Team Taskmaster

I was chatting with a colleague the other day about time and task management. When I mentioned David Allen’s Getting Things Done approach, he surprised me by shuddering and saying, “Ugh, that cult thing.”

Huh? Cult? Here I was thinking GTD was a pretty good (okay, perhaps a tad overengineered) way to keep your life organized, but my quite intelligent and well-read friend was likening its followers to the adherents of Heaven’s Gate.

I was curious, so I did some research. Turns out my friend isn’t the only one with that reaction. Apparently, there are quite a few folks out there who don’t trust David Allen’s connection with John-Roger, a controversial spiritual guru.

It’s not that the GTD books will turn you into a thought slave; rather, critics accuse GTD of being part of a program to recruit people into John-Roger’s religious group, the Movement of Inner Spiritual Awareness, which has been labeled a cult.

Okay, so that’s a little bit creepy to consider. But then again, I’m not using any GTD strategies for spiritual enlightenment; I’m using them to keep my inbox empty and my deadlines managed. All this makes me wonder: What’s your take on the whole GTD thing?

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How much is your time worth? Do you realize how big a bargain you are? Merlin Mann, guru of 43 Folders, recently made that point in a post about revaluing time and attention. It costs very little for someone to get your attention, but it costs a lot for you in terms of lost productivity.

I think it’s a smart observation. All too often, managers believe they need to keep an “open door” policy so they are accessible, but that accessibility comes with the downside of unplanned interruptions, sidetracking, and wasted time.

The solution is to actively manage your time and attention. How? Mann has five approaches, or what he calls “patterns”:

1. Identify leaks: Find giant holes that have filled with crap. Remove the crap. Then seal the leak.
2. Govern access: Stop allowing unfettered access, and decide who gets your attention — and when, and for how long.
3. Minimize notifications: Ditch all so-called “alarms.” This includes notifications for e-mail, social networking sites, and the like. As Mann points out, an alarm is really “something that says, ‘Hi. Stop what you’re doing right now. Or you’ll die.’” Not much in the workplace falls into that definition (or, if it does, you’re in one heck of a scary job).
4. Work in dashes: Cut your work into bite-sized chunks. If a task is too big to fit into your available time, break it down.
5. Renegotiate: Ask yourself what you need to change to get something done, and done well? And learn to say “Yes, but…”

I’ve recently embraced the dash approach to working and I’m learning the art of renegotiation. But I have to admit to being way too reliant on notifications — which are really just little distractions that make me feel important (”Look, someone sent me a note!”).

And I’m terrible about governing access. Part of it is my writer’s tendency toward procrastination; every interruption can also be seen as (hooray!) an excuse not to work on whatever it is I’m supposed to be working on. Part of it, however, is a sense that I need to keep myself instantly available to all my stakeholders: clients, colleagues, family, friends, and others to whom I’m committed.

In this, I think I’d do well to remember that not every e-mail is urgent, not every phone call is an emergency, and not every office drop-in will solve world hunger.

Thanks, Merlin, for the great reality check and advice.

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Last week I wrote about the dangers of using your calendar as a to-do list. You, my intrepid readers, chimed in with your own perspectives, and your feedback gave rise to this follow-up post on five ways to hack your calendar to increase your productivity.

1. Reserve 2 hours per day and 1 day per week to manage the unexpected. - eric.vanderhors
2. Every morning, create a daily agenda that considers tasks, interruptions, and other needs such as exercise and lunch. - manume
3. Block it out on “my time” on your calendar to get tasks completed, regardless of whether they’re listed on your calendar, on a piece of paper, or elsewhere. - mandyrichards
4. Color-code the non-negotiables on your fixed schedule with one color and “action items” with another, so you can see at a glance what needs to be handled first. - JBSTEVE
5. Use the Tasks function of Outlook to organize and prioritize your tasks. - glorialindsay

Thanks for the great ideas!

There’s an interesting story at Workforce Management about a company that provides senior execs for temporary, or in some cases part-time, placement. It’s a thought-provoking business model that argues that the future of management is people coming together in teams for a project, then disbanding and moving on.

