<font color=blue>INDUSTRY BUZZ</font> It’s About Time

Let’s think about one of the most common resources that is the same for you and all of your competitors, and if used effectively, can give you the competitive edge.

The common resource is…time.

Some competitors have more money, more people or more equipment, but they all have the same amount of time as you. All of us are given the same amount of it to work with and all of us have the same opportunity to make the most of it.

It’s about time.

Where does it go? When do I say no? I never have enough! How it flies!

Try this exercise:
Look at your schedule and review what you have written down in your schedule for the next two weeks. Where are you scheduled to be? Things to do? How much of your time is actually scheduled and in what areas do you spend your time?

I ask these questions to all of the people I work with and do interviews with and have found that by far, most people do not schedule their time effectively and actually are opening themselves up to random acts of whatever shows up on their radar at the moment.

Another exercise: 
Keep a log of where you actually spend your time in 15- to 30-minute increments. I did this exercise once many years ago and found out within the first two hours (slow learner) that I was basically meandering the planet, reacting to anything that “popped up.” It sure felt good to conquer those moment-by-moment events, but I found I was rapidly heading nowhere and wasting a precious resource: time.

What to do about it:
Each of us has different ways to manage our time and if you are satisfied that you are spending your time in the most effective manner, please proceed to the next article so I am not wasting your time. For the rest of you readers, I would like to share a process that I embraced over twenty years ago. I have adopted a *Stephen Covey approach called RGA or Roles Goals Activities and Quadrant II and use it to guide me through my scheduling process.

It goes like this.

• Define your main roles
  Determine what your main roles are in the organization, limit these to a maximum of four to six.
  I have determined my most crucial roles are:
  Leader, Customer Satisfier, Employee Developer, Operations Overseer, Financial Overseer, Marketing and Sales Manager
• Set measurable specific goals in each of the roles
  Set the key specific goals you wish to accomplish in each of these roles.
• Identify the most important non-urgent/proactive activities to spend your time on
  Determine what the highest leverage activities are needed to accomplish the goals.
  Where do you need to spend your time?

Here is what it might look like:

Now set the activities into your schedule for the next two weeks and be willing to say no to other interruptions.

These activities should represent 50 to 60 percent of your scheduled time. This will leave 40 to 50 percent of your time to deal with those important urgent items that “pop up” and need to be dealt with.

This really has worked for me. If you start with 30 to 40 percent of your time in the key activities and work up to 50 to 60 percent, you will find time to accomplish a whole lot more.

It’s about time…

* Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - by Stephen Covey

Bill Arman is the president of landscape maintenance for Valencia, Calif.-based Landscape Development.