The Smooth Operator’s Calendar

Last week, I wrote a little bit about the importance of documenting a set of operational protocols for your small business. This week, I want to take a closer look at how small business owners and executives can implement and manage these operational protocols, once they’re created.

The single most important tool for implementing and managing your operational protocols is a calendar. The smooth operator’s calendar is a highly functional, readily accessible, and easily updated structure for managing all things that occur in time. More than just a list of dates and appointments, the smooth operator’s calendar serves up reminders for all tasks that must be completed according to a schedule, and aids in the allocation of time for the workload at hand.

Think of it like an external hard drive for the brain. Our brains provide us with a certain amount of on-board memory, or mental resources, which we can allocate in whichever way we choose. All too often, people in leadership allocate a disproportionately large amount of “memory” for two very simple processes:

1. Remembering what there is to do at any given time
2. Worrying about forgetting to do something

These two processes together waste tons of mental energy. The smooth operator’s calendar offloads this work to an external structure, freeing up oodles of brain space for higher level functions, like communication, strategic thinking, and creative problem solving.

In order for a calendar to function well in this capacity, it has to have certain characteristics. A simple hanging wall calendar will not suffice. A day planner is slightly more functional, but it’s still very limited in its functionality. The best calendars I’ve seen are software programs like Microsoft Outlook, iCal, or Google Calendar.

All of these programs offer features which I consider essential to any smooth operator’s calendar. Namely, the ability to edit or reschedule events quickly and easily with the click of a mouse, the ability to schedule reminders and alerts, the ability to change views (for example, from one day at a time, to weekly or monthly), and the ability to sync up to mobile devices.

Why does all this matter, and what do calendars have to do with operational protocols, anyway?

The answer is simple. Operational protocols address the what’s, when’s, and how’s of running your business smoothly and effectively, but they only make a difference to the extent that they’re followed. To reap the full benefit of having well-documented operating protocols, you have to be able to “walk the walk”, not just “talk the “talk”!

By providing a structure that tells you what needs to be done (according to protocol) at any given time, a calendar makes it possible to run your business according to your standard practices and procedures, without having to constantly remember what to do, or worry about whether or not it’s getting done.

In part two of “The Smooth Operator’s Calendar”, I’ll provide some specific coaching on how to set up your calendar in a way that best supports the fulfillment of all of your operating protocols.

Continued…

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