8 Very Important Questions
Posted on May 18, 2021 by Arran Kehoe, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.
What does it mean to do a great job over a long period of time? Eventually natural complacency creeps in so we need to be aware of the 8 questions.
What does it mean to do a great job and continue to do so over a long period of time? You commit fully to a project, you start well and you are seeing good results, super. You fall into a good working rhythm but overtime some natural complacency creeps in and results start to slip and all is not as you expected. At times it’s hard for us to see the wood from the trees and we need a helping hand to step back and understand what we are doing and are we still heading in the right direction? If you have a partner in action to confer with and soundboard what is going on then you have a better chance finding your rhythm again. But if not, I’ve gathered together what I think are 8 very important and helpful questions with related sub questions to ask yourself, or if you are a manager to ask your team or if you’re a leader to ask your organization.
1. How many goals and tasks do I have on my plate and in motion right now?
- How many of these tasks are important and not urgent compared to busy type work?- What’s my complete rate like for the important and not urgent tasks?
2. What is the first thing I do every day when I start work or login to my computer?
- Is it a deliberate action focusing on the most important work to set the day up well?- Or is it random or serendipitous like opening email in anticipation of something interesting and
dealing with what I might find immediately?
3. What is the biggest challenge right now for me in my project or job?
- How well am I working on breaking this challenge down and managing it?- How am I feeling and what thoughts do the feelings bring up right now?
- How well does my team prioritize working/unblocking their biggest challenges?
4. What routines have I deliberately put in place to promote excellence for myself or my Team?
- Do I know the habits that facilitate good routines to produce good work?- Do I know the habits that block me and put my performance off track?
- Do I know the habits that block my team or organization with performance and delivery?
5. Do I know how and where I do my best work?
- Do I purposely carve out time in the day to be in that place or mindset?- As a manager do I know each of my Teams best way of working and do I help them protect
and nurture that?
6. What am I deliberately learning now for my future or my team’s future work?
- What systems natural or otherwise do I have that enable learning and being curious?
7. Am I talking to my partner in action?
- Do I have a person I can share and soundboard my thoughts and plans to? A colleague, manager, friend etc? Someone that is positive, motivates me and that I can trust?- If not, how will I find that person?
- Do I regularly meet up with that person?
8. Is my biological engine running smoothly?
- Am I fit mentally and physically to do my best every day?- Am I living an EASED life? Exercise, Attitude, Sleep, Eat and Drive (purpose/passion)
- Is there anything I am not facing right now in this area that is blocking me?
These 8 questions help gaining a holistic view of how I am performing against areas needed for high and sustainable performance. I think it’s important to take time out to ask these questions regularly and honestly of yourself and with your team. I mean a real honest conversation to see where you measure up or as a group how you fair. Then agree to come up with a plan to address any slumps and as a team help each other have positive outcomes to the questions. Imagine if as a team the answers were positive most of the time and you had regular health checks to monitor? What sort of output and tower of excellence could you build together? And most importantly, we’re not machines so we will have ups and downs, so acknowledge that and don’t be too hard on yourself. Look on the process of asking the 8 questions as a positive thing and something to look forward to because it promotes self-awareness/team awareness, it helps understanding what needs to be changed and helps you willingly take accountability for the changes so you step to greater performance.
