The Virtual Whisperer 3 — Time Management, RASI, and Accountability

One of the things about working virtually is that accountability becomes crystal clear.

There’s something about being in a physical office that’s a head-fake around getting stuff done. Activity and presence can blind results and people can “hide” by being front and center. In a virtual environment, it works the opposite way. This was especially true when we couldn’t see one another because the phone was all we had for communicating and holding conference calls. Oddly enough, in this situation, people were way more “visible” — especially when they didn’t deliver

To keep the business moving and everyone aligned when working virtually, pay attention to these three specific tips for making sure things get done.

Time Management

I mentioned earlier in the week the need to establish expectations about when people are on, off, or expected to be present. Managing time and organizing your day are very important in a boundaryless environment — with Slack, email, and so many other channels, it’s essential to establish a rhythm and set time aside to focus.

Make sure you hold regular meetings and then break your day into routines. As I wrote in my book, Magic in the Mundane, I reserve Mondays for admin time. This is when we start the week, hold exec team meetings, do one-on-ones, and set up the week ahead. Tuesdays through Thursdays I’m doing client, market, or product-facing work — think revenue generation. Fridays I catch up, wrap phone calls I couldn’t get to earlier, or handle the details of client follow-up.

I book calls only between 9 am and 1 pm — when we could have lunch, one of those appointments would be lunch with clients. I don’t book back-to-back calls, so I can breathe, follow-up, or take a “bio-break” between meetings. Afternoons are for project time: This is easier done in California when my largely UK and east coast client base has signed off. By 3 pm, I’m out taking the dogs for a walk.

I don’t do internal/admin-type calls during the week. People within the company know to email me if it’s urgent and related to something that’s not client-driven.

However you do it, put structure into your day and week.

Clarify Who Does What

In a virtual environment, knowing who to call to get things done, resolve issues, or complete projects is essential. We use a RASI model that specifies roles and responsibilities for each task:

· Responsible: Who is responsible for completing a task or project.

· Approving: Who provides go / no-go approval for the item.

· Supporting: Who plays a supporting role to assist in the task’s completion.

· Informed: Who is kept informed about progress or task completion but doesn’t play an active role.

We document all our key workflows in a policy document that we call the Outsell Grail. It’s a handy reference guide for new team members and a place to refer when we can’t reach one another.

This can also be set up on a Slack channel and easily updated. Some use wikis. We didn’t, as it didn’t work for us — that’s another post — but it’s fine if it works for you. However you do it, ensure that you have clarity around who to call for HR, benefits, IT support, ordering supplies, getting expenses reimbursed, and anything else. This is more easily done in smaller companies, but it’s essential everywhere, especially now that we are all operating from distant locations.

Focus on Accountability

Activity isn’t what matters at any time in business, and that’s especially true in a crisis: It’s outcomes that matter. People must be clear about what’s expected, must agree to it, and then must routinely provide updates in whatever way works for the organization and leadership structure. Having clarity always helps people succeed.

At a time like this, it’s essential to look at throughput. Are people focused on return on effort? Are they focused on delivering against key outcomes? Are those outcomes and scorecards visible? I heard once that A-players love being measured publicly. They thrive on it.

Make sure your organization is posting results and that everyone knows who’s doing what. It breeds success.