Why a request for flexibility is only the first half of the conversation
Lisa Unwin
Co-founder & CEO of Reignite Academy, Careers Expert for Noon, LinkedIn Top Voice, Author, Expert on women's careers
Congratulations. Your request for flexible working has been granted. Job done.
Or maybe not. How often do you hear complaints such as “I’m now being paid for 3 days but working 4” or “I still have to put in 50 hours a week, it’s just that some of them happen to be at home, that wasn’t quite what I envisaged”
Turns out you’ve only been having half the conversation; the one about hours and reward, which is the less important half.
The other half is where you explain why you are confident you can deliver what’s required because you are a super-productive, super-efficient human being with a laser like focus on what’s required and a dedication to deliver. And this requires certain attitudes, behaviours and habits:
- Be clear what you are being paid for
You’re a client relationship manager? Then that’s what you should be spending your time on. Beware being drawn into other activities that will eat up your time without making an impact on your own personal objectives. Have a razor-like focus on how you will be evaluated. This is your north star for decision making.
2. Take control of how and where you spend your time
"Work expands so as to fill the time available for completion" Parkinson's Law
Being busy is not a problem. Make sure that activity delivers results. Distinguish the important from the unimportant and urgent from non-urgent. Don’t be distracted by the easy stuff on your to do list, begin with what’s important. If you stay on top of that, you avoid crises and will have time to deal with crises. Stephen Covey’s Habit: Put First things first sums this up nicely
And remember. 20% of your time will deliver 80% of your results
3. Know when you are creative and alert
Which brings us to this. Many of us are most creative and alert in the mornings. So tackle activities that require brain power then. Leave mundane tasks (such as processing email) until a time when you are less alert. If you have a surge of inspiration and energy early evening, use it. If there is little point trying to work between 2 and 4, walk away.
4. Learn to say no
Most of us want to be liked. So a colleague or (worse still) a superior asks for help with something, we don’t want to jeopardize the relationship by saying “No” even though saying “Yes” could mean spending a whole load of time helping someone achieve their objectives without making a dent on our own.
Be savvy. Take your time to respond; figure out whether there is a win win; suggest alternative solutions. And if it’s a “No” say no and be firm.
5. Ditch perfection
"Good enough is fine. When good enough gets the job done, go for it."
Enough said (see what I just did?)
6. Get out more
This might seem counter-intuitive to points 1.and 2.in most jobs building relationships and networks is essential. This doesn’t happen sitting at a desk. As Keith Ferrazzi would say
"Never eat lunch alone."
And whoever came up with a brilliant idea sitting behind a screen. Take a walk, have a swim, let your mind go blank. That’s when the best ideas happen
7. Don’t scroll
Your inbox is NOT your to do list. Beware scrolling email. When you do have to go to email, learn to process it, identify the ones that need action, get rid of the rest. And it’s not just email now. Someone told me that email was dead and will be replaced by tools like Slack. As far as I can tell they offer the same dangers of distraction. And worse still, email is NOT dead, so now I have both email AND Slack to deal with. And messages on Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram …
That’s not to mention scrolling social media just to see what’s going on: what’s out there. Yes, they are useful tools, but be aware of the difference between Connectivity versus Productivity. Use the time when you’re less alert and creative and be focused in what you look at and for how long.
8. Be a show off
Sweeping generalisation alert: Too many women think that if they put their heads down and do a good job they’ll get noticed. Wrong. The people that matter need to know what you’ve done and how good you are. And you need to tell them. If this feels like showing off, comfort yourself that you’re building important relationships and networks (you are).
9. Beware meetings
Why does every meeting last an hour? Why does it have to be face to face? Do you need to be there? What decision has to be made? Are the right people in the room? Meetings are the enemy of productivity. Last week I needed a meeting with my business partner to go through 5 or 6 pretty crunchy questions. Took us 9 minutes on google hangouts, 2 of which were spent discussing the weather, moaning about Fortnite and swapping holiday plans.
10. Go to sleep .. . and get up early
Arianna Huffington is passionate about the need for rest, and she’s right. We all need sleep. At the same time, we have goals and ambitions outside of work that we have to find time for. Personally, I’m much better, more focused and happier if I can do even just 45 minutes of exercise a day. The only way I’ve found to make that happen is to get up an hour before everyone. Sets me up well for the day, and guarantees that by the end of the day I’m ready to go to bed early.
Other reading
She's Back Your Guide to Returning to Work by Lisa Unwin and Deb Khan
How to be a Productivity Ninja by Graham Allcott
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Site Administrator at Dursley Tabernacle URC
6 年So True thanks for sharing Sue. On a similar vein I was catching up with some things the other night and responded to an e-mail only to receive one back? generated by the organisation saying that I was working out of office hours and should consider my work life balance! The person who I e-mailed would respond to me in the morning during "normal" office hours. Progressive organisation actually considering their employees and reminding us that we all need down time and tech free time.
Logistics entrepreneur; property developer; commercial property leasing and passionate about building opportunities for young people. Pretty nifty at making flapjacks too!
6 年Fab article and great advice!
Retired HR Professional & Parent Carer. Passionate about Fractional Working & Job Sharing for 35 years!
6 年Some very useful advice here. As a part timer and job sharer for more than 20 years I needed to be productive and very efficient within a shorter working week. In my last job share senior advisory post which I held for 10 years I normally worked from Wednesday to Friday. There wasn’t so much flexibility with moving my days as I worked with a job share partner, but of course I had to be flexible about team meetings, client needs & training events etc. In contrast I worked in a stand alone part time HR management post in the early 90s for 2.5 days a week. This was supposed to be Tuesdays and Thursdays in the London or Suffolk Offices with 0.5 working from home. In practice I was all over the place and this made my child care and commuting arrangements difficult to manage with two small children. I resigned in 1993 to become a full time mother, returning in 2002 to the job share post, a much better working arrangement!