Business Mentoring – Creating The Space For Change

You may feel that you are in crisis, and there is lots of justification for that with so many business closures and a daily bombardment of dire economic and financial forecasts.  Remember that you have the power to create change in your own business – but first you need to make the time and space in order to identify what needs to be done.

1. Spend the first 15 minutes of the day planning the day ahead.

   Lock-in that day, deferring other matters arising to the following morning’s planning. Do not accept interruptions to your schedule for today.

2. Break down your monthly or annual target into a daily one.

   Take 15 minutes at the end of each day to reconcile time spent with daily targets. Some professionals fail to bill all the time they could because of the phone-calls etc. that are forgotten and not allocated to any job.

3. Drastically reduce meeting times.

   It is possible to have a very effective meeting in 30 minutes. Most clients (unless they have travelled long distances) will be impressed with a professionally-run 30-60 minute meeting.

4. Involve your clients in the process of making recommendations.

   Explaining and exploring options and consequences will prove invaluable in your relationship and will save you time in the long run.

5. Invest in consultation skills;

   so that time is not wasted discussing unimportant issues. Involve your team members in communication skills training and coaching.

6. Take 20 minutes of physical exercise (swimming, cycling, working-out, running etc.) immediately after work.

   In a few weeks you will enjoy it, and it serves as a ‘switchoff’ from the working day and generates more energy.

7. Block out holidays and planning time in your diary for the year ahead.

   We will only plan if we have planned the time to plan.