Reflections in Excellence

Time management can be learned. With the use of simple tools we have become increasingly skilled at managing the urgent. But for those managing strategically for the future a more sophisticated approach is required.

We have all had those days. Everything is both urgent and important. We have had so many interruptions that we feel that all we do is put out fires. We hear ourselves saying "It is all very well to talk about stress management but you don't understand the realities of what my job requires". Exhausted we collapse at home to rest before the next onslaught.

But time management is not about crisis management. A crisis is 'a time of great danger or difficulty' - but it should not be all of the time. Quite simply to manage by crisis is not only not strategic, it is not sustainable. So how do we move to the next level?

There are five generations to consider. Management guru, Stephen Covey,1. describes four generations of time management. The first generation is the 'crisis manager' - reacting moment by moment to an ever growing to do list. Management by crisis produces very little as we struggle to maintain only the status quo. As events supercede us, competing priorities slip, making us unreliable (but practiced in excuses).

The second generation is characterised by the 'calendar king'. Forward looking we schedule, but do not plan. A full appointment book is the goal, achieved by squeezing in a few more activities into our available time (which is a finite concept). In doing it all we are ruthlessly efficient, but rarely effective - each appointment only requiring another.

The third generation is the 'prioritiser'. Identifying the important we plan and execute goals on a short term basis for long term success. The project plan becomes the ruling agenda, effective in its single focus, but it excludes the opportune and the unforeseen, which are to be eradicated rather than integrated. The result is often achieved, but at what cost?

The fourth generation is the 'balanced manager'. Covey uses a values based approach, looking not to manage time and things, but to manage outcomes and relationships. Multiple priorities are balanced by focusing on the important, rather than the urgent.

To do this Covey uses a tool. The four quadrants of urgency and importance. Quadrant I is the urgent and important, Quadrant II is the not urgent but important, Quadrant III is the urgent and not important and Quadrant IV is the not urgent and not important! The insight is that by doing less of what is not important, and focusing on the things of strategic importance (ie the non-urgent) we will be fighting less fires by creating more fire breaks. By working mainly in Quadrant II we have less of the both urgent and important interrupting us.

For example, proactively dealing with a customer relationship and ordering process is much easier than dealing with a customer complaint. Expedient hiring becomes urgent and important when resignations leave us short staffed, but staff performance and coaching reviews seem to never win as a priority in the urgency stakes. The skills to manage in Quadrant II can be learned and the effects can be dramatic.

In Quadrant II everything is important and nothing is urgent. So how do you decide how to allocate priorities? Which of the multiple things you can do to manage the future do you do, and which things do you leave out? Time management in Quadrant II requires a bit of a mind shift and a breakthrough in thinking. The aim is to learn how to use the fifth generation of time management to become an 'integrated' manager.

There are, if you like, three states of being in which we can operate: compromised, balanced and integrated. In the compromised realm we think in terms of competing priorities and some things miss out entirely. In some working cultures this is may be either family life or our physical health. This is of course unsustainable. As a result we instead strive for the second state, which is a balanced life. The key elements of work, physical health and personal relationships are then equally balanced (and equally compromised). Everything is in equilibrium, but there is no room for growth or for the serendipitous.

For those living primarily in Quadrant II, instead of seeking a balanced life, they seek an integrated life without compromises. For these people their work is their joy, often supporting and reinforcing their relationships and complimenting their physical well-being. A holistic, rather than balanced perspective is taken. The effect is dramatic. Time does not need to be finite, as activities become complimentary, not competing. For such people everything is important and the growth towards their future goals is the focus, as well as the here and now.

But how does time management work in Quadrant II where there are no competing priorities? The framework for this next generation of time management is fairly simple. The first step is to identify the dimensions that make for a holistic life. These are most often the practical, the physical, the mental, the emotional and the spiritual. Our work, health, learning, relationships and soul are all part of the framework. The second step is to plan each week so that important activities in each area are scheduled in first. If the important things are dealt with each week, the small stuff can fill up the gaps. We call this putting the 'big rocks in first'.

The third step is to artificially create and allocate priorities. Everything can be done in fifth generation time management and all is important. The question then is to understand what is it that we must do, should do, could do and would like to do. A mix of all is important. The distinction is made between those things that need to be done now and things that can be done in the future, to both maintain and develop the present position. The allocation is dependent on the requirements at that time. This provides flexibility within the holistic.

The final step is to look for natural synergy between the prioritized activities. Practical activities can be combined for more than efficiency. Our sport can be mixed with our social needs, social with work, family time with personal learning etc. Different to the balanced life, most of our activities compliment rather than compromise. Suddenly small spaces for the possible appear, rather than feeling like we are only coping with the impossible. Spaces that allow our lives to contain more of what is really important: play, people, creativity and serendipity. The wisdom is not new. The principles are time honoured. In the words of Goethe "The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least."

Being the 'integrated' time manager may seem a long way from where we are now. But we can all learn new skills to help us 'find more time'. For some, crisis is the norm. For others the calendar is already full. For those achieving a balance - fantastic, (provided that things will always stay the same). Using each generation of time management tools simply requires training. The only question remains, when will you be ready for the next generation?

1. Covey, Stephen R. (1990) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, Simon and Schuster, NY

William Varey
Forsyth Consulting Group
www.fcg.com.au