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Make An Appointment With Yourself
by Janet Attard
Many, many years ago I had a temp job working as the office manager for a group of engineers on a job site that was often in the news. The engineer in charge, Ted, was constantly being pestered by phone calls from employees, from local government officials and from the media. There were often so many calls that the only way he could focus on the problems he needed to solve was to close his door to avoid visitors and not take the calls.
When I asked Ted what to tell important callers, he said “Tell them I’m in a closed-door meeting." Then he laughed and said, “But don’t tell them I’m the only one attending the meeting.”
If you find you aren’t getting the things done you ought to get done during the week, use this wise engineer’s strategy. Schedule a meeting with yourself.
In fact, take his strategy one step further. Set up a list of things you need to do for the week, then prioritize your list. Next to each top-priority item, schedule a meeting with yourself at a specific time on a specific day to handle the task. Then, make sure you're on time for each meeting. You'll be surprised how much more you get done.
Posted by Janet Attard
on September 30, 2008 at 6:44 PM
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I started doing this about 15 years ago, and it was one of the most important management decisions I ever made. Too many people assume that because you are a manager you don't really have much to do except go to meetings and chat with your colleagues.
When I told my staff that I was going into my office and close my door so I could concentrate, I also offered them the opportunity to take on some of the burden of those managerial tasks. Their response was that I should stay in there as long as it took and they would keep everything else running. Once they could see the results of that "time-out" their perception of what a manager does changed.
Now when I close my door, my colleagues and coworkers know that am "in a closed-door, limited-attendance, highly-important meeting."
Once in that meeting, the "attendee" just has to ensure that the meeting isn't disrupted by phone calls, e-mails, snack-attacks, and other procrastination tactics.
Posted by: Chick Todd on October 1, 2008 at 2:27 PM