Organizational development and time management

When you waste time you are wasting money. ” Oscar Wilde "Don't try to keep Your staff busy as you may end up being adept at keeping yourself busy… which may prevent you from achieving Results" Eric Gaynor Butterfield.

"Do you love life? Well, don't waste time, because it is the fabric of life ”. Benjamin Franklin “Why is it that we do NOT value Time? Is it because we haven't paid a price for it? ” Eric Gaynor.

In the last 10 years, more and more frequent requests have been made to assist both multinational and national private organizations in “Time Management”, through the delivery of courses, workshops and seminars.

It is extremely striking that every 3 to 5 years a new discipline or content emerges that can be linked to a particular "Best Practice", which in turn must have a limited duration.

Time Management has emerged as one of these practices that directors, managers, executives and professionals in organizations must know how to manage and this is not easy for them since they have incorporated "previous" behavior guidelines (in the family, in studies) that they did not always privilege the variable "time".

Emperor Titus wondered every night if he had "used his time well" (Florence Montreynaud: "Dictionary of Literary Quotations"; ed. Everest - 1985). And its importance and value has been present even in the first civilizations as in the case of Plutarco ("Lives of Illustrious Men") when he stated: "Having time is the possession of the most precious asset by those who aspire to great things".

The impact of time is devastating and reaches all areas having a full validity within the organizational and business areas since they are forced to introduce change, and in addition there is not a single species that is not influenced by (“Time has some secrets to modify everything that not even the genius reveals: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord).

The managers in the companies are pressured by “not having time” as they themselves manifest, and before this perception they can be oriented to the repetition of acts that are translated into automatic behaviors that only have to act against them.

Saint-Evremond ("On the Characters of Tragedies") stated that

"As I have less time to practice things, I am less curious to learn them."

We are going to suggest that in addition to taking into account the concept of "Time Management" as this practice is usually recognized within the organizational world, we also consider the concept of "Managing Our Time".

And we have to explore throughout the day how each of us thinks about these two terms and what their implications are in organizations. Is it possible to "Manage Time"?

It seems to us that perhaps we should position ourselves in “Managing Our Time” since - as Pierre de Ronsard said (“Continuation of loves”): “Time passes, madam, time passes; but alas, it is not the time: we passed.

That is why the pragmatist Francis Bacon did not hesitate to declare that "Choosing one's own time is saving time (" Essays "). And the men responsible for what happens in companies and organizations that come to their knowledge and intelligence must keep in mind the statement by Honore de Balzac (“The lost illusions”): “Time is the only capital of those who only they have the fortune of their intelligence "and also the declaration of Elizabeth I before dying:" All my property for a little while! ".

It is quite common the saying within some Latin American cultures that “Time is killing” for which it is good to take into account the perspective of Joaquín María Machado de Assis when affirming (“Quincas Borba”): “We kill time, but he buries us ”.

And we do not want to miss the visualization of the impact of time from the perspective of a process as stated by Georges Poulet ("Measure of the Instant"): "The human being has not had time to be; it has only had time to become. "

To efficiently manage our time, what we most need to know has to do with “Human Behavior”, that is, with people. One has to satisfy the requirements of other people and they, in turn, have to satisfy the needs of one. And that integration of needs - needs unmet until then - represent the Motivation to meet.

So all the elements that we are going to take into account and that are related to efficiently managing our time (such as clocks, programs, agendas, calendars, plans, among others) have to do with what many people have to do many things related in some way to each other, in a single moment.

So if we want to efficiently Manage Our Time we must recognize that success in life has to do with “working together with other people”. And proof of this is that there is not a single millionaire, researcher, artist who has reached success without the participation of "another" human.

Importance of time

We can say that the only certain things that humans have to live with in this life are: death (with its opposite pole, which is life - birth), taxes and change. Now all of them are very strongly related to a variable, which is Time. Therefore if we want to deal effectively and efficiently with these three components we must take more than one look at Time.

Learning about how to efficiently manage our time is of vital importance for all of us who are extremely busy; so rejoice if you have difficulty dealing with Time as this means that you are actively participating on this planet and now.

And what is particularly important in human beings as a distinctive feature is the fact that our actions (from birth to death) are largely image-driven.

If we did not have - in the present - "archived" images from the past we could be sitting in front of another person for hours looking at each other without saying a single word or taking any initiative.

It is also true that if we did not form images forward - for the future - it would be very difficult for us to propel ourselves, from where we are in the present.

And this is the extraordinary wonder of Time for human beings that has to do with the images we have in three different times: present, past and future (other species live almost totally integrated in the present, with the consequent advantages and disadvantages of it).).

The presence of this distinction, which is characteristic of human beings, offers a world of opportunities and adventures that can sometimes also be accompanied by "less happy" feelings, if we do not effectively manage our time.

We can say that Time, like Life itself, is a miracle and that it is up to us to make it a blessing. And the wonder that this miracle is "a blessing" and also is "a daily blessing".

Although philosophers and other scientists have been able to explain space, they have not been as successful over time. It is paradoxical, that although largely inexplicable, everything is possible over time, and nothing is without it.

Time is a real daily miracle that begins from the moment we open our eyes, possibly representing the most valuable of all earthly possessions.

With the gift of Life we ​​have all been awarded equally, regardless of our beliefs, who we are, what we think, what we do and what we contribute.

Every day we receive the gift for 24 more hours and nobody can take it away.

Nor is there a single person who receives more - or less - 24 hours a day, representing the only real and perfect democracy in terms of receiving this most valuable resource.

Just as the wise man or the genius do not receive an extra minute, neither does the lazy man or the fool take a minute (and no punishment is given for not making good use of Time). This is why we can affirm that in the "reign of Time" there is no aristocracy.

The fact that there is no system of rewards from some to "others", will not make God cut or increase the amount of Time made available to us. As much as one wastes Time, we will not be denied supply.

Unlike money, you cannot ask for "advances on account", making it impossible to get into debt (in fact, if you could get into debt, you couldn't pay that debt either). One only acts on the present, which can be wasted or misused.

Nor can one shorten or lengthen the day by living less or more than 24 hours a day. Of those only 24 hours one has to make use of them for the purpose of obtaining health, pleasure, money, happiness, respect, love, and elevation towards immortality.

That is why Making USE of Time correctly and effectively is of utmost importance and highly topical. Especially considering the “3 T's” that emerge as a consequence of the enormous emergence of: greater number of “novelties”, greater diversity of these novelties, and the “shorter duration” of the latter (Alvin Toffler & Eric Gaynor).

Some of the characteristics of Time

• It can be your ally or your enemy depending on the abilities, skills and competences that you have regarding how to Effectively Manage Time (GET) Every day we have free of charge, 24 hours at our disposal The largest inventory of Time is given at the very moment we are born; thereafter, the time we have at our disposal decreases. Time can also be your ally or your enemy in relation to achieving your goals and objectives, both individually and as a group or organizational point of view. Time (see exception mentioned below) Yes, Time can be sold;For this it is necessary that you teach and show others how they can manage their time more effectively. You must develop the ability to “find” opportunities where you learn and show you how to manage your time more effectively (this is called being able to buy time). It is impossible save, treasure and invest the Time It is not possible to return to previous stages You cannot fully enjoy what happened previously nor can you modify what has been done and the consequent results If you are proactive and initiator of proposals with positive approaches you can enjoy today some of the benefits of the future time. Some people call this phenomenon that has been present in people's lives “hope”. - It is fascinating that the best Research and Teaching Centers on the planet,do not teach how to effectively manage time. Furthermore, many of them do not even practice it with their staff, nor with their Clients.

