Outlook Efficiency

2

Roadmap

The Wind Up Change and Productivity Managing Your Workflow Sorting Incoming Work Are You A Keeper?

The Pitch Tasks and Categories Meaningful Objectives Sort Your Tasks Sort Your Inbox Setting Boundaries Using your Tasks Color Coding

Home Run The Weekly Review Keeping it going

3

What are you willing to let go of? What do you want to do differently

as a result of this training session?(Empty my Inbox regularly, track and delegate items, prioritize effectively, or go home earlier?)

What do you want to experience differently as a result of this training session? (Be more relaxed, focused, and in control?)

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

4

Pragmatism - It’s about what works for you

No need to change your whole system

Keep doing what already works

Adopt the pieces that make sense to you

“If you always do what you’ve always done,you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

~Unknown Author

Change your approach, change your results

5

Ten beliefs that limit productivity1. There’s too much information coming at me too fast.

2. I get too many interruptions.

3. I don’t have the discipline to be organized.

4. I have to keep everything.

5. I can’t find what I need when I need it.

6. It takes too much time to get organized.

7. Organization cramps my freedom and creativity.

8. I’m no good with technology.

9. There’s not enough time in the day.

10. I’m not organized by nature.

6

Personal productivity = completing an action Identifying Meaningful Objectives

Creating Strategic Next Actions

Scheduling and Completing Strategic Next Actions

Reviewing and Acknowledging Progress Towards Objectives

Team Mission & Goals

Your Meaningful Objectives

Supporting Projects

SNAs

Prio

ritiz

e a

nd

Pla

nD

o

Review & Acknowledge

7

Is your head a collection point?

Limit yourself to five collection points:

A paper inbox A paper (or digital) notepad Voicemail Outlook Task list Email

Integrated Management

System

Collecting

Prioritizing &Organizing

Calls

Interruptions MailNotes

Meetings

Ideas

VoicemailNotepad EmailTask listInbox

8

Your Mind

Limited space Captures limited agreements On average, four to ten items

Unlimited space Captures unlimited agreements Has no idea of time Is not very organized

Print HandoutsVoicemail

Slides readyAttend meeting

Conscious Mind

Calls

Vacation Send email

Notes

Research

IdeasShip FedEx

Gifts

Unconscious Mind

9

Sorting incoming work - Four D’s Delete it

It does not relate to an objective You can find it somewhere else You will not refer to it in 3-6 months and it’s not legal and HR

Do it (less than 2 minutes) Respond and/or file

Delegate it Send delegation and if needed, track in Waiting for or 1:1 Category

Defer it Transfer to a 1:1, SNA Category or Calendar

10

Are you a keeper?

Do you relentlessly hold on to all information?

Here’s a simple test for deciding what information to keep:

Does the information relate to one of your Meaningful Objectives? If not, delete it.

Do you have to keep the information because it is legal or HR information? If not, delete it.

Can you find the information somewhere else, such as another department, DeloitteNet or the Internet? If so, delete it.

Are you likely to refer to the information in the next six months? If not, delete it.

11

Managing your workflow

Incoming work

Is it actionable?

Delete itSomeday

Maybe

Relates to a Meaningful Objective?

Renegotiate or Disengage

Can you do it in less than 2

minutes?Defer it

Do it - Done!Write up a

Task for you

No File it (to reference)

Yes

No

Yes

No Delegate it

Yes

Write up a Task to assign

12

Activity 1 – Set up your tasks

1. Go to your Outlook folder list and click on Tasks2. On the top line, double click to create a new task

Estimated time: 30 minutes

13

Activity 1 – Contin.

3. Click on Categories4. Click on Master Category List…

14

Activity 1 – Contin.

Planning Categories .Meaningful Objectives .Supporting Projects 1:1 MeetingsAction Categories SNA Calls SNA Computer SNA Desk SNA Email SNA Errands SNA Home SNA Waiting For SNA Online SNA Read SNA Someday Maybe

Make the categories work for you!Don’t see a category for something you need?

See a category you know you’ll never use?

Customize your categories!

5. Add the following categories:

15

Activity 2 - View by category

1. Click on View, Current View, then By Category

Estimated time: 5 minutes

16

Activity 3 – Brain dump

Feeling overwhelmed by incomplete to-do’s? Now is the time to dump them into your Tasks.

Start by typing them in one by one, don’t worry about the category yet.

Use the Trigger Lists if you need some help.

Estimated time: 30 minutes

Make time to “Brain Dump” after absences in the office (training,

vacation, etc.).

17

Let your meaningful objectives guide you

Your Goals will become your Meaningful Objectives. Supporting Projects are tasks with dependencies. Strategic Next Actions (SNA) are tasks with no dependencies.

