I can't help myself-- I had to post about pie on Pi Day (3.14). And if you've never tried a job pie, I highly recommend it! This team activity is perfect for alignment, time management, clarity, and engagement.
I adapted this from consultants at Korn Ferry. Leaders at my favorite berry company, Driscoll's, have been doing this activity with their global teams for years-- with great results!
So simple. So valuable.
So, how are you spending your time?
1. On a pie chart, map your day-to-day work activities and responsibilities. To begin, look at your calendar from the past month for a record of activities. Next, draw a circle (or open up Excel) and create a pie chart with different sections representing time spent.
For example, if you spend roughly 40% of your day on customer outreach and sales, make a "sales slice" that is a little less than half of the circle. If you spend 25% of your time in meetings, get more specific and look at the content of these meetings. Are most of your meetings around strategy? Employee development? Something that other people find important? Map it accordingly. Less important than exact percentages is the general gist of how you're spending your time. Be as objective and honest as possible. Once completed, this chart represents your real job pie.
Full disclosure: My job pie always has a small wedge called "looking for stuff."
2. Take a closer look. Would you order this pie in an employment restaurant?
- Which activities and/or categories are most motivating/satisfying to you?
- Which activities are less motivating/satisfying?
- Ideally, what do you need to expand, contract, or eliminate in order to be more successful at work?
3. Now it's time to create your Ideal Job Pie, a visual representation of how you would ideally be spending your time at work. Suggestion: If you're in a leadership position, make sure to include wedges for professional development and leading your team.
4. Finally, compare your two job pies, the real and the ideal.
Ideally, which activities or responsibilities would you release (to free up more time to focus on higher priorities or areas of engagement), protect (because they are essential to your job or bring you satisfaction), and/or add (in order to increase job effectiveness and satisfaction) so your ideal pie becomes a reality?
The only way to move closer to your ideal job pie is by making small shifts and changes.
I recommend doing this on your own first and then encouraging your team to draft and share theirs as well. It's not only a great way to drive engagement but is also a fun method for clarity and alignment when workgroups get to see what each other is doing and how they'd like to grow.
I have a lot of job-pie success stories to share if interested, as well as a one-pager on how to take this to your teams. Drop a question or comment below.