Don’t waste my time

What is the product that we purchase all the time?  It’s time.

We buy food, so we don’t have to grow it and it gives us time for other things.

We buy gas and cars so we can get to work quicker and have time for other things.

We even have jobs so we can work to make money so we can buy things to save us time.  If we sat at home all the time without a job, soon we would have to grow our own food, build our own house, cut down our own trees for heat, and then we really wouldn’t have time.  What?  You thought the settlers just sat around the porch all day and only hunted and farmed 8 hours a day?  Got news for you, they were up at dawn and in bed at sunset after having worked all day and most of the time 7 days a week.  They did not have the ability to buy food or pay for contractors or heat pumps.

The point is, time is everything, and if time is everything why do I want to sit in a 2 hour meeting at work that if organized correctly would only last 30 minutes?  Why do I want to listen to a seminar for 50 minutes when the speaker only says 5 minutes worth of material?  And more importantly if I am the leader/manager why would I make my followers listen to me talk for an hour when I only need 5 minutes?  And why would I make them sit in a 2 hour meeting that should only be 30 minutes?  One thing I cannot abide is somebody wasting my time by being late, or not organized enough to meet a deadline (which I guess is the same as being late).

If I cannot stand other’s lateness or missing a deadline, then I have to hold myself to that same standard.  As a manager, my weekly meetings with my staff only lasted 30 minutes.  If we ran 31 minutes we stopped and scheduled another time to get together and cover what we missed.  If it was an individual problem I would schedule time with that individual, but I would not hold up the entire group.  Most meetings are important, some are not, but 90% last too long.  If you are a manager or a leader get a grip on your meetings/time. Know what you want to cover ahead of schedule, have an agenda and follow that agenda.  If someone wants to add something else to the meeting, they need to schedule it ahead of time.

Sounds like it stifles creativity?  It does not.  There are meetings that can be held to brainstorm and if you have 3 hours or 3 days to do that, then schedule it.  But at the end of 3 hours or 3 days end it, and don’t extend it just because you scheduled 3 hours.  If you get done what you need done in 1 hour, end the meeting.  If you are on a 3 day retreat go home early.

Once your staff gets the message that you think their time is valuable then your meetings will be more productive.  You will have better attendance, better and more focused participation, and there will not be the gloom of the impending meeting hanging over everyone.  And you know what I am talking about. The weekly/monthly/quarterly meeting everyone hates to go to because it lasts too long, you don’t get anything out of it, the head of the department gets up to talk only because they enjoy hearing themselves talk, and they feed you either really bad food, or too much good food and you can’t stay awake for the afternoon sessions.  If done correctly the reason for meeting could have been accomplished by your second cup of coffee.  The reason for most of these all day meetings is so that everyone can see everyone regularly.  If that’s the case schedule a bowling tournament, or something interactive for all day somewhere. That way people can really get to know each other.  How do you get to know people while someone else is talking?

Remember your staff still has to do the work, that gets the product to the client, so you can get paid, and afford all those time saving items like food and shelter.  I have always been of the opinion that you go home when the work is done, not when the clock hits 8 hours, so if you have a meeting that lasts 3 hours that shoud have lasted 1, then your people have lost 2 hours worth of productivity and cannot go home on time or more importantly, I can’t go home on time.

I have a family too, and I would like to get home to them more than I would like to sit in a meeting.  I work in a professional position and understand that my job is at least 50 hours a week not 40 hours a week.  I understand that more is expected of me by my superiors and those who rely on me as their manager.  If you are a leader/manager in your company and you are not at work, or working 50 hours a week, odds are that you are not doing your job, but that is another post.  So if I am working 50 hours minimum a week, please don’t add to my already full workload with superfluous or meaningless tasks or meetings.  My goal is to accomplish my work, and make sure my staff accomplishes their work in the least amount of time so I, and they, can go home.  That should be yours too. 

Don’t waste my time and more importantly don’t waste other’s.  Time is something you cannot get back.