Automate the Mundane
September 14th, 2007 | Michael Q. Pink
Last week, we pointed out that rainforests have a job. They are the lungs of the planet, exchanging Oxygen for Carbon Dioxide and sustaining life on this planet. We can’t afford for the rainforest to be inefficient, to fall down on the job or to be ineffective. Fortunately, we do not have to worry about the rainforest defaulting (as long as we don’t cut it all down), because it operates by a series of laws or processes that make it very efficient.
When we understand what makes the rainforest efficient, we can apply those same principles to our lives and garner similar results. Last week, we talked about the first law of productivity… Eliminate the Unnecessary. Today, I want to talk about the second law… Automate the Mundane. In short, systemize those things that must be done routinely and in a precise way.
The rainforest is highly automated. By that, I mean, it uses a complex series of processes or systems to sustain itself and its high level of productivity. One of the automated systems is called photosynthesis. Every day, like clockwork, this two stage, seven step process unfolds and produces physical material out of water, breath and light. Simply amazing! But it’s a process and that process is duplicated in precisely the same way everyday. The plant does not have to figure out how it will produce food each day. It has been reduced to a process.
What can you automate in your life? Perhaps use an auto responder for your email? Invest in some software to automate accounting? How about using one of a myriad of software products for CRM with great reporting capabilities? We are in the process of switching over to salesforce.com. It will give me a live dashboard view of all the important indicators I need to make management decisions. No more asking for reports. It’s automated. Automate those time consuming tasks and watch your productivity soar!
Until next time, be fruitful, then multiply.
P.S. The second episode of the ChristianBusinessDaily.com Friday Wrapup Podcast will be released this morning. Warning: this is totally different from anything else we’re doing. Check it out here!
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September 14th, 2007 at 8:35 am
CRM systems can certainly help manage information about business relationships, recording calls, meetings, etc to facilitate effective follow-up.
However, the reporting systems also provide the temptation to be tracking the wrong things. How many companies track the number of calls you make, and the meetings you attend, more so than the results of those conversations/meetings. So to meet the metrics, you start making calls just to make calls. In firm, my outside sales efforts were supported by a telesales team who had daily/weekly targets for the calls they were to make. My clients actually called me to ask them to stop calling… the telesales rep did just that, as his client list was fairly short, and was summarily dismissed for not hitting the targets!
Moral of the story… just because the system can generate reports on almost anything, management must use good judgment as to which ones they use!
September 15th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Dear EM…
Well said!