In this Edition:
I was fortunate to attend ACA International’s convention in San Diego this past week. So much has happened in the past few days. When I arrived in San Diego, I had never even heard of CrowdStrike before. It seems laughable in retrospect.
Convention was a whirlwind of engaging conversations and exciting ideas. Connecting with and learning from the brightest minds in the industry is always a thrill.
But I often find that the abundant optimism and creative energy can quickly fade once the reality of re-entering the real world sets in. Sure, I have a wealth of new ideas, but how am I going to find the time to implement them when my to-do list is a mile long? After all, I have so much going on that I can barely keep up even when I’m not playing catch up after missing nearly a week of work. Did I mention that I have ten days’ worth of laundry to do?
This challenge is real. I’d wager that you’ve felt this way as well after missing work time for conferences, continued education, or even much-needed vacations. But difficulty also brings opportunity: An opportunity to differentiate ourselves by meeting the challenge and truly utilizing the newfound knowledge, ideas, and connections that we’ve made.
Think about it:
What percentage of your overall industry was present at the last conference you attended? 10%? Maybe less?
What percentage of the attendees will actually put to use everything they learned at the conference? 10%? Maybe less?
At this rate, if we challenge ourselves to act on this newfound knowledge, we will by definition be in the top 1% of the industry. This is where we differentiate ourselves - and take our companies, departments and even personal careers to the next level.
Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is only potential power. Action is power.
Here’s my personal plan for truly operationalizing all the ideas, knowledge and connections that came from this conference. Is it perfect? No. But it works for me, and it - or at least a similar approach - can work for you as well.
Follow up with connections. Check in with the new connections I made and the old connections I rekindled at the conference. I’ll do this within a week. Not a month from now or some even more nebulous time in the future. This needs to be done quickly enough before (1) I forget what I want to continue to discuss with the person or (2) I forget to do it entirely.
Triage my list of notes and action items. I’ll organize my entire list of notes and separate it into two sections:
Items that can be completed quickly (20 minutes or less). Think sending emails, making settings changes or delegating tasks to others within your office. These are my quick wins.
Items that cannot be completed quickly (more than 20 minutes). Think projects to research/prioritize, vendors to follow up with, or new initiatives to create. These are my projects.
Act on the quick wins. ideally within the first week. I want to feel the dopamine rush of getting these items off my to-do list. Another benefit is that others within my office can see some quick positive impact of my conference attendance.
Schedule time to work on the projects. I add the list of projects to my ongoing projects list, which is sorted by priority and urgency. I have dedicated project time allotted throughout the week, and this ensures that I will not lose track of these projects and that I will prioritize them appropriately.
PS: I was fortunate enough to present at Convention. My session focused exploring cheap/free technology to streamline workflows and strengthen attendees’ businesses. I truly believe that all companies - and departments within companies - can use technology to thrive, regardless of their size or resources. My mission was to prove this is possible and help the audience think creatively about how they can build better systems without significant time, financial or technical investment.
An expanded version of the presentation, complete with practical downloadable tools, is available for free on EngageARM.com.
Workflow Tip of the Week
Lightweight and audio recording software is cheap and easy to use. Even better, it is an absolute gold mine for creating efficiencies and adding personalization to your communications. If you’re new to this: Loom is the most widely used tool, but competitors like Vento work great too.
Some ideas to get you started:
Record your screen as you complete tasks, then embed the video in a written SOP to create an interactive training experience for your team, clients and customers.
Send short videos to replace trainings/communications that otherwise would be team-wide meetings.
Find it challenging to write that perfectly-worded email that just comes across as a little too impersonal anyway? Record a quick video instead.
Level-up your customer service by sending videos to your clients to celebrate wins, review reports together, etc.
Communicate better with your vendors by recording issues for troubleshooting.
I’d like to close this with a quick ask. If you enjoyed this, please share with a colleague and recommend that they subscribe for the newsletter at www.engagearm.com. If you disliked it, let me know why. All feedback is good feedback, after all.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Cheers,
Nate Kalnins