The tasks you work on should correlate with your Performance Goals.

18

Activity 4 – Meaningful objectivesPull out your Goal Setting paperwork and input your Meaningful Objectives.

Estimated time: 15 minutes

19

Activity 5 – Sort your tasks

Open each task and click on Categories to sort each of your brainstormed tasks into the categories you just created.

Estimated time: 60 minutes

20

Activity 6 – Sort your inbox

Estimated time: varies

1. Right click on an email and drag it into Tasks.2. Choose Move Here as Task with Attachment

21

Activity 6 – Contin.

3. This will automatically generate a new Task with the email included inside the Task.

4. Click on Categories and choose what’s applicable.

22

Setting boundaries♦ Do you sit in back to back meetings all day long?♦ Do you feel like you have no time to do actual work?♦ Do you find yourself working long after normal business hours?

Block off time!

♦ Block off time specifically to do email and calendaring.♦ Block off time to eat lunch and to do actual work.

If you don’t set boundaries for yourself, you will find yourself operating at the mercy of everyone else’s boundaries.

23

Setting boundaries

Schedule uninterrupted time to process and organize email It’s nearly impossible to complete anything when you allow

constant interruptions from the phone, people stopping by and instant messaging

Establish a regular time You can still scan for urgent messages during the day, but

dedicated time allows you to make focused decisions Process one item at a time, starting at the top

Sort by date, subject or person Then, begin at the beginning

Delete it, Do it (in less than 2 minutes), Delegate it or Defer it Defer it into an actionable task or an appointment

Do it daily

Set realistic expectations,

And stick to them.

24

Activity 7 – Setting boundaries

Take back your time!

AND STICK TO IT

Estimated time: 30 minutes

1. Double click in your calendar to create a new Appointment.2. Create Blocked, Calendaring, Email, Lunch and Weekly Review

Appointments. 3. Make them recurring appointments as appropriate.

Give yourself permission to defer tasksto scheduled time set aside for that purpose.

25

Using your Tasks

1. Use your scheduled time: open up the corresponding category and all the information will be right there.

2. Set a Reminder!Works just like any Calendar item!

26

Activity 8 – Color coding

1. Right click on a calendar item and click on Label.2. Choose Edit Labels.3. Make the first two Meaningful Objectives and 1:1 Meetings, assign

the rest as appropriate.

Estimated time: 10 minutes

27

Did you schedule something during your blocked time?

That’s time that gets added to the end of your workday!

Activity 8 – Contin.

4. Right click on the calendar item you’d like to colorize and click on Label.

5. Choose the applicable color.

With a sweep of the eye, you will be able to quickly see how your time is being

utilized.

Ask yourself:How much time am I

spending on fulfilling my Meaningful Objectives?

28

Going forward - Weekly reviewCollect all loose papers Pull out all scraps of paper, business cards, receipts, etc. and put them into your paper inbox to process

Empty your head Capture any incompletes and transfer to Task

Empty & Organize all Collection Points

Paper inbox, all notepads, Task “none” category, PDA notes, Tablet PC notes, email, and vmail

Collect incompletes from previous calendar week

Acknowledge completions, renegotiate incompletes, capture new commitments in Task

Review future calendar week(s)

Review upcoming calendar events-long and short term.Capture any new actions triggered in Task

Review calendar baseline structure

Review email processing time, project planning time, Next Action work time, meeting preparation time, travel time etc. Re-assess how this time is working for you

Evaluate status of Objective/ Project Categories

What is the status of the objective/project today?Where does it need to be? What is my Next Action?

Prioritize Strategic Next Action Categories

Acknowledge completions. Prioritize Strategic Next Actions with due dates, transfer to calendar if appropriate

Review 1:1 Categories Acknowledge completions, review direct reports objectives, plan and prioritize development discussions

Review and Prioritize “Waiting For” List

Acknowledge completions. Review for follow up and move to appropriate Strategic Next Actions Category or calendar

Review any other relevant list

Is there anything you haven’t done which you need to?

Review “Someday Maybe” List

Review for any projects which may now have become active, and transfer to “Projects.” Delete dead items

Be Creative andCourageous

Any new, wonderful, hare-brained, creative, thought-provoking, risk-taking ideas to add into your system?

29

Create a cycle of productivity

Your Mission:Consistently complete Strategic Next Actions that

support your Meaningful Objectives.

Identify Meaningful Objectives

Create Tasks

Schedule and Complete Tasks

Review & Acknowledge

Progress

McGhee Productivity Solutions

www.mcgheeproductivity.com