It's 5 p.m. Your 'to do' list looks almost as long as it did this morning. There's a 7 a.m. meeting in the morning and your spouse just reminded you of your child's school play tonight. A flurry of thoughts crosses your mind in a panic: 'Where did the time go? How will I ever manage to get everything done? What can I put off? If only there were more hours in the day!'
Sound familiar? We're all going to have occasional days like that. But for some, this scenario is an everyday occurrence. Several years ago, I was one who suffered from the 'not enough time' syndrome on a daily basis. It turned out that one of my assets, the ability to communicate, was the culprit. I was communicating too much!
I'm not talking about communication with clients and prospects, but talking about internal communications within my own organizations. I had always prided myself on maintaining an open-door policy with staff, and I still do -- with some qualifications.
In the past, knowing that I was available to them, staff members quickly took advantage of the situation. It seemed as if someone was always standing in my doorway needing to talk about something. I was equally guilty for catering to these constant interruptions. After all, continual lines of communication are of prime importance-aren't they? Yes, they are!
However, they can steal your time if not regulated. The problem needed a solution. So, I called a staff meeting and explained that these constant demands for immediate communication were detrimental to all of us. After all, how many minutes a day did they lose waiting in the doorway while I ended a phone call or signed some papers? To my surprise, the staff agreed and some even admitted feeling uncomfortable about the many interruptions they were making.
The solution, which has remained effective for me to this day, was to schedule 'open-door time' for internal communications. I would be available to any staff member from 7:45 to 8 in the morning and again after 5 p.m. Any other time slot would require an appointment. Scheduling these visits on staff members' own time, before and after the start of the day, eliminated a lot of inconsequential discussions right off the bat. Normal problems and concerns are now handled in a timely and effective manner. Emergencies still arise, but people check my availability before barging into the office.
As a result, eliminating continual interruptions literally added a couple of work hours to my day. And staff members found new time, too! Internal communications are vital to a successful operation, but without some general scheduling parameters, they can rob you of your most precious commodity: time.