Any task is a combination of 3 pieces – preparation, action and follow up.
For a normal task, I typically find the rule of thumb to be 3x, 1x, 2x. So, if I’m preparing for a 1 hour call I will be facilitating, it would require 3 hours of preparation and 2 hours of follow up.
This will of course change a lot depending on the nature and importance of the task. For instance, for a certain monthly (very) senior management report on a project, the recurring theme was roughly 30x prep, 1x action, 4x follow up i.e. for a 1 hour presentation, roughly 30 hours were spent preparing and 4 hours spent following up.
The ratios may vary, but the takeaways are typically constant –
– The presentation/call/meeting/workshop are amongst the least important parts. Your performance on the day is only as good as your preparation and the effectiveness of what you did is only as good as your follow up.
– Preparation is hardly ever neglected. Follow up is! Great follow up makes a massive difference.
– The better you get at something, the less preparation you require. It’s vital to remember that it doesn’t mean you are putting in any less preparation, overall. It just means that you’ve done your time. That’s why great speakers can seem to “wing” it, every once a while.
Then again, Winston Churchill reminds us –
“It usually takes 3 weeks for me to prepare a good impromptu speech.”
What he left out was that it probably also took him 2 weeks to follow up..
A Learning a Day 