Good time management can only be achieved through personal responsibility and trust

In my newsletter series on leadership, I described the tasks that I believe a leader should fulfil. How leadership is changing due to increasing digitalisation. Successful leadership aims to inspire people and Leadership means meeting the challenges of an ever-changing environment. And I highlighted that leadership has nothing to do with hierarchy and personnel responsibility. Everybody can be a leader. 

In this article, I explore the question that probably preoccupies many leaders: How do I create enough space for myself to think about the important strategic questions and tasks? 

Let me start with my most important insight on this topic: I am responsible for myself! As a leader, no one can take time management off my hands. Neither my team nor the best assistant in the world. I could say it even more clearly: It's my own fault if I don't have time!

But first, take a step back. 

It's my own fault if I don't have time!

The curse of the appointment series

Hand on heart - who doesn't sometimes groan at the abundance of appointments in the calendar. They block the whole day. They really eat up time. And: for many of them, the added value that you bring in yourself is frighteningly low. This is especially true of those meetings that recur week after week. Meetings that have been set up once and whose usefulness is not questioned for a long time afterwards. 

Please do not misunderstand: There are good reasons and excellent meeting series that are run efficiently and add value to all involved. But for many meetings, this is not the case - and these are the real time-eaters in your calendar. This is where it is important to intervene in order to create enough free space for yourself.

I always ask myself these three questions when it comes to a meeting:

• What meetings are needed?
• Which meetings can I opt out of (Only do, what only you can do)?
• How can I reduce the frequency and the length?

I will go into all three points in a little more detail below. 

Only important meetings are real meetings

When I took over the position of CEO at Swisscom on June 1, 2022, we very quickly addressed the question of how we want to work together in the future in the Group Executive Board. What kind of exchange is needed and what topics we want to work on together. To do this, we used the following meeting matrix as a guide.

We are constantly considering which issues have a high impact on the organisation and where we can add a lot of value together as a group. 

In my earlier article, I described how important it is to have alignment on the key issues in the team. That is why we in the Executive Board pay a lot of attention to the quadrants at the top right of the matrix and consciously take the necessary time for these topics. Topics include strategy, OKR (Objectives and Key Results) and business planning, people retention, leadership development etc.  

But there are also very important topics, such as ESG (Environmental Social Governance) or also compliance, where we absolutely need a common understanding, whose direct influence on the organisation is less strong. Here we set the guard rails together, but rely on the experts for implementation.

Finally, we form small teams for all issues that have a high impact but do not require all Executive Board members and delegate execution to the small team. In my view, this is an important lever. Because in this way we keep the speed in the company high, in which decisions can be made quickly and without complications. And it gives us room for manoeuvre in the team.

Through this exercise we reduced the meeting frequency and length by about 50% each (so 4-times less time) and today we meet every 2 weeks for a half day. 

Saying "no" and fighting for freedom

The question of which meetings I can opt out of brings us to the second important insight I have gained: I have to give away trust in order to gain freedom. Only when I trust my colleagues and my team can I leave out meetings with a clear conscience. However trust-based delegation is the key to making space in your calendar and removing the need to sit in on many steering committees. 

I have to give away trust in order to gain freedom!

It gets even better: when I consciously withdraw from meetings, it is also an empowerment for my direct reports. Because suddenly they are in charge, instead of waiting until what the boss says or does.

This does not have to mean handing over the reins right away. Because a common understanding of the strategy and the goals sets the guard rails so clearly that the results pay off.

I am well aware that not every meeting can be taken over by a direct report. Many managers have meetings with colleagues from other lines and can only delegate to a limited extent. My rule of thumb is that I should only do, what only I can do. Everything else should be delegated. 

I have often noticed that people go into a meeting with a certain expectation: They believe that they are expected to be there. Instead of assuming, clarifying this expectation alone can work wonders. Simply recognising together that participation is only necessary for certain agenda items frees up space. It is therefore important to fight for one's own freedom and to question structures and assumptions.

Focus on the essentials

Questioning structures is also the most important lever for the last point. Addressing inefficiencies, even if you are not the organiser of a meeting, can make a big difference. Not only for one's own free space, but also that of colleagues. It is often simply not necessary to have all participants at all agenda items. So why not structure a meeting in such a way that only those are present at the times when they can actually bring or get added value? 

Whoever remains seated must not complain that she or he has no free space!

I think all of us know those meetings where we stay seated because they might still be exciting. Or because we simply want to be "seen". But let's always keep in mind: Whoever does this must not complain that he or she has no free space!

Free space to switch off: everyone needs to relax

I have talked a lot about the space we need as leaders to be able to reflect. So that we can take care of the issues where we can really add value.

I make sure that about a quarter of my week is not taken up with meetings. This requires saying no consistently. This way I keep time free to think, read documents, prepare for meetings and make last-minute appointments. 

At an internal event, I was asked how I manage to switch off from work. The free spaces described above are certainly a good prerequisite for this. There are many ways in which everyone can switch off. And it is not my place to give universal advice here. However, I believe that it helps to realise that work is important and should be fun. But it is not the most important thing in life. Personally, I can switch off very well through sport, meditation and family. My family in particular helps me immensely. As a family man, I am simply too busy at the weekend to think about work all the time. It's a great way to clear my head again.

Of course, my job includes evening appointments and sometimes also on weekends. But here, too, you have to weigh up what is really important. Because: If I agree to one appointment, I consequently cancel an appointment with my family or friends. This consideration helps to find a balance. And to get the necessary space to switch off.  

Personal responsibility, trust and the courage to consistently say no help to free us from the hamster wheel of meeting frenzy.

What are your strategies for creating the necessary freedom?

I look forward to your comments and the discussion. 

Christoph Aeschlimann, CEO Swisscom. I am passionate about the latest technologies such as 5G, cloud, AI and everything to do with software. Because they have a massive influence on how our society and our interaction with the environment develop. I am also fascinated by modern forms of collaboration and how they challenge us as leaders.