Archive for the 'time management' Category
Posted on December 7, 2009
Time management is one of the top problems people tell me they struggle with. And I get it–I struggle with it, too.
But let’s look at the truth of the situation.
It’s not how you manage time. It’s about how you manage YOU.
We all have the same 24 hours a day. To my knowledge, nobody has found a way to squeeze another hour or two into a 24-hour day.
Here are some quotes from management guru Peter Drucker. I hope they get you thinking.
“Everything requires time. It is the only truly universal condition. All work takes place in time and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable, and necessary resource. Nothing else, perhaps, distinguishes effective executives as much as their tender loving care of time.”
“One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.”
“Until we can manage TIME, we can manage nothing else.”
Posted on November 5, 2008
Marylou had complained about Johnetta for some time. “She’s not dependable. She doesn’t meet deadlines,” Marylou had said. “We’re thinking about letting her go.”
Then this past week everything changed. “It appears we misjudged her. Now we see that she may be a real ace in certain phases of the design work.”
So what happened, I asked.
Marylou had no choice but to assign Johnetta to the Acme project. Marylou knew trouble would pop up, so she decided to work closely with Johnetta.
What Marylou identified is that Johnetta doesn’t know how to manage her time, so she runs out of time to work on the project and misses deadlines. Thus the company loses money on projects Johnetta works on.
What Marylou did was give Johnetta a framework to understand what the project is and how much time she can spend on different tasks.
Some folks will take an assignment and just run with it. Others need to be able to see how the assignment fits into the overall project. Without that framework, they have no sense of urgency or timeliness.
Be sure you’re not about to cut someone who really has potential that you can’t see yet.
Posted on August 22, 2008
This week’s call came from Helen. She runs a department with 56 employees, within a very large company. As she said, “I’m starting to lose it.”
“When I looked at my calendar for the week, I realized how ridiculous it was. Who am I–Superman? Every day had one thing scheduled after another. Meetings, reports to write, reports to review. Two client lunches. Three performance reviews. It’s madness.”
Most of us can relate to Helen’s situation. Stress is a common factor in our lives. The key is how we react to it.
I have one client, Barry, who is a schedule fanatic. Every minute of his day is scheduled. When someone runs late or something unexpected comes up, Barry freaks. His intensity is visible to those around him. Truth be told, he’s not much fun to be around when he’s like that.
I suggested that Barry block out two 30-minute periods–one in the morning, one in the afternoon–and leave those times open. Those two periods give him time to accommodate slips in his schedule–a meeting runs over, a client is late, whatever. Those times provide a pressure release for Barry so he can reduce his stress.
Do a Reality Check
I usually keep my Outlook calendar on the monthly view. When I looked at this week’s schedule, I almost lost it. What idiot (that being me) had crammed so much into the week? It appeared each day was booked with back to back meetings, presentations, calls, etc.
I needed to get myself grounded in reality. I changed the calendar to the weekly view and what a better view it was. I saw that I actually had some gaps between meetings. I found one meeting I could reschedule for next month. I saw that a couple appointments are with favorite clients, so those are going to be fun. A couple of meetings are to get new clients, which I enjoy.
The bottom line here is that when we lose it, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to get grounded in reality.
Squash That Stress
Here are some other tips for reducing stress.
- Take a walk. Physical activity is a great stress reducer for most people.
- This sounds strange but it works. Schedule worry time. Write your concerns on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. Write a “worry time” such as 2:15-2:30 on the envelope. Put the envelope aside and don’t worry about things until 2:15. After your 15 minutes of worrying, put the paper back in the envelope and put a new worry time on it.
- Another tactic is to write your worries on little pieces of paper. Wad the paper into balls and ceremoniously throw them away.
- If you like organization and are stressed by a lack of it, give yourself 15 minutes to tackle one small area that needs to be cleaned up.
- Practice deep breathing, sometimes called belly breathing. Use your diaphragm to suck in oxygen, which helps you relax.
- Stretch. Your muscles hold the stress you are feeling. Stretching them helps release chemicals produced by the stress.
- Pet a puppy. Smile. Sing a tune. Listen to music. Have fun.
Life is too short to let stress get to you, even in tough times.
Posted on July 10, 2008
Last week a client asked for ideas on how to handle her project team. Her team is working on a high profile project with tight deadlines. My client, the project manager, has to travel routinely for project team meetings at other sites.
