Starters vs. Closers

Are you a Starter or a Closer?

Starters

1. Arrive at work with no set goals for the day. You would like to get something done, but don't have a plan.
2. Spend most days adjusting to the time demands of others. Your agenda is set for you, not by you.
3. Typically have many tasks in progress at any one time. And they're ALL important.
4. Prefer to do things yourself, rather than delegate them, because others wouldn't do as good a job as you would (if you had the time).
5. Intentions are noble, but deadlines are frequently missed.
6. Always find the time to begin a new task, but can't find the time to complete an existing one.
7. Have difficulty saying "No" to others' demands.
8. Are more of a "go with the flow" person than someone who "makes waves".
9. Hold the belief that if you're putting in 40 (or more) hours of work, you're doing your job.
10. Tend to do more "gathering of information and reporting" than "doing".
11. Count meetings as "work" - even if they don't accomplish anything.
12. Spend a portion of every day explaining to others why something isn't done yet.
13. Tend to be an individual problem solver and tend to "reinvent the wheel".
14. Starters try to eat the whole elephant in one sitting. You see large projects as daunting, difficult and have difficulty breaking a project into smaller manageable tasks.


Closers

1. Arrive at work knowing exactly what needs to get done.
2. Are in control of their daily schedule - will refuse (or counter-propose) meetings if they jeopardize a deadline.
3. Are focused on a few important tasks and have the discipline to defer less important tasks.
4. Can effectively delegate tasks and get things accomplished with their team. They understand that even if the task might not be (initially) done to their standards, that providing a learning opportunity to a junior member of the team will both advance the completion of the task and better prepare your team for the next one.
5. Deadlines are personal. Making and meeting a commitment is very important to you. Your reputation is on the line.
6. Are comfortable with prioritizing and helping others understand the difference between important projects and urgent projects.
7. Can gracefully say No to a request (or Yes, but not until Task A,B and C are completed).
8. You measure your job performance in terms of tasks and projects completed, rather than time spent.
9. You understand that by focusing on completing Project tasks on time, that the overall Project deadlines (milestones) manage themselves.
10. You are selfish with your time. If you're invited to a meeting that doesn't have a specific objective you ask the organizer for the meeting objective or don't attend. Not all meetings are bad. Just the ones that don't accomplish anything.
11. You're focused on the future but working in the present. (How do I get this task finished to get on with the next one?)
12. You want to get to the answer quickly. Don't have a problem in asking for expert advice if it moves the project forward. It's the answer that's important, not who provides it.
13. You view projects as the sum of their tasks.