MSP business owners and leaders always have plenty of work to do. You have tickets, client issues, projects to manage, invoices to send, and just handling the chaos of the day. Today’s ramble will be about prioritizing all of the projects and initiatives that you want to complete in your company.
With so much on your to-do list it’s tempting to try and work on 5 or 10 or even 20 things at once. That doesn’t include your actual “day” job of running the business and keeping the tickets, sales, and invoices flowing.
You can’t manage that many initiatives, and your team can’t either. Your leadership is key here. You MUST resist the temptation to try and do everything at once. Projects drag on and move slow when you work on too many at once. If you don’t prioritize the work your team is doing it can lead to overload and burnout.
Prioritize and Clarify
Pick your top two or maybe three projects or initiatives to work on (bonus points if you can keep it to two). Next, make sure you and your team knows exactly what complete looks like. Clarity is key. What level of quality is expected? Are there deliverables? What does it mean to complete the project? Is there a deadline? How much effort is expected (hours/days/weeks/etc.)? Answer these questions to build clarity around the project.
Now it’s time to make a project plan. Use your existing project management infrastructure. You want everyone to be on the same page. This planning work will make execution much easier. Don’t forget to document, train, and implement in an organized fashion.
Being overwhelmed leads to burnout, and burnout leads to turnover of your staff. Be intentional with your projects and initiatives will help keep this in control.
Thank you for coming on this ramble with me, and I hope to see you on the next one.