Achieving Professional Goals with the Help of Spreadsheets
Posted January 16th, 2012
Many people have set up goals for the new year; have you? But there is a big difference between setting up the goals and actually achieving them. In order to get from the planning to the reality, business consultant Alexandra Samuel has formulated a list of steps to take using an Excel spreadsheet. She uses the spreadsheet to assess all of her ongoing endeavors and to pare away everything that is extraneous to achieving her goals.
The first step in the process, Samuel says, is to write down your most important goals for the year, or any time period you want to work with. She recommends having no more than three major goals here, and to put them at the top of your spreadsheet in large letters, so that they jump out at you.
Then, add all of the activities you are currently involved in or expect to be involved in. Put them all in one column, one activity per row. Some may be a lot more significant than others, and that’s OK. This part of the process may take a little time, so you don’t need to be in a big hurry to get it done, she says. Look at your list and realize that you are not going to get to the things that really matter – those three big things at the top of the spreadsheet – if you try to do everything on your list.
Sort your activities into related areas, and then label how important they are and how urgent they are, Samuel says. She uses different colors to categorize her tasks. Then try to determine which of these tasks can help you get to one of your major goals, and which tasks you can farm out to others. In order to do this, you may have to schedule meetings with others to work this out, and explain the situation
Then, get rid of the tasks you don’t plan on doing at all.
Then take another look at your list. Is it manageable, or is there still more on it that you cannot reasonably do and still chase your big goals? Look again to see if there is anything that you can cut or delegate – it may be tough, but better to admit that you cannot get to these things rather than have your truly important goals get lost in the shuffle.
If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to find a new position, put THAT at the top of your spreadsheet and then contact a recruiter at Bayside Solutions. We have many positions for IT and other professionals at companies throughout the Bay Area.
