A key to working effectively is to do the right thing, the right way.
For this we like the acronym GPRS, meaning
- G - get your Goals straight
- P - know the Process you'll use
- R - Revalidate process with goals and expected resources
- S - now you can Start
This will assist you in preventing common pitfals like:
- doing something even though you misunderstood the intent of the task, thereby having done the wrong thing, being late and and wasting resources
- doing something the wrong way - forcing you to do it all over
- often the result is incorrect
- or it may be correct, but takes too many resources/time to do
- or it could be correct, but doesn't fit other parts of the work
More advantages to GPRS
- It allows you to quickly validate what you're about to do before you already invest time doing it.
- It helps you pre-assess if the time/resources you want to use are in any way realistic.
- It allows you to request more resources before you start, if necessary.
- This allows you to stop early, in case goals, process and resources don't match up. Because often a task is picked up thinking "it's just a quicky" but would actually not be relevant if it takes a lot of resources.