Executive Manager's Areas of Focus

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Fritz58

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I'm a company executive manager. I read through GTD book and started implementing. I compiled out of my current Next Actions and Projects my present-day Areas Of Focus at Work:

- Projects Control (includes projects of company departments)
- Hire
- Motivation

As I'm a thinking creature I thought that is not enough and started reading management books. I got a lot of knowledge :) That could include possible additional Areas of Focus I need to add into my current work:

- Culture development
- Results visualization
- Business processes development
- Results measure
- Team building
- Rules and standards development
- Work organization
- Planning
- Communication
- Coaching
- Job instructions development

I feel overwhelmed. I feel that not all of them are Areas of Focus :) Some of them are instruments. Could you please look at this list of mix things and let me know what is the true AOF (and should be added to my current work AOF), and what is the rest?
 
"Like with Like"

I think it's good that you've delved into more detail and come up with some really good areas of focus. I would just combine like with like and come up with a higher level of organisation. You'd know best how to combine, but here's an example: "Culture development," "Team Building," and "Coaching" could all go under the same heading - perhaps "People Support" or some such thing... A mindmap or simple linear outline could help here...
 
I'd agree with Carolyn that a mindmap could be really helpful. I have two AofF mindmaps - one for professional and one for personal - and find it a really good way to engage with the 20,000ft level.
 
Middle Manager's Areas of Focus

Hi Fritz58,

I work with these six areas of focus since 2008 and it works pretty well for me :

Steering and strategy
Customer relationships
Relationships with the internal network
Relationships with the external network
Team management
Organization

I hope it helps.

JMarc
 
I agree with the like with like part, but many of your additional items could be placed under your 3 original areas.

- Projects Control (includes projects of company departments)
- Results visualization
- Business processes development
- Results measure
- Work organization
- Planning
- Communication

- Hire
- Job instructions development
- Rules and standards development

- Motivation
- Culture development
- Team building
- Communication
- Coaching

You'll notice that I place a couple in more than one area.
 
I use these for work, based on "Managing the Professional Service Firm" although I'm now the VP Operations for a software company...so I added the product category:

Be Prepared (for planning type projects)
Happy Customers
Wow Product
Happy Employees
Building the Business (marketing and sales)
Transparent Operations (back office, admin type stuff)
Quality in Everything (quality assurance, process management)
 
AoR as the way others see you

I have my AoR titles as the way others see me, for example I don't have "Kids" as a AOR I have "Father". The same way for my mom and dad I have "Son", not "Parents".

In your case you could have similar if it helps you
Projects Control - Professional Manager
Hire - Gate Keeper
Motivation - Motivator

This underlines what you ARE, not what you are working with. If you are working with something it is a project. If it is someting you work on continously it should be on a checklist.

Life is good
:D
 
BjornLjunggren;100769 said:
I have my AoR titles as the way others see me, for example I don't have "Kids" as a AOR I have "Father". The same way for my mom and dad I have "Son", not "Parents"...This underlines what you ARE, not what you are working with.
Click to expand...

This is so nice! We always talk about words attracting not repelling, don't we, and this is an excellent example - not that I'm repelled by my parents, you understand. Often I'm just slightly embarrassed. And if you'd ever seen my dad's mustache you'd understand. But I digress...

I wonder, though, how I could rename my business areas to be just as attractive (e.g. business owner, manager, coordinator... they are accurate terms, but not always attractive ones.)

Dena
 
artsinaction;101017 said:
I wonder, though, how I could rename my business areas to be just as attractive (e.g. business owner, manager, coordinator... they are accurate terms, but not always attractive ones.)
Click to expand...

How others might see you:

Decision-maker. Permission-granter. Supplier. Trading partner. Guide. Facilitator. Helper. Communication expert. Counsellor. Guardian.

Think about what you do for them, and what word they might like to use when thinking "I'm going to go and talk to my ... now."
 
Ok!

cwoodgold;101023 said:
Decision-maker. Permission-granter. Supplier. Trading partner. Guide. Facilitator. Helper. Communication expert. Counsellor. Guardian.
Click to expand...

The heavens opened and angels sang when I read this!!! I mean it could have been the squirrels on my roof, but let's just go with the whole angelic thing...

Thank you thank you thank you. I'm going to spin these around and see which feel right. And you've also laid the ground work for coming up with more on my own.

You, as always, ROCK!

Dena
 
artsinaction;101026 said:
You, as always, ROCK!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much!!

... to employees, a business owner can be a Mentor. To customers:
I don't know what kind of business you have, but I guess every business
is trying to fulfill a need, or beyond that, to make something happen
for the customer, to create an experience. So you can be an
Experience-creator. Success-generator. Satisfier.
Artist. Personal artist. Perhaps one who
understands what the customer needs better than the customer
understands it: an Understander, Facilitator, Wall to bounce ideas off, etc.

(I'm just a scientist)

Cathy
 
... Linchpin. See the book "Linchpin: Are you indispensable?" by Seth Godin. I realize that having read that book may have helped give me the ability to come up with the other terms.

Also I want to give credit to BjornLjunggren, who said earlier in this thread "... the way others see you".

Gardener. You water the seeds of ideas in other peoples' heads so that they grow and the people notice them and acknowledge them as their own, and when they grow to fulfillment everyone shares the fruit: you, the customer, and anyone else who also receives positive energy from incidentally coming into contact with either you, the customer or the created product.
 
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