It is one of the greatest paradoxes of humanity since we complain that "we do not have enough time" despite the fact that we have a lot of time and most of the time there is no cost.

Organization and distribution of time

Since time "exists" it is necessary to take into account some aspects that are strongly related to the Organization and Distribution of Our Time.

It is good to note that we prefer to speak in terms of "Our Time" and not only "of Time".

And it is also important that we manifest this during our conversations.

Well, if we talk about Time, it seems that "it costs us nothing" while the possessive "ours" - in the case of not making good use of it - makes us see that we may be "losing".

And this is the conception that we must engrave in our minds: not making good use of time and not managing it efficiently, represents a fatal mistake especially within the world of work or companies.

Let us strive to understand two important points:

1) Time is possibly the most important real good that we have at our disposal to relate effectively to the three variables that we have mentioned at the beginning: death (with the consequent life), tax, and change.

If time did NOT exist, we would not be in a position to obtain the fruits of our work.

It is no coincidence that those least developed cultures from the economic point of view are those where time is perceived to be of little value, there is a limited projection “towards the future”.

The past is marked by inaction, which in turn has a strong influence on the "inaction of the present", and therefore conditions a future of "waiting for something to happen".

2) Time is not a vague thing, general; it has to do with the past, it has to do with the now (the present), and it also has to do with the future.

The important thing is that the present is like "cash or cash", and therefore we must make the most of it.

The present time is the one that really has a lot of value and therefore we must learn to manage our time; It is not by chance, therefore, that the first Europeans to wear personal watches - invented during the 17th century - were businessmen. The importance of Time is magnified by every older person when he manifests "How not to be 20 and the experience of now"

Therefore, 'Whoever wins time, wins everything'. There is no need to waste time. Once passed, it cannot be had again; it goes away forever.

Time, used wisely, can provide us not only with money, but also with the realization of our dreams and the achievement of our goals.

"If you DO NOT make an effort (minute by minute) to Manage Time Efficiently… you will be subject to" Losing More Time ".

So the way we organize and distribute our time is absolutely in our hands and we are the architects of how we use Time.

We insist on talking about Our Time and not Time; it is necessary to generate this new way of expressing ourselves to have a real awareness that Time Management is really in our hands…

if we strive for it.

It is quite common for people to manifest:

"I will when I have a little more time." You must have something for sure: you can never have MORE Time. You have, and always have, the only time there really is!

Charles Darwin's son stressed that his father never forgot how valuable time is, noting that he was characterized by organizing himself in a way that allowed him to save minutes. Even when "it wasn't about taking advantage of the extra minutes for work, he tried to run everything quickly, with a kind of burning content."

Let's see other examples of people who took advantage of the minutes very positively, and who decided in this way how to distribute it.

Aguesseau, 18th-century French chancellor and politician, presented his wife one day as a "starter," a book he had written while waiting for lunch to be served.

Stuart Mill was an employee of the "House of East India" when he wrote his most famous treatises with which he has become famous. In his spare time as a surgeon Galileo Galilei made his greatest discoveries and inventions. Dante's Inferno was translated by Longfellow at 10-minute intervals, while heating the coffee for several years.

Burns wrote his most beautiful poems during the time he worked as a farmer.

Hugo Miller transcribed the lessons learned into the stone blocks he carved while working in a stonemason. Henriette Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in her few spare moments from her housework.

What the extraordinary inventor Faraday wanted most was to have more time available.

Gladstone always carried a book as reading material to take advantage of any free minute.

The translation of "Lucretius" was done by Medical Doctor Mason Good while he was visiting his patients on his mule.

The extraordinary inventor George Stephenson used every minute he could as if it were gold; He learned arithmetic by studying at night when working as a machinist.

Diagnosis of the Use of Your Time

"One of the great ills of people has to do with their quality of diagnosis"

Many times we are so busy that we do not spend enough time to stop to see what we are using Time. Do you feel you need to organize better and be more productive?

Don't you have the feeling of spending the day in a frantic activity, only to realize that in the end you have not only not achieved enough and have also wasted significant efforts, energy and resources?

There are some notorious indicators that every executive, manager and executive must take into account; among them:

• Be working many more hours than usual employeesHave too many jobs startedHave too many jobs started and adding other more jobsImpossibility of completing within the committed datesNeed more resources than initially planned that could well be done by others Perceiving that the added value is small in relation to their effort Doing work that could be done by others

Many times "minor times" are not taken into account, which really are not. This is the case of the time that is dedicated to transport, to resolve unforeseen situations or to make "unscheduled" decisions

• A poorly planned distribution of time or where incorrect time distributions have been made A tendency to leave some important things for later and finally not spending enough time to solve them When not saying “No” in times and situations that need to be done. They find that they confuse their priorities. By identifying that they set goals that are far from possible. They leave activities and tasks unregistered hoping to do it "later", something that never happens in reality. In frequent situations, they are late for meetings, especially to those of the Clients. When they tend to use the cell phone “as a mechanism for explaining arrears.” It distinguishes a decrease in the ability to reach creative solutions.He notes that he is operating within the generalization syndrome "Being unable to treat different people differently."

We could say that the first task that someone who is interested in Efficiently Managing His Time should do is to know and analyze how he is currently using it.

Time is linked to Life and the best or worst use of Time has a great deal to do with the quality of life we ​​live for ourselves and also for others.

We can suggest two main ways that should help us to analyze how we use our Time.

The first of them has the main purpose of analyzing how you use your time (that is, your investment in time) in relation to the objectives you have, and it is suggested to follow the following sequence:

1. Define your goals Write each one Develop a list of activities you spend your time on Also include a list of people you spend time with, including yourself

As a consequence you will be in a position to know what the commitments are.

Link the commitments to each of the objectives mentioned in point a.

Keep track of each and every activity you do from there, at intervals of about 30 minutes.

Each recorded time period is linked to a goal.

Now go to your calendar where you include the meetings held and write down what specific objective was achieved with that meeting

It is obvious that many people do not feel very good as a result of this work, and that may be one of the reasons why we do not do it and as a consequence we are not good Managers of Our Time.

Many people have told us that it is a quite frustrating experience, with which they have not felt at all comfortable.

Our proposal is not modified; this is an excellent first step.

And to those who do not feel comfortable and to encourage them to continue, we let them know that only "unmet needs - that is, those that we DO NOT meet - are motivating forces."

Therefore, under this approach, we try to mobilize and remove a person from his "discomfort" zone.

The positive thing about this approach is that very quickly one observes that much of our time spent does not have to do with our own objectives, as we see it “now”.

The important thing is that we have changed the perspective of observing ourselves, we have a new image of how we use our time, and if we are not satisfied with that image, what we have to do is get out of that area. It is paradoxical that we must "position ourselves in a zone of discomfort" in order to leave a zone of comfort where we do not achieve our objectives.

There is a second way of analyzing how we use our Time, which is the one we suggest if you are not used to comparing how you use your time and your commitments against your own objectives.

In that case you can divide your time between different categories, based on the time spent or establishing percentages of time distribution.