This alternative to the all-or-nothing talent pool offers talented executives a chance to work on their own terms — for example, three days a week instead of full-time, or for a six-month stint — while allowing companies to quickly find people to helm new initiatives without a long-term commitment or a grueling hiring process.

But is bringing in a pinch hitter the way to go? I understand the cost benefits of using a hired-gun exec on occasion. But it seems to me the teamwork aspects would fall by the wayside. It’s hard to work up enthusiasm or loyalty for a team leader who’ll be out the door in two months. And can someone from the outside really understand the personalities, talents and potential of all the new faces he’s managing? I can also imagine how a revolving door of fill-in managers might feel to the rank and file. Do it too often and you’re sure to breed resentment from employees looking for advancement.

What do you think?

(image by Banalities via Flickr, CC 2.0)

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Ever find yourself falling behind on your calendar events? Happens to me on an almost daily basis, which is why a recent post from Andre Kibbe had me going “aha!”.

Kibbe notes, and quite correctly so, that relying on your calendar as a to-do list is a recipe for disaster. Why? If you include everything on your calendar — including fixed appointments and more free-floating events and tasks — your schedule will get thrown out of whack the moment something derails you, such as a visit from your boss during a time in which you planned to work on a project.

After an interruption, you’d then have two options: return to your original task and push everything else into the future, or skip the original task for now and reschedule it for the next day. Neither way works well. Either you’re setting yourself up for a very long day, or you’re buying into the illusion that you’ll have more time tomorrow (doubtful). I tend to fall into the latter camp, with the result being that Friday nights (or weekends) often include a flurry of frantic activity as I try to clear my plate for the next workweek.

But there’s a better approach. Use your calendar primarily for what Kibbe calls “hard landscape” items  — that is, externally committed appointments like a conference call or staff meeting. If you have a high-focus activity pending that’ll take at least a few hours to complete, such as writing a report, block out that time as well. Then create an action list for those arbitrary tasks that have no firm times attached; you can now attend to them during the newly discovered white space on your calendar. Less stress, more productivity. Hooray!

(image by anna banana via Flickr, CC 2.0)

Watching the U.S. Men’s Olympic swimming team win consecutive gold medals in relay events, I was struck by how much teamwork played a part in the victories. Well, duh, you say; they are a team, so “teamwork” is only natural.

But to me it went beyond the traditional all-for-one, one-for-all stuff. Here are three less-obvious lessons learned that can translate well to the workplace.

1. Believe in the impossible. With the U.S.’s Jason Lezak trailing France’s Alain Bernard by a seemingly insurmountable gap in the last leg of the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, it seemed as if the American outcome was bound to be silver. But then, says Lezak, he “got a super charge“  and turned in the fastest 100-meter relay split in world history to bring home the gold medal for his team. And in the 4×200 meter relay, the team blew away the existing world record by more than four seconds.  Impossible? Not in this team’s vocabulary.
2. Cheer your heart out. Who can forget the oft-replayed footage of American swimming superstar Michael Phelps screaming, clenching his fists and literally shaking with excitement as he urged teammate Lezak to his now-legendary finish? Surround your team with positive energy and be an unwavering supporter, and you’ll be surprised with what they can accomplish.
3. Give everyone a voice and a role. Although Phelps is undeniably the king of the pool right now, each member of the relay teams spoke out after the races (thanks in part to equitable reporting by NBC’s Andrea Kremer). And despite Phelps’ seemingly superhuman talents, the two team gold-medal performances wouldn’t have happened without swimmers Lezak, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay and Ricky Berens. The take-home message? While one (or more) members of your team might seem like top dog, don’t forget to give equal time to the supporting cast. It might be your unsung heroes who lead you to victory.

And in case you missed it, or if you want to get inspired again, carve out a few minutes and watch the U.S. men’s swim team bring home the gold in the 4×100. Even if you’re not a swim fan, I predict you’ll get goosebumps.

