Make The Time You
Need
Show me a way to get more things done. If it works, I'll pay anything within reason.
— Charles M. Schwab
We have talked about time robbers ... some brazen, like the drop-in visitor who expects to take as much of your time as he or she feels inclined to ... some surreptitious, who, like thieves in the night, will never be discovered if not pursued. Tremendous savings in time have already been cited as benefits of the identification and handling of time robbers.
But more rewards lie ahead for the determined manager who is eager to try all possible routes to the land of successful time management. Consider the concept of "time is money" developed by specialists on the staff of Science Research Associates. No executive has any problem
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realizing that the supply of money in a personal checking account may have to be subjected to the discipline of a budget if it is to survive the onslaught of modern-day living. When one views time as money ... of which a limited supply is available to cover everything that must be done ... a budget suddenly appears essential to preserve the time available and to accomplish what most needs to be done.
Now, few of us can pretend that this is our normal way of operating. Most of us spend our time as if it were going out of style. Here a lick... there a lick... an odd job or two .. a few tasks we really looked forward to because we like doing them... and perhaps one of the really important but unpleasant duties that couldn't be avoided any longer. Our budget of time would look shockingly ragged.
But, say the "time is money" men, consider the problem as if you were operating on a financial budget. You would check the amount available and the amount that would be received during the period ahead... Then you would review your objectives, determining their priority of importance and urgency... Then you would decide on the best application of money to particular projects to accomplish the most in terms of your objectives.
So with respect to time. What do you want to get done? ...In what order of importance? ... Over what period of time? ... What is the time available? ... What is the best strategy for application of time to projects for the most effective results? Each of these steps has been discussed in previous chapters. However, pulling them together within a concept similar to financial budgeting has helped many managers not only to see the wisdom of the plan but to implement it with determination.
The staggering amount of material which most executives have to review begins with reports and memos
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serving as their lifeline to vital organization information... continues through articles in trade publications, trade association reports, and perhaps books ... and, hopefully, ends with management-development materials to enable them to stay current with evolving managerial principles, methods and techniques. Attention to increasing their speed and comprehension in reading would seem imperative, even to the most casual observer. President John F. Kennedy is said to have increased his reading rate from 250 words per minute to more than 1200 per minute. Courses have proliferated and books on management now commonly refer to this important subject. Consider what a modest doubling of your reading speed, with the normal increase of comprehension, could mean to the time-bank account! If the average executive spends three hours a day in reading — letters, memos, reports, at work and at home — we see the possibility of picking up ninety minutes per day by an increase in reading speed which, by all standards, would have to be accepted as modest indeed.
In Carl Heyel's Organizing Your Job in Management, Dr. Hilda Whitener Yoder, of the Yoder Center for Reading Improvement in New York City, presents a speed-reading and comprehension test for the reader along with a number of suggestions.1 Because of the importance of this factor in executive efficiency and effectiveness, the test and table for interpretation of results is reproduced here with the permission of the American Management Association.
To evaluate your speed, try a little test at this point. The 500-word selection immediately following, between the headings "Starting Time" and "Finishing Time," is of standard difficulty as found in newspapers and general magazines. It largely follows in an interview between Heyel and Dr. Yoder and highlights some of the problems of
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reading speed and comprehension confronting businessmen. Before reading it, note the time you start and then enter your finishing time at the end of the example. Consult the accompanying table to find your reading speed.
Starting Time _______
Chances are good that you are stuffing your briefcase with more and more material to read at home. In virtually all middle- and top-level jobs the flood of "required reading" has steadily increased.
Yet most businessmen could cut drastically — or even eliminate — the amount of such work they take home. The secret: developing more efficient reading habits.
Statistics show that most businessmen read below the college level — attaining only three hundred words a minute or less; that their comprehension of the material is far too low; and that 90 percent of them could at least double their comprehension considerably.
To a slow reader, increasing speed and comprehension may seem impossible. He is likely to feel that the ability to read fast is a God-given talent possessed by only a favored few.
