8

Manage the Calendar and the Clock

Two lines from the rock band Chicago’s 1970 hit song of the same name say it all. “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” The answer to both questions too often is no, they don’t.

I found I had to. Being a 23-year-old first lieutenant company commander at Fort Benning, the sprawling home of the U.S. Army Infantry School in Columbus, Georgia, was fairly overwhelming. The responsibility for over 450 men was more than I had bargained for. Full days, some nights managing my unit. There was hardly enough time in a day to do it all.

Thinking I’d be clever and find ways to save time reading all that was put before me in the office in-box, I enrolled in a speed-reading class conducted by a Columbus College professor. It was conveniently held on post at Fort Benning. The first night of the course the professor asked some 30 of us gathered in a classroom, “What’s your most important resource in life?” In line with the type of course and trying to sound smart, I guessed my eyes and the vision they provided. Each of us got to answer; each of us was wrong. “Time is your most important resource,” announced the professor. His tutorial on the importance of time and how to save it has always remained with me.

Time management has become almost an obsession for me: determining how to manage time, assessing how to spend it, having a plan to do what needs to get done, doing it wisely, and evaluating how it’s been done.

The more time you have in which to serve your boss, to do your job, to manage the missions that come your way, the better off you will be. If you fail to do it well, you will not fulfill the expectations the boss has of you. Keep time on your side and find ways to maximize it.

For example, how do you spend the first 15 minutes of the day? Heading to the watercooler or coffeepot? Shooting the breeze about sports or shopping or what you’re going to do this weekend? Nice to do socially but not very effective professionally. You’re better off firing up your computer and getting down to business when you first get to your desk in the morning. Have that last cup of coffee while at home or in the car.

Statistically, we tend to work in increments of time. Scheduling tasks that take more than 30 minutes of your time may defy what experts believe. Break up your day into segments.

You need to prioritize because it is unlikely you will finish what you set out to do. Generally, you will accomplish about 65 percent of what’s on your to-do list each day. You will need to reprioritize for tomorrow the tasks not done today and those yet to do tomorrow.

How do you spend the most productive two hours of the day, the second and third? If you’re busy talking unnecessarily or meeting aimlessly, you aren’t spending it wisely.

When it comes to those meetings, you need to set the clock. Unless it’s handling a crisis, any meeting that lasts more than 30 minutes is too long. If you have some control over a meeting, there are ways to keep it in check. Establish an agenda, circulate it in advance, keep attendees to a minimum, and ask that everyone come prepared. Another rule that works is to shut the door and lock it for those who don’t make it on time. Amazingly, that breeds punctuality.

As difficult as it may be for Type A personalities, it pays to delegate. It saves time, it spreads the workload, and it even builds teamwork. Don’t feel you can or have to do it all.

Having a plan is a useful approach to the management of your day. Making a morning appointment with yourself whether in the shower or in the car or when you first arrive at the office is a useful beginning.

Have a five-minute meeting at the top of the day with your assistant if you have one. You may have added chores for the day to your list. Keep in balance scheduled versus unscheduled activities. Do not try to accomplish more than is possible. Reorder your priorities as need be.

The implementation part of your day is perhaps the most difficult. Start and end things on time. Block those productive second and third hours against invasion. Be gracious but ruthless with those who try to invade your time and space. Keep a drop-in standing rather than offering them a seat. Always set the outer limits of appointments and meetings. No appointment should last more than 30 minutes; 15 is better yet.

Deadlines are critical to all this. You need to meet them, and in order to do so, you need to have a low procrastination quotient. Work on eliminating one if you have it.

Evaluating each day in terms of the degree of progress you are making is a useful monitoring device. As part of this evaluation process, elicit feedback from your team. Discuss successes and failures with yourself and your staff. In doing this, ask open-ended questions. When you ask a question that begs an answer, let someone else do the talking.

If you have done all these things as well as you can, you’re bound to be productive. Think of all the beneficiaries: certainly yourself but the boss, too, and don’t forget the folks who work for you. Having time for your most important stakeholder group, your employees, is a gift they will treasure. The boss will value it too.