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Managing Details: Focusing on the Little Things

Think of details as the glue that keeps projects, teams and entire organizations together.

As work piles up and deadlines loom, it gets easier and easier to fall behind and lose track of crucial details. By taking some time to develop systems and habits to manage these details, you can easily regain control of your tasks and better manage your time.

Here are a some ways you can become detail-oriented:

Always understand the bigger picture – Many details get prioritized incorrectly when people do not understand how their tiny specific task fits into the bigger picture. What happened before the task and what task will follow? Who does this task affect? What will happen if you forget this task? The answers to these questions will give you a better idea of their importance and a newfound respect for the little things.

Utilize systems – Keep notes for yourself online using a tool like Google Docs. Many times, taking a quick look at your upcoming schedule or to-do list the night before can help you get right down to business when you arrive in the morning. As well, online calendars/to-do lists can be tied to alarms that serve as a great way to remind you when a new step needs to be taken in a long-term project.

Create Physical To-Dos – If you have trouble keeping track of your to-dos online, a great system is a post-it-note to-do list. Whenever any task big, small or miniscule needs to be done write it on a small sticky note and put it on your wall or the inside of a manila folder.  You can organize these into labelled sections such as “today”, “this week,” and “as workload permits.” When you complete a task, crumple it up, tear it up, stomp on it a few times and throw it away – this is much more satisfying than highlighting a field and clicking delete.

Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes – Many times you make a little error, like forgetting to send a tiny email, and it affects your whole team’s workflow. If you own up to the mistake as soon as possible usually the error can be fixed and everything will be okay. This is what you should do. What most people do is hope the error is missed, forgotten and then swept under the table when the cleaning crew shows up on the weekend. This can easily start an avalanche capable of burying projects and whole work weeks. 

Relax for goodness sake – Feeling flustered? Are you missing things? Relax. Take a walk and think things over. Play some music. Drink some green tea. Peel an orange. Light some candles. All of these things can help you clear your head so you can focus.

The steps above will help you attain a greater attention to detail in your work and everyday life. As an Inclusion user, there are some key system features you can utilize as well to minimize lost details:

Internal messaging in scheduling – This feature allows users to quickly send messages to each other when working within the system. Not having to exit to an external email program means the issue is dealt with and not forgotten. The Force Read feature ensures messages get read as recipients have to view the message before moving on to other tasks in the system.

Budgeting hours when scheduling – Inclusion allows each manager or supervisor (your choice) to enter a budget or control number that serves as the schedule target. Hours are updated as the schedule is being built, so the creator always knows where they stand versus budget.

Know your colour coding – Inclusion features the option to set different colours for specific positions, with the option to set a colour for vacant shifts. This visual aid helps spot inconsistencies and missing shifts quickly and easily.

Online workplace notes - With this feature it is easy to communicate meetings, events, backups and workplace news with your team. These details are posted right on the schedule document. You can then print these as PDFs to store for record keeping purposes, or print physical copies so you can add them to your staff binder or bulletin, helping to keep everyone up to date.


These are a few ways you can become detail-oriented. If you know other tips, send us an email at terry@ibexinclusion.ca – we love feedback!



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