Working Long Hours Doesn’t Make You More Efficient
A friend of mine complains often about how busy she is. She owns her own business, has a small staff and works crazy hours. Sleep isn’t one of the tasks on her To Do list. Out of curiosity, I spent the day with her to see her in action. I experienced first-hand how someone who’s busy all day, isn’t necessarily accomplishing anything. There are a few things my friend needs to do to start being more effective.Delegate. My friend has a hard time letting go of tasks to the point of micromanaging. When she does delegate, she ends up doing most of the tasks herself or redoing whatever it is she has asked someone to do. Delegating works well if you clearly explain what you want someone to do and then follow up near the deadline date. When someone knows that you’re going to follow up, they’re more likely to do as you ask.
Focus on the big picture instead of obsessing over small, insignificant tasks. Her retail business is so busy that she rarely finds time to post the next week’s schedule until the weekend. Her employees don’t know what hours they’re supposed to work the following week until late Saturday. She’s finally agreed to create the schedule a week in advance.
Listen to the experts. My friend acquired her company from a longtime friend of hers who wanted to retire. Although he doesn’t come to the store anymore, he’s always available to give her advice, share shortcuts and even train her staff. She refuses his help because she wants to prove to herself that she can run the business on her own. When she realizes that her stubbornness is costing her time and money, she’ll accept help when it’s offered and listen to someone with experience.
Train everyone to cover all positions. She hasn’t taken the time to teach all of her employees how to use the cash register, how to price items or even how to close up shop at the end of the day. That means that every day she has to either open or close her store and can’t take days off. (Her husband already calls her business “the other man.”) When she finally trains each employee to cover any position, she’ll be able to take some time off to recharge.Take a close look at the way you work. Are you busy or effective?
