Hey Reader!

Last week I had to actually tell one of my employees to slow down.

I’d just wrapped up a meeting with her and another employee when I saw emails flying out already based on the tasks she needed to get done. She was also very proud to share in our group chat and I could tell she wanted recognition from me and her peers. Maybe she wanted us to think she was on top of things. Maybe she wanted to prove she could do it faster than someone else. Maybe she wanted to show she can handle more workload than others. I can’t say for certain what her internal motivation was.

Unfortunately, by caring too much about speed and not the quality of her work, she ended up making mistakes. She miscommunicated things in an email. She didn’t loop in the proper people. She skipped small but important steps. In fact, extra work was created because she hadn’t taken the time to think through what she was doing.

I had to have a private call with her to stop her from continuing down this path for the rest of the week. I was very direct with her and let her know, while I appreciate her desire to get things done, her speed doesn’t impress me. It instead demonstrates bad work habits that will actually cause her to struggle rather than succeed.

Many people do the same thing each day at work, and may not realize how it’s hurting their career. They’ve gotten into this mindset of needing to do everything rapidly. To be the first to answer a question. To stop what they’re doing to jump on a new request. To cram as much as possible into a single day. To be faster than everyone else even when there's no deadline and has no impact on the outcome. There is a misappropriation of the words hustle, grit, momentum, grind, time management, etc.

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How many of you are operating at this 65+ mph speed all day?

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​Instead, of trying to be fast focus on these actions:

• Double-check your work to make sure there are no errors.
• Review your emails to make sure your verbiage is clear and concise.
• Give thought to how your actions impact others on your team.
• Make sure your work is actually meeting the objective/purpose that was requested.
• Be intentional when you speak to someone on the phone or in a meeting.
• Demonstrate your thought process about your decisions.

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I’m going to tell you the same thing that I had to tell my employee. The quality of your thoughts, actions, and words are going to get you much farther than being fast. How can you be trusted with more opportunities and higher impact projects when you’re starting with bad habits now?

I’m not saying to NEVER move with urgency. There’s a balance of having a sense of urgency vs making good decisions. When you slow down and create better results, you reduce the time on the back end, the extra conversations from miscommunication, the added stress you feel from making a mistake. When you slow down and create better results, you get recognized differently, you feel more confident about your work, you get more opportunities.

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I challenge you to slow down this week and really ask yourself what value are you adding by being fast? What assumptions or expectations do you have that are stressing you to think you have to behave this way?

Reply and share your thoughts.

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Check it Out!

​Watch my video: Manage Your Time to Reduce Stress at Work

​Sign up for my webinar: Talking to Your Boss with Confidence. Save the date! Thursday, April 6th 12 - 1pm MST.

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What Would Jovita Do?

I’ve been in that place where I felt like I had to move fast because there was just so much that needed to be done each day. Now, I use one question to help me prioritize my tasks when things start to get overwhelming: ‘what is the impact if I don’t get this done today?’

By asking this question, I quickly realized so many things I thought needed to be done by a certain time or certain day actually didn’t. I was rushing to get something to my boss even though he wasn’t planning on looking at it for several days. I was rushing to get something to a client even though they weren’t expecting it that quickly and had no preference. I was trying to respond to emails, chats, texts, etc. as soon as they came up to give the perception that I’m available and willing to help.

When I don’t get a low impact task done, you know what happens? Nothing. Getting the report to my boss a day later had no change on when he was planning to review it. Getting something to a client on time (but not early) didn’t change their satisfaction with our services. Not responding to people the second they sent me something didn’t make them think I was unhelpful.

What does happen is that I feel a lot better about my day, I have better energy, and I better handle my emotions because I’m not rushed.

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Pro Tip

​Grab my smart goals and success habits guide to write out the bad habits relating to speed that you need STOP doing, plus add in the good habits you need to START doing. I already got you started with the six above.

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Make today great!