She has learned that when she is not there, her staff eases up in their drive to get work done. She isn’t being critical—they work hard and do good work. She was just stymied in why they do that and what she can do about it.
My son, a psych major, equates it to when you have a substitute teacher. Kids act up. The pressure to perform is not as great with a substitute as with their regular teacher.
What’s at play here is the reverse of the Hawthorne Effect. The Hawthorne Effect says that productivity increases when workers know they are being observed. So, when the boss is away, the work pace slows down. It is natural.
Two key learning points come to mind here.
1. Ideas to Keep ‘em Going
If you the boss want to keep the pace going when you aren’t there, designate a second-in-command to check in with folks. The key is for your staff to know that they are being observed even though you aren’t there. You could rotate this role among the staff, so no one appears to be special. This is not micromanaging—it’s simply playing to human behavior. Let’s hope you get better results than with a substitute teacher.
Another suggestion is to change your schedule so that you are out of the office on different days, not always the same days. For example, if you routinely meet with clients on Tuesdays and Thursdays, switch your appointments around some. Then staff won’t get lackadaisical about Tuesdays and Thursdays, because you just might be there.
2. Someone at the Top Cares
The Hawthorne Effect studies have documented that people perform better when someone is watching them. People today spend a lot of time at work. They require a sense of belonging, of being something bigger than just themselves. When they are part of something bigger, they are more effective.
While it may sound too warm and fuzzy, realize that when you pay attention to people, they do a better job. That doesn’t give you permission to micromanage them. Just acknowledge and observe them. It won’t cost you a dime.
Posted on January 18, 2008
I got a call from a client today about a problem with a direct report. Here’s the situation.
Situation
Bob, owner of a 25-person civil engineering firm, needs Joshua, a senior project manager, to drop what he (Joshua) is doing and call Marty at Topsoil Construction. It’s urgent—Marty has some concerns that need to be addressed right away. Topsoil is a major client, worth at least $500,000 of business each year. They also are a long-time, repeat client—an A-level client without a doubt.
Bob went by Joshua’s office at 8 a.m. today and explained the situation. Joshua said he would get on it.
At noon, Bob checked back in with Joshua, expecting to hear how the call went and that problems were resolved. Joshua said he hadn’t called yet and would get to it probably around 4 p.m.
Bob is furious. “What do I have to do to get Joshua to jump when I say ‘jump’? You know what I mean—get a sense of urgency about something.”
Insight into Joshua’s world
Joshua is a list-maker. Every morning he reviews yesterday’s list to make sure everything got done. Then he makes a to-do list for today. The items are numbered 1 through whatever. Then Joshua works his list. He does No. 1 until it’s done, and he can check it off. Then he moves to No.2, and so on.
Unfortunately, Bob didn’t get to Joshua before Joshua made today’s to-do list. So when Bob told Joshua to call Marty, Marty got added to today’s list. Marty is now No. 7 on what was a six-item list.
I joke that if the office were on fire and Bob yelled to evacuate, Joshua would keep working his list until he got to “No. 10–evacuate burning building.” The building could burn down around him—he’s only on No. 7 on his list.
Meticulous list-makers tend to be very efficient with their time until something unexpected pops up, demanding their immediate attention. Having to change their priorities and change them now throws folks like Joshua off track. They lose their concentration, and it takes them a long time to get it back. It also stresses them, because they are forced to switch gears quickly, which wasn’t part of the plan.
What can Bob and Joshua do?
Bob needs to recognize Joshua’s need to work his list. But emergencies do come up that need to move to the top of the list. Here are some ways to ease the situation.
a. Joshua can schedule planned crises time, maybe as No. 2 or 3 on his list. If no crisis comes up, he can check that off his to-do list and move to the next item. Some folks like Joshua may need to schedule “crises time” in the morning, right after lunch, and last hour of the day. That way, they will be able to adapt.
b. When a crisis comes up and Bob needs Joshua to act now, Bob needs to give Joshua perspective on why now. What’s at risk if nothing is done right this moment?
c. Bob can ask Joshua what he is working on that can be put off until later, so that Joshua can call Marty now. I have found that a lot of Joshua types often are working ahead of schedule; they are less likely than others to do things at the last minute.
d. Bob can explain how Joshua’s behavior comes across. Others may perceive Joshua as intractable, stubborn, dense, not driven, having no sense of urgency. If Joshua can become more flexible, and he can, others will credit him for his ability to respond in a crisis.
Remember: Numbers may drive the business, but people drive the numbers.® See you next week
