Squeezing through bottlenecks
It’s no good complaining about them.
Them.
Them!
They may treat information as power, wait around to be told what to do, be unmotivated, unfocused, unaccountable, have no idea…
Bottlenecks happen when too much is pushing through a small hole. Progress slows as things back up and quality suffers as they get forced through. To prioritise, shout loudest.
How to get things moving again? Take on less or delegate more.
Take on less – doing fewer things better is the fastest route to leaps in progress. Rather than nudging seventeen things one foot at a time, prioritise based on impact and put everything into the blow.
Delegate more – things get tangled when one person is in too many loops. Pick the projects that offer most value and put the rest in better homes – just make sure you’re not simply relocating the bottleneck.
Of these two, taking on less smashes the most bottlenecks. Green-lighting projects needs more thought, but the traffic moves faster.
Skippy Strategy: When you see a bottleneck (is it you?), eliminate the nice-to-haves, reduce the number of people in each loop, and focus resources on breaking through.
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Category:
Managing
Taking new products to market or new ideas to management, there comes a moment.
Exciting and a little scary.
They.
Say.
“Yes!”
Tentative, qualified, “let’s set up a pilot and see…