Time vampires and Time Management for Women Leaders

by Sabrina Braham MA CPC

A Really Stupid Idea That Wastes Lots of Time

I am giving a talk on time management to the California Deposition
Reporters conference. This reminded me that part of the difficulty
most women leaders have with time mangement is a very stupid idea that
has been widely adopted.

The energy sucking, time vampire, time waster, productivity drain,
the open door policy.

Can you relate?

Let me give you an example. I was working with a manager of a large
manufacturing company. There had been numerous complaints about his
poor listening skills and his bad temper.

He wanted to connect with his people and find out what concerns
they had, and yet he admitted he had no patience.

Besides supervising others, like so many managers, he had many
roles and tasks that he needed to accomplish.

He would barely get into one of his assignments, when he would be
interrupted, many, many times an hour. He had an open door policy
and was suppose to be available all the time, but this policy meant
he could not get his work done and he felt resentful of the
interruptions. What’s more he created this policy, which was
sucking, up all his time.

We devised a plan:

– He would ask each person is this an emergency?
– How long will this take?
– Could you come back at 2:00 p.m today?
– A specific time tomorrow?

The results were incredible for him. He felt calmer. He was much
more productive which he found personally satisfying. Soon most
people where scheduling a specific time with his administrative
assistant. His employees were surprised and delighted by his good
moods and his increased interest and listening skills.

Basically it was a win/win. Everyone was happier.

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