I’ve read How to be a Productivity Ninja this year in a bid to become more productive. The author, Graham Allcott, shares some strategies for making the most of your time, one of which is the CORD model of productivity. I think this is a great tool for project managers so here is a brief explanation of what it is all about.

C: Capture and Collect

In this step you capture all the stuff that you think you might have to do, or useful notes. In the project environment, that could be notes from a chance conversation in the corridor with your project finance manager, or the minutes of your project board meeting. It could also be emails, post, things that come up from phone calls or ideas that you get in the shower about how to deal with that difficult project risk. Anything, really.

O: Organise

The next step is to organise those thoughts, notes and ideas. First, consider if any of the material you have collated requires an action. If it doesn’t, it can be binned or filed for future reference. Only keep things for reference if you really feel you will refer to them. It might be worth starting a file of ‘useful ideas’ for this that you can go back to so that they don’t clog up your email box or a To Do app.
If there is an action to do, does it have to be done by you? If not, delegate it to the right person and make a note to follow up with them later. If it does have to be done by you then you’ve got three actions to complete:

  • Add it to your master To Do list so that you don’t forget to do it. Prioritise it at the same time in case it has to be done urgently.
  • Incorporate it into any wider project plan if necessary.
  • Note the deadline on your calendar (if it is already on your project plan then you wouldn’t need to do this).

This is the way that you build up your list of tasks and keep on top of work that is yet to be started but has an upcoming deadline.

R: Review

Review your master To Do list regularly. Allcott recommends daily and weekly reviews to ensure that everything is managed appropriately and you aren’t forgetting anything. He is also a fan of checklists to make sure that routine tasks are completed. For example, on your project you might have a weekly checklist that covers making sure risks have been reviewed, the plan reviewed, vacation time requests approved and that all issues are being managed. Put some time aside at the same time every week (I like to do this on a Friday) and go through your checklist. Then you can go into the weekend and start the next week knowing that you are on top of everything. You’ll also easily be able to see what your Monday morning priorities are.
If there are tasks for other people that you have noted, chase them up as and when you need to. Depending on who they are and what they are doing you might have to chase them up several times!

D: Do

Action what is on your To Do list! Start with your priority work. Allow time in the day for other, urgent things to come up so don’t pack your day with meetings or your tasks to do today will spill over into tomorrow. Cross things off as you complete them (whether you do this online via an app or project management software or on a notebook is up to you). I find crossing off tasks very satisfying.
This is a good way of structuring your work and is probably very similar to the informal techniques you use today. The interesting part for me was to create a list of things I am waiting on other people for so that I can delegate and then “forget”. As the list is written down (or in my case on email) I can easily check what I’m waiting for from my project team at any point.