The Clarity Time Machine HOW TO ‘CREATE’ TIME, GET CONTROL AND FOCUS ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT Your time is precious There are multiple techniques to ensure that you are making the most of your time Two important ways are through delegation and segmentation of tasks Clarity can help you identify the low-hanging fruit from your client base and delegate simple business advisory tasks confidently to your whole team We've put together a simple guide for doing both Ultimately, by removing the complexities, empowering and entrusting more work to your team, you will be making business simple and freeing up your time Follow our simple guides and jump inside the Clarity time machine welcome A powerful system for improving productivity Urgent Important Matrix The 7 best ways to claw back time Pro forma agendas incl our Post Accounts meeting agenda contents system to improve productivity Step 1: Make a list of everything you need to get done in the next month (that aligns with your goals) Step 2: Prioritize the top 3-5 tasks you must do tomorrow that will have the greatest impact on your primary goals – be realistic in your estimate of what can be accomplished in the day. Step 3: Work on the most important task until it is finished then move to the next one. Step 4: Whenever your mind strays to other things, take note of the priorities on your list and stay on task. Step 5: To manage your energy, after about 90 minutes of intense concentration, take a 10-minute break in which you do something to re-energize your brain (e.g., stretch, meditate, walk around the block.) Step 6: Don’t stop until you have finished all the tasks on your list - unless it’s impossible, of course. Step 7: List and prioritize tomorrow’s tasks, including any carry- forward tasks that could not be completed. a powerful system for improving productivity urgent important matrix The Urgent/Important matrix, made famous by Stephen Covey, helps you to work out what tasks you should be working on based on whether they are urgent or not and important or not. Urgent means that your attention is required immediately. Important means that it is essential to get you to where you want to go. Quadrant One means it’s important and urgent. An example is a problem, fire- fighting, or a deadline. These tasks cannot be left; otherwise, your business will fall down. You should do these things now. Quadrant Two means it’s important but not urgent. An example is goal planning or exercise. These tasks need to be done to accomplish your goals. You should plan time to do these. Quadrant Three means not important but urgent. An example is an interruption by certain emails, phone calls or attending certain meetings. These tasks tend to be urgent for other people, and they want these tasks to be urgent for you as well. You should find a better way of doing these tasks or stop them before they happen by automating, delegating, simplifying, systemizing, or eliminating them. Quadrant Four means not important and not urgent. An example is moving paper around, checking Facebook, or chatting around the water cooler. These tasks tend just to kill time but, in some circumstances, can be used as a reward for working on quadrant two tasks. You should exclude these altogether from your working day. The key to getting the right things done (Quadrant Two) is to schedule them and then do them first before anything else. Sometimes Quadrant Two items will become urgent, but they tend to be not urgent, and that is why this matrix is a powerful tool because you can identify the tasks you should be working on to get to your ideal future even though there is no real sign of urgency to do so. urgent/ important matrix important not important not urgenturgent 1 2 3 4 Analyse your time for a week seeing where you spend your time. Write each task that you do in the most fitting quadrant of the Urgent/ Important matrix with the number of hours spent. For example, if you were goal planning you would write that down in Quadrant Two with the amount of time spent on that task or if you were sending out sales invoices write that down in Quadrant One with the time spent. If you are not sure which box a particular task should go into then just use your best guess. At the end of the week total up all of the hours spent in each quadrant. Once complete, you will see what task you are doing, how much time you are spending on them, and what quadrant of the Urgent/Important matrix you are spending the most time in. You can then decide if that fits with what you should be doing and, if not, change how and what you work on. You will probably find that you work most in Quadrant One and Quadrant Three. Any time in your business that you spend in Quadrant Four can instantly be stopped, saving you the total time for that box. Just don’t do these tasks during the business day; save them for your downtime, or if you must do these tasks, schedule these into your day after Quadrant Two tasks are completed. Most importantly, try to schedule time so you can work on Quadrant Two tasks. A week may sound like a long time, but if it does, just do this task for a day. However, you will get more insight and more results by sticking to the week. But once you have done it for one day, you will be intrigued to see how the next day compares and will want to review the whole week. Also, a week will typically include the core of the tasks you complete. To be sure you can review your analysis of your time spent in a week and list any missing tasks that you complete on a regular basis completing the same analysis. matrix exercise 7 best ways to claw back time delegation segmentation spending your time in the business work on the important tasks at the right time for you systemization take a break best practice hints and tips your logo here 7 ways to claw back time Delegation is a great way to claw back time, but it has to be done correctly. It’s delegation, not abdication. To do delegation right, there are four levels: 1. Wait and don’t do anything until told by you, 2. Ask for your permission, then act, 3. Act and get your approval as work is being done, 4. Act and let you know about the task once it is complete. You can choose the most appropriate level of delegation depending on the team member and the