are we really that unproductive?

Do we really need to work 16 hour days to get the job done? My instincts tell me that 1. we are not good at delegating; 2. we are going to destroy any semblance of life in a very short period of time; or 3. we are trying to do too much.

It doesn’t seem like we are working all that effectively if we need more than 8 hours or so a day to do the job at hand. I am convinced that the working hour regiment was set by the traditional professions, working by the hour, therefore the more you work you the more you get paid mentality.

However, to do a job, especially once you have years of experience, just doesn’t take that long. I would propose to all those firms out there that I have dealt with, do away with your time cards, assign a fee to the project and hit the beach! The value to me as a client is the output, I don’t care if it takes you 5 minutes to give me the right answer, as long as it is resolved. In fact, I see you as more valuable.

When will we all organise our companies around meeting client objectives, regardless of the time that this takes? If we can do our “job” working mornings only, who to say this is wrong?

The new competitive world of the knowledge worker should enforce this as a matter of course, but why don’t you get a head of the curve?

© management mojo 2008. All rights reserved.

trend vs fad

A key skill of any management team needs to be their ability to spot a trend. It is no good gonig around with your head in a bubble and not observing the happenings around you.

Two examples come to mind: one, a large financial services firm provided a presentation on their latest product offering. Nothing wrong with that, but they are still harping on about the commission that the sales force can generate – 6.75% in this case. Wow! That’s a big commission, but even more so I was amazed that while the entire industry is moving to transparency and a fee basis, reflecting the advances in professionalism it has made, here is an old-school insurance company still flogging product. They are missing the long-term trend and I think will struggle in the years to come.

A second one, admittedly closer to my heart is that of the eco-product, or green-product. I think that we all need to take responsibility for our lives and our impact on the world for generations to come. Given the level of technology that we have at our disposal, we should be able to provide solutions. However, I am hearing a lot of comments that this is merely a ‘fad’, one that will go away. Firstly, it shouldn’t be allowed to go away, and secondly, if anything, it will probably become more pressing as the world population continues to grow. This is more of a trend in my view and one we need to be conscious of – if we don’t the future environment will force us to be.

Don’t even get me started on the downside of globalisation…!

© management mojo 2008. All rights reserved.

think long-term to be true to yourself

After having spent considerable time with a management team considering their long-term vision – where they want to be in 5 years, what the company should look like, etc I finally thought we were getting somewhere. It had been difficult. The directors were in disagreement, but some great thinking had came out of the debates and some fresh ideas were proposed as key to reaching this vision they had in their mind. I thought we had it…but, alas, I jump to conclusions!

This ambition of theirs would require change. They were plotting a new course, with a sound framework that would help in rolling out their thinking and strategy. The joint accountabilities and objectives were clear, right down to the immediate action plan.

Then there was an interruption for the sales director – an urgent message from a potentially new client – he came back in elated. They had secured a major deal with this prospect and were looking forward to a 2 year contract, possibly extended to 3 depending on key deliverables being met. Everyone was passing around congratulations.

Then I opened my mouth: “But this isn’t where you see yourself in 5 years. In fact, this is exactly the type of business you said you don’t want to do anymore. Why did you accept it?”

“We’re going to nail our figures!” was the quick reply.

Do I hold any hope for them achieving their objectives? No. If you are not willing to consider the long-term implications in all of your decisions, you are not going to achieve them. This decision will undermine their long-term objectives. Sometimes some pain needs to be taken in the short-term to come out stronger on the other side.

Will I get blamed for missing their objectives further down the line? Probably!