Time Management

Frequently in training, I ask attendees, “how long should you wait before responding to a customer or even a colleague using emails?”. The answer can vary from “one to two hours”, “the next day” to more surprisingly “as quick as you can”.

Interestingly enough, from an email etiquette perspective, the answer is 24 hours or the next day. 

Naturally, depending on our job role, the situation we find ourselves or level of urgency needed in a given time we might respond sooner. However, the idea that we need to come back to someone instantly or within the hour is unreasonable and unfair to both parties.

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One may ask, what do tomatoes and time management have in common? And where is the connection?

Many people will know the Italian word for a tomato is “Pomodoro”. The story goes back to an Italian Writer and Consultant, Francesco Cirillo, designed the notorious “Pomodoro time management technique” back in the late 1980’s.

A university student at the time, Francesco was struggling to concentrate on his work. He was getting easily distracted, his productivity levels were low and he would often procrastinate.

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Sometimes in life, what can feel like a real headache can have a simple enough answer. We are so engrained in the day to day running of our business that we don’t necessarily slow down, stand back and consider what we are actually doing.

We take the hard road out of pure habit, without thinking about the consequences of our actions.

I remember mentoring an amazing your lady who was setting up her business. Mary (fictious name) told me she was experiencing a real problem trying to balance client appointments.

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A number of years ago I read an article that stated, “When a customer has been left unattended for two minutes, they will often believe they have been waiting for ten minutes”.

Having reflected upon my own experiences as a customer, I can certainly say I have often been left waiting in various receptions, restaurants, shops and even hotel lobbies over the years. So, I can honestly agree with this statement as I relate to it.

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Have you ever found yourself in the position where you are organising training for your team? And whilst you have selected the trainer, you are keen for it to go well and wonder if there is anything else you can do to make it work?

Like the phrase “fail to prepare – prepare to fail”, there are many ideas we can employ to get the best out of the day. Some of these are on a practical basis. And others are about setting expectations and parameters for trainees, their managers and colleagues alike.

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