do you really need to go to that meeting?
by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals
did you ever notice when you call an associate, a friend or a business of any type, more often than not he or she will always respond with “i’m really busy” or “i’ve been jammed up”? it does not matter the time of the year, much less the time of week or day.
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has busy become too colloquial and is simply a throwaway line? what is actually meant by “busy”? or, more specifically, what is the condition of “busyness”?
is it the inability to make sense of a messy desk and figure out what to tackle first? is it ruminating over one person’s issue versus someone else’s situation? if there is no actual, tangible work being done, does thinking count as being busy?
“it’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.” – nathan w. morris
“busyness,” unlike “workload” or “activity” or “projects,” does not describe the specific nature of assignments or a checklist of things to do. it is really a collection of vague tasks that when attached to one another create a day replete with constant motion. when trying to explain to someone how your day was, the first word that comes to mind is a blur.
plan your day and work your plan
you arrive at the office, grab that first cup of coffee and sit at your desk. you see unopened mail, reports to review, a list of calls to return and the unexpected colleague who wants to chat with you for a few minutes. what you planned as a reasonable road map for your day now will include detours and speed bumps. you now have to work in a linear fashion and/or take your chances on multitasking.
what you really needed was 10 to 15 minutes to plan your day. then at the end of the day compare what you mapped out to the final destination you reached. was your busyness a result of real work that had to be completed? did you schedule your day in such a way that what you planned could be accomplished?
before the smartphone, we used the daytimer® and at-a-glance®, among other providers. here you could add more context and comments about the meeting in a space that did not have the space limitation of the iphone. you could add more context about the meeting and side notes – even some thoughts you wanted to raise or avoid. of course, you could not synch your meeting with someone else’s calendar, but then we had the phone, greater concentration and more of a commitment to follow up.
technology grows meetings
technology allows more people to receive a meeting notice irrespective if the topic is relevant to them. so, more stuff is added to everyone’s already full plate. your participation may not require a major piece, but you may be responsible (mistakenly) for pieces that have deadlines. and with deadlines come meetings, conference calls and emails. you tried to offer up something that appears useful but the assignment was outside the flow of your core responsibilities. maybe your enthusiasm waned or your understanding was lacking. the result is that an aura of busyness was imposed on you, while you were trying to drive your own team’s accomplishments that had more relevance and value to your organization.
busyness needs to be outranked by real, tangible and valuable work
for the older practitioners, remember the pink “while you were out” phone message slip? the usual practice was to return the person’s phone call immediately after returning from a meeting, lunch or vacation, especially if the caller was your boss, a vendor or an important client. you undoubtedly called the person back as courtesy dictated. before the advent of voice mail systems, you needed a competent receptionist or secretary. these people could add context to the call by indicating if there was a sense of urgency, or if it was someone calling just to catch up.
the various electronic chains have changed all this. now returning emails and phone calls requires an internal voting system. what and who to address first? and does everyone have to hear back from you? it’s monday morning, your first day back from vacation, and it’s 9:02 a.m. the sheen from your vacation has already disappeared. if you made the return call at 9:03 a.m and do not hear back until friday afternoon, something’s up. but what is it?
it is not just a matter of prioritization, but also perspective. one person’s view that the work must be done yesterday can be another person’s i’ll-get-to-it-when-i-can mindset. both parties need to strike an understanding of where the request fits into the larger picture. just because one person wants something immediately fails to understand the others person’s capacity, schedule and priorities.
why do firms encourage busyness and why do employees sign on to it?
there are many reasons employees and senior-level people latch on to this philosophy. there could be the matter of guilt, obligation, or fear of reprisals or loss of position. maybe it’s because that has always been the top-down values from leadership. maybe it’s become part of practice or policy and there is no one or no group who wants to question the art of new thinking. no one wants to be alienated.
like political movements, efforts have to start at the grass roots; in this case those who lead departments, administration and operations should inquire whether the meeting or assignment is consistent with the firm or company’s goals. further, what is the fallout, if any, when action is delayed or postponed? the more this question is repeated and heard, the greater likelihood additional thought will be invested before a meeting or initiative is announced. employees have to shirk complacency and step up and voice their opinions in a way that is respected by management.
stop or limit the issues that give rise to busyness even though problems may arise if their removal requires a change in staff attitude. employees have become accustomed to busyness because they don’t understand how their roles fit into the overall goals of the company, or perhaps they no longer have the mental strength to push back.
what about people who find comfort in busyness?
like any environment that foments complacency, trying to change busyness will be met with resistance. watch out for those employees who will perpetuate the environment of busyness. a review of post-busyness time proves that nothing of substance was really accomplished. but it can keep them employed.
if you don’t allow people to improve processes, you reduce their motivation and prevent your firm from growing or becoming more profitable. if you are the prisoner of busyness and your family and friends are collateral damage, it is time to remove yourself from the busyness that takes you away from really making a difference, or more important, using the time for personal growth.
studies have shown that reducing or barring the use of email after hours has evidenced improved performance. consider the october 14, 2014 article from the daily dot, “why the u.s. needs to ban work email after hours,” or the january 1, 2017 issue of fortune magazine explaining the new french law that establishes workers’ “right to disconnect.”
there is no email (except involving family members) that should be read and acted upon the very instant it is received. for the workplace, this requires a reconciliation of cultures and philosophies.
dispelling a myth: busyness should never be confused with productivity.