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 productivity 1. 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 Prioritize and Plan Do Review & Acknowledge

7 Is your head a collection point? Limit yourself to five collection points: A paper inbox A paper (or digital) notepad Voic Outlook Task list Integrated Management System Collecting Prioritizing & Organizing Calls Interruptions Mail Notes Meetings Ideas Voic Notepad Task 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 Handouts Voic Slides ready Attend meeting Conscious Mind Calls Vacation Send Notes Research Ideas Ship 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 it Someday 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 Tasks 2.On the top line, double click to create a new task Estimated time: 30 minutes

13 Activity 1 – Contin. 3.Click on Categories 4.Click on Master Category List…

14 Activity 1 – Contin. Planning Categories.Meaningful Objectives.Supporting Projects 1:1 Meetings Action Categories SNA Calls SNA Computer SNA Desk SNA 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 objectives Pull 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 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 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 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  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, , Lunch and Weekly Review Appointments. 3.Make them recurring appointments as appropriate. Give yourself permission to defer tasks to 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 review Collect all loose papersPull out all scraps of paper, business cards, receipts, etc. and put them into your paper inbox to process Empty your headCapture any incompletes and transfer to Task Empty & Organize all Collection Points Paper inbox, all notepads, Task “none” category, PDA notes, Tablet PC notes, , 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 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 CategoriesAcknowledge 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 and Courageous 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