Those categories may have to do with:

to whom we dedicate time:

to. At work

• Non-discretionary time dedicated to superiors Non-discretionary time dedicated to peers and subordinates Non-discretionary time dedicated to Clients Discretionary time dedicated to us

b. A relationships in general

• Family Friends Staff Associates Self

c. Dedication of time by type of work

• The one that is done at work The one that we do at home Voluntary work

d. Dedication of time depending on:

• Physical work Mental work Emotional work

and. For some stage or phase of work

• Planning Programming Organization Execution Leadership Control Follow-up

It is important to note that if we do not learn how we use our time NOW, it will be extremely difficult for us to change towards better management of our time.

In reality we constantly change how we use our time because in the course of our lives we have used our time in different ways, but what this Course

- Workshop has to do with, it is a Better way of managing Our Time to be more effective and efficient.

Only once we have an image of how we use our time can we create an image of how we want to use our time from now on.

Of course, many questions will arise when you arrive at this stadium, such as:

• Why have I used My time in this way? Why have I done all the things I have been doing? Why is it that I have not changed my habits of how to use My time? Why have I been doing so many things that I have not wanted to do it? Why is it that I have been doing things that have not added value to me or to the company? How did I expect to progress in my life using My time in this way?

The "thieves of time", basically other people and the time deviators (interruptions) are at the heart of the answers to the questions that we have described above.

The important thing is that by now you do not feel guilty about how you have been doing things.

You must be convinced that if you do the things you have to do to Manage Your Time more efficiently, you must have many competitive advantages that are of vital importance at this time. And we are here to accompany you in this process.

Before completing this stage, you have identified the time thieves ("the monkeys that climb on your back") and the time diversion. Now you CAN do something about them.

Do a little cleaning up on how you did things and spent your time, develop a different plan and program, and begin to focus on priorities and things of importance.

Show yourself that you can Change how you were doing some things. Don't try dramatic changes and improvements;

God has taken several days to make the world. But introduce changes and take those changes into action. See what small improvements you can make.

If you really save 20% of time in an activity, keep in mind that living 20% ​​is something that no doctor, researcher or expert can guarantee you.

You don't have to diet or deprive yourself of what you like to do; Rather, he has to eliminate everything that "deprived him of life" and enjoy life. Do it now!

And also keep in mind that this is a continuous process, which means that it must be improved day by day. You must incorporate "new" and more effective habits. Let us now move on to the matter of automatic habits and behaviors.

Habits in the use of time

"It's really unfortunate that humans are generally more likely to give up good habits rather than bad habits."

When you are young there is a feeling of eternity with time because you feel that you have a lot and as we go through life we ​​acquire a sharper sense of the value of time. The dimension of time varies depending on the use we are making of it and the time we have left.

It is important to point out that the good use of time goes far beyond our work. The “time” dimension encompasses other areas of great relevance for the existence of humans, such as their Family and their “Entertainments”.

The great Argentine writer and philosopher José Ingenieros put it this way: “There is nothing that equals the value of time. The money itself cannot be compared to it, since the latter returns and the former does not; In one life ten fortunes can be rebuilt, but with ten fortunes one cannot restart a life. ”

Therefore, stating that “Time is money” is, therefore, an imprecise saying. Although time is the dimension in which money is created and used, it is much more: it is life itself. Also, it bears repeating: time cannot be bought. Not with all the gold in the world.

And not only in the workplace.

You cannot buy time to be with family, or friends, or to cultivate internally. So time is usually more than just money.

Because whatever your personal fortune, you cannot buy one more minute of the time that another being has. ”

The popular phrase - especially within the culture of the USA - "Time is Money" - turns out, to say the least, to be incomplete.

Americans have been exhorted to make the best and best use of time - especially work time - by reminding them through yet another saying: "Loss of time is the worst of sins" or "Idle hands are like demon workshop ”.

Time is actually much more than money since money can be obtained and also bought, something that is not possible with time.

But not only in the United States of America has money been so closely related to the Time factor; Other countries determined to privilege the levels of "productivity and economic development" have also done so, as is the case of the USSR.

When the revolution in Russia took place in 1917, a series of messages were installed in the government aimed at making the people make more efficient use of time and save time. Under the new stage of the proletariat the leisure moments that existed under the tsars had to be extinguished.

The "Soviet Time Association" was created which, among its responsibilities, was to identify and denounce the "waste of time".

Actually, the words they used back then in the early 20th century were very similar to what can be heard within many modern corporations in the United States: "To control Time, you must Measure it." "Work quickly, saving time." "Don't put off what you have to do." "Do it now". "Be productive over time."

Also, it bears repeating: time cannot be bought. The most significant thing - and that we must bear in mind - is that Time CANNOT be bought, and this is not only applicable to the workplace but also to Family and Entertainment. Not with all the gold in the world.

Regardless of the fortune that each person may have accumulated, in no way can he boast that "He has more time today than he had yesterday."

We all have the same amount every day, and only a few know how to get the most out of it. We are extremely lucky to have gained Time in just an instant of our life, in the same moment that we were born.

But thereafter, "you cannot earn or buy or accumulate more time"; What we can do is lose it, because it goes from our hands as sand and water do. But what we can aspire to is to be able to make a more effective management of our time.

That is why the conception of “Time Administration” seems particularly insufficient to us because we believe that we cannot manage it. Oscar Wilde - who used to not be very punctual to appointments - having arrived late for lunch was rebuked by the lady who had invited him, to which he politely replied: “Madam, how could this small clock know what it was? What was the beautiful golden Sun doing at the time? "

Therefore it is very presumptuous, and possibly also wrong, to think that we manage time.

What we can really do as humans is to manage ourselves in our daily actions by organizing ourselves in an intelligent way.

We all have the same amount every day, and therefore it all depends on our abilities to make the most of Time.

And also it must be taken into account that time cannot be gained, but it can be lost.

Therefore we must strive to make more effective use of our time.

And there is something else that we must be very clear about: we cannot manage time or manage time; all we can do is manage ourselves in relation to the clock.

And for this it is necessary that we organize ourselves intelligently.

Habits are extremely useful.

It is very likely that those people who do not have any habit, are spending too much resources, energy and time and are still not knowing what the next task is to do.

It should be clear that there are also many habits and customs that we repeat over time, such as automatic behaviors, which are not always useful because they are applied in a general way regardless of the existing situation.

There are built-in routines within habits that do not require a reasoning process to take action.

And therefore, there is a natural tendency to sustain habits over time.

People, as they get older, are known to tend to hold more strongly their habitual preferences and needs than younger people.

There are some things we can do to change the "bad habits", including:

1. Discover what really triggers the habitual habit or behavior. If a smoker takes a bundle of cigarettes out of his pocket and predisposes himself to smoking, it is quite likely that the smoker who is talking to him is willing to smoke a cigarette.

(Although before the smoker removed the bundle of cigarettes, he had no desire to smoke.)

2. Take responsibility for quitting smoking.

Responsibility is not enough, because you can excuse yourself and explain why you "have not stopped smoking yet." Talk to “others” about quitting cigarette smoking and state that you have a due date for quitting.

To the extent that we are "accountable" - and face each other - we are more likely to change smoking. And keep in mind that quitting a habit does not mean that we must quit for a single day but that we quit in time.

3. You can also change a bad habit by always keeping in mind a good habit that replaces it or other good habits. Exchanging it for its opposite is generally not easy; opposites still represent a paradox as they continue to attract.

4. Therefore we suggest that you have many good habits, that you know them. It's good to write down all the good habits you have, and strive to increase the list.

