How Managers Can Find Time For The Big Things

He said he didn’t have the time.  Which was too bad, because I knew it would cost him.

I had just referred a potential hire to a manager friend of mine.  Let’s call the potential hire Angela and the manager David.  Angela worked for me at the time, but I knew that her career goals would eventually take her elsewhere.

She saw an opportunity come up with David’s company.  As much I hated to lose her, I told David that Angela would do a great job for him.  She was energetic, skilled, smart and motivated.  I also told him that Angela thrived on feedback, and I recommended that he hire her and then check in regularly.

Unfortunately this was a deal breaker.  David (whose job it was to manage people) told me “I don’t have time to manage people”.

He hired someone else, who failed almost immediately.  David is still hiring people for that position.  Angela went on to be an award-winning rockstar for one of his competitors.

Even though David blew it, I can still sort of empathize with him.  We’ve all got so much to do.  Where can managers find the time to actually manage?

1. Prioritize.

David was caught up in what he perceived to be the big things: his meetings, reports and email.  He thought he didn’t have the time for the "little things” like talking to his people.  The first step to solving your time crunch problem is realizing that communication, leadership and management are not little things.  They are big things, maybe the biggest.  Creating an effective team is at least as important, if not more so, than being an effective worker yourself.

Meet one on one with your staff.   Get to know them as whole people.  Find out what their problems are and solve them.  There is no more valuable use of your time.

2. Delegate

You still have to find time to practice your new priorities.   One method that I recommend is Stephen Covey’s Time Matrix.  To cut to the chase, you need to reduce your Quadrant III tasks (busy work) to free up time for your Quadrant II tasks (actions with long term results).

The best way to reduce your busy work?  Delegation.  Find someone who wants to learn, then let them expand their knowledge, skills and abilities by taking on some of your tasks.  One great way to do this is by subtly removing yourself from one or two meetings a week.   Start sending a delegate in your place, then use your newfound time to be proactive with the big things.

3.  Schedule it

Don’t let it management and development be “whenever” tasks.  Don’t try to fit them between everything else.  Fit everything else between management and development.  Go to your calendar and block out the time, then stick to this commitment as closely as you would a scheduled meeting (which hopefully you are getting out of via Step 2!).

4. Be Willing To Do The Hard Work of Getting Started

Becoming a proactive manager might be tough at first.  You can expect pushback from those who would prefer that a bright light not be placed on their performance and attitude.  But the process gets easier as you learn more about your employees and they see that you are there to help them, not hinder them.

Your high performers will love the fact that you are paying attention to their stellar work, and your low performers will start to get the message that they can’t slip under the radar anymore.

Your homework?  Determine one of these four areas to improve in.  What benefits would you and your team see if you found more time for the big things?  Create a plan, break it down into two to four action steps, then put it into place over the next two weeks.