What are the key steps to becoming more productive when facing a new daunting project?

We all have experienced it. You are thrown into a new project, team, or role, and you're trying your best to make sense of this new environment. When asked to create your first product in your new atmosphere, the feeling of being overwhelming can sink in. Where do you start?

However, there are three simple steps that can lower stress and set you on the fast track to returning a product to your team members. The linear process proceeds as follows. First, you develop your product. Second, you must determine if your product met the necessary metrics to over exceed expectations. This stage requires a feedback loop to make iterations to your original product. Third, you continue to make adjustments until all of the pre-defined metrics meet the goal that your team leader has bestowed upon you.

But, in terms of terminating procrastination, the keys to getting off the launch pad for beginning a new product is to reverse engineer these three high level steps. Although this may seem common sense, the first step is to determine the goal and break it down, with the latter being more essential.

You're goal is to deliver a great presentation. How would a great presentation be determined? By feedback from the audience. What kind of feedback would be benevolent? Any improvement to the audiences line of business. What improvements can we make to their business? They have not been receiving the best financing options available. And there is the goal: improve the clients business's financing options. This process will truly narrow down what goal one must be accomplished.

The next step in the planning phase to becoming more productive in the face of a daunting project is to determine the metrics that will determine success. These should be quantifiable and measurable. The metrics should be testable and verifiable under the scientific method. Continuing off the previous example, specific financing option measurements should be noted in the presentation. But also, a quantitative way to measure audience engagement through questions asked should also be measured. These measurements can be taken by delivering practice presentations to peers.

Finally, the devil is in the details. It is time to start building this presentation or product. Remember, you have the defined metrics already. So, how can you build this product to meet those metrics. If one of your metrics is audience engagement through questions, then incorporate ways to interact the audience in your presentation. Do not just stand up there and blabber on, but instead, ask the audience questions as well.

In the end, reverse engineering is a successful method to use for a plethora of projects. When unsure of where to begin, ask yourself what the end product will accomplish? Then ask yourself, how can I measure whether my end product accomplished the goal I set? Finally, you have to just get started and begin building a product that answers those metric questions.