Reset and refresh your technology goals this September

As a team, at Propel Tech we often see that in September businesses review and reset momentum towards their business and technology goals, take on new technology learning and focus on sorting technology processes in the run-up to the end of the calendar year.

Propel Tech supports clients to continuously develop the right technology throughout the year, however, we also associate September with renewed vigour and refreshed focus. September is always jam-packed and a time for building to the end of the year, sharing and recommending ideas.

We asked our team how they planned to reset goals this September, and if they had any hints or tips to share. The Propel Tech team adopts a number of tactics, from reviewing and cancelling unproductive meetings, using learning apps, re-prioritise workloads, setting new objectives, creating to-do lists and scheduling breaks and team catch-up sessions.

Propel Tech team's tips for resetting goals this September:

• Review - Review backlog and new projects forecast and set goals to reprioritise getting all done in accordance with the resources available.
• Plan - Focus on a to-do list, making a plan or setting realistic current goals.
• Learn - Read new stuff and sign up for newsletters to keep ahead - sign up for free training.
• Check - Take stock of what you have achieved so far this year, and feel proud of this before looking at what needs prioritising by the end of the year.

Our go-to resources to help you to do a September reset:

Blogs - In technology change is constant, so we keep ahead by reading blogs from technology providers and experts alike, this helps our team refocus - Notion, Jira/Confluence, Progress, Community forums and blogs for systems updates or tips and tricks to improve processes are top of this list.

Learning - there are a plethora of resources that help in specialist areas, our team recommend Pluralsight for tech training, Laracasts to learn Laravel, LinkedIn Learning for up-skilling & Calendar for priority management and CompTIA Sec+ app for exam prep.

Simple planning frameworks -If your to-do list is long or lost its way a simple framework can help - For example setting and reviewing OKR’s Objectives and Key Results on a weekly basis.

“OKR (Objectives and Key Results) is my best choice as I can define measurable goals and then track my personal/team outcome. Also it helps me to identify if any extra effort is required.”

Propel Tech team's top advice for refocusing your goals.

Be realistic - Set realistic goals, and include contingency time in your planning - plan no more than 80% of your day.

Break it down - Break down your tasks into subtasks and go through your list, keep track of what you have done each day so even if you don't get through many items on your list, you feel like you've had a productive day.

Be meeting savvy - Meetings can eat into you day - don't have meetings that don't add value.

Keep a record - Get in a habit of documenting work as this saves time if you are working on projects that stop and start.

Keep motivated - Use Post-it notes to motivate and remind yourself not just of the work you need to do but the things you have already achieved.

Teamwork - work as a team and don't take too much on, log all your Project/tasks backlog + all new already planned tasks as a team.

Remember your "why"- Keep a focus on the Personal/Professional achievements you are planning, and keep motivated.

“Ask the question, "why am I refocusing now?". If it's part of a routine - fine. If it's "because summer is over", take a look at better ways to continually manage them. (And if it's because your boss keeps changing them, have a chat with them about how they manage goals).”

Avoid obstacles - Write down all blockers that can affect your plan (can be a knowledge gap, little or no resource available) and plan for how you would deal with issues in advance.

Set out actions - Write down HOW you will remove the blockers and WHEN - Planning a target date is very important to help you create your strategy to clean the path for your plan to be executed and concluded.

“Allocate a couple of hours a week to work towards your goals, and make sure that you stick to it.”

If you are looking to reset a technology project and renew your technology focus our team are experts across technology platforms and offers expert strategy, delivery and support to a diverse range of clients - helping them to move their business forward and smash their technology goals. To find out more contact the team here at Propel Tech.