task, but you will want to gradually move to a higher level where possible. The movement will come from learning from mistakes or learning and support from you or others within your business. Only tasks that could have a catastrophic impact on your business should be kept at a lower level of delegation to allow you or another manager to fix things if required before it is too late. As long as the results of their work and the time taken to get the results is good and the team follow the systems then that is fine, it doesn’t have to be perfect. When using Clarity, you can trust even your junior team members to be able to follow the numbers-led process within the app so you can delegate at level 4 for the team, going through your whole client base and seeing the top 10% of clients that will improve their business the most. And when the junior team members are speaking with their clients you can start at level 3 if you’re a little unsure, otherwise straight in at level 4. On low-level pieces of work, you can let your team deal with the problems themselves and let you or their manager know what they did after the work was completed. You want to empower your team to make decisions for themselves and create a safe environment so that if they do make a mistake, it is easily dealt with and that your business is a hotbed for learning from their mistakes. Trust your team to do what is required of them and do what is right for the business. If mistakes are made, they will be able to learn from it and update any systems that need updating. And finally, check out the 1-3-1 methodology for ensuring your team members come to you with well-thought-out solutions, rather than problems! delegation By segmenting your clients, you’ll know who are your best and not-so- great clients, and as a result, you’ll know how much time you and your team should be spending with each client. If you or your team are spending too much time with particular clients, then an adjustment needs to be made by either the client becoming a better client or by you and your team spending less time with them. Do this by scoring each client on different categories that are relevant to your business, such as paying on time, enjoying working with them, buying your top services/goods, using Clarity with you, attending your events, etc. Once you have your categories set, you can score each client and then create a grading score for what equals an A client, B, and so on. Clarity helps you segment your clients by seeing which clients have the biggest potential improvement and the clients you should be speaking with more to help them better. Once you have your clients in the relevant groups, you can then decide what to do. For example: A = spend more time with and help more B = help become A clients and/or keep them happy C = help become B clients and/or give the minimal service possible to keep them happy D = help become C clients and/or consider selling these clients to someone else who will treasure them or sack them. You and your team will then know where to spend your time. Check out the Clarity Client Grading Matrix and accompanying app. segmentation of customers/clients The Urgent/Important matrix, made famous by Stephen Covey, helps you to work out what tasks you should be working on based on whether they are urgent or not and important or not. See part 1 of the clarity time machine to see how you can use the Urgent/Important matrix in your business. Completing the matrix and tracking your time will let you know where your time is currently being spent and what you should be delegating. It involves spending time but is a goldmine of information. If you would like a time tracker template, contact #TeamClarity at info@clarity-hq.com for our spreadsheet. The key to getting the right things done (Urgent and Not Important) is to schedule them and then do them first before anything else. Sometimes, these items will become urgent, but they tend to be not urgent, and that is why this matrix is a powerful tool because you can identify the tasks you should be working on to get to your ideal future, even though there is no real sign of urgency to do so. Spend a week, or if you are really pushed for time, just a day, record your time on the time tracker and then plot those tasks in the urgent/important matrix. What tasks can you delegate, simplify or get rid of? spending your time ON not IN the business You, like everyone else, will have a time of day when you are in the zone. You have the most energy, and you are most aware and most able to get things done. Ideas pop out of your head, completed work seems to fly off of your desk, and you enjoy doing the work as well as the satisfaction of getting it done. This is your zone time, and this time should be reserved for all of your important work. Trying to do great work at any other time of the day is frustrating and wastes time. The time of day that you’re in your zone will be at the same time each day and will come in two waves, but the two waves differ regarding what work should be done in each. If you’re someone who gets up early, you’ll be better off doing analytical tasks in the morning along with making decisions. In the late afternoon/early evening, you’ll be better off completing insight tasks (e.g., brainstorming and being creative). If you get up late and have the most energy at night then you’ll want to do analytical tasks and decision-making in the later afternoon/evening, and the morning should be reserved for insight tasks. And if you fall somewhere in between, then your zone time will mirror someone who gets up early, albeit your analytical tasks and decision-making should be done early to mid-morning. By focusing on your zone times with the correct tasks, you’ll find they happen more quickly and are more enjoyable. As a result, you’re saving time and playing to your strengths. Yes, caffeine and other energy-boosting supplements can help to create your zone time artificially, but it isn’t the same, and it isn’t sustainable to eat or drink things to achieve this. Also consider your quality and quantity of sleep because this will impact your energy levels. You will most likely have more energy and more mental clarity if you have had a restful eight hours of sleep rather than a disturbed night or only, say, four