16 Mar A Weekly Focus
At any given moment partners have a lot to deal with: managing resources, staying focused on goals, getting along with each other, dealing with competing interests, handling upsets and simply getting the work done. There is a practice that partners can use to create a sense of continuity from week to week. It’s called “A Weekly Focus.”
I learned about “A Weekly Focus” at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the Colorado Rockies I noticed that the staff was extraordinarily cordial, personal, and crisp in service delivery throughout the resort. Intrigued, I asked the general manager how everyone was able to stay so focused and consistent. He suggested I attend their daily employee orientation meeting the next morning. That’s where I learned about the “Daily Focus Strategy”.
During the brief 15-minute meeting, the GM asked an employee to recite the organization’s mission statement, which was: “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” The GM then picked one of the mission’s 12 guiding principles as a daily focused action for that day. He chose, “Put a smile on every customer’s face through extraordinary service.” For that day, every employee would focus on giving extraordinary service that would win smiles from satisfied customers.
Partners may find it useful to create “A Weekly Focus” for them instead of a daily focus. You and your partner would choose a particular action to practice the entire week that would enhance the quality and power of your partnership. It could be something like, “Listen first, speak second” or “Keep every agreement.” A weekly focus provides an opportunity to more fully practice a key competence over a longer period of time. At the end of the week you could spend a few minutes together to assess the impact of your focused action. The following week you could choose another weekly focused action.
Bottom Line
- Look over the posts in this blog and select one to put into practice for a week. Ask your partner to join you in this practice.
- Each week, try another weekly focus to practice.
- Encourage others on your team to also practice the weekly focus. Make it a group effort.