Steven Covey advises us that we should stay in the quadrants that deal with important matters and that we find a balance between managing those items that are important/urgent and important/non-urgent. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many project managers slip into the belief that it is imperative that they handle the urgent matters… that they respond to every email and every question so that the team/project can continue to function. Unfortunately, they spend a lot of their day dealing with things that are urgent but not-important, and at the end of the day, they do not have time to deal with those things that are important but non-urgent. Some project managers consider this to be “just the way it is”, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
I’ve spoken with a number of managers who say they do not have time to meet with their employees one on one – to coach them – to train them. Unfortunately, since the manager has not invested train the team members, the team members can not be self sufficient and regularly interrupts the manager for guidance and assistance.
How do you make this happen? How do you make time to spend on the Important/Non-urgent items when there are so many Non-Important/Urgent items vying for your attention? Project Managers need to be disciplined and make time for those things that are important. Schedule regular one:one meetings with team members for coaching and feedback. Schedule risk management/mitigation meetings so that risks can be mitigated and managed before they become a crisis. If you don’t schedule it – if you don’t make it a priority, it will not happen.
In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey popularized the idea of the four quadrants of time management.
Steven Covey advises us that we should stay in the quadrants that deal with important matters and that we find a balance between managing those items that are important/urgent and important/non-urgent. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many project managers slip into the belief that it is imperative that they handle the urgent matters… that they respond to every email and every question so that the team/project can continue to function. Unfortunately, they spend a lot of their day dealing with things that are urgent but not-important, and at the end of the day, they do not have time to deal with those things that are important but non-urgent. Some project managers consider this to be “just the way it is”, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
I’ve spoken with a number of managers who say they do not have time to meet with their employees one on one – to coach them – to train them. Unfortunately, since the manager has not invested train the team members, the team members can not be self sufficient and regularly interrupts the manager for guidance and assistance.
How do you make this happen? How do you make time to spend on the Important/Non-urgent items when there are so many Non-Important/Urgent items vying for your attention? Project Managers need to be disciplined and make time for those things that are important. Schedule regular one:one meetings with team members for coaching and feedback. Schedule risk management/mitigation meetings so that risks can be mitigated and managed before they become a crisis. If you don’t schedule it – if you don’t make it a priority, it will not happen.
Stephanie Lachman-Doucet President2015-10-21T21:00:50-04:00
Steven Covey advises us that we should stay in the quadrants that deal with important matters and that we find a balance between managing those items that are important/urgent and important/non-urgent. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many project managers slip into the belief that it is imperative that they handle the urgent matters… that they respond to every email and every question so that the team/project can continue to function. Unfortunately, they spend a lot of their day dealing with things that are urgent but not-important, and at the end of the day, they do not have time to deal with those things that are important but non-urgent. Some project managers consider this to be “just the way it is”, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
I’ve spoken with a number of managers who say they do not have time to meet with their employees one on one – to coach them – to train them. Unfortunately, since the manager has not invested train the team members, the team members can not be self sufficient and regularly interrupts the manager for guidance and assistance.
How do you make this happen? How do you make time to spend on the Important/Non-urgent items when there are so many Non-Important/Urgent items vying for your attention? Project Managers need to be disciplined and make time for those things that are important. Schedule regular one:one meetings with team members for coaching and feedback. Schedule risk management/mitigation meetings so that risks can be mitigated and managed before they become a crisis. If you don’t schedule it – if you don’t make it a priority, it will not happen.