Task management and decision making after entering a new industry.

Hello reader, my name is Peter and I’m responsible for Advertising Operations at Rebound Crypto. I wanted to share some thoughts on task management and decision making when you shift your focus to a completely new environment full of uncertainty.

Whenever you take a step towards something you are not that familiar with there is a hint of hesitation and the nagging worry of “will I succeed or fail?”. I’m here to tell you that it’s perfectly normal and not a cause for distress. When the environment changes and you are no longer surrounded by familiar concepts you should spend less time concerning yourself with emotions, and more time absorbing new information while determining the approach you want to take from a logical point of view. Emotional decision tend to lead to less desirable results when it comes to business practices, so the purpose of the write-up is to give you, the reader, some additional tools for tackling challenges I’ve been dealing with myself. Since the end of last year we took a big step towards establishing ourselves in a new scene, as a result I’ve been undergoing a crash course on everything crypto and blockchain related. I’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time but the learning has sometimes been overshadowed by feelings of uncertainty, which is quite common (at least according to the individuals I’ve talked to working in the industry).

Since the path is curved and has no clear line of sight, it is not possible to determine beforehand if a decision you make or don’t make will lead to success. Despite this the willingness to step out of the comfort zone is a must. To better organize your tasks and to make smarter decision, which ultimately leads to having a better understanding of opportunity cost surrounding said decisions you should first implement task management tools (in case you haven’t done so already). Based on personal experience using a Gantt-like chart to visually represent your workload can make a world of difference when it comes to seeing the bigger picture, while still paying close attention to the underlying details. Tools, such as Trello or Asana have free versions which you can use without problems until there is a need for complex project management tracking properties. As a person who is able to absorb much more information at a given time visually, these tools have been an important part of my project management skill set for a couple of years now. They’re easy to implement and even easier to manage, even for someone who has no past experience in project management.

Now that you’re tracking all of your tasks in this new environment you need to understand that most people have a harmful, deeply-rooted mental map called the “50/50 fallacy”. We tend to rely on the thought that 50 percent of causes or inputs will account for 50 percent of results or outputs. In a nutshell, whenever you set out to complete a task you will expect the task to generate an even amount of results based on the amount of effort you put in. According to the Pareto Law however (also known as the 80/20 Principle), two sets of data, relating to causes and results, can be examined and analyzed, the most likely result is that there will be a pattern of imbalance. What this means for you in practice is that roughly 20 percent of the tasks you complete this month, will result in 80 percent of the results you will observe next month. As such, it is crucial that you always keep the bigger picture in mind when choosing and/or completing your daily tasks. Not only that, but you should be often looking back on tasks you’ve completed in the past and measuring what sort of results these tasks have generated so far, giving you a better idea of what to expect when proceeding forward.

Another useful concept I’d like to share for sorting your tasks is the Theory of Constraints, it is a methodology for identifying the most important limiting factor (i.e. constraint) that stands in the way of achieving a goal and then systematically improving that constraint until it is no longer the limiting factor. In manufacturing, the constraint is often referred to as a bottleneck, but in the world of marketing we can look at it as a problem/difficulty that holds you back from getting best possible results through your work. To find out what’s causing the problems and solving them efficiently you can implement the following methodology:

• Identify — explore what is the single greatest issue hamstringing your current progress
• Exploit — make quick improvements by utilizing existing resources (i.e make the most of what you have)
• Subordinate — review supporting activities to said constraint to ensure that they are aligned with and fully support it
• Elevate — if the constraint still exists, consider additional actions to eliminate it, in some cases additional capital investment may be required
• Repeat — once an existing constraint is resolved the next significant constraint should assume its place, the main learning is to never become complacent

Over time this type of thinking and problem solving should become second nature, particularly once you’ve become more comfortable with your new surroundings and have a strong grasp on what’s happening around you. As I mentioned before, nobody can predict the future (even if they claim they can), but there are plenty of tools at your disposal to make better decisions right here and now. Practice makes perfect and all that, so if you haven’t started making improvements to how you approach your new problems start now and give your emotions the backseat.

You’re welcome to leave your comments and thoughts below!

Would you like to learn more about how the cut costs for your ICO? In this article we will teach you how to get a 80x increase in effectiveness in your marketing by integrating a Telegram bot in your marketing communication. Read the article by clicking the banner below.