Record: Peaches by The Stranglers

 

Well, there goes another one just lying down on the sand dunes

I’d better go take a swim and see if I can cool down a little bit

‘Cause you and me, woman 

We got a lotta things on our minds (you know what I mean)

Walking on the beaches, looking at the peaches!

 

© Stuart Cross 2018. All rights reserved.