Actually, the rapid reader has received no such mystic blessing. The way a person reads is nothing more than a habit. And the slow poor reader, by study and application, can usually become a good reader.
One way to change your reading habits is to go to a good clinic or teacher for a special course. This may well double or even triple the average executive's reading speed. One reason for this is the fact that methods for analyzing reading faults have been developed on a highly scientific plane. Here is just one example. The actual movements of your eye can be photographed, giving a graphic picture of
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such things as the number of fixations per line of type, backtracking and length of time required to read a specific number of words.
But can you improve your reading skill on your own, without going to a professional source? Yes — if you are willing to study and practice. Merely reading a book about how to improve your reading won't solve a problem, any more than merely reading about exercise will strengthen your muscles.
Here are the broad principles involved. Authorities have found that most businessmen are likely to be perfectionists in reading. They read evey word because they are afraid of missing something. Reading whole thoughts and phrases increases both speed and comprehension.
The best way to do this is by reading material of standard difficulty, such as most popular magazines or light novels. Time yourself and see how much you have read in approximately ten minutes. Next day read for the same length of time but try to read more text.
While doing this, concentrate on moving forward. Don't regress, or look back, trying to pick up something you missed. You will have trouble getting the full meaning at first, but the important thing here is to jostle yourself out of old reading habits.
One way to test your comprehension is to have someone ask you questions on what you have just read. A better way is to do this reading from books specifically designed to improve your skills. They include tests on comprehension that relate to their text.
Finishing Time _______
Minutes |
Words per Minute |
5 |
100 |
4 1/2 |
110 |
4 |
125 |
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3 1/2 |
143 |
3 |
166 |
2 1/2 |
200 |
2 |
250 |
1 1/2 |
333 |
1 |
500 |
To evaluate your comprehension of what you have just read, circle the answers to the following true-false questions about it. Answers are given at the end of this chapter. Give yourself ten points for each correct answer.
(1) To reduce homework, a businessman needs to develop better reading habits. T F(2) Ninety-nine percent of businessmen can improve their reading. T F
(3) Good reading is a maker of good habits. T F
(4) Reading habits can be analyzed. T F
(5) Reading techniques can be improved merely by knowing your difficulties. T F
(6) Perfectionists who must note every detail tend to be poor readers. T F
(7) Reading can be improved by looking for whole thoughts and phrases. T F
(8) The best way to improve reading is to choose for the daily practice a book you find difficult to read. T F
(9) Looking back for a missed idea is a "must." T F
(10) Comprehension can be developed by reading books written for this purpose. T F
| Score (Percent) | Rating |
60 or Lower |
Poor |
70 |
Passing |
80 |
Good |
90 |
Very Good |
100 |
Excellent |
This preview of the problem of slow reading and the
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view of the reader's own speed and comprehension of reading should provoke further action. If a reputable course is not available in a nearby college or university or professional center, Heyel's book will offer an excellent beginning.
The "overworked" executive who stays late and lugs home a bulging briefcase has doubtless read the old adage "Don't stay late... delegate." Despite the fact that much has been written about this critical management tool, it still may be the least utilized of all powerful aids at the command of the modern executive. We assume, of course, that the manager has assistants so that delegation is feasible as a solution to this problem of overwork. The chances are that for many reasons — some relating to the manager, others to the subordinates — the full benefits to be gained from effective delegation are not being realized. While delegation has been treated in greater detail in chapter 8 in a discussion of "What Managers Do," its place among the foremost timesavers requires mention here. Most managers, when they face the ultimate question regarding delegation — "What am I doing that ought to be done by one of my associates?" — come up with a surprising list. If none of the other well-known reasons for delegating come to mind, let's hope that the manager at this point at least considers the experience and opportunities for learning of which the subordinates are being deprived.
