THIS WEEK'S SPEAKER
Mickey Northcutt received a grant to have 30 students in the mentoring program. The program is of great value to the students in CDC. The program is nationwide with 273 across the across the country, 11 of which are in Massachusetts. Mentors offer approximately 3 hours per quarter. A meeting is coming up soon about the program. Please see Mickey or Liz if you are interested.
Our speaker this week was Vincent E. Bonazzoli. He spoke about time management.
We all get 24 hours of time to manage each day. You have a choice of what to fill your 24 hours with! What matters to you the most? What else besides sleep do you occupy your time with? Work? Family activities?
In the handout given to us by Vincent, there is a pie chart. Compare your list to the pie slices. The things that are important may have a too little slice of the pie.
The concept is to get present and recognize how much time we spend on the top items on the list. Sometimes the most important things start getting squeezed.
In business, there are techniques that can be used to create better productivity in the office.
1. Client Selection - Be more alert to which clients are good, responsible, and fair. People who respect you. In some cases, clients take too much time and emotional effort. One suggestion is to rate clients A-D. A is an exceptional client who is pleased with your work and is respectful of your time. D is someone who takes too much time and effort, they are not happy, and are more work than they are beneficial.
2. Exclusivity - Don't take all clients. Work with people you are able to help and benefit.
3. Designated Hitter - Someone in the office that can answer questions for you so you are not involved in every question/decision. Delegation of work is important.
4. Preemptive Strike - Call clients with issues before they bring them up. Get on the issues first. Get systems around the issues that always pop up.
5. Interruption Controls - Work to stop interruptions that sidetrack you. Have fellow workers see you at the end of the day with questions that they have written down. They may solve many questions before the end of the day. They may ask you because it is easier, and quicker, but it is more disruptive to you. You can keep an interruption log so you can review who and how many interruptions they create.
6. Time Template - You can use a time template as provided to block out time during the day and better manage your schedule for greater efficiency.
Below is the handout provided at the meeting:
