Attention Managers: Stop Wasting Your Employees’ Time!

Being a productive leader isn’t just about maximizing your productivity. It’s also about helping your team stay productive.

Years ago, back when I still had a corporate job as an IT programmer, I was working on a large project that involved many different departments. Each department had their own specific task that had very little involvement with the others.

Every Monday we had a “status update” meeting from 3-5PM.

Every.  Single. Monday.

You know what this status meeting consisted of? Status updates. Lots of little status updates.

20-30 people from all the different teams would sit around a large conference table. The project manager would ask each group to share what they had been up to and what their progress was.

Each team would talk for a few minutes, then get asked some questions, and then they would move on to the next team.

This happened.

Every.
Single.
Monday.

This went on for weeks. I struggled to stay awake during every single one of those meetings. It was a real battle, like trying to stay awake through the director’s extended version of “Meet Joe Black.” Doable, but difficult.

(Side note: My boss attended some of these meetings with me, and one time he actually did fall asleep. I have to say, I took an odd sort of pride in the fact that I was able to stay awake while my boss dozed off. This did, however, create a weird moral dilemma: Do I wake him up so he doesn’t embarrass himself, or do I let him sleep, since waking him up would be kind of like chastising him? I let him sleep, and only nudged him when he started to snore. But I digress…)

That was two hours out of my life every week so I could give a five minute update. Then I would spend a mind-numbing 115 minutes listening to information that had no impact on my work.

What a waste.

Hey, it could have been worse. They could have scheduled those meetings for Friday afternoons…

When you think about it, there was only one person whose productivity was increasing as a result of that meeting:

The Project Manager.

She was able to get her whole team assembled in one place, talk about everything she needed, get all her questions answered at one time, and not have to worry about emailing or tracking people down.

I can understand it from her perspective. However, she wasted 20-30 people’s time just so she could make herself more productive.

That is the antithesis of what a manager should be doing.

Yes, a manager is going to need to pull people away from their work periodically for meetings, updates, and that sort of thing.

However, the manager should be cognizant of the impact he is having on his employees’ productivity.

If you are a manager, it is one of your primary responsibilities to make your employees’ work life more effective. You can’t do that if you are wasting their time just to make your own life easier.

The next time you want to bog down your team requiring them to attend long update meetings or fill out long status reports, ask yourself, “Is this meeting for my benefit or for my team’s?”

If it’s only for your benefit, consider cancelling the meeting and finding a less burdensome way to get the info you need. Or at least make the meeting as short as possible.

Not only will your employees thank you, but they will also be able to do the thing you most want them to do: get their work done quickly!

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Did you know that the skills of improv comedy can help managers and leaders be more effective? It’s true! Check out Avish’s Speaking and Training page to find out how he can work with you and your organization!
 

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By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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