Multitasking Done Right

Betsy Nealon

Studies show that the kind of multitasking most of us do is highly ineffective. Why? Because flip-flopping from one task to another reduces our productivity by approximately half, costs billions of dollars and even inhibits creativity, studies show.

Social media and email are among the worst culprits. For example, answering emails as they come in not only distracts from the task at hand, but it can take twice as long to resume the activity you were taken away from. So, why do it? With resources, budgets and time constraints at a premium, we simply have to find a better way to gain efficiency. The good news is that, in my decades of experience, when done effectively, multitasking can actually increase productivity and ultimately revenue. The secret is in focusing on four main areas: trust, time, technology and teams.

Trust: Getting others to help

In my experience, working with and through others can be one of the most successful long-term sustainable practices. To multitask effectively, you must work with and through others who are equally busy, which can be a challenge. It starts with building relationships. Building trust is at the heart of every successful relationship and making a connection is what begins building that trust.

The next step is influencing others to willingly help you by finding a common goal that all parties can work toward. Building alliances, partnerships or one-on-one connections gains buy-in. Whether you are a one-person operation, a team of people across multiple locations or within a large organization, these strategies will work. By bringing everyone together you will gain efficiencies, breaking down silos in the corporate structure or within your own firm and enable cross-functional collaboration creating a “win-win” through shared objectives.

To illustrate how this works, let’s look at an example:

Start with the folks who touch your business—the company field representatives, internal and external wholesalers, and underwriters. All of them have a vested interest in working with you. The key to making them an extension of your team is taking the time to get to know them. Consider a Zoom call with the group or individually if you are a smaller operation. If you are located in close proximity to the servicing office, perhaps you could make an in-person visit.

I’ve found some of the most successful agency/firm owners take the time to meet with the team that handles their business as part of their annual planning process. By doing this for the upcoming year, you will find out what is important to this group (i.e. goals, target markets) which will assist you in directing your sales and marketing efforts in your plan, maximize your marketing spend and increase your closing rates by writing what your primary companies are looking for. By finding a common goal, all parties are inclined to want to work together to produce that result (like increasing profitable revenue).

As mutual trust is established, these relationships can be leveraged to improve efficiency by handling situations with an instant message or a quick call rather than a lot of back and forth. Making your internal team a part of this process so they are now an extension of you will give you back valuable time in your daily schedule. It’s a great investment of your time that will pay large dividends.

Time: Seizing your day

Time optimization is paramount to effective multitasking. Open your calendar right now and ask yourself these four questions:

• Do I have everything scheduled (return calls, service issues, planning, thinking time, lunch, personal development)?
• Are the majority of my blocks of time filled with revenue-generating activities?
• What am I doing with the blocks of time that are not scheduled?
• When I look at my calendar in totality, would I say my schedule reflects that I am working “on” the business or “in” the business?

If your calendar has large blocks of time empty, you probably tell yourself you will use them to get caught up; however, the reality is that doesn’t happen. Something always comes up and the next thing you know the day has gotten away from you. This is going to happen from time to time even with it on the calendar; however, if you have blocks of time that you set aside for specific topics such as client issues, collaboration, idea generation, planning and so on it will keep you focused and minimize the time you spend on Not Urgent, Not Important tasks.

Just schedule it! If it isn’t on the schedule, it doesn’t get done. So, just schedule it. Dedicate specific time to handling client or service issues. If you find you do not have enough revenue-generating activities on your calendar, schedule an appointment to market, fact-find and more. Things such as lunch, idea generation, (yes) date night and personal time are extremely important to rejuvenate us and need their spot on the calendar. Finally, color-code your calendar. For example, green for appointments or marketing/fact-finding (revenue-generating activities), red for service/client issues (Urgent and Important) and yellow for planning/idea generation.

Establish a routine. Schedule 20 minutes at the beginning and end of each day. This is a revenue-generating activity, so schedule it! Begin by reviewing your intended plan of action. Of course, our days don’t always go the way we plan, so the end-of-day review can be especially helpful if you feel the day has gotten away from you. Use this time to review what you had on your task list for the day that did not get done. Crossing off those items I completed gives me a sense of accomplishment. Those items I did not get done are transferred to the next day. Repeat this routine by transferring the remaining tasks into your task list and scheduling them every day until they are completed.

Finally, review your calendar for the following day. By doing this at the end of the day before you leave you can prepare for the morning and adjust your calendar, and hopefully avoid the middle-of-the-night wake-up panic because you forgot an important and urgent item. In the morning when you start your day you will be working “on” the business because you already have your task list done and schedule set.

Technology: Leveraging helpful tools

Artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, can be used to gain efficiencies by capturing key information from a client appointment, online meetings and team meetings within your firm. By summarizing the encounter and noting the key takeaways with a task list, which can be done with AI within most online meeting applications, you will be able to be fully present in your appointments and meetings. Think of it as a virtual assistant.

Teams: Increasing your/their efficiency

When was the last time you reviewed your staff/team members’ job duties? You may have job descriptions, but what they are actually doing may be very different for several reasons. Simply ask them to record in a Word document what they do daily over the next week. Make it clear this is intended to help them, not spy on them. First, this will help each person to see how they are spending their time and how they can gain better control of it. Second, as you review these lists, you can evaluate what is being done for efficiency.

When I do this with clients it is very revealing. One person found that a part-time hire or a virtual administrative assistant could do some of the tasks that were taking up valuable time for a key staff member, eliminating the need to hire another full-timer. This process also uncovers skill gaps within the agency/firm teams leading to realignment of duties, maximizing productivity and increasing employee satisfaction. Finally, this review has assisted many in determining what their next hire may be by assessing the team’s skills overall once they have everyone’s list of duties. If you are a one-person operation, this will give you an opportunity to determine what your first hire’s job duties should include and the skill set needed in that role.

While multitasking in its simplest form can be a productivity inhibitor, by implementing any one or all of the processes I have described above you will increase your productivity and ultimately your revenue. I challenge you to try just one to get started working on the business rather than in the business.