Great work takes more time than you likely appreciate. The extra time and care taken are often paid to avoid rework or burdening your teammates. Here are a few methods we have found helpful in avoiding rework.

1. Embrace the standard operating procedures of your firm. SOPs makes the boat go faster when everyone uses them with care.

2. Be proactive rather than reactive. Invest in learning your firm’s processes and how your work plugs into your clients’ workflows. This allows you to stay on task and on target, making it easier to identify how and when you can add value.

3. Excel/PowerBI and PowerPoint are table stakes. Know how to use them efficiently. Learn their limitations; doing so will help you better estimate your time to completion for various tasks, leading to better time management and enhancing your ability to manage up.

4. Great teammates in M&A invest in becoming strong oral and written communicators. Part of being a strong communicator is leveraging active listening. Active listening helps eliminate rework by improving shared clarity on tasks and assignments. We use it whenever receiving or assigning work.

5. Take notes in all meetings. Develop a shorthand system that denotes follow-up items, open items, and key information to document or share with other parties. Refer back to your notes early and often to: ensure clarity of outcomes, identify knowledge gaps, and assign roles and responsibilities with clear deadlines.