Some good habits are: writing a list of things to do; discriminating the time we dedicate to other people (Clients, relatives, friends, superiors, subordinates, peers, etc.); making checklists; hear; allocating time to create and innovate.

5. Regarding the few bad habits you have, please write them down.

Don't feel bad writing them down as getting to know them - and recognizing them in writing - is a very good starting point.

Establish an order of priorities regarding the bad habits that you have and that you want to change (for this you can use the ABC scheme that we mention in the priorities section).

Some bad habits that undermine our efficiency are: sleeping too little; postponing the initiation of actions (procrastination); consider that the displacement of roles is related to the organization; say “yes” to any invitation to a new project; allow to be interrupted, among others.

Time planning

The efficient management of our time (GET) is currently one of the key issues in the business and organizational world, and it should be noted that its importance and consequences are not new at all.

For this we can go to the words of the French Víctor Hugo who was characterized by privileging time management.

“He who PREPARES the things he has to do during the day, and then sticks to that plan, carries with him the thread that will guide him through the maze of a busy life. But where no plan is drawn up, where the disposition of time is left exclusively to chance, chaos soon reigns. ”

Keys to planning time

PREVENT (a phase of Planning) is not only "better than cure"; IT'S TO GAIN TIME

By anticipating crises and taking certain steps to avoid or deal with them, you are wisely investing your time.

Things very rarely evolve to the level of a crisis without any prior signal.

A little forethought, attention, observation, active listening and preventive maintenance will ensure that you spend your time dedicated to achieving your goals, rather than spending time reacting to crises.

Do NOT "create yourself" negative stress

We have already discussed "speed" above. The rush (it's her twin sister), although it seems the opposite, is not very practical. "I go slowly, but this way I never want to walk," said Abraham Lincoln, who was not exactly characterized by leading an idle life.

Still, this is the least important aspect of 'living in a hurry'. The most dramatic consequence is damage to health.

Californian cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman observed that patients with heart disease were victims of "trouble sickness."

His problem, according to Dr. Friedman, "stems from an insatiable desire to accomplish too much or to participate in too much in the time available."

In the book by Dr. Donald Cole and Eric Gaynor entitled "Professional Suicide or Organizational Murder" (Ed. The OD Institute International, Latin America - 2003) the authors highlight that one of the main difficulties on the part of managers, executives and professionals is that of efficiently managing their own time, which can even negatively affect their careers to the point that on many occasions they go beyond a simple “partial” interruption.

This happens when organizations are operated under a management philosophy "by subordinate commitment".

Writing is an excellent resource to better organize time

A good method for the Effective Management of our Time is to write the tasks to be carried out and face them one by one.

This is the preferred method of businessman and writer Mark McCormack: “I have learned to separate my emotions related to work, as well as my work day.

I write everything down and as I leave my notes where I know they will appear in the right place at the right time, once I have written something down I forget it.

The end result is that when I stop working, I also stop work related stress. ”

The Need for a "Plan B"

Just as it is necessary to have a plan in practice, it is necessary to take contingencies into account, which in turn requires the existence of a “Plan B”. Keep in mind that if there's a chance something might not work, it probably will be (one of Murphy's laws).

The failures are present all the time so we must remember that "the important thing in relation to Success has to do with how we live with Failures".

If all of us had really succeeded in 100% of our plans, we would not be doing what we are doing today.

The most successful baseball player in the United States in all of history - Ted Williams - had a.400 hitting record in his entire career; This means that it failed 60% of the time.

Diego Maradona, possibly the best soccer player of all time, has been the only player to have missed five "penalties" in a row.

So: 1. Plan "A" may have to be modified for which a Plan "B" is necessary; and 2. the most important thing in relation to Success has to do with how we deal with and live with Failure.

Divide (your tasks) and you will win

By concentrating on one task at a time, we not only effectively manage our time, we gain efficiency.

Graphic examples of this principle can be found even in sports.

“Successful athletes know that they must exercise a specific mental practice to function to the best of their ability.

A golfer must deal with each shot separately and not lose focus because of the gross mistake made in the previous hole, which led him to miss a single shot.

The same applies to tennis players, who must consider each play as a totally different entity, be it a masterful serve that led to a five-zero or a stressful move that will allow them to save a match point.

If we live each day as a different entity, we free ourselves from the setbacks of the past and avoid the frightening expectations of the future.

This was the policy that explorer Robert Swann adopted when he led the successful expedition to the South Pole. "To protect ourselves from discouragement," he wrote, "we adopted a basic rule: each day was considered completely separate and by itself."

Eric Gaynor includes within this ability to "divide tasks and activities" the ability to operate with a "switch" where one can operate as light switches do, for example.

Napoleon Bonaparte attributed his incredible ability to work to the following method or attitude: "When I have finished with a topic, I close the compartment and open another, so that my various tasks never overlap and do not cause confusion or fatigue."

An important rule to follow regarding effective work suggests that we should do everything on time, thoroughly, without haste and without agitation.

We can also add Color

One way to improve a daily plan is to use color. Write in various colors, or underline the issues to be discussed in various colors representing priorities and levels of importance. Remember the importance - As we have already pointed out - of the images on the actions to be taken. A black and white TV program has to have certain implications - definitely smaller - on viewers than those that occur through color TV.

Also note that the warning and danger signs (at railroad level crossings, at traffic lights, among others) are accompanied by the color red. And also remember that just as images of "others" have an impact on us - sometimes with unanticipated consequences - you can "create" your own images with which you have the wonderful opportunity of having no unanticipated or unanticipated consequences!

• Thieves of Time

Generally we know the people who “visit us”, who communicate with us, and who relate to us. But we do not consider them as "Enemies of Our Time".

Even in many opportunities we even feel good about your visit, your communication and your relationship.

Now, if you really want to effectively manage your own time, you must be alert to the people who USE your time through different methods.

The first thing you should do is identify these enemies of Your Time, distinguish how much of their time each of them consumes, and also differentiate what contributions and contributions they make to you.

Nor do you have to be obsessive about those who consume your time as they may send you signals that would otherwise not be in contact with your senses.

We have developed a dynamic on this topic where participants have to explore situations where certain losses of time occur. In Workshops developed to date, the participants have highlighted that more than 25% of the "non-productive" time within their companies is due to this reason.

• Time prioritization

Ivy Lee has made an important list to consider regarding priority setting. This business consultant has long recommended the need to follow a method to maximize your time, which consisted of a series of steps:

• Every night, and in writing, make a list of the six most important priorities you have to do tomorrow. Every morning, start working on the first priority, once finished, go on to the next, and so on. At the end of the day, break your list and start again.

Setting priorities and making a list where we can focus, orders us, although it does not have a greater influence on the solution of external factors such as: employees, parents, managers, but it is a usable piece for a proper order of actions to be carried out.

• In the daily time record, the following aspects must be taken into account:

List the daily goals or the most important jobs to do that day.

Record each activity in established periods of time.

Define the relative priority and objective of each activity.

Determine the moment to suspend the activity and establish when it will be carried out again.

To assist us in setting priorities, it may be good to consider what we call the “ABC”.

The "ABC" is intended to help us focus on the existence of at least three categories of importance, thereby significantly helping us to decide.

One can have a long list of activities and tasks “to do” and the first thing that we are going to find is with the difficulty of establishing an order of importance among all of them.

