How can we improve speed?

Speed will differentiate us from the rest. Speed will make us grow. Speed will give us options. Speed is important. Then how can we improve our speed?

Imagination is a very large factor in improving speed. If you can imagine the following at the beginning of a particular engagement, you are 75% done with improving the speed;

1. Blue print of the results
2. Risks (Client's and our's)
3. Steps to reach the results

In other words, the faster you can imagine the above factors, the effective you can work. Spending 10 - 15% of your time in the beginning to imagine the above and consulting with your senior as necessary to verify what you have imagined is absolutely worth it.

Only after making sure of the imagination, should you spend a lot of time in a particular issue or step. There are usually several factors you will discover during the actual work that will make you change the steps you were supposed to take. There may be additional steps that may be required. You will need to be flexible and come up with an alternative which may be different from the steps you have imagined in the beginning.

Communication is a large factor in this also. Communication with the client, with your teammates needs to be to the point and without duplication.

As a summary, there are three elements described above that are absolutely necessary to improve speed; imagination, flexibility, and speed. All of the above needs to be practiced. Just doing the daily work is not enough. They need to be consciously reminded and put into practice in each engagement. If you have questions whenever you are trying to practice the above, let me know. I will be happy to give you some tips. It is one of my most important job description.

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