(image by fibblesan via Flickr, CC 2.0)

Is the workplace fertile ground for bad manners? Sure seems that way. A new study out of West Chester University in Pennsylvania found that 75 percent of workers are treated rudely by bosses or colleagues at least once a year. That’s troubling because even subtle rudeness decreases job satisfaction and commitment to the company, increases turnover, and negatively impacts productivity.

University of Florida researchers discovered that mild verbal abuse can fluster people enough to significantly diminish their problem-solving and creative talents. And in extreme cases, mistreatment or perceived mistreatment could lead to violent responses.

It’s not like we’re experiencing a new rash of rudeness — a report from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor back in 2001 said that 71% of 1,100 workers surveyed had experienced put-downs or condescending and outright rude behavior. But with the economy tightening up, bosses and managers can’t afford to alienate their employees by copping bad attitudes, nor should they tolerate disrespect in the ranks.

Your first step is to examine your own behavior and make sure you’re observing good business etiquette. As a manager, make sure none of the “Terrible Ten Rude Behaviors” — such as employment discrimination, treating service providers as inferiors, or texting during a meeting — are happening within your team. And if you’re the victim of rudeness, express your concerns in terms of how it affects your work instead of making it personal.

How many of you have experienced workplace rudeness — and to what extent? Take the poll, and share your ideas for combating bad behavior in the comments section.

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If you’re a manager who’s feeling the heat, you need to realize that your team is in the kitchen with you. If you’re under pressure, says the Associated Press’s Joyce M. Rosenberg, you could be passing on your anxiety to your employees and creating a stressful atmosphere that hurts productivity.

How, you say? Consider that anxious employees may develop stress-related illnesses or take mental-health days to escape an emotionally toxic environment. Stress can also cause short- and long-term problems including difficulty in concentrating, memory disturbances, chronic headaches, mood swings and outbursts of anger — none of which are conducive to a productive workplace.

Employees can pick up on your stress with verbal (yelling, tone of voice) and nonverbal (body language and facial expressions) cues, so don’t think you’re keeping it a secret. Instead, take action to reduce your stress. Take time off, get enough sleep, exercise, manage your time better, cut back on caffeine, practice breathing exercises and do whatever else you can to get calmer. You’ll feel better — and so will your team.

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Want to be a better leader? The best quarterbacks don’t choose between profits and people but are able to promote both. The Harvard Business Review offers five actions that can create an ideal leadership balance:

1. Earn employees’, investors’, and other stakeholders’ trust
2. Engage directly with employees
3. Maintain focus and consistency of purpose
4. Build collective leadership power
5. Foster shared purpose

And three bonus tips:

• Build a better world with a strong social mission
• Deliver performance to be proud of
• Provide personal and professional growth opportunities

Got any other guidelines for exceptional leadership? Share them in the comments section!

(image by mandj98 via Flickr, CC 2.0)

I recently wrote about a study that suggested the recession is killing productivity. While one of the so-called time-wasters mentioned in the study was “chatting with co-workers,” a number of readers took issue with that activity’s inclusion. They argued that chatting with fellow employees fostered community, camaraderie, and the sharing of information.

Reader Shannon Dillard shared a sort of formalized chatting strategy that I thought was brilliant in its simplicity: the morning huddle. She wrote,

One way to encourage creative networking, but keep it in a “controlled” setting with a positive feeling is to do what in our hospital we call morning huddles. This practice started in the patient care areas, but quickly was adopted by non-clinical departments in the hospital. Each morning at a specified time, members of the department meet for a 5-10 minute huddle. Someone is assigned to lead the huddle (not always the manager). Each member takes turns quickly talking about what they are working on, and any celebrations they may have. The celebrations can be either work or personally related. This allows for idea sharing and builds a sense of team which I find promotes productivity.

So if your office is worried that chit-chat lowers productivity, why not give the morning huddle a try instead? You’ll get all the benefits of water-cooler conversation without the stigma.

(image by ninjapoodles via Flickr, CC 2.0)