Development – Internal

February is devoted to developing – your career or your business.  The first step in development is to strengthen your infrastructure.  Here are some tips for individuals and for businesses.

Individual infrastructure

Tip 1:  Systems – Creating systems can smooth recurring functions in your life.  For example, select the clothes you’ll wear the next day before going to sleep so you won’t fumble around in the morning.  Place whatever you need to take with you by the door.  Have one afternoon each week to get all your errands done.  Systemizing routine functions can free up your mind and your time to concentrate on developing yourself.

Tip 2:  Mind – Exercise and challenge your mind on a regular basis.  Be curious, ask questions, google, read, take a class.  The more you can exercise your mind the stronger it will be.  Commit to being a life long learner and opportunities will open up for you.

Tip 3:  Body – Exercise on a regular basis.  Yes this will help your career.  If you can’t take care of yourself, how likely is it that you can take care of other things in your life, such as your career.  Your energy and stamina will be ready to take care of anything that comes along.

Tip 4:  Obstacles – Have you been working on strengthening a weakness?  Consider abandoning that path and concentrate on strengthening what you’re really good at.  Specializing in the areas you really enjoy creates an expertise that few can touch.  It’s a great way to get noticed.

Business infrastructure

Tip 1:  Systems – Automate what you can, organize your office, your day and your week to be as efficient as possible.  Hire a professional organizer – the returns could be enormous.  Consider assigning someone to the task of work flow director to review what everyone is spending their time on.  Evaluate the cost (time and resources) and the benefit (the return on that time and those resources).  Eliminate where you can.

Tip 2:  Training – Encourage cross training of all functions in your organization.  Bring in outside trainers for a new perspective.  Develop your staff to be the best that they can be.  Hire a coach for your star performers.

Tip 3:  Balance – Examine the demands that you’re placing on yourself and others in the business.  When you email and text staff outside of your normal business hours you’re conveying they should be available all the time – creating tremendous stress.  When employees are at work, they should work – when it is their personal time, leave them alone.  Encourage vacations without a check in so your employees and you can reenergize and return refreshed.

Tip 4:  Products – Have at least an annual review of the products and services that you offer.  Prepare the cost and benefit analysis on all of your offerings.  Often organizations can invest too much on something with little return – because they’ve always done that.

Do you have any tips on strengthening your own infrastructure?  On your organization’s infrastructure?  Leave your comments below.

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