Time Management - Marc Mancini
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
22<br />
<strong>Time</strong> <strong>Management</strong><br />
Here’s an example.<br />
A manager working in a highly disorganized and unproductive<br />
position within an airline learned she was about to be laid<br />
off. Encouraged to apply for another position within the airline,<br />
she found a managerial job opening in the cargo division. Even<br />
though she recognized that she knew little about cargo and that<br />
making a change would require learning new skills, she also<br />
knew that the division was highly regarded—efficient, well<br />
staffed, and less stressful. She applied for the position, and got it.<br />
A year later, she found that she was delighted with the<br />
change she had made. She was now working in a proficient and<br />
well-organized department, surrounded by efficient and productive<br />
people, and able to exercise her own considerable organizational<br />
skills with far fewer obstacles and less stress. Change, she<br />
discovered, wasn’t as bad as she had feared. In fact, it led to a<br />
far more gratifying work situation.<br />
Changing jobs isn’t always possible, though. So what do you<br />
do when faced with inefficiency and disorganization in your<br />
immediate work environment? The best approach—although<br />
apparently counter-intuitive—is to investigate ways to assert<br />
some control over that environment itself. For example, you<br />
might suggest to a well-placed ally that you’d be willing to serve<br />
on a committee to create a better distribution of responsibilities<br />
within your division. (If you can arrange to chair the committee,<br />
even better.) You at once take control of the agenda, help shape<br />
the process, and are able to delegate responsibilities. By exerting<br />
some control over the process, you’ll perhaps create a better<br />
situation for yourself.<br />
Other possible ways of achieving control over your work<br />
environment:<br />
• If you have problems with constant interruptions during<br />
your workday, ask permission to work more flexible hours<br />
or even telecommute on certain days.<br />
• Arrange to travel more on business. Much useful work<br />
can be done on an aircraft or in a hotel room, without the<br />
distractions usually associated with telephones and office