tock tock tock
tock tock (Part II)
By
Is your business
day filled with a constant stream of reactions to the demands of others? Are you still struggling with the tyranny of
urgent needs that dictate the priorities of your daily life?
Effective Time
Management is critical to the success of your business. In a management position, you must balance
the need to make progress on your long-term objectives with the constant
interruptions from people and the telephone.
The last article
summarized the structured approach to solving this problem. The structured approach creates barriers
against those dreadful "time robbers." Once the barriers are in place, your projects
can receive the priority time that is necessary. The approach is very logical and
orderly.
Most successful
executives, however, don't embrace this technique. They follow the fluid approach.
A study presented
by Alan Deutschman in the June 1, 1992 issue of
Fortune shows the majority of good managers prefer to take each day as it goes.
They keep lots of unscheduled time available and fill their day with brief
unscheduled conversations. As Deutschman points out, "Much of this, to the untrained
observer, looks like mere gossiping, joking and schmoozing."
These executives
have learned the importance of staying up with the winds of information within
their business. The study showed that
the executives spent 76% of their working time talking with others.
The executives'
brief conversations were filled with a variety of topics and done with
friendly, humorous banter. Ten unrelated
topics might come up in a 5-minute chat.
The executive
asked a lot of questions. They rarely
gave any direct orders or made big decisions.
They would sometimes use the time to coach the people in how to solve a
problem within the organization.
The studies found
that the executives used their unscheduled conversations to "..constantly try to influence people through tactics such as
nudging or cajoling." The
executives found the network of contacts they created were a crucial lever for
promoting their agendas.
Being constantly
available has other benefits. People can spend 30 seconds saying something to
you in person that might take them 30 minutes to write
in a memo. It teaches you to think on
your feet. More importantly, the
organization increases its flexibility and improves its response time.
In the classic
1984 book In Search of Excellence by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman,
the concept of "Managing by Wandering Around" was introduced. Peters
and Waterman found that successful leaders implement their visions simply by
being highly visible. Organizations tend to deviate from their appointed
missions as they react to the flood of new and exciting opportunities. By "Wandering Around" these leaders
found an effective way to constantly reinforce their intended direction.
Both of these
studies reinforce the need to make your time available in an unstructured,
fluid manner. What can you learn
from all of this and how does it help you get your work done? Realize that when people interrupt, as Deutschman wrote, "..they
come bearing gifts - information, ties of loyalty and mutual well
being." These contacts are
part of your work.
Okay. After embracing these concepts, you will not
only be tolerant of interruptions, but will look forward to them without
feeling guilty about the work on your desk.
BUT WAIT!! Maybe you actually have a project that must
be completed. How do you get that done
when you are spending all of your time schmoozing with your people? And, when do you get the time to come up with
all these visions that you are now going to communicate to you people?
First of all, you
still need to prioritize your daily work.
An effective method of creating a To
Do list and prioritizing the items was presented in the last article. A major priority each day is to leave a large
block of unscheduled time.
In the typical
9-10 hours per day that executives work, 60 to 90 minutes of private time
should be set aside during that time of the day when you work best. For most
executives, that usually means first thing in the morning.
Be aware. You may have to leave your desk to find a
place to work privately. Some of your
people will adjust to whatever hours you are in your office, no matter how
early you try to get in. Many executives
find their private time occurring while they commute, travel by plane or work
at home.
The executive
still bears the responsibility for vision and strategic planning. Interestingly enough, executives view
unscheduled meetings as opportunities to touch on strategic issues. They find a way to get the conversation to
look at a long term event and flesh out an idea.