Time Management
Systems Help Us Soar!
by:
Denise Landers
On a recent airplane flight, I thought of all
the systems that are in place to get us from one destination to another as
efficiently as possible.
Boarding
Consider the rapid turnaround of planes these days. When the arriving passengers
disembark, their luggage is taken off, the plane is refueled, a maintenance
check is done, the interior is cleaned, a new crew boards, luggage is loaded,
food and drinks placed on board, and the new passengers settle in – often all
within 30 minutes. Then we’re soaring to our next destination.
Taking Off
We don't buckle up in our seats and then wait while the pilot rummages through
stacks of papers, old charts, unread magazines, and empty food containers,
trying to figure out what the present destination will be and then where the
directions are for that destination.
We expect these procedures to go smoothly and rarely give the process any
thought. The pilot boards knowing exactly what he is going to do. There is
nothing in that cockpit that is not specific to the job at hand. He has a set of
procedures that he follows, in a set order, to make sure nothing is skipped. We
count on that, for both punctuality and safety. When something does goes awry
and we are delayed for any reason, we're disappointed. If a plane has an
accident, we're shocked.
Yet do we expect the same of ourselves in our business endeavors? Consider your
desk or your work area as the cockpit, driving the segment of the business for
which you are responsible. Take a look around you. Is everything as streamlined
as it could be? Are there any extraneous materials that do not pertain to the
job at hand? When you come to work in the morning, do you know immediately where
to begin, or are you shifting through papers and clutter to determine where to
focus first?
With a good system in place, your work has been prioritized the night before.
When you come in, you know what your schedule is and what you want to accomplish
this day – your destination. Nothing will fall through the cracks because you
have a procedure to record every task and follow-up that has to happen.
The Crew
You also should expect those around you to be handling their work spaces with
the same efficiency. Consider what would happen to our flight if everyone were
following the systems needed to get the plane turned around except for one
group.
Suppose the cleaning crew didn’t pay much attention to the exact timing on their
schedule. They knew they were going to clean planes today, but some friends from
another unit stopped by so they had a brief visit and chat. Then someone had to
make a personal telephone call. When they got to the plane, they found they
didn't bring all the supplies they needed, so someone had to go borrow materials
from another cleaning crew. Meanwhile the boarding and subsequent take-off is
delayed.
Even though everyone else did their jobs, following procedures and schedules,
the repercussions of this one group's delay trickle on down to all of the planes
following after.
This may sound far-fetched but it occurs in some form every day in offices
everywhere. We may be efficient ourselves, but there’s often one person whose
desk is stacked, who has to constantly ask for duplicates because they can't
find what they need, who is easily distracted, and who forgets to follow up. We
tolerate that and make jokes about it, but ultimately it’s not just that one
person in the organization that's affected, it's everyone around that person. If
you are working with someone like that, you are subjected to disarray,
interruptions from them, and not being able to count on them to be as efficient
as they could be in doing their share of the work. All of these results impact
on the rest of the team.
Each of us needs to be working like the pilot. Know what your schedule is,
establish a prioritized plan of action, have the materials you need on hand, and
get rid of any unnecessary matter around you that does not pertain to the job at
hand so that you can focus on what needs to be done now.
We count on that when we do business with other companies. Shouldn't they be
able to expect the same from us? If you want to get your business off the
ground, set up systems that will help you soar!
As the owner of Key Organization Systems,
time management expert Denise Landers shows businesses, governments, and
educational institutions how to manage daily workflow for maximum
productivity and minimum stress. Learn how your business can benefit
immediately at
http://www.keyorganization.com.
