The Coach's 20% Rule: The Key to Your Efficiency and Effectiveness

10 Easy Things You Can Do That Will Create Significant Results

In keeping with my own rule (see #5), let me get to the point: here are 10 simple steps that you need to take to improve your personal results as well as the results of your business (or department). Per rule #5 again - the next steps are for you to read each of the 20% rules and adopt them.

1. 20% of your clients/customers should be fired. They are a pain in the butt and are costing you time and money (and happiness). Plus, for every one you dump, there is room to find a better one. Stop being a victim.

2. 20% of the things on your desk represent clutter and are distracting you. Clean house and get rid of this useless stuff.

3. 20% of the expenses in your business are "suspect" and should be reviewed for possible elimination. Don't tell me you run a "lean" operation. You don't! Bad spending habits find their way into every company. Police yourself every 6 months or so.

4. 20% of all of the correspondence you create (including e-mails, posts, and tweets) is useless and serves no purpose. A simple phone call is often better.

5. 20% of the content within everything you write can be eliminated without any sacrifice to or dilution of your message. Make your point, outline the next steps, and move on.

6. 20% of the prospects in your sales funnel can be eliminated. They are either price-conscious bottom-feeders, tire kickers, looking for free advice, or can't make a decision to buy. You made a mistake by thinking that they could be a client/customer. You allowed your enthusiasm to cloud your thinking. "Step Up" and clean house.

7. 20% of the steps in every project you manage can be eliminated. Too many steps increase the chances of mistakes being made which will delay the successful completion of your project and cost you money (which will make you frustrated!).

8. 20% of the people on your project team can be eliminated. Too many "touches" by different hands increases communication breakdowns, different interpretations, confusion, and mistakes (you know this costs you time and money, and also makes you frustrated).

9. 20% of what you do is irrelevant and does nothing to improve your business. Work on only those things that you are best suited for and will make a difference to your business. Delegate, defer, or dump the other stuff.

10. 20% of all of the meetings you attend are a waste of time and should never have been scheduled. A simple phone call or e-mail would have sufficed. If there is a need for a meeting, can you delegate someone else to attend for you and report back as needed? This way you can focus on a high-value issue.
Next Steps: Start with any two of these ten tips (which happens to be 20%) and work on them until you have them down cold. Then pick two more and so on. Small steps executed well can produce significant results. Try it and let me know how it goes.