Tripod Columns: Bruce Tulgan

<body bgcolor="#FFFFCC" link="#FF0000" vlink="#990000"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td valign="TOP" align="CENTER" width="178">  <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="170"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/logo-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/logo.gif" alt="Tripod Map" border="0" height="58" width="170" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/universal-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/universal.gif" alt="Member Services Map" width="170" height="45" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="100%"> <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/adm/imagemap/zones-map.html"><img src="../../../../img/nav/www_subdomain/zones.gif" alt="Zone Map" width="170" height="69" border="0" ismap></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" 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<option value="">Related Pods</option> <option value="Freebies">Freebies</option> <option value="MacComputing">Mac Computing</option> <option value="PC%20User">PC User</option> <option value="Second-Hand">Second-Hand</option> <option value="Smallbiz">SmallBiz</option> <option value="Travel">Travel</option> </select></td> </tr> </table> </form> <br clear="ALL"> <p>  <p> <p> <p> <table cellpadding="5"> <tr><td valign="TOP"> <p> <p> <p><img src="../../../../work/columns/tulgan/img/www_subdomain/xnuggets.gif" width="180" height="216" alt="X Nuggets by Bruce Tulgan"> <p> <font size="+1"> <b> <font size="+2">T</font>HE <font size="+2">F</font>IRE <font size="+2">D</font>RILL <font size="+2">M</font>ENTALITY </font> </b> </font> <br> <p> <p>Published October 3, 1996<br><p> <p> <br> <p> <b><a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work/archive/tulgan.html">Other Columns</a> by Bruce Tulgan</b><br> Tripod <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work/interviews/960726tulgan.html">Interview</a> with the author<p> </td> <td><font size="+1"> <p> <p> <font size="+2">M</font>arketing representative: "... if my time management is good but my manager's time management is bad, I am still the one who pays the price..." <p> <font size="+2">A</font>ssociate at an investment bank: "It's a fire drill mentality... The worst thing is the lack of planning... we spend a bunch of time during the day doing nothing or next to nothing... [Then], all of a sudden it is urgent, there is no time even for adequate instructions..." <p> <font size="+2">A</font>ssociate at a law firm: "...when a partner will know of a deadline days or weeks or even months before it occurs and then doesn't get around to delegating the work until the last minute... an associate has to stay until all hours, maybe around the clock, when there was really no need..." <p> <font size="+2">M</font>ost Xers are ready to use our time as a resource to succeed in our careers but we are reluctant to surrender our schedules to managers. We are protective of our time and unwilling to have it controlled and misused. <p> <font size="+2">M</font>anagers stuck in the workplace of the past believe they are buying Xers' time and have the right to use it any way they see fit. The problem is that Xers are operating in the workplace of the future. Xers are not selling our time. We are selling our creative output. That is why we deal with managers who try to control our time and then impede our productivity much as a proprietor deals with difficult customers -- with begrudging tolerance. <p> <font size="+2">X</font>ers' most common complaint? Bad planning causes false urgency. Managers hold onto deadlines until the last minute, forcing Xers to wait around all day and run around all night. This reinforces Xers' presumption that we are much better able than our managers to schedule our own time. <p> <font size="+2">H</font>ere is the irony: The reason managers fail to make the best use of Xers' time is because they are not managing their own time effectively. Why? When they get caught up in the creative side of their work, some managers forget that they are also supposed to be managing the creative process of their subordinates. They forget the distinction between production time and management time. As a result they fail to allocate management time in their own schedules. <p> <font size="+2">W</font>ell, it's a tough job but somebody has to do it. You can't afford to have your time wasted, so you have to play a greater role in scheduling the accomplishment of your work-goals. <p> <font size="+2">F</font>irst, you have to proactively focus your manager's attention on the end-results for which you will be held responsible. "Exactly what do you want me to produce?" When you start talking in terms of end-results, you remind your manager that you are there to add value, to sell your creative output. You want to demonstrate that it is worthwhile for your manager to spend a small amount of time planning in order to facilitate your productivity. <p> <font size="+2">S</font>econd, always insist on deadlines, no matter how small or how large the stated goal of the assignment. If the end-result is too miniscule to justify a deadline, then your manager is not delegating enough responsibility. If the end-result seems too large to set a realistic deadline, then it is not sufficiently concrete. <p> <font size="+2">S</font>eeking deadlines for tangible end-results is not just the mark of someone who can handle responsibility. By insisting on deadlines, you require your manager to clarify the ownership of goals. In doing so, you help map out the terrain in which you can increase your autonomy and gain more control over your schedule. <p> <font size="+2">W</font>hat happens if your manager interrupts you between goal-setting and deadline? Just go back to the beginning. "Do you have a new goal for me? OK. Let me remind you of goal-number-one and its deadline. Now, does this new goal take priority? If yes, then let's renegotiate the deadline for goal-number-one. If no, then let's set a deadline for the new goal, keeping in mind the deadline for goal-number-one." <p> <font size="+2">B</font>y engaging your manager in an ongoing dialogue which revolves around planning deadlines for your achievement of tangible end-results, you create an upward spiral of productivity and autonomy. Who can complain about that? <p> <center><img src="../../../../work/columns/tulgan/img/www_subdomain/goldennugget.gif" width="175" height="65" alt="The Golden Nugget"></center> <p> <font size="+2">T</font>o better help your manager use your time wisely, check out William Oncken's approach in "Managing Management Time" or Stephen Covey's fourth generation time management tool, described in "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" (after you read them, you can give them as gifts to your manager, anonymously of course). <p> </font> <p> <hr> <p> <p><a href="mailto:rainworld@aol.com">Bruce Tulgan</a> is the author of <a href="../../../../www_subdomain/work/interviews/960726tulgan.html">"Managing Generation X"</a> and the President of Rainmaker, a consulting firm that specializes in teaching organizations how to retain and motivate young talent. <font size="-1"><p>© 1996 Bruce Tulgan. 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