"Seriously, does anyone need more time, because I have more than enough time on my hands." This is seldom, if ever, heard in the workplace. More likely, one will hear complaints about "never enough time" and "working into the wee hours" and "how am I supposed to get all of this done?"
There are, however, ways to manufacture more time at work. Ironically, it requires the investment of time. . . to make time.
Constant Prioritization: In the rapidly changing workplace, it often happens that what was important two weeks ago is not as important today. Yet, it stays on the to-do list. Smart leaders are aware of this and are constantly prioritizing their time and their team's time toward projects that truly will make the difference in mission accomplishment and bottom line improvement. Review what you and your team have on your list - if it's not important anymore, get rid of it. You just invested a little time to save a lot of time.
Strong Alignment to Mission and Goals: Efficient teams are strongly bonded to the overall mission and goals. They understand where the enterprise is going and their role in the team. This understanding saves an incredible amount of time in miscues and miscommunication. Invest time to assure that your team is solid in this core knowledge; you will save hours, days and weeks in the future.
Comprehensive Communication: It is so worth the few extra minutes it takes to communicate a project and goal well. It prevents valuable time wasted in re-do's, hurt feelings and frustrated employees. We should also bear in mind that not everyone hears everything the same way, so what may seem like overcommunication to the communicator may be just what the listener needs to hear. Time invested in strong communication rewards the investor with multiple dividends of additional time and team satisfaction.
Oh. . and You Can Just Say "No." For some, this is a dramatic realization; not every request that comes to your desk needs to be rewarded with an affirmative. Maybe it's not high on the priorities to meet the goals of the company. Maybe the request is mis-guided. Maybe the work belongs in someone else's pyramid. Maybe you just don't have time. It is a wise investment of time to find graceful ways to edit requests.
Don't Make the Mistake that Team-Building, Leadership Development and Skills Training Seminars are a "Waste of Time." I have made this error, "I have ten thousand things to do and now I'm supposed to take time off to go to this *%&%*&% training!!!" Just relax. Be open to learning that will make you a stronger leader, which will result in less employee turn and higher team satisfaction. You just saved a bunch of time right there!
Assure that Meetings are Time Builders, Not Time Wasters. And that it a whole blog by itself - for next time!
If you like this article, share this article.
Brent Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" available for E-Readers, PCs, tablets and Apple products through Amazon Kindle.
http://www.amazon.com/Courageous-Questions-Confident-Leaders-ebook/dp/B0095KPA6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1371768613&sr=1-1&keywords=Courageous+Questions%2C+Confident+Leaders
No comments:
Post a Comment