Plan, Prepare, and Work Ahead
Keep up. Be prepared. Work ahead. Nobody wants to work with that “fly by the seat of his or her pants” person. When someone is working with you, they want to know that you’ve been working steadily on their information and that you’re prepared, in advance, for any questions or needs that they have.
For instance, I worked at a company in the past, and when the other staff would come in the office each morning, they would say, “Oh, I wonder what we have closing today?” and they’d start flipping through their files (what?). We make it a practice to have all of our files ready ahead of time for the entire month. This ensures that we have time to deal with any last minute problems and issues that arise.
Planning and working ahead are the most powerful tools to insure a smooth process in the future. Did you know that every minute of planning saves about 10 minutes in execution? Before you look at your e-mail, make a phone call, or start working on a project, take 10-15 minutes to plan and make a list of what you want to accomplish that day. As we learn to effectively pre-plan and work ahead, we ultimately increase our productivity over time.
When you’re working with your customers and planning out your day, you should definitely plan, prepare, and work ahead.