Competition

Does competition really make us work harder or smarter?  I am trying to find out. 

My co-worker and I are both very competitive but are not in a competitively set up situation.  We have both been feeling very slow in our work process and have tried to find a way to get ourselves ‘jazzed up.’  We did this by listing some of our work goals and practices and found that we both needed to make more phone calls and make more appointments.  We also both want to grow our businesses but that is a bit off the radar right now until we get our work processes in tune.

We decided to have a competition two days a week.  We each make calls or send e mails to people to set up meetings.  The person that has the most meetings actually set up that day for the upcoming weeks, is the winner.  We haven’t determined a prize.  We probably don’t need one.  For competitive people, knowing that you ‘beat’ the other person/persons is enough.

Eventually we will be able to move our competition to something that will show financial results.  That will be who gets the most accounts or the largest accounts or the single largest account, or who, at the end of the year, has the most business and/or clients.

I am anxious to get to that point but I think having the friendly competition based on the process of getting business is the main thing for now.  And, I am not sure how friendly it will remain.  He just stuck his head in my office and said 3 appointments.  I answered 5.  As he charged back to his office he said, “If I have to stay til midnight, I’ll beat you.”

Haha.  Let the game continue!