The 80/20 Rule

By Heather Colquhoun

The 80/20 rule says that approximately 80% of the results come from 20% of the input. It has been said that 80% of fat comes from 20% of your food, 80% of profit comes from 20% of a company's clients and 80% of your quality output comes from 20% of your activities. This fraction is applied in many situations.

The point of focusing on the 80/20 rule is to call attention to the things that produce the best results. It is not about doing more things; it is about doing more of the right things.

Step 1: Determine where your daily activities fall.

The first step to applying the 80/20 rule in your life is determining what activities fall within the 80% category and which fall in the 20%. The things that fall in the 80% category are the tasks you do that take a lot of time and effort but produce moderate results. In comparison the 20% category is filled with responsibilities that take less effort and turn out great results.

Start by making a list of the all of the things you do that produce moderate results. These tasks are often items that:

• Someone else wants you to do.

• Seem to take a lot of time and are draining.

Are there tasks that always manage to fall to the bottom of your list until there is a firm consequence for not getting it done? These belong in the 80% category. Things you enjoy doing and become energized from belong in the 20% category . These are the tasks producing 80% of your success.

Step 2: Focus on your strengths.

Examine your 20% list; you should find the activities in this list revolve around or are closely tied to your strengths. According to Marcus Buckinghamm, author of several books including “Now, Discover Your Strengths,” to be the most efficient, you need to focus more time and energy on improving your strengths than you spend on addressing your weaknesses.

You need to invest exponentially more time in getting moderately better at something you are bad at than the time you need to improve your strengths. For example, if one of your strengths is connecting with clients one-on-one and one of your weaknesses is giving group presentations, you could spend hours upon hours practicing for a presentation. This practice will yield some improvement. However, if you have an associate who is great at giving presentations and you concentrate on improving your already strong networking skills (both which are essential to your relationship with a client) you will be more successful in the end.

Step 3: Find someone better than you to do the 80%.

To spend more time focusing on the tasks that produce the best value, chances are you will need to find someone to take on the responsibilities that are on your 80% list. There is someone who is better for this job or more motivated to do it than you are. Find that person and those tasks and give them up. If you are having trouble letting go and delegating ask yourself:

• Is there someone better at this task than I am?

• What could go wrong if someone else does this job?

• If something does go wrong will the mistake be caught?

• If a mistake isn't caught what will the consequences be?

If you can live with the answers to the above questions, delegate the task or it will continue to be the part of your 80% that drags you down, taking away from your resources to work on your strengths.

Step 4: Make the most of the time you have.

Finally, you may not be able to get rid of all of the things that take up your time and effort. Spend the time you need to on these tasks. Do not spend the time you have for them. If it takes you an hour to pay your bills each month but you have two hours chances are you will use the time that you have allotted. Be realistic and determine how much time your 80% tasks should take you, set a timer and get it done in that time. It will leave more time for your 20% tasks, becoming stronger in the areas that produce valuable results.

Optional: An Email Diet?

Do 20% of your e-mails already produce 80% of your results? If so put your team on an e-mail diet. Ask them to reduce the amount of time they spend on e-mail. E-mail is a primary form of communication; however, it often takes longer than speaking to someone in person. One way to reduce time spent on e-mail is to stop "e-mail conversations." Anytime an "e-mail conversation" goes on longer than two replies around one topic, stop typing and pick up the phone. Most people are more effective at communicating their point verbally, there is less chance of misinterpretation, and a decision can be made more quickly than the endless structure of "write, edit, send, wait for reply, read, decide what to say, write, edit."

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Heather Colquhoun is the Director, Training & Development at Kaleidoscopic Consulting, a training and consulting company specializing in elevating organizations to peak performance through conflict management, diversity awareness, and teambuilding. She can be reached at (416) 238-7454, by email at Heather@kscopic.ca or via the Web site at www.kscopic.ca.

Published in Networking Today, June 2007