Thriving under Pressure - Antifragility in Practice

Last month I asked the question if we are busy or productive. Today, I want to share how this works in practice based on 'Thriving under Pressure' workshops we conducted. At the start, it is important to note that we are not trying to reduce the pressure - here is why.

The first question we asked ourselves, where does pressure come from? The answers clearly indicated that the pressure is created mostly by externalities: competing priorities, work-life balance, various stakeholders, etc. This means, we can't simply take away that pressure. Though, there are means to reduce the stress that this is causing.

One interesting source of pressure shows a different light on the challenge: 'high expectation from myself'. And yes, that is the one part of the pressure we can influence. But how?

In the previous post we talked about: know your priorities, big rocks first, experiment and reflect & energise. How did we apply these in the context of our daily work? Here some thoughts and suggestions:

• In your team, conduct a conscious discussion what the team's priorities are: for this quarter, for this month, for this week
• During this discussion, create transparency on how external priorities are impacting and influencing your team's priorities; translate these external expectations instead of simply following them; this creates ownership
• Create an understanding that these priorities can evolve and sometimes drastically change; for example when we have a production issue, then we pause all previous priorities and the new priority is that issue. For sure, this is a natural thing, at the same time it is important to make this decision conscious; and then come back to the previous priorities.
• Facilitate the 'digestion' of the team's priorities to individual priorities; how does every team member contribute to the overall objectives
• Each individual can then create a list of priorities and block time in the calendar to work on those; a good reminder is that we can only tackle a maximum three priorities per day
• On a team level, plan your next month and quarter, when are you working on which priorities? It is very useful to minimise the topics you are tackling in parallel; consciously plan what comes first and what you will work on when number #1 is finished.
• Continuously interact with your customers and stakeholders to understand if you are on the right path; verify your assumptions and test your solution ideas frequently. This ensures that we reduce wasted efforts and we can deliver quickly.
• As a foundation, it is important to maintain your energy; on a personal level, define small breaks in your daily schedule
• As a team, regularly reflect on the way of working; celebrate achievements even when small; ensure this way of working is joyful and positive.
• Consciously work on the relationships in the network in the organisation and beyond; establish regular meetings and go beyond the hard delivery focus; we are all people.

How are they linked to antifragility? Hive17 Consulting works with four pillars that are spinning the wheel of antifragility: purpose, customer value and experimentation are defining how we are setting our priorities and executing based on them. The fourth pillar is the foundation: the relationship bonds are crucial to maintain positivity and a healthy way to collaborate in environment of crisis.

How do you apply these elements to stay productive?