[2021-11-17] Be a time-giver
Between 2009 and 2011, when I was a newly minted director general (DG), I participated in a Public Sector Leadership and Governance Program at the University of Ottawa. It was an excellent program, designed primarily for federal Public Service DGs, many of whom went on to become assistant deputy ministers and even deputy ministers. Each month, we gathered for a day and a half on the university campus, hearing from a parade of guest speakers, particularly retired and active deputy ministers.
It was a fascinating program. One of the things that stood out for me was a statement by a University of Ottawa professor who said: "The scarcest thing is the Prime Minister’s time, and the second most valuable thing is Ministers’ time." This was echoed by several speakers who addressed our program. For example, one retired deputy minister told us that he was acutely conscious of the fact that his Minister had very little time. "For a long time, I never went out on Saturday nights," he said, since this was one of the few moments in his minister's busy week when she could talk with him, and those conversations were important to his ability to serve her.
These comments got me thinking about the scarceness and value of time of managers at all levels in the Public Service. Even as a DG, I was finding my time getting scarcer. To compensate, I started working longer hours. That meant fewer hours for my home and family. So when I found myself in a meeting that was dragging on or chasing down someone to ask whether something I had assigned had been done, I could get impatient. I also speculated that what came across as crankiness in senior managers might just as easily have been impatience and frustration when they perceived that their limited time was being wasted.
So back in 2010, I wrote a blog post providing three tips that employees could use to respect their bosses’ limited time. They're just as relevant today.
3 ways to give your boss the gift of time
- Take note of what your boss has asked you to do. One of the biggest time wasters for a boss is having to assign a task more than once. When I was a soccer coach, I kept track of our player substitutions. That meant having to know who was on the field and who was ready to go on, and giving each girl an equal number of shifts. While one group of girls was on the field I would tell the next group the position they were to play and the person they were to replace. Whenever I would call for a change of players, inevitably one or more girls would say, "Oh, oh, who am I replacing?" That was frustrating and was probably one of the reasons none of the other soccer coaches wanted to manage substitutions. At work, I appreciated employees who followed through on what they had been asked so that I didn’t have to keep track of both their task list and mine.
- Let your boss know when you’ve completed a task. As a boss, I often had a moment of panic wondering whether something I’d delegated had actually been done. I wasted time worrying, and then more time following up with my employee. A simple message to let your boss know an important task has been completed won’t waste their time; it will save it.
- Be prepared for briefings. Your boss may be briefed on dozens of subjects every day. Make the purpose of the briefing evident from the beginning. Your boss needs to know what the subject is, what you need from them, the context, the options and your recommendation. If you provided material in advance and know your boss has read it, you may want to start with this opener (which I learned from my boss at the time): "Given that you’ve read the material, where would you like to start?" This gives your boss an opportunity to jump right to questions of most interest to them. Keep in mind, though, that your boss may not have read your memo. Your opener might be, "If you haven't had a chance to review the meeting documents in detail, I could provide a two-minute summary." If such is the case or your boss simply skimmed the briefing material and would welcome the refresher, do your two-minute briefing and let the conversation evolve from there.
One of the best things you can do as an employee is to recognize the value of your manager's time and to help them maximize their time through your diligence, follow-through and preparation.
