Great execution lies in your capacity to carry out tasks consistently and successfully. Don’t be the kind of person who has great streaks for one month, and then can’t be counted on to do anything the next month. Your value lies in your consistency and success in executing your tasks. This means that you shouldn’t just meet deadlines, but meet them with good results. Be known to be that person who sets goals and achieves them.
5 Ways to Build Your Execution Capacity
To develop your capacity to execute, you need to do the following things:
- Have clear goals, action plans, and timelines – Having S.M.A.R.T goals are necessary if you want to build your execution capacity. What are S.M.A.R.T goals? These are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Goals like this make it easy for you to decide how you are going to execute your tasks and when you will execute them. So, if you want to make a million naira by July, at least you have the ‘when’, so how do you want to achieve that? What do you need to do to make that money by that time?
- Be brutal with your time management – Time is your friend, not your enemy. It is when you misuse it that is seems like you never have enough hours in a day to do all you need to do. You need to guard your time jealously. Have an organizer or planner, and plan your day in it. Use that planner to arrange your day and your time to meet those goals you have set. Discourage inane chats and visits, because these seemingly harmless activities are time stealers. You can plan for those too, and stick to the time for gisting, refusing to allow it to interrupt your work.
- Be proactive – Be an active member of the team. Don’t just sit back and let life happen to you; get up and happen to life. If there are team members dragging you down, you need to identify and reassign them.
- Have the right team for the task – Have the right people for the job. Know their strengths and weaknesses, and how everyone complements the other person.
- Always ask yourself – if this execution strategy doesn’t work, what’s my plan B? – Don’t be stuck with one way of doing things. Be open to learning and the willingness to explore other options to carry out that execution strategy that you have in mind
