It’s perfectly acceptable to have high standards. There is nothing wrong with wanting to organize your day and move through it in an orderly pattern accomplishing everything on your to-do list. But, if what you are calling perfectionism is causing you to not deliver final products then you don’t have a problem with perfection, you have a problem with procrastination.
Procrastination comes from either the fear of failure or the fear of success. But what happens is that you or your team get so tied up in the details of something that nothing ever gets accomplished. You’re missing deadlines, you’ve been working on one project for three times as long as your schedule dictated, and you’re not doing well on getting anything done on time. This is a huge problem for you and your business.
To get over the perfection trap it’s important to accept that what you are calling perfection might not be perfection at all, but instead procrastination or it could just be under-estimating how long a project will take. Take a look at your calendar to find out what is causing the hold ups to get to the bottom of your situation. Let’s use the example of producing content. Every business today has to produce content to advance their business so it’s a good example.
Most businesses today have to publish some or all of the following content:
• Blog Posts
• Videos
• eBooks
• eReports
• White Papers
• Newsletters
• Podcasts
It’s also likely that each of these types of content have various teams working on them under various deadlines. Blog posts usually need to go out most often, and newsletters a little less often, but if you find that you’ve set up and missed your deadlines on any of this content and you are doing so on a regular basis it’s important to figure out what is happening and why you’re doing it. The fact is, without a good content publishing schedule your efforts will not be effective, so it’s important to get to the bottom of the matter.
Are Deadlines Realistic?
The first thing you can do is ask those who are late with their work why they are late. Is it an issue with the deadlines themselves? Perhaps two weeks was not long enough to produce a 50 page White Paper.
Is it a Personnel Issue?
There are times where one person can put a kink in the entire works of any business. Look at the late projects and check if it’s coming from the same department or people. Sometimes, believe it or not, it can be the project leader holding things up by not doing his or her part. If you’re the leader and you’re not giving your people the work they need to do, you need to get your stuff together so that everyone can manage their schedules better.
Is Your Content Focused?
Sometimes the reason content doesn’t get published regularly is that it’s not focused enough. A great example is the blog post. A blog post should be laser-focused on one topic and not a huge novel that goes off the rails. If you have that much content you should outline it, and then pick one point in the outline for each blog post. Alternatively, write a book, white paper, or report with the information, not a blog post.
Do You Have an Actionable Plan?
To be successful in any endeavor it’s imperative to have a plan. Creating plans and schedules will make you more productive if you also create actionable to-do lists along with your plans and schedules and ensure that your team is aware of the overall schedule and how each piece fits into the puzzle of the final deliverables.
Finally, let go of a little control over deliverables. Micromanaging isn’t the same organizing and planning. Trust the people you’ve put together to deliver quality work even if it might be a little different than how you might have done it yourself. Done, is often better than perfect because a well moving and flowing content strategy will always work better than one with so-called perfect content that doesn’t get out to your market.
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About: Pam Ivey International helps small business owners enhance their brand image, influence buyers, and generate revenue through comprehensive online marketing coaching and training programs. In real estate, we train and certify support professionals to become superior real estate assistants. We also publish Online Marketing Success Magazine – cutting-edge marketing content for business owners and those who support them.
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