Something we can do is create a category of "very important" things under the heading of "A" and of "not important" things under the heading of "C".

Therefore, the rest of activities and tasks must belong to category "B".

There is another practical way that helps us set priorities. We can distinguish what we have to do into three groups:

1. what I must (necessarily and necessarily) do what I should do what I can do

Urgent versus important

Here an analysis work should be focused. Describe your activities and assign importance to them.

This system, devised by Joseph Trickett, analyzes each of the tasks and determines four columns with values: very important tasks (they must be done), important tasks (they should be done), not so important but necessary, and not important tasks.

First, a list of activities is carried out that I carry out in charge of the club and / or the tennis school. Which ones correspond to the ones that have an importance for the objectives, which ones are urgent, which ones I can delegate and which ones belong to a field of relationship.

For example: Winston Churchill surprised most of his colleagues with claims about information that some of the directors in charge themselves did not know, or had not read from their own departments.

Churchill had a priority list that acted throughout the day where knowledge of information was one of the first.

So much so, that being famous, in the afternoon he took a relaxing half-hour bath in the middle of the government palace; one of his two secretaries read the cables and documents to him during it, without stopping.

It was very difficult to catch Churchill by surprise, as he displayed a mastery of his time, enviable for the quality and quantity of information he had to process and the decisions that this time implied.

At the same time, every time management plan requires two concepts that I absolutely recommend to keep in mind: the time to interact and the time to promote my services.

The first is part of this world of interrelation, where we only achieve results through others. There is not a single millionaire, or genius, or inventor who has worked without the help of others.

Regarding promotion, it is difficult for others to know our product "if we do not advertise it". This takes time. Time to think; to generate the idea; to design a brochure; a new program; for a meeting; for a new venture.

People within organizations make different commitments, especially those belonging to the sales force.

They have the objectives set by the organization that do not always coincide with the objectives of their department or business unit.

On the other hand, it has its own goals, which in turn depend on third parties who, of course, also have different goals in their minds.

During the Workshop and through a dynamic, the participants have to explore the important distinction between the Urgent vs. the What is Important and what you MUST DO under these different situations.

We hope to go a little further by also exploring how to deal with these two dimensions when we focus exclusively on the Client.

Participants should familiarize themselves with the distinctions in the different stages of relationship with the Client (which go beyond the contact and relationship stages seen in CRM) and how they should improve their dialogue to better manage their own weather.

We can distinguish certain characteristics in the 4 options:

Important and Urgent - This MUST be done Yes or Yes.

An example of this: you are having an extremely heated discussion with a Superior of yours who controls your resources.

The treatment he is giving him "is not what you expect from him." You decide - urgently - to get out of the situation quickly “to breathe” and organize your forces.

If you do not decide this immediately and urgently, you can make decisions that you may regret, including losing your job without having another job option at this time.

They are actions of the Highest Priority.

Important and Not Urgent - These actions to take are extremely critical but you do NOT have to solve them right now.

They ask him to make a financial budget for his business unit for next year, but he still has time to present it. You can wait for something until the deadline approaches.

In any case, you cannot neglect and try to act at the last minute, since being important activities with little time available, you may not be very effective.

Not Urgent and NOT Important.

These are the tasks that sometimes catch you and make you spend a lot of time "until you stop winning" as we mentioned earlier.

The activities in this square should be studied to see if they can be partially or totally eliminated, or delegated to others, although initially you perceive that you have to dedicate yourself to actions that usually have more to do with a trainer, educator or coach.

Urgent and NOT important.

These actions are those that you have not been able to delegate to another and that another would be able to do, but at this time they may not have time available.

They are actions of "lesser caliber" to their function. You must take care that "the monkeys" are not climbing on their backs or others that are their resources or that are pretending to be busy.

Be especially aware that the division we have referred to is not necessarily rigid since usually with TIME - which changes and alters everything - it is possible that activities move from one quadrant to another. You will have to be alert to these changes that are sometimes not very noticeable.

Labor Time Administration

What is the Administration of working time

We prefer to talk about an effective Management of Our Time instead of Time Management.

"I wasted time, and now time wastes me" William Shakespeare

Within the workplace and in the company, the “organization” that emerges is characterized by two aspects: it parameterizes the behavior of its participants and, furthermore, these participants operate under a predetermined method.

Some minimum conditions that the “method” must contemplate are:

1. Plan, This includes the development of a list with the objectives to be achieved. There is agreement with the experts in the matter of managing time, in emphasizing that the most productive minutes of the day are those that are dedicated to planning.

So 20 minutes of planning a day can help you save an hour, doing it daily will save you 5 hours a week, which means 250 hours a year, more than 2 extra weeks of time to reach your goals.

2. Prioritize.

One must decide which of them are the most important and which should therefore top the list. Since "nothing is easier than being busy, and nothing more difficult than being effective."

It will never be repeated enough: priorities must be set.

Some people complete all possible tasks on their list, achieving a high percentage of tasks performed, but their effectiveness is low because the tasks performed are mostly of a 'C' priority.

Hence the phrase by Eric Gaynor (Organizational Development Congress - Buenos Aires, 1999): "There is nothing more useless than efficiently doing everything that is NOT necessary."

3. Schedule.

Determine when each point will be made. The key is not to prioritize what is on the agenda, but to put priorities on the agenda.

4. Do “ follow-up ”. Do things according to plan and verify the steps of each objective.

• The need for a Method

In his monumental work ("The Discourse on the Method") Descartes shoots up everything that was done by scientists before, when their different disciplines were incorporated into philosophy.

Henceforth, humanity begins to have “a method” for each science / discipline and scientific discoveries would be developed without equal, although many times without giving an answer to “what for”.

And within the strictly work plan there is even a greater need for a method of managing time than in other areas such as family or entertainment.

If we really want to make a better management of our time, we must take into account the following maxim:

"We all find time to do what we really want to do"

That is why we are worth following the advice of Charles Schwab who being in charge of the Bethlehem Steel company (the largest steel factory in the world) presented a challenge to Ivy Lee (an organizational consultant).

He asked the consultant to show him a method that will allow him to accomplish more in time, thereby offering to pay him significant fees, always within reason.

To this Mr. Lee responded with the following recommendation:

"Write down the things you have to do tomorrow night and number them in order of importance." "Work the next morning according to the established order, that is, by number 1 and then by number 2, and so on. And don't worry if you can't finish them all. And use this same method every day. "

To the satisfaction of the consultant - who was pleasantly surprised - he received as a reward a check for US $ 25,000.00.

And last but not least, Lee learned that Charles Schwab stated that this was the most profitable lesson he had learned throughout his business career ("Time Management" by John Adair).

Behaviors, Attitudes and Orientations regarding Time

• Live in the present (with everything that has to be done today) Keep a weekly agenda, and have a monthly plan and annual program Make a daily list (setting time limits - start and end - for all tasks, especially at the beginning then reviewing if the estimated time could be met) Establish priorities within the tasks or classify by TDP discriminating what has to be done today, what must be done today and what can be done today. Develop skills to focus and direction Recognize that you must take the new concept of How to Manage Your Time Effectively instead of the traditional concept of Time Management.

There is nothing you can do to stretch or shorten the day; what is in your hands is to do a better management 24 hours a day that are at your disposal.

