HOW
TO KEEP THE FOUR GREATEST TIME CONSUMERS UNDER CONTROL AT THE SAME
TIME?(I).
One
of the most important aspects in all of the work fields is being able
to work in a team.
If this is achieved, success is
possible. However, often people distroy their plans to
distribute their time differently.
The MBR establishes that
personal interruptions, meetings, the phone and obtaining information
are, in this order, the biggest problems for executives.
We are now going to see each
of these areas and we are going to find ways to combat them.
Controlling personal
interruptions.
Every day, at any moment,
people can be interrupted, and this means their performance is
effected. To minimalize the negative effects of personal interruptions,
the MBR proposes two alternatives: isolation and being available. We
are now going to analyse both alternatives:
Isolation
Have
you ever felt the need to be alone? Is it sometimes difficult to
continue writing a report whilst you are in the office? Often we are
not advancing with a certain task that we need to finish, and it is in
these circumstances that we need isolation. However, we are not
isolating ourselves entirely from the world, but from being disturbed
during certain hours of the day, with the aim of avoiding continuous
interruptions.
Once I had to present a report
to the Managing Director of the Company and in order to concentrate and
avoid being distracted, I asked a colleague if I could borrow his
office. This way I was able to concentrate and hand the report in on
time. During this period of time, my assistant was in charge of
attending to any clients that were looking for me. She was also in
charge of resolving any complaints or queries.
Other recomendable places
where you can isolate yourself; the company library, an empty office, a
seminar or conference room, etc, Only your assistant should know where
you are, and she can call you if there is a real emergency. Another
recommendation is not to see anyone unless they have an appointment. If
you use this policy you will be able to organize your day.
Profitable Availability
I imagine that at some time in your work history you have seen
executives with their door permanently open, this is a good exacmple of
profitable availability.
Being available for people
helps executives to be in contact with what happens in the company.
However to take advantage of your time, the MBR establishes the
following rules: delegate, go and talk to other workers, from time to
time make an effort to talk to everyone in the company and protect your
workers from troublesome visitors. If you do this, this will help to
reduce the number of interruptions at your work place.
Get the most out of meetings
When we talk about meetings,
many employees immediately begin to feel bored. However, due to the
fact that man is a social human being, he needs to be able to get on
with other people, and meetings are a useful resource.
The success of daily
activities in a company depend on successful meetings where all of the
employees actively participate, bringing their own ideas, discussing
problems and finding the right solution, etc.
Talking about the development
of a meeting, Mr Schubert de Alba-Waldensian (MBR) recomends many
meetings without a ceremony. I prefer to do 3 15 minute meetings.
Meetings
of 15 minutes. This way people are able to concentrate.
Always hold meetings in a meeting room and not in an office. This
avoids interruptions and helps concentration.
The complex human interactions
that are produced in meetings are varied. For more information on this
subject we suggest you read the AulaFacil.com Course on Effective
Meetings.
The telephone
Often the telephone is not
used properly, or should I say many people take advantage of the phone.
It is true that calls shorten distances, but answering and making
telephone calls can turn into one of our greatest time consumers.
We are now going to give you a
few suggestions from the MBR on what you should or shouldn't do with
the telephone.
Things you should do:
-
You can use the phone to save a journey.
-
When you need an immediate response.
-
When you wish to give information quickly.
-
If you need to arrange a last minute
meeting.
-
To receive information about the progress
of important projects.
-
To maintain close contact with some people.
-
Use the phone if it calms you down!
Things you shouldn't
do:
Try to substitute a formal document with a
telephone call.
When you need to communicate the same
information to various people, it is best to write a memo and send
everyone a copy.
When you need to talk about delicate
subjects, it is better to do it face to face, as when we are on the
phone we are not aware of many situations, for example, our listener's
body language.
If you need to discuss complex and long
subjects, it is not a good idea to use the phone, unless a meeting is
impossible.
K. Gleeson points out another
important aspect related to answering telephone calls. Gleeson stresses
that everybody makes the decision to not accept telephone calls for a
reason, during the work day. Instead of this, establish a system to
return calls (depending on the type of your job) perhaps during one or
two periods a day.
For example, you can decide to
receive calls between 11:00 and 12:00 and from 15:00-16:00, in this
case you need to make sure your assitant aware so that she can filter
the calls and she doesn't pass them through to you when you are not
willing to accep them, unless of course they are calls from important
clients, a chief executive or urgent calls that need to be attended as
soon as they come up.
