As business owners and executives, we find ourselves with an ever-increasing to-do list and just when you think you're on top of things, it grows longer again. Do we actually thrive on being busy or do we crave a little less chaos and a little more control?
If things are going well and demand is high, then it’s all hands on deck. The sales, operations, procurement and finance teams are all busy, and they will be working away to meet customer requirements. If business isn’t doing particularly well, operations may experience some “calm” time, but other teams like management, sales and marketing will be working even harder to re-imagine, re-invigorate, re-engage and work out a strategy to generate additional revenue.
With all this busyness constantly going on around you, it can be easy for important tasks to get pushed to the bottom of your ‘to-do’ list time and time again. You may find yourself spotting issues when it’s just a little too late and all of your best-made plans for the day being scrapped as you try to find solutions to whatever it is you’re up against. Being hit with several reactive situations throughout the day such as your top salesperson being poached by a competitor, an important project missing a milestone or your best customer being let down with a late shipment, can cause you to take one step forward and two steps back every day.