In a world where people tend to ignore deadlines and many tasks/projects are finished late, why do people continue to assault our time? Why do they interrupt us with urgent requests? Why do they need it now?
How often do our priorities get derailed due to some one’s immediate demands on our time?
I was recently intrigued by Chris Brogan’s “Anywhen Manifesto.” Due to his recent frustration with people demanding things now, he wrote a short piece where he defended his ability to respond “Anywhen.” His point was that except in true emergencies, today’s technology empowers us to respond “when we are able”… “when it makes sense for us”…and yes, “when it is convenient for us.”
Most of us have heard the proverb:
“Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”
We must not only encourage, but train our teams to manage priority. This means being out in front of issues in the first place with proper planning. But, it also involves be aware of the level of priority of an issue when we are requesting things of others.
I once worked for a boss who was in the practice of calling members of her team into her office whenever she thought of something she wanted to know about. All day long, she summoned team members to ask them simple questions without any forethought on what they might be working on. As you can imagine, her team was frustrated with the constant non-urgent interruptions that prevented them from getting their work done.
Why do we continue negative behaviors? Often, we know they are bad. We know there is a better course.
We do them despite the fact that we know that they take us in the wrong direction. Is it lazyness?
We know the right action, but we are too tired to do the right thing?
Sometimes the behavior is [...]
Most workplaces have problems with people being “in” meetings. I am not referring to being late. That is an entirely different issue.
I am talking about once the meeting begins. In today’s high-paced technology distracted workplace, too often people are busy tapping away on their laptops or checking email on their iPhone.
Does this happen at your [...]
Wow. The iPad is almost here. Some of us are very excited. Is this the tablet computer that we have been awaiting for years?
There are mixed opinions on the iPad right now. As whenever Apple releases a new product, there is the usual critics vs. fans hoopla. Personally, I think Apple has again hit the [...]
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