hours’ sleep. work on the important tasks at the right time for you Systemization is not only a great way to save time, but it also helps get the knowledge out of your own and your key team members’ heads and share it with everyone on your team. It also makes delegation much more manageable because your team has a process to follow to get the same great results every single time. The best way to write systems is to get your team members to write down what they do step by step. Then, another team member can follow the process and make amendments where required so that after 2 or 3 attempts, you have a good enough system for the relevant team members to use. You can prioritize what systems to write first based on what you found out from point 3 above. It’s as simple as that. But if you did want a more detailed 3 step ‘how to’ guide to writing a system, you can find it in the Clarity AdvisorU. systemization It may be necessary at times to work solidly for days on end but continue too much and you’ll break in one way or another because your mind and body need to rest and recover. Especially to function at your optimal level. Elite athletes will train hard but they’ll also have rest and recover as a big part of their training schedule to make sure they don’t get an injury or worse burn out. It’s while you are away from your business that you get the best ideas or find a solution to a problem because you have the time to think. You will also feel more energetic towards work after having a break or doing something that you enjoy. But taking a week-long holiday after 12 weeks of flat-out work isn’t sufficient to recharge your batteries. You should be resting and recovering each day. Simple things like 10-20 minutes of daily meditation, eating your lunch away from your desk, and taking a walk outside in nature will all help. When was the last time you took a break? take a break Here are some tips/hints to help you to be as productive as possible and give you more time without distractions: Turn off Outlook and all notifications. Only check and respond to emails twice a day, say at 11:30 and 15:00, for up to an hour each. The above applies to social media and other messaging apps you use too. Have your mobile phone on Do Not Disturb all day and only use it when you need to. Have your landline phone on Do Not Disturb and schedule (me during the day when you’ll make and receive calls. Have your team only speak with you when they have at least two solutions for the question they have (they should be asking you, “I’m going to go with this solution, is that ok?”) and at a specific time during the day. You can book time in the diary for your important and not urgent work, which may be first thing in the morning, so it's completed as early as possible. If you haven’t yet signed up to Clarity to help you make more money and save time with repeatable business advisory, then head to www.clarity-hq.com and get started. If you need help with your account, raise a support ticket or get in touch with your Member Success contact. OR, register for our next Unleash the Heroes event - https://pages.clarity-hq.com/heroes This practical hands-on online workshop is for the leaders of accounting firms who want to realise the true potential of your client base and your team. And, for those who want to finally crack the advisory “nut” with a structured, consistent, and profitable way of working. The event is generating firms 3x profits, engaging and retaining their team, and making clients happy - starting from just 90 minutes per week. https://pages.clarity-hq.com/heroes best practice hints and tips post accounts meeting agenda agenda post accounts preparation meetings with XYZ Company on XX date Review the previous Action Planner Any challenges/opportunities to discuss? Asked before the meeting and added Profit Review, Financial Performance Review, Benchmark and strategies Business valuation and systemisation Personal balance sheet and inheritance tax Compare current performance to endgame Goals for the next 12 months Some key questions: a. Retirement plans? b. Do you have a will? Is it up-to-date? c. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 is very unhappy, 10 is delighted), how happy are you with your (and why); i. Bank Managera. ii. Solicitorb. iii. IFAc. iv. HR Specialistd. v. Pension Providere. Action Planner Are you happy? your logo herepost accounts meeting agenda Do you find it hard to get things done for your business? Are you too bogged down with the daily to do lists? The quickest way to implement is to delegate. Clarity can help you claw back time in your firm by giving you the peace of mind that your team has a trusted system to work from. Here is an example accounts meeting agenda from our AgendaCreator that you can work through with your team: Compliance is not dead. However, studies show that firms who introduce a repeatable business advisory service triple their profits. Traditional business advisory In the past, traditional business advisory hasn't properly leveraged the right combination of people, processes and technology. It has been heavily reliant on partners or managers to deliver, there isn’t enough time, it's difficult to scale, and only the top 10/20% of clients can typically afford it. Repeatable business advisory Clarity® is the complete business advisory platform that can help you introduce and create a profitable, repeatable and scalable business advisory service for your firm. We help progressive accountants market, sell, price and deliver re-imagined business advisory services at scale. From 90 minutes per week Starting from just 90 mins a week for the first three months, our simple step-by-step implementation plan, coupled with our education systems and member success team, will ensure you generate $37k/£30k/AU$60 GRF, or your money back. Thereafter, we help you build a well-respected and successful transformational accounting firm that earns three times your existing profit with a happier team and clients. Clients love it and ‘get’ it Our multi-award winning solution creates significant value for your small business clients, at a price they’d love to pay. Contact us Why not book a discovery call with one of the team to see what a difference Clarity could make to your firm? www.clarity-hq.com