Are your team members focused on the highest priorities at work or are they caught up in busy work? Do they understand the difference?  Many times, people come to work without a plan: The phone rings, they check their email, and the rest of the day they are just reacting. At this point, they are at the mercy of other people’s agendas. They are not in control of their day.

How do you focus your team members on high-priority work tasks?
The answer is simple:  Daily goals.

It’s important for your team to set daily goals and share them with you.  This creates accountability and responsibility.   Daily goals organize your team’s efforts but also give you an opportunity to provide feedback and keep them focused on impactful priorities. If daily goal setting is a new process for your organization, you may initially get some resistance.  Team members who don’t demonstrate competence may feel they are being micro-managed.  Or you might not have established trust and confidence with your team, so they are feeling threatened.  In these instances, positioning is everything!  A performer will appreciate that you are trying to help them achieve. Newer team members may take a little coaxing.  Take it slow:

1. Every day ask for no more than three goals to be accomplished the next day. In time, new team members will recognize that goal setting helps them prioritize their “busy work” and their “high impact work”. 
2. Hold them accountable.  Check the goals against achievement. In time you won’t have to manage accountability—your employee will assume this responsibility and keep you informed.
3. Elevate your communication and relationships.  Once goal setting is ingrained you and your team member can focus on building your business and their role in your company.

This process applies easily to remote workers using phone and email to communicate.)

Watch your team members burst with pride as they set and meet goals and ultimately, focus on the highest priorities.  

What would your business be like if your team focused on the highest priorities and felt accountable for the timely completion of work before it escalated to emergency status?