Archive for the ‘Managing Your Time’ Category

Are you a candidate for the “Golden Turtle” award?

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

One area where I believe all of us are getting a little lazy is returning phone calls and emails.  I have seen an increasing number of individuals, within large organizations, who do not return phone calls or emails unless, of course, they want something from you.  This is a very bad trend overtaking our country.

So, this month’s leadership tip is an attempt to heighten awareness and raise consciousness about the importance of returning phone calls and emails.  In my case, I do not call or email someone to waste my time or theirs.  I call someone to make them aware of an issue, to gather their perspective to determine the best approach to resolve an issue or to communicate something I think should be known by the recipient.

If you receive a phone call and are tied up in meetings all day, call the individual back on a break and tell them you are tied up in an all-day meeting and ask if the topic can be discussed at a later time.  Another approach is to ask the individual if they can send you an email summarizing the issue and if you can respond back that evening.

In my thirty-five (35) years of managing a number of large initiatives, I have found that the greatest leaders are responsive; they return phone calls (even if it is at 9 or 10 pm at night, or 6 or 7 am in the morning).  The most ineffective leaders do not respond sometimes for days or even weeks.  Those leaders end up receiving the “golden turtle” award (slow on execution) and are dismissed from their role, or employment, within a few months.

Another observation is that some managers will be very responsive to their leadership team with phone calls and email, but are non-responsive to their peers and team members.  These managers sometimes get short-term promotional gains, but eventually fail because their peers do not trust them and their team members don’t want to work for them.

Not responding to emails and phone calls makes you irrelevant, because the individual trying to contact you will find another source to resolve issues. By making the effort to be responsive to your colleagues, you will find yourself to be considered more valuable in the eyes of your peers, leadership team, and program/project teams.

Posted in Communications Management, Managing Your Time, P3 Leader Newsletter, Portfolio Leadership, Program Leadership, Project Leadership, Time Management | No Comments »

Tip of the Month – email ettiquette – How to save time

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

This month’s tip is on email etiquette.  Email subject lines should accurately reflect the subject of the email.  In addition, email should not be used as a substitute for picking up the phone.  If not, you are probably wasting others time.

Email messages usually start that way, but often a back and forth reply stream follows, and the content of the email often changes from what is in the subject line.  This is a problem when you remember the content from an email message but the subject line does not reflect the content.  The result is time wasted trying to find the specific email message.  In order to keep your frustration low and keep the frustration low of those you correspond with, make sure the email subject line accurately reflects the content of the email.  The solution is to change the email subject line if the content changes.

Email messages should not be used as a substitute for a phone conversation, or a meeting.  If you are like me, I receive over 100 email messages a day.  A vast number of them could be eliminated if a short 10-15 minute meeting was scheduled and a single email was sent out summarizing agreements and action items.

If you take these simple steps, you will save yourself time, and the time of the individuals you communicate with.  Remember, the time you save may be your own.

Posted in Communications Management, Managing Your Time, P3 Leader Newsletter, Portfolio Leadership, Program Leadership, Project Leadership, Time Management, Tip of the Month | No Comments »

Managing Your Time – Back to Basics

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Today’s Challenge

As we celebrate Independence Day here in the U.S., it is a good time to reflect on our past and where we are going. As part of this reflection, I would like to ask a profound question. If as an individual, you find it difficult to manage your time, how do you expect to manage the time of others? Or, better stated, How do you expect to manage a project and/or program, where you are responsible for managing the time of other key organizational resources, (your organization’s resources as well as resources of other organizations) if you cannot manage your own time?

The answer is, if you do not manage your time well, chances are you are not managing other program or, project resources to the best of your ability. You need to commit to change your behavior so you can improve your effectiveness (and efficiency) on all of your initiatives.

Personal Tales of Poor Time Management

Many, many years ago, when I was in undergraduate school, I did not prioritize my time very well and as a result, I pulled many all-nighters preparing papers, on typewriters, (yes, we are talking Old School) and preparing for exams. If I knew then, what I know now, I don’t think I would have pulled any all-nighters.

What turned me around was a peer of mine (work associate). He told me about a company by the name of Franklin Quest, now Franklin Covey. They had training on how to prioritize what is important (your goals) and how to manage your time so that your goals could be realized. I took the course, and purchased some of their products, and my ability to manage my time, and projects, was significantly improved. It was pretty amazing. Please note, I am not paid by Franklin Covey and I am not endorsing their products, curriculum or, services. I am just sharing, that in my case, I realized some benefit from the Franklin Covey approach.

There are other companies that have different approaches, products and tools that can also help you manage your time. So, do your research and determine what works best for you.

What Worked for Me

As long as I am sharing, the key for me was to focus on what needs to get done (short and long term), prioritize and making sure the high priority items are scheduled on your calendar (and other’s calendar where you have dependencies). This sounds a lot like common sense. It is also fundamental to managing a project or program. But, in my past, during the heat of battle, sometime you just forget the basic blocking and tackling needed to be as effective, and efficient, as you can.

So, as you do your reflection, on this Independence Day, think about what behaviors you are going to do differently – today – tomorrow – and the next day, to help you manage your time more effectively. If you would like to discuss how Hendon Group, Inc. may be able to assist your organization, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Ira M. Hendon, PMP®
President and CEO
Hendon Group, Inc.

– © Copyright 2006 – 2009 Hendon Group, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Posted in Managing Your Time | Comments Off