• The compensation you receive should include learning about how you and others can waste time. There are already too many automatic behaviors that don't add value; therefore, do not add even more. Quickly identify all activities that involve wasting Your time; it is preferable to do absolutely nothing than to do something that is unnecessary. Permanently remember that there is nothing more useless than efficiently doing everything that is NOT necessary. Develop a method to identify the "thieves of His time." It is usually suggested to recognize thieves of time, but we prefer to refer first of all to the strong need you have to identify those "who steal your time." Record each and every one of your activities and tasks no matter how small they are;You will notice that they spend a lot of time on tasks that are personal, satisfying curiosities and relationships that do not always add value to the company. If you don't, there may be someone from the organization who will do it for you. The new ways of being busy "doing something with the computer" generally do not allow maintaining a proper relationship in terms of performance between what is invested and what is received. If you are really interested in Managing YOUR Time Effectively you should set yourself goals to do so. Keep in mind that good predispositions to change are NOT enough. Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.satisfaction of curiosities and relationships that do not always add value to the company. If you don't, there may be someone from the organization who will do it for you. The new ways of being busy "doing something with the computer" generally do not allow maintaining a proper relationship in terms of performance between what is invested and what is received. If you are really interested in Managing YOUR Time Effectively you should set yourself goals to do so. Keep in mind that good predispositions to change are NOT enough. Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.satisfaction of curiosities and relationships that do not always add value to the company. If you don't, there may be someone from the organization who will do it for you. The new ways of being busy "doing something with the computer" generally do not allow maintaining a proper relationship in terms of performance between what is invested and what is received. If you are really interested in Managing YOUR Time Effectively you should set yourself goals to do so. Keep in mind that good predispositions to change are NOT enough. Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.The new ways of being busy "doing something with the computer" generally do not allow maintaining a proper relationship in terms of performance between what is invested and what is received. If you are really interested in Managing YOUR Time Effectively you should set yourself goals to do so. Keep in mind that good predispositions to change are NOT enough. Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.The new ways of being busy "doing something with the computer" generally do not allow maintaining a proper relationship in terms of performance between what is invested and what is received. If you are really interested in Managing YOUR Time Effectively you should set yourself goals to do so. Keep in mind that good predispositions to change are NOT enough. Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.Too many people are aware that smoking is harmful to health… but they continue to smoke.

Even many of them show attitudes of change; however - in their behaviors and actions - they do not change.

• Don't digress too much about putting your Effective Time Management program into practice. Do something that is concrete, shows results, and is accompanied by changes in your behavior.

Delete something that is NOT necessary, but do it NOW! Corporations are not prone to having philosophers.

• Consider how you can live with the pressures of work without them representing "distress." You must know exactly what stress pressure you can handle; No one is going to sell you a thermostat for their own level of pressure management.

• Keep in mind that if you change behaviors, they must be accompanied by new consequences or results.

And where possible the results should be measured. Although it may not seem like it "It is quite difficult to control… everything that cannot be measured."

• If Time is a scarce resource - and practically free - develop tools to manage it effectively.

There is NOT a single profession or vocation that does not include a "tool kit" to carry out its activities.

For example, Outlook can be very useful to you.

• Keep in mind what the sectors that are audited by professionals in external or internal audit always do.

The first thing to do is fill in most of the observations that these professionals make, especially when they take very little time. Of course, do not leave out any observation or recommendation to implement that is of vital importance.

• Always remember that if you have many tasks it is because someone has delegated them to you because they trusted you.

Therefore you have to trust someone to whom you can delegate these tasks.

• Set Priorities. Not all tasks are of equal importance. In soccer, as a sport, it is necessary for the players to make “passes” before reaching the goal; but you must bear in mind that it is only one pass - the one that enters the goal - that makes the difference.

• Learn about the new way of delegating that is available to you and that is currently recognized as “outsourcing”. And clearly distinguish between what you must do, what you can delegate, and what you can outsource.

• If it weren't for established routines - both internally and externally in our own bodies - we couldn't do half of the things we actually do.

Routines should make your delegation work easier, shorten the time to carry out activities and also in crisis situations you should have more free time to find a truly creative and innovative solution.

• Remember what Parkinson has wisely stated: "Every task requires as much time as we have planned to do."

Therefore it is necessary that you establish the times for those activities that you entrust to others, that you have to carry out yourself, and that you also actively participate in establishing the times of those tasks that are entrusted to you by others.

• Computer Technology gives you access to virtually all the information that is archived on the planet in an entire Capital City.

So keep in mind when entering this Library not to get trapped in it, where you can even “lose” the information with which you have entered.

• Time limits must be established as well as territory limits.

Research shows that people operate more freely and creatively when they operate within certain limits, that is, where the field has been "marked."

• All the information must be categorized and archived in some particular way since only when it is grouped - something that is erroneously called segmentation - is it possible to be accessed and used.

• Keep in mind that everything you archive and categorize must also be subject to some kind of “differential image”.

People cannot act and act if we do not have "images".

If two people come face to face and neither of them has any images, they can spend their lives looking at each other without taking action.

• Waiting times should be used to the maximum.

In any case, you must be careful not to be kept waiting because you have not arrived on time before. Always be on time, and let it be known that this is how it should be.

Every sign of disrespect is a cousin of mistrust, and mistrust prevents the development of enriching actions.

• The meetings represent a perfect mechanism so that nobody is responsible for what happens there. That is why the question of What is a camel? the popular proverb distinguishes it for being "A horse made by a Committee". Be very attentive to the voting system in force in meetings to settle situations and then implement decisions. Many times the meetings are not held to resolve situations but to engage everyone… in something that implies results for which no one wants to be responsible. Remember what we have stated in the first part of this Participant Manual regarding how outstanding people used their waiting times, which for most people are “lost” times.And if you really don't have anything productive to do, don't get involved in activities where you can “back out”: electronic games, much of the magazines and TV shows are made so that you don't distinguish yourself from the rest. James March & Herbert Simon ("Organizations"; Wiley & Sons - 1958) devoted much of their energy to demonstrating the limits of "cognitive organization." Become an expert in observing "what others do with Your time." There is not a single millionaire, discoverer, inventor, or creative on this planet that has achieved success on its own.Sons - 1958) devoted much of their energy to demonstrating the limits of "cognitive organization". Become an expert in observing "what others do with Your time." There is not a single millionaire, discoverer, inventor, or creative on this planet that has achieved success on its own.Sons - 1958) devoted much of their energy to demonstrating the limits of "cognitive organization". Become an expert in observing "what others do with Your time." There is not a single millionaire, discoverer, inventor, or creative on this planet that has achieved success on its own.

Time, efficiency and effectiveness

Speed_ and its relationship with the Effective Management of Our Time

The first issue around the effective management of our time is the concept of speed, which is not synonymous with doing things 'on the spot'.

The importance of speed was illustrated by Lewis Carroll many years ago with curious words, and better than many specialists, in his work 'Alice in Wonderland', where he points out:

"He has to be very fast to stay in the same position. But if you want to get somewhere else you must go twice as fast. ”

The extraordinary cyclist Armstrong - the only one on the planet to win the Tour de France seven times in a row, before an affirmation - asks a journalist where he mentions that "in the next stage being the specialist in it" he is practically assured of victory Armstrong replies:

"This is not necessarily so.

In the next stage there may be more than one person who has run the entire race with the sole purpose of winning this next stage. ”

So we must bear in mind that in addition to the total career, there are the races "in stages" (or cycles - processes in the language of organizations). It is certainly difficult to find a better definition than Lewis Carroll does. Paraphrasing Carroll we could say that now:

It is not the big fish that eats the boy, but rather it is the fast one (that is not fat) the one that eats the slow one (that can be fat) ”.

