Paul Tasca's Blog

Paul Tasca's Blog

Paul Tasca  //  

Dec 20 / 5:55pm

Is Your Career Managing You?

Most people, if answering honestly, would say “Yes!”

Most would also agree that merely having some semblance of a career, given our current economic environment, is a big win.  The employment and growth projections are out and they aren’t very encouraging, for example;

The National Federation of Business reported in November that 9 percent of small business owners planned to add workers over the next three months, yet 16 percent of companies, planned to cut positions.  http://www.nfib.com/Portals/0/PDF/sbet/SBET200912.pdf

The Business Roundtable reported on the results of a survey conducted with executives of large firms; only 13 percent planned to increase employment over the next six months while approximately 40 percent were planning to cut payrolls.

http://www.businessroundtable.org/sites/default/files/Q4%20CEO%20Survey%20Press%20Release_FINAL.pdf

I am frequently asked, how does one manage their career amidst this uncertainty?  I don’t have a magic cure all answer so I recommend that one first begins to take control of their most valuable controllable possession.  The possession that all of us have in equal amounts.  Our 168 hours per week of time. Until we learn to manage our time, we can realistically manage little else.  As a self employed professional, my time is my livelihood and is one of the few things over which I have any control.  Effectively managing one’s time is hugely dependent on skillful prioritization, execution, and continual communication and training of those around us to respect the value and scarcity of our time.   I often ask my clients and audiences to describe the biggest challenge that they face when trying to manage their time.  The most frequent responses include; meetings, interruptions, incomplete tasks, and communication and behavioral issues.

 

Here are a few tips on making meetings more time efficient:

1.     Request (or require) the meeting organizer to provide a draft agenda to all meeting participants at least 24 hours before the meeting.

2.     If the meeting is designed to last more than one hour, do not require all attendees to remain in the entire meeting unless they can contribute to at least 80% of the total meeting content.

3.     Start and end the meeting on time whether or not all are present and whether or not all items have been completed.  This on time start and end policy sets the standard for more productive and even more importantly, fewer meetings.

4.     If the meetings run long or late due to meeting participants chit chat, or conversational dominance, establish stand up meetings by removing chairs from the meeting room.  Stand up meetings have been shown to take at least 50% less time than sit down versions.

5.     Require the meeting notes or minutes taker to use electronic word processing software rather than handwritten notes.

For additional tips on gaining more control over your career (and life) by managing your time, visit my web site at http://www.paultasca.com

Paul Tasca     

Author of:

Drumming Up Your Career                                        

Email:  paul@paultasca.com                 Web:     http://www.paultasca.com

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