Course Objectives:CELEBRATION news"E"letter
Number 4, June 1999
by Laura M. Stack, MBA (new married name!)
Published by Celebration Presentations
…your Personal and Professional Development Resource
The CELEBRATION news"E"letter is a monthly electronic newsletter distributed to our clients, human resource personnel, and colleagues. Celebration Presentations works with organizations that want more productive people and individuals who want to lead more fulfilling lives. Our programs provide the personal productivity, communication, and professional development skills needed to improve performance on the job and create organizational growth.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
* Article: Dealing with Interruptions from Visitors
* Time Tips and Traps
* Words of Wisdom
* Featured Program: Marketing Yourself for Success
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ARTICLE: “How Can I Get Any Work Done If You’re Always Bothering Me?” (Part I)
“It’s not me! I know it!” You’re the type of person who is good at planning and prioritizing your day. You’re efficient, work hard, plan realistically, and don’t procrastinate. But you still have things on your to-do list at the end of the day. Maybe, just maybe, your plans are being thrown off by external challenges that you can’t control. Visitors, meetings, phone calls, mail, and crises can all waste your time. So I’d like to devote my next few columns to a series on dealing with common external timewasters.
First of all, can you prevent interruptions from occurring? Can you stop the phone from ringing, avoid the crisis, or keep that co-worker from walking into your office? Not always. Short from barring the door or turning on your voice mail, interruptions are inevitable. However, you can manage them once they do occur. Does an interruption that should have taken 10 minutes ever turn into 50? Do you ever say, “Well, I’ve lost my focus now, so I may as well take a break.” So you get a cup of coffee, go to the restroom, or visit a friend. I’ve found that what you do before, during, and after an interruption is more important than attempting to eliminate them. Visitors are part of your job.
Some of these tips may work for you and others won’t. Take the ones that sound good and leave the rest. Let’s start with controlling the amount of time wasted by drop-in visitors. Controlling time taken up by visitors requires both courtesy and good judgment. Here are some suggestions:
1. Consider the physical layout of your office. Does your desk face a door or a hallway? Humans are curious beings. When someone walks by, it is our nature to look up to see who just passed. If that person is wandering around looking for someone to bother, they will catch your eye and smile. Not wanting to be rude, you smile back. They enter your office and ask the death question, “So, how’s it going?” Congratulations, you just bought yourself an easy ten-minute interruption. One solution is to rotate your desk or change the layout of your cubicle so that your back is facing the door. If someone walks by and sees that you are busy, they are less likely to interrupt you (but not always). As an added benefit, you focus longer on the work in front of you. If you can’t rotate your desk completely around, try at least to work sideways and use a computer screen or cabinet to block your view to the corridor.
2. Remove all chairs from your office. A chair is an invitation to sit down (especially the comfortable padded ones). If there are no chairs, a visitor cannot park in your work area. If there is nowhere for visitors to sit, you must stand to greet people who unexpectedly drop in. Extend your hand, smile, and ask, “What can I do for you?” The person will notice this business-like atmosphere and may cut their visit shorter than if they could lounge and put their feet up on your desk. Keep a nice padded folding chair tucked out of sight. If the issue is important enough, you can pull out the chair and invite them to sit. Don’t ask your visitor to sit unless you have the time. On seminar participant once told me he bought a plain high-back wooden chair and cut a half-inch off the front of each leg. When a colleague sat in it, they couldn’t quite tell what was wrong, but soon became uncomfortable and left!
3. Place a clock strategically. If you do have to have a chair in your office, place a clock behind you in view of visitors. Every once in a while, turn around and glance at the clock. When you glance at the clock is very important. You should never check the time when the other person is talking, because it’s rude. However, when you begin speaking, you can casually turn around while talking, check the clock, and continue speaking without missing a beat. This is very subtle and sends a message to the person that you are on a schedule and watching the clock.
4. Be honest and assertive. When someone says, “Gotta minute?” do they really mean one minute? Never! So respond, “Actually, I have just one. Will that be enough or can I call you back at 3:00?” Or when someone enters your office and begins talking, wait until they take a breath. Then say, “Joan, I want to talk to you about this, but I’ve got my back up against a deadline right now. Would it be okay if I called you in an hour?” Let the person see you write the appointment in your calendar so they feel you heard them. When you don’t have time for an interruption and allow it to occur anyway, you’re not doing either one of you a favor. First, because your mind is elsewhere, you’re not really listening to the person. Can’t you tell when someone isn’t present? Their eyes look strangely glassy. Second, you’re not doing yourself any favors because you’re going to miss a deadline. So do both of you a favor and be assertive. Honest, from the heart. Don’t be too aggressive and violate their rights, but don’t be too passive either and let someone violate yours. Find the middle ground. I honestly believe that most people are not trying to be rude by interrupting you. They simply want to tell you something and would be happy to tell you another time if it’s truly inconvenient.
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TIME TIPS AND TRAPS
· When you receive an unsolicited email advertisement, just delete it. Responding, even to remove your name from the distribution list, highlights your address as active.
· Contact your ISP and have then stop your junk mail. They can place a filter on the most common junk mail domains and addresses. When you receive junk email, add the spammer’s address to the filter to disallow any future correspondence.
· Have easy access to your email while traveling. Debbie Taylor, President/Owner of Taylor Made Events in Denver, Colorado, finds it quite easy to check her email even without a laptop. “On-line services are becoming readily available at commercial outfits such as Kinkos. It’s inexpensive and convenient to check in while traveling, and each person can respond when it’s convenient.”
· Use voice mail to increase efficiency. If you need uninterrupted time to finish an important project, voice mail allows you to identify who’s calling and temporarily screen out less urgent calls. If you’re in a hurry, leaving a voice mail message will let you avoid lengthy conversations punctuated by the usual social niceties
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WORDS OF WISDOM
“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute, and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.” ---Albert Einstein
“Time is that wherein there is opportunity, and opportunity is that wherein there is no great time.” ---Hippocrates
“I am always quarreling with time! It is so short to do something and so long to do nothing.” ---Queen Charlotte
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FEATURED PROGRAM
Receive a 20% discount on the following program by mentioning this newsletter through 1999:
“Marketing Yourself for Success”
Whether you are a business owner or corporate employee, you must create your own success! In order to advance your career, you must look at yourself as a product and learn to market, repackage, and distribute yourself. Discover the behaviors you must master to create or increase your perceived value to your internal or external customers. Learn winning self-presentation and self-promotion concepts you can use to be more effective on the job and promote yourself more powerfully.
Course Objectives:
· Present Yourself Powerfully
· Learn What First Impressions You Are Giving to Others Through Your Image
· Shake Hands Properly
· Toot Your Own Horn Without Bragging
· Communicate Your Value in a Short Amount of Time
· Leave a Lasting Impression
· Share Creative Ways to Stay in Touch with Contacts
· Discuss Business Dress Guidelines
· Experience the Impact of Enthusiasm and a Positive Attitude
· Practice the Six Non-Verbal Laws of Approachability
For more information about "Managing Time and Multiple Priorities," please call 303-471-7401.
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