There are some Key aspects that we can NOT ignore, even more that we must take into account every day in the exercise of our work. These KEY Aspects are detailed below:

1. Be clear about our objectives and goals, which will allow us to distinguish between what is urgent and what is important

2. Develop a personal conception of Our Time (and also of the time of "others")

3. Identify everything that I am not able to do today, and that really needs to be done today.

4. Delegating efficiently so that we can increase the scope of our influence.

5. Increase our level of trust towards others, which in turn will allow others to trust us.

Trust is related to the leadership style we choose, the type and quality of relationships, mastery over us, our level of competence, our ability to supervise, the degree of reliability, and finally these factors influence the culture and organizational climate.

6. Know the differences between what I should do and what others should do.

7. Categorize, order and organize. Disorder tends to disorient us and lack of organization disorganizes us, which negatively influences what we should do and also how we should do it.

8. Place objects (virtual or not) in spaces, and choose spaces from which to function. It is important to choose and influence the space we have to do things, lighting, comfort and beauty with which we surround ourselves.

9. Develop a plan or strategy that is not too complex.

It must be remembered "That everything that begins easy is complicated anyway, and that what begins complicated often turns into something impossible".

10. Assign oneself tasks and activities based on the most productive and creative times.

People reduce our performance over time, and we also perform more with respect to some tasks than others over time. Some of us pay more at night and others in the morning.

11. Recognize that total availability is the closest thing there is to "not managing our time". Remember for this the famous phrase of Oscar Wilde: "When one visits another it is to spend the other's time." Make your own yield curve, something Taylor, Galbraith, and others did over 50 years ago.

12. Keep a daily record of how you spend your hours, how you use your time, and the relative importance of these activities in terms of contribution to the company.

13. Develop a list of activities for a full week, taken in increments of 15 minutes each, which should facilitate effective use of time.

14. Dedicate about 15 to 30 minutes per day to plan your time; Every half hour spent planning effectively has been shown to save three to four hours of execution and produce better results.

15. Use the last 20 minutes of each day's work to plan the next day.

16. Be aware that the executive rarely uses His time exactly as he plans. But efforts should be made, as far as possible, to respect the established activities and commitments.

17. Have planned goals and programs, more than by chance.

18. Devote the time available to tasks in order of priority, that is, the executives must use their time in relation to the importance of their activities.

19. Establish a certain time or deadlines to fulfill the commitments, which should also help the rest of the working group to overcome indecision and delay.

20. Avoid losing sight of the objectives or expected results and concentrate efforts on each activity.

21. Do not confuse movements with achievements and activities or actions with results.

22. Spend realistic time responding to problems that arise and that in turn are limited to the needs of each particular situation, ignoring those problems that tend to solve themselves which can save a lot of time.

23. Keep in mind that postponing or postponing decision making can become a habit that wastes time, misses opportunities, and increases pressure on set deadlines.

24. Recognize that low value routine activities for achieving overall goals should be delegated or eliminated to the extent possible.

25. Group similar activities together to eliminate repetition of actions and reduce interruptions to a minimum such as answering or making phone calls.

26. Always keep the day's agenda in view, which should facilitate the process of correctly managing time.

27. Detail and record how you plan to use the time in the day, the week or the month, since omitting details is as detrimental to the objectives of time recording, as relying on memory or setting unrealistic goals.

28. Establish a plan of activities with due anticipation and with the objectives to be achieved.

29. Then detail the goals, both monthly, weekly and daily, according to the objectives and the activities involved.

30. Keep a record and control of the activities carried out (if he is not surely doing it, someone else (possibly superior) is doing it and also is carried out by "the organization" based on the results achieved.

31. Set priorities and be aware of the "signs" of new requirements.

32. Develop the ability to reschedule activities and actions.

33. Keep your “image bank” active and the agreement between them with what is lived in the present and also with their relationship in the future.

34. List the activities with each of the tasks to be carried out detailing the degree of urgency and importance of them. It is known that for every hour spent planning effectively, about two to three hours are saved.

35. Every Friday the “operative cleaning” must be carried out without leaving any pending matters as far as possible. And it is also good to do it, albeit to a lesser extent daily, even if it is not to have in the "mental files" what you are facing the next day.

36. Respecting what was planned the day before was a positive thing many years ago, as evidenced by the $ 25,000.00 received by management consultant Ivy Lee and which was gladly paid by the then President of the Bethlehem Stell Company, Charles Schwab.

However, efforts should be made, to the extent possible, to fulfill the tasks, activities and commitments set in the planning phase.

37. Executives and professionals must learn to “know” what the real objectives are expected of them, and the means that are put at their disposal to achieve them.

Dr. Donald Cole and Eric Gaynor in the book "Professional Suicide or Organizational Murder" (already cited) highlight that one of the main causes of resolution of this dilemma that is related to the permanence of the executive or professional, has to do strongly with setting clear, precise and transparent goals.

38. The executive must learn to correctly discern between the urgent, the important, the necessary, the irrelevant, and everything that does not add value.

39. The setting of deadlines and deadlines for compliance help the team to achieve its objective. It has been shown that for this, the deadlines must be achievable although with a certain additional effort to which the team members are accustomed.

40. The executive must have competencies in the area of ​​"putting focus and direction" on the project in general, as well as on each of its phases. And from there develop an optimal degree of concentration.

41. In the monumental work of James March and Herbert Simon (1958 - already quoted) they make it clear that organizational participants discriminate and act within companies, following one of two options: that of attending and attending the company, and to produce.

Therefore, the executive must develop competencies that help him to identify these two distinctive profiles of the members of his work team, which must allow him not to confuse displacement, movements and actions with value-added benefits for the organization.

42. Something that we have been suggesting - and that unfortunately we have not been successful enough - relates to the distinction between “giving feedback” and “giving an answer”. Within Latin American cultures (Eric Gaynor - Organizational Development Congress, Buenos Aires, 2003) many times the dialogues are interrupted hoping to have “the correct answer to solve the problem” when in general the “other” is only waiting for feedback (which has to do with the status of the situation).

43. Another characteristic that we have found within organizational cultures in Latin America has to do with what is known in the English language as “procrastinate” (it is fascinating that this word does not exist in Spanish, which allows it to exist but not speak of this and inaction is thus perpetuated).

Postponing feedback, decisions, and behaviors in general can be harmful for both the organization and the executive involved.

44. A characteristic of efficient organizations is that of “routinizing everything that is possible to routinize”.

Therefore, the executive must always keep in mind that routine actions that are usually of low added value for the company can and often must be delegated to other team members.

Consideration should also be given to the possible total elimination of them.

45. Executives cannot expect the Organization and Methods or Methods and Procedures Departments to improve their own processes and procedures.

This task already belongs to the incumbent, since if he is left in charge of these other two departments mentioned above, it is very possible that the same professional and executive will be left without a job.

46. ​​The “others” agenda is something that the professional must always take into account and for this he can make use of technologies and methodologies that greatly facilitate this task.

47. Just as the executive knows that “everything that is not measured is not controlled”, it must also bear in mind that “everything that he does not record of what he does” cannot be improved.

Diverters of His Time

Professionals, supervisors and executives confront various problems in organizations that are related to "detours" - interruptions - "dead ends" that greatly alter what they do and the consequent results. Knowing how to deal with these "time deviators" is vitally important.

