How Well Are We Scheduling?
“White collar workers waste an average of 40% of their workday. Not because they aren’t smart, but because they were never taught organizing skills to cope with the increasing workloads and demands of the modern workplace.”
– Wall Street Journal, 2005
With the increasing use of additional personal digital devices in the workplace this statistic has probably increased. One way to cope with these increasing demands is by scheduling time well, including appointments. We all have appointments, but we all don’t take the time to remember to schedule all the parts of the appointment in our calendars.
If we will take time to schedule all phases of an appointment and also prepare for the actual appointment, we will reduce stress and gain efficiency at the same time.
Five Parts to Scheduling
According to Susan Lannis of ORGANIZATION Plus, there are five parts to scheduling an appointment. Many people do not consider each part of an appointment when scheduling their work day and as a result get into a time crunch more often than not due to this oversight. Let’s briefly discuss each part.
1) Prep Time
Look over your notes from previous meetings.
Do all participants have the information they need to prepare for this meeting?
Are you responsible for any follow up information?
Will this information be clear to others?
Can you present the new information in an interesting, clear and concise way to the person or group?
Will you use handouts?
Are they ready to deliver to the group?
Is equipment ready with all current and needed information?
Do you have the power strip and cable just in case a battery fails?
When technology fails, can you still conduct a productive meeting that will not waste others time?
2) Travel to the Appointment
How much time with this take?
Is it a walk down the hall or is outside transportation involved?
Have you allowed for delays in your travel time?
Remember, even a “short” meeting in the hallway or an added stop along the way may prevent you from arriving on time.
3) The Appointment
Remember to begin AND end on time – always. This practice will set a good example for others.
Harold Taylor offers good suggestions for conducting meetings:
a) Enlist the participation of the quieter members
b) Encourage constructive criticism only
c) Time each item and stick to the schedule as closely as possible
d) Inject Team Spirit – not competitiveness
e) Do not allow people to wander off topic
f) Give a summary of the action they have to take as a result of the meeting
g) Schedule the next meeting while everyone is present
4) Return Travel
See #2!
5) Debrief Time
This is probably just as important as the time spent in preparation for the meeting. It is also the most overlooked part of a meeting.
Instead of traveling back to your desk and dropping everything from the meeting on the chair, or the corner of the desk to deal with it “later” take time to compile your notes, put away handouts, schedule assigned tasks, and make follow up plans for various items discussed and assigned.
Break each portion of a new project into manageable steps. Be realistic, and delegate when possible.
Remember – meetings, like projects, expand to fill available time, so schedule the meeting time properly and stick to the schedule. The people you work with will appreciate it when you show that you value their time by managing company meetings well.