This week’s Case Study focuses on Time Management:
As part of a larger Executive Team project, I coached the COO of a mid- sized company who was feeling overwhelmed and wanted to establish better time management and the ability to complete projects without a sense of crisis and evening and weekend work. He was seen as one of the most understanding of the top executives.
As we outlined his goals the aspects of being available to everyone all the time had some far reaching consequences. He was not satisfied with his performance in the Executive Team Meetings. His innovative ideas and solutions for the organization did not get expressed. He realized that his confidence in his communication was low. His staff was not taking as much accountability for completion and did not fully realize their own abilities.
Resolution Process: We set up office hours for his availability and he closed the door for a couple of hours a day to complete work. We worked through the concerns about this to create the focus needed.
He created a schedule for regular 1-1 short meetings with his direct reports so they knew they would have time with him and saved concerns for those times. The extra positive result was that the staff began to make more decisions on their own and to be more accountable.
As he began to be less overwhelmed it became evident that his confidence was returning in his abilities and his innovation. He became more verbal in executive meetings and began to be more noticed and respected by his executive team members.
Results: In his own words: “It quickly became clear that to be more effective I needed to reduce distractions and be more focused. I have become more focused on what matters and have let loose of many things and don’t have that level of importance. I’ve improved my productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and visibility with colleagues and superiors.”
If this is a familiar situation and you would like to learn more about the building blocks for creating a culture of collaboration and the team alignment process, I am offering a free teleclass on April 28, “Create Effective Teams and Strategic Results.” For more information and registration visit: http://bit.ly/fv8SwF
