Meeting the meeting standard.

A significant proportion of my working week is spent in meetings. Probably around fifty percent I would suggest. Mostly these are regular meetings for updating stakeholders on project status in one form or another; they are review forums or man management contact sessions. Given the productive time available outside of meetings one has to question whether attendance is necessary. It is also increasingly clear that not only should the necessity be assessed but also the value added by attendance. On many occasions in the past it has been enough just to turn up to most meetings, unprepared and still feel able to make some form of meaningful contribution. But as the landscape becomes increasingly complex and the volume of information ever greater; that lack of preparation becomes highly visible. The conclusion I have drawn from this is that time must be allocated to meeting preparation. Given that this may mean that even more precious time is consumed, it makes the need to prioritise even more crucial. I am even inclined to conclude that if the time to assemble ones thoughts doesn't add value to the working day then should the meeting be attended at all. So my proposal is to look through the diary and assess whether arranging things for each particular appointment would make a useful contribution to the overall workload. It would also have to be a positive contribution to strategic goals rather than just effort for the sake of it. What Kotter calls genuine urgency rather than false urgency. So from now on there is a need to baseline the important meetings and find time for constructive preparation whilst removing the unnecessary meetings from the diary. Setting a standard to be met before meeting.

Stop the faffing.

One of the constant challenges for the average manager is getting all the tasks that need doing complete. It isn't just a management challenge it hits home at every level; an oft stated concern is 'I just don't have enough time". In the dim and distant past I went on a time management course. One of the slightly facetious statements was "time management is easy; do less". It seemed ridiculous at the time because I wanted a time management course to provide me with more time to do things. Somehow I wanted it to extend the capacity through some preternatural ability to create time. The reality is that time management is essentially about the opposite. It is about finding the correct priority. It is not about creating more time to do things it is about doing the right things in the limited time available. All of this seems to be so self evident that it isn't worth writing. However I think the reality is that we all find periods in our career when we simply don't feel we have enough time. Possibly when the changes in the working landscape are so great that we are under extra pressure. At the moment I am noticing certain acts of prevarication that are reducing my capacity to deliver. Partly it is driven by bad prioritisation and acting upon the tasks that I am comfortable completing rather than those that are urgent or important. But there is also a level of 'faffing'; doing things that add no value other than to delay the commencement of an undesirable or difficult task. So my resolution is to stop the faffing and by doing so to magic up some real and genuine creative.

A Reflection on Reflections.

One of the dangers of assuming that reflection and critical self analysis can provide answers to life's difficult questions is that it assumes a consistent point of view. It assumes that when you reflect on a situation to draw a conclusion that informs your future behaviour that a similar reflection at another juncture will yield the same results. Having witnessed many occurrences when two or more people can debate a single question and fail to reach a consensus; whilst on many occasions believing a successful resolution has been achieved. I am beginning to conclude that even a single person can struggle to reach a conclusion despite being unchallenged. So having questioned the very concept of self reflection; what are the merits and does this potential lack of internal consistency negate the process. I think that the fact the same situation can lead to different conclusions at different times should not be a surprise. After all, the one thing that has changed between the two reflection points is time. So even in the duration of a meeting time is moving on and information is being exchanged. This could well lead to a change of position. Reflecting on a given event in the working day provides the opportunity to take stock. The fact that considering the same event in the future might lead to a different conclusion in no way detracts from the relevance of the original perspective. The hope is that a little critical self analysis can avoid issues and problems being repeated. It gives the chance to ask the question; 'if I face this situation tomorrow how would I modify my behaviour to enhance the outcome'. In essence, knowing what I know now what will I do differently tomorrow.