A recent headline over on the Supply & Demand Executive Site on the art (and business) of finding more time: 10 ways to organize your time and resources for maximum ROI caught my attention because I thought it might have a good tip or two for improving supply chain ROI that I hadn’t covered before. It didn’t, but the 10 tips of time management it offered from it’s review of a chapter from thriving in the workplace all-in-one for dummies are still worth covering, if you give a few of them a little tweak. Here are the tips, and tweaks, that will help you achieve success in your supply chain efforts.
- Live by the 80/20 rule
Given that 20% of your tasks produce 80% of the results, spend 80% of your time on the 20% of the tasks that produce results. Furthermore, for the 80% of tasks that don’t produce results, 80% of perfect is more than enough.
- Prioritize
Actions that advance an initiative in-line with the strategy take priority. Unless it’s a true customer emergency, busy work and colorful smoke are low priority.
- Conquer the In-Boxes
Virtual or Physical, there are three types of documents. Those you act on, those you delegate, and those you discard. If it’s a priority and you need to do it, you add it to the work queue according to its priority and deadline. If it’s a priority that can be done by someone else, or not a priority but still needs to get done, you delegate it. Otherwise, you discard it.
- Clear the Clutter
As the article states, a topsy-turvy desk translates into greater stress and the misleading feeling that you have all the time in the world to complete your projects. Plus, it’s distracting — and with all of the modern forms of communication, you have enough distractions as it is.
- Ask Specific Questions
Specificity cuts out confusion and extraneous detail. Ask for precisely what you need, and you just might escape the data overload you’re hit with on a daily basis.
- Burn the Time Leeches
You don’t have to close your door, wear headphones, or be arrogant, but when the office Wally stops by, wish him a nice day, thank him for his interest, and escort him to the door or, if you work in a cubicle, the coffee room on your way to a meeting (which might be a meeting with yourself back at your desk, but since a brisk, short, walk every hour or two keeps you alert, the 2 minutes it takes to lead him astray will be more than worth it).
- Preemptively Appreciation Strike the Busybody Clients
There’s always that client or contact who needs to be involved with everything or always up to date on what is going on. Make brief update calls to them on a regular basis, preferably when you only have a few minutes before “an important meeting to advance the project or product”, and they’ll be less likely to call you with excessive demands for your time.
- Give Yourself a Kit-Kat, Give Yourself a Break for a Job Well Done
If you do a great job, splurge a little on yourself. If you get the bonus you deserve, splurge a little more. (Save some, like a responsible person, but remember that the carrot always works better than the stick.) Sometimes it’s as easy as holding off on the Starbucks until the report is done.
- Track Your Progress
Just like you can’t measure the effectiveness of your supply chain initiatives without regular measurements and trend tracking, you can’t measure the effectiveness of your performance if you don’t analyze your performance on a regular basis as well. Even if you aren’t required to file a time-log or a weekly report, create a brief report that captures what you did, how long it took, how it compares to your goals for the week and performance over the previous weeks, and what you plan to get done next week. Also include a summary of any problems or distractions that cost you time, breakthroughs or inspirations that saved you time, and anything significant that should be remembered. It should never be more than a page, and often half a page will do.
- Be Brutal
Apply the rules consistently and when you need to, be harsh with your desk, your documents, and your doorknob cow-orkers who worship Wally as their leader.