The Key Areas
The main purpose of the key areas division is to help you reach your goals, set priorities, and give you an overview and control. The key areas section tracks major tasks and projects you need to refer to repeatedly.
There are 10 "areas", called the Key Areas for your responsibilities. 9 of them are numbered areas that you can customise, and one is dedicated to new ideas – marked with a light bulb.
- The 9 numbered key areas divide your tasks into 9 main categories. Each key area can have one or more lists of tasks that belong to that area. In the Ideas key area, you can make a note of your ideas as they occur to you.
- For each major task, you can make a list of activities which describe what is to be done, who is to do it, and when. Insert the activity form behind the task list to which it belongs.
In your profile, you will find a "table of contents", the key areas you can always edit and modify. This is meant to give you an overview of your key areas. Working with key areas, tasks, and activities enables you to focus on details without losing the overview and to do the right things without falling into the activity trap.
Use the Triple view in the Key Area section to display the Key Areas – Tasks – Activities on one screen.
Determine your key areas using the following procedure:
- Are you a manager/supervisor?
Possible Key areas would include: Staff. Staff/organisation. Staff relations/effectiveness; e.g., Sales force, sales force relations/effectiveness, etc. - Do you have financial responsibilities?
Possible Key areas would include: Finance. Finance/administration. Costs. Profitability. Budget/follow-up. Prices (e.g. production costs, sales prices, etc.) - Do you have administrative responsibilities?
Possible Key areas would include: Administration. Administrative tasks/responsibilities/routines; e.g. personnel administration, salaries, maintenance, buildings, machinery, administrative systems, procedures, etc. - Are you responsible for projects/major one-off tasks?
Possible Key areas include: projects, customer tasks, development projects, stakeholder tasks, sales campaigns, marketing projects, and employee tasks such as selection and onboarding. - Do you have internal communication and coordination responsibilities?
Possible Key areas would include: Internal relations. Internal communication/co-ordination. Relations: manager/colleagues; e.g. board, management team, branches/divisions/subsidiary/parent company/panels/committees. - Do I have external communication and coordination responsibilities?
External relations, external communication, e.g. customers, suppliers, business associations, dealers, authorities, organisations, institutions, panels, committees. - Are you responsible for development, improvements, and new methods?
Possible Key areas would include: product development, technical development, method development, market development, organisational development, and systems development. - Are you responsible for long-range planning?
Possible Key areas would include: Strategic planning, future/development/ideas. Strategies. - Do you have any special functions or fields of interest? Locations/offices?
Possible Key areas would include: Special fields of interest, position of trust, directorships, politics, associations, interest groups, training, freelance work, etc. - Is professional development particularly important for you?
Possible Key areas would include: professional updating, state relevant type.
Reserve at least 1 or 2 key areas for "Personal Development", Family and friends", Personal finances", "Home", "Hobbies" or other key areas related to your private life.
The last Key Area in Practical Manager is predefined and locked for innovative ideas. Make a habit of writing your good ideas immediately into this Key Area, and make sure that way you can forget them. You will be always able to reflect and remind yourself again about each idea you get. When you feel it's appropriate time, move them to a corresponding Key Area to start working on them.
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