This week I had some things go to plan... And some not!
I'll structure this blog in the format that works best when giving feedback, the sh*t sandwich. I'll start with want went right, move on to what didn't go to plan, which was all to do with getting to my 4 hour work week next week, and then end on a positive again! So, at the weekend, I enjoyed the sun, went on an 8 mile run before football training on Sunday and enjoyed some relaxing time with Catherine. Monday we finished our 'baby classes' so now after NCT and Hypnobirthing sessions we're feeling as prepared for the arrival of our little one as we can. And Wednesday I spent time at Columbus School and College helping out look after the special needs children playing football with them. I love the fact that we've created businesses for ourselves that gives us time to give back, and I really enjoyed being able to bring fun to all the kids there. So, what didn't go to plan? Mainly:
What have I learnt? With the management of VAs, if someone goes quiet and it doesn't seem to be working as well as you hope, usually there is an issue that needs addressing. In this case, it was overwhelm. I believe the role the VA was working in does not have too much work to complete in the 40 hours per week, unfortunately though, the tasks involved did not match up with the strengths of the VA. This caused our VA to feel overwhelmed, go in and out of communication until finally resigning. I'm happy to say that she is resigning on good terms and I think this was down to me providing a lot to support to her during her time working for us, especially when she went quiet. In the end, she has resigned and will find more job satisfaction in a new role, I re-advertised and have had over 30 applicants apply that I'll be shortlisting, interviewing and hiring next week. At least this happened now and not a month or two down the line where I could have ended up interviewing applicants in between nappy changes!!! Secondly, I tend to think things will take less time then they actually will, especially when it involves people (which is probably why in a recent dream I had, our baby’s first words were a very formal “Good Morning”). Anyway, I essentially needed to hire my expanded team earlier than I did to get the results I needed now. I knew there would be a learning curve for the team and I produced processes, improved KPIs and detailed team descriptions to help reduce this. However, I didn't do enough to reduce the learning curve and achieve results by now. Although I underestimated this time needed, I can see and acknowledge how much the expanded team are producing within a month of working for me and in the businesses. And lastly, although I planned fully for the 4 hour work week to start next week, I did not plan for the unexpected. This caused tasks to crop up that were important and urgent (for example further improved processes and answering questions - all needed for the new team to work effectively and accurately) which pushed out my important but not urgent tasks (the completion of our online course). What this means is that my 4 hour work week is delayed by about 2 weeks (and has provision for an extra 2 hours per week to stay in communication with new team members). I'm very happy that I committed and planned the 4 hour work week for next week for a number of reasons:
If you read my blog a couple of weeks ago (The 5 P's to a #4HWW), my failure to meet the deadline comes down to:
And to finish on a positive... Our Serviced Accommodation business continues to grow with expansion into Ipswich and London, we provided some great returns for our investors and we have business meetings lined up with more partners to further our growth around Essex, Kent, Suffolk & London. Great work by our Property Manager. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and I really hope you can take some learning away that you can put in to place in your business. Have a great weekend, Steve
1 Comment
Mark
8/18/2017 03:13:05 am
Good to be reading you blog Stephen.
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AuthorStephen Turner Archives
January 2018
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