Unlike what we have seen in the “Thieves of Your Time” section, here we have to identify those situations that arise and that are usually not anticipated or foreseen by you.

We call them Diverters of Their Time.

• Although it seems incredible, a lot of the “deviations” have to do with the company's own staff.

You must be extremely alert and observe the behavior of others, especially when they approach or relate to you. You should not forget Oscar Wilde's famous maxim:

"When someone visits another person it is not to waste their own time, but to waste the other's time." So start recording the visits of others and in general the interruptions of others who belong to your own company.

• You should also observe the situation and / or time when the interruption occurs. Many interruptions from others - communications and information - seem to be aimed at "keeping you abreast" of how things are.

But sometimes behind that visit the other person wants to show it is that "it has been active". You can see how, after you have been away from your office for a few hours, or have been away for a whole day, many people approach you with news that really are not.

Much of your staff's time - when approaching you - can be spent "showing you've been busy."

And you must dedicate your energies to eradicate these behaviors in others, since an effective person cannot allow the existence of time deviators.

• Many of the tasks that sometimes are in charge of us are carried out today because historically they were carried out.

Everyone in organizations during the eight hours does things effectively, but perhaps they are not absolutely necessary or add value.

There is a predisposition in organizations to create these “occupation” mechanisms and tasks - that are originated by others, but that have an impact on one and divert the resource time that you have at your disposal.

Try to identify them and eradicate them.

• Furthermore, people tend to feel "comfortable" in performing these tasks that do not really add value, since as they do not remove it, one cannot be punished for not doing it correctly.

Eric Gaynor (University of Michigan State, 1975) suggests that many consultants, by focusing on what is "not working" or what is wrong within the company, forget to consider the enormous amount of time that is spent on tasks that are performed effectively…. but they are absolutely unnecessary. Hence we owe Gaynor's saying:

“There is nothing more useless than efficiently doing everything that is not necessary.

• Organizations and companies operate today under what is known as "Project Management". Agreeing to participate in a project where the objectives that "appear clear" are not really clear, represent time deviators.

As the project starts, you have to observe how new requirements are "added" that alter the initial project - and deviate it from its original objective. Therefore, before starting your march to the top of the Himalayas, keep in mind that if you commit to the objective, you must be clear, you must have the necessary resources and also the time required.

Any plan that is changed on the fly is a time deviation, and is usually the consequence of a planning failure.

• Lack of proper planning causes "time deviations" and are usually a consequence of "unconscious planning" or planning blindness. "

The organizations cannot adapt to what is presented in time, just as no soccer coach can ask his eleven players to “settle during the first minutes as they see fit” so that after a few minutes the coach decides the changes To make.

• The practice of postponing the start of actions is the result of some time deviator. People must make efforts to identify why they "do not initiate actions" immediately and rather postpone things over time.

The "Anglos" - who are eminently practical have a word to define this "inaction" (they call it procrastinate) and also refer to those who act in this way in a pejorative way.

• Different field deviators have been observed in various field works. The connection to the computer makes it very easy not to have to waste time visiting another person; now we can do it since we have “someone” in front of us and sitting comfortably at our own desk.

And the relationship is practically "perfect", since unlike when we meet another, we can make the "conversation" last as long as we consider appropriate, we can "silence" the other, and we can also show that we are busy (although we are browsing aimlessly or participating in some game or entertainment).

We have also observed that people “create” jobs even when others have made efforts to eliminate tasks.

Keeping things in disorder, or in an order only understandable by us, are good ways to divert our time and also achieve the diversion of time from others.

• A perfect way to generate time deviators is to mistakenly “self-reward” yourself.

If we reward ourselves for natural and repetitive actions that can be done through the computer or other people at a lower cost, and we do not do it for genuine contributions, we will generate new actions that will result in time deviators.

• Unconditional acceptance of any proposal made by a superior may later become a time deviator.

Its acceptance without due involvement will consolidate a management philosophy "by commitment of the subordinate" where he can find "a brush that is hanging from the ceiling."

• You must be alert to the signal system, and how different people through signals try to impact you.

How many times do "fire signals" occur when they really are not, and on the other hand there is no alert even though a big fire is coming? False fire signals involve time deviations that you should be aware of.

A typical case of “false fire signals” occurs when the person occupies a new position as a result of a promotion.

In general, the new incumbent is not alerted to what is important and is kept very busy with urgent things, which should have a negative influence on the quality of his influence on the personnel.

• We can create time deviations. In reality when we do not record how we use our time, and generally when this happens we do not make an efficient use of our time, we are self-generating a "time deviation". Participation in meetings, committees, visits to others (superiors, peers and subordinates) are important time deviators.

We have found an important tendency within the organizational world not to participate in what is really important, but to participate in what is not.

Many company executives tend to attend training "courses" when they are held in a "major hotel" where lunch goes far beyond what is eaten every day. When the training is carried out in other "lower hierarchy" sites.

• The cell phone allows non-compliance - very often with appointments - by being able to notify at any time and anywhere that one cannot fulfill the commitment.

Which means in practice that as a time deviation a new meeting is “created” that fills a part of the future agenda, and in that meeting one has to meet someone who is likely to respond and relate to us based on our non-compliance. original.

Which is probably not a profitable meeting.

• The lack of a reasonably long time without interruption that allows developing creative and innovative options, generates the "creation" of time diverters, which only reinforce the circle of "being concerned" but "within a comfort zone". One of the differences between a manager and a leader is that the latter is geared towards taking risks that change the current state of affairs.

A predisposition to remain "blind to what one does in time" is a wonderful deviator.

Not knowing exactly what we are not doing efficiently, but still being busy, that allows us to conclude - wrongly - that everything is "under control."

Example of Diverters of Your Time (in Sports)

The facts that lead us to waste our time are many and depend largely on our type of organizational arrangement, the type of industrial sector in question, the role you play, the philosophy of company management, how it operates and Your work team is made up, and more punctually with your day-to-day objectives, goals and tasks and activities.

We can describe some of them to take them into account and begin to define them as part of those that complicate it every day; These "Diverters of Your Time" (in a Sports case) are:

• Visitors out of the scheme Lack of a plan to delegate Centralization of decisions Contradictory goals Lack of description on the billboard or somewhere informative, about who is in charge Lack of description on the billboard about the hours and objectives of the activity Talks with staff who has a low level and with little clarity of their task Delinquency Unnecessary or too extensive correspondence Lack of planning Management meetings to deal with minor issues Minor matters Lack of an organization agenda with a schedule of meetings and joint work Much coffee Outside phone calls Of schedule

We are going to leave for tomorrow's work an important material in relation to the way we manage Our time, which has to do with the relationship “with the Client”.

One of the main functions of executives, executives and managers in companies and organizations is directed towards the generation of income that turns out to be a main source of energy for them.

Organizations can dedicate more people - which means more time and a consequent higher cost to the company - as well as making current people spend more time on sales.

But the Client does not have an “infinite” time to dedicate either, so we have to learn how to efficiently manage our time in relation to the Client.

This point is of such importance that we prefer to give it special consideration. For now I suggest you start a coffee break of no more than about 20 minutes and upon your return I ask you to organize around the tables in groups of up to 6 people, ideally "diverse" in terms of your source of work and gender.

There we have to explore through various dynamics how these contents exposed so far can be applied in work environments.