Do It to a Finish was a book written in 1909 by Orison Marden concerning the tragedy of the carelessness and blunders of those who never formed the habit of accuracy, thoroughness and of doing things to a finish.2 A lament to the uncompleted task, and the philosophy of life which spawns it, this fascinating work calls "a blessing to civilization" those who can do things to a finish, who
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complete what they undertake, who leave nothing half done. "Make it a life-rule," the author pleads, "to give your best to whatever passes through your hands. Stamp it with your manhood. Let superiority be your trade-mark; let it characterize everything you touch."
Although the words may be slightly different, author Marden's philosophy so well articulated at the turn of the century applies with great force to the criteria of management today. James Menzies Black lists stamina (persistence, staying power) third among his "Qualities of Executorship."3 The "doctrine of completed work," according to Louis Allen, holds that the manager who can delegate to subordinates the responsibility to do a "whole job" is helping the management as well as the organization. A particular Christian businessman, who has served on a number of boards of Christian organizations, makes certain that his subordinates in business know they are expected to bring answers, not problems. If problems are brought, it is understood that this is because they have tried without success to find answers.
Executive search firms, in reviewing candidate qualifications for top executive positions, take particular interest in what an employee's record says about projects initiated and carried out. "How is this candidate on follow-through? is a critical question. It relates not only to the probability that the person can be depended upon to conclude a project, but more importantly, also to the certainty that the time already invested in the project has not been wasted.
The twenty-five Christian executives whose list of "greatest time robbers" appeared in the last chapter were also asked to list their "greatest time-savers." Among the items arousing most interest were the following:
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The committee of two — Avoid involving any unnecessary persons in the decision-making process.
Correspondence — fast answers — Scribble response on letter or memo. Xerox copy for your file. Return original.
Correspondence — handle only once — Don't put it back in the pile! Answer it or get it where it can be answered.
Correspondence follow-up file — If you must wait for information before answering, mark for F/U file (i.e., one week). Secretary pulls out in one week and returns to your with information necessary for answer.
Insure understanding when delegating — Extra time invested to insure complete understanding pays big dividends in time ultimately!
Appointments by secretary — Time taken to develop good system of handling appointments pays off.
Delegate reading — Why not? Benefits others besides yourself. Also gives you picture of other talents of your team, while enormously broadening your coverage of important materials.
Conference phone call with pre-arranged agenda — Can accomplish amazing results at a fraction of cost in time and travel money. From three to perhaps six persons in as many cities on the same hookup.
Have secretary answer correspondence — Aim to delegate as much of the correspondence as he or she can handle well. One organization aims for 75 percent to 80 percent of all correspondence by secretaries, who sign the boss's name and present complete file to him.
Shorter memos and letters — Conscious effort here can bring amazing results.
Wastebasketry — Master the "quick toss" technique!
Form letters — Where personal touch is not essential.
Planning and organizing time — A look ahead may be worth two behind!
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A good secretary — Worth his or her weight in gold! Excellent seminars offered for executive secretaries.
Management training — Careful selection of an occasional seminar provides needed break ... objective view ... solutions others have found to same problems... current thinking in profession or management.
Trained staff — All of foregoing applies to staff — set example... expect them to follow (let them know your expectations)... follow-up.
The list could go on... endlessly perhaps? Many suggestions have almost universal application. That is why management has developed so rapidly into a profession. But many of the timesavers will be personally oriented to the manager's own style and technique. Whatever works best for you ... wherever you find your timesavers ... never forget that the success or ultimate effectiveness of managers depends primarily upon how they use their time.
Answers to questions on page 219
| 1 - T | 6 - T |
| 2 - F | 7 - T |
| 3 - T | 8 - F |
| 4 - T | 9 - F |
| 5 - F | 10 - T |
REFERENCES
1. Heyel, Carl, Organizing Your Job in Management, American Management Association, New York, 1960.
2. Marden, Orison Swett, Do It to a Finish, Thomas Y. Crowell and Company, New York, 1909.
3. Black, James Menzies, Assignment: Management, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, 1961.
