10/27 2011
Posted in: Leadership, Servant Leadership, Time Management
Time management seems to be the hot topic these days! I have received many comments and questions about the topic of time management. One of the questions that came my way about this topic of managing time is what I really think the number one time sucker is. After only spending a minute on this question, I am here to tell you that I have saved my number one time management killer for last… Are you ready? NEGATIVITY! So are you wondering why I think this is the number one time sucker? Here goes…
No matter what vertical market you are in, if you are responsible for managing people, you are in the people business. And when you are in the people business, you are dealing with emotions. And when you are dealing with emotions, you are dealing with negativity. Feelings of unfairness, isolation, anger, disrespect, unkindness and confusion cause employees to come and talk with you. They want to vent and they want to just talk and talk AND TALK about why they are frustrated, angry, sad, or irritated. They talk and talk and you listen and listen and the whole time they are not being productive and neither are you. And even when they are done talking about their irritation, they are still thinking about it. When they are thinking about negative emotions, it is tough to concentrate. And when it is tough to concentrate it is difficult to get the work done that needs your attention. And then they want to talk about it even more!
Some people even feel the need to rally people behind their cause and make others angry or irritated at someone for something that they feel was unjustly done to them. Before you know it you will have the whole office taking sides and talking about negative situations and not getting any work done.
WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME! So what do you do about this time sucker. Here are a few ways to get time management under control when negativity is creeping into your work environment.
- Make a commitment not to fall into the gossip trap. There are some people who feel that “being in the know” about everything going on in the office is a way to have power. Make the commitment now not to fall into that trap. Be up front with telling people, “I feel uncomfortable talking about that and I would like to focus on the positive things that we do.”
- Be aware that your goal as a leader is to focus on healing and building community. Did you know that? Your job as a leader is to build strong community ties between employees and departments. Speaking negatively (or listening to negative talk) does not help you to build bridges- it helps you to build up walls. Be a bridge builder. Ask the question, “How can I help you heal and move forward in a positive way?”
- Acknowledge others’ feelings but do not contribute to those conversations (you will be sorry later that you did). See how this works for you. “I can see that you are really upset and you obviously feel wronged in this situation. I want to help make it right. How about some ideas of how to approach this person so you can talk this out and resolve this issue? I want to help you to move forward and move past this. How can I help you prepare for this tough conversation?”
- Acknowledge your own feelings. I am so glad when I hear so many of my clients talking about how they are building a transparent culture. Practice the true meaning of transparency and take a hard look at yourself. Where are you harboring negative feelings in your life? What difficult conversations do you need to have in order to move past jealousy, anger, resentment, or just plain misunderstandings? Put a plan together to heal some old wounds and move forward in a healthy way.
- Seek out negativity with a plan to plant some new seeds of hope and joy. Do not settle for the same old culture that you have had all these years. It only takes one person to make a difference and to start changing your culture. If you have a culture that is burdened with gossip, jealousy, anger, mistrust or just complacent acceptance of oldhabits- make a plan to start changing that culture by changing your behaviors. Get comfortable asking, “How can I help you heal?”
I have met people who are what I would decribe as “high maintenance” because they tend to look for drama in which to participate. This type of behavior has a huge negative impact to being good at managing your time. Look for high maintenance people and look for ways to help them put old feelings away and help them to move forward. Time management is hard enough to manage with all the work that needs to be done without piling the negative emotions on top of your to-do list.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
What kind of negativity is invading your thoughts and keeping you from being focused on what REALLY needs your attention? What kind of plan do you have for getting rid of those negative emotions so you can be better at time management.
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