Too Busy Doing Business to Do Business?

 Yesterday I met with a corporate Executive VP in New York City. I'll call him Phil. Phil said his division was struggling. But instead of leading the charge to turn things around, he was being called into meetings regularly to make lengthy, detailed, Powerpoint presentations explaining what was wrong. He was too busy doing business to be doing the business. Interestingly, one of his recommendations was for the company to get out of some of its operations because they were draining money and other resources. He explained that his people were spending too much time on things that no longer yielded the kind of margins the company desired.

Does any of this sound remotely familiar to you? I realized while he was talking to me that I had gotten up at 5 a.m. to deal with emails from a European client; spent time on the cell phone in transit with a non-profit, pro bono client who needed to talk; and allowed myself to be sidetracked by hallway conversations with managers from the client group who I hadn't seen in a while. A similar schedule unraveled today.

What is there to learn?

1. If you do business globally in the electronic age, the expectation is that you are available on "their" time...or you should be. So choose carefully--you can't afford to be awake 24 hours a day.

2. Time management isn't really just about time. It's about clear priorities. Which means...

3. It's important to say "no." In fact, I think "no" is the solution to a lot of this craziness.

4. If you are in Phil's position, at some point you need to tell those above you that the very act of "over-reporting" is exacerbating the problem. Do it respectfully. Share the impact and consequences on your business and let them take responsibility for whether or not it makes sense to continue the external demands on your time.

How are you managing this?
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Comments

[peter vajda]

Hi Steve,

a quickie...

I'm ever curious about folks who complain that they feel forever tethered to their electronics and say they want "time off" and then sign off on messages with "from my blackberry" or "from my mobile..." both of which communicate, "Hey, I'm here 24/7, 365."

Dis-harmony and im-balance occur when there's a disconnect between what one thinks, says, feels and does.

Can't have it both ways.

[Steve Roesler]

Peter,

Indeed.

Gee, maybe I should start responding to comments with Thank You notes and postage:-)

[Wally Bock]

One thing to be wary of is what I call the "Look, buddy" moment. In Phil's situation, the frustration with reporting yet again what's going on while wanting to be doing instead of talking builds slowly. Then, one day, Phil or the Phil-equivalent will reach the breaking point, turn on his tormentor and say "Look …" This is often ineffective communication and dangerous to boot.

Better to plan how you share your thoughts about workload, availability, the abundance of meetings and the over-abundance of reports.

[Rodney Johnson]

Steve, there are so many opportunities to improve the situation or make it worse. Here are a couple of my thoughts.

1. Manage expectations - if you don't establish expectations, they will create them for you.

2. Delegate - too often business leaders in essence become business managers - they must get back to the act of leading, which means delegating some of their workload.

3. Most people in this situation are their own worst enemy. I wonder if in Phil's situation if he didn't covet and shine in the constant meeting scenario for a while. But then there was a breaking point where Phil the meeting energizer bunny became deenergized.

These are just a few of my thoughts...

[Steve Roesler]

Wally,

I'm taking bets that your prediction will come true, with "terminal" results. Will keep you posted.

[Steve Roesler]

Rodney,

Thanks for adding those practical suggestions to the mix.

Actually, as for #3, here's what has happened:

a. There was a time when the spotlight was just fine

b. He got a new boss. The nature of the spotlight changed. Now, he is subject to increased questioning re: the "why's" of his actions vs. "let us know how that works out."

Fearless forecast: won't work out over the long run.

[Mile High Pixie]

Steve, my intern and I are experiencing this on a project right now. Our boss keeps telling us that because of the economy "things have changed" and we must do more with less, be careful how we use our time, etc. However, he has not changed his micromanaging habit, the one where he "has" to review every email I send out to the design team before it's ready to be sent, the one where he marks up drawings four and five times before we can send updated drawings to the engineers. It appears that he's so focused on the "juuuuust right" and "perfect!" part of our work that he's unable to see that his above-and-beyond standards are causing us to spend time and fee that we don't have on the project. In response, my intern and I have begun standing up to his demands (I know! and in *this* economy!) and clearly, bluntly saying, "what you're asking us to do takes three days--we have a solution that only requires one day and gets you the same results, and *that's* what we're doing." We're having to save him from himself, and it would appear that he may even grudgingly appreciate it. By not letting him get caught up in doing the work that *we're* supposed to do, he can spend more time on the parts of the business that we really need him for, such as overall design and project review and the ever-important getting of more work.

[Steve Roesler]

MHP:

That's a powerful real-life example. And, the way you are approaching it shows wisdom.

While you are saving him from himself, you are also saving yourself from him.

[dsi r4]

Making your own business is so good thinking.But you have to make clear about lots of tips and tricks for gating more business.You have to know more about oponents as well as also making popularity among the people.