Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Leadership and Time Management

You are probably not surprised to hear I am not a fan of Steven Covey or any of his or his outfit's stuff. Except for one.

The one is what I learned as the Xerox Time Management system back in the early '70s. Yes, 40 years ago. The basis is a simple matrix of two elements and their opposites: Importance and Urgency. While I try not to teach my clients, I have suggested this to many clients over the years. I have even used it myself.

The deal is that one assigns all tasks to a quadrant of the matrix i.e. Important/Urgent, Important/notUrgent, not/Important/Urgent, notImportant/notUrgent.

The automatic reaction for most of us is to assign things incorrectly, but when one realizes the I/U category requires more time than there is to accomplish it all something important arises. The need to renegotiate.  This is the area many employees are weak. The first instinct is to think what is required is the impossible.

The appropriate action here is communication and teamwork. There are also valuable lessons in each of the spaces, but that requires a little more time and space than we have here. Call or write if you're interested in the details. But the important point to our discussion of Leadership is that the Leader in this case can use this tool as a means to foster communication and collaboration without taking a heavy hand. What if this matrix was used by the group as well as the individuals? What if group discussions were based on this model, which assumes the likelihood of changes in deadlines and importance? What if plans were based on a fluid system much more closely related to the way things unfold over time?

This becomes a tool of empowerment, rather than just another way to get the followers to conform to expectations. This is a tool than helps them work together. This helps the group be more responsive and involved in the decisions that rule their lives.

That sound like Leadership to me.

I raise this because something came across my Twitter feed this morning that reminded me of this. Someone was referring to their overwhelming to-do list and referred to this article from Business Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com/simple-math-could-fix-your-to-do-list-2014-3

It takes exactly the same concept I described above and turns it into a mathematical expression. So instead of creating an opportunity for collaboration and cooperation, it becomes a way to order the to-do list in a better way, relative to priorities. I don't claim to know what will work better for any individual, but I do know that a Leadership tool is more valuable to me than another way to see myself as swamped. With the numbers to prove it.

I take this as another way to see Leadership as a Group capability and trait.

No comments: