Time Management Tip
Tim Toady– There is More Than One Way To Do It
by Nina Sunday
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Do you know what’s tricky about communication?For the same set of instructions there can be more than one way to interpret,and you can end up with different results.
It can be hard to know if your instructions are 100% clear or unambiguous, until you get . . . feedback.
Can you think of a time you’ve given someone instructionsand they go off and do something quite different?
Is it their fault?
As the one communicating, perhaps it’s your responsibility to remember to check understanding?
One way to confirm someone understands is to take 30 seconds, ask them to summarisein their own words what the task is and how they plan to get it done.
I know of one organisation with signs around their office - ‘Take 30 seconds’ – as a reminder to take time to check understanding.
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When delegating a task what else might we consider?
Perhaps ‘there’s more than one way to do it’?
Allowing people the freedom to decide HOW a job is to be done is a good thing. They might even streamline the process with a useful shortcut.
TIMTOWTDI (pronounced 'Tim Toady') is an acronym from Perl, a computer programming language, for: There Is More Than One Way To Do It.
Tim Toady– There is More Than One Way To Do It
by Nina Sunday
===
Do you know what’s tricky about communication?For the same set of instructions there can be more than one way to interpret,and you can end up with different results.
It can be hard to know if your instructions are 100% clear or unambiguous, until you get . . . feedback.
Can you think of a time you’ve given someone instructionsand they go off and do something quite different?
Is it their fault?
As the one communicating, perhaps it’s your responsibility to remember to check understanding?
One way to confirm someone understands is to take 30 seconds, ask them to summarisein their own words what the task is and how they plan to get it done.
I know of one organisation with signs around their office - ‘Take 30 seconds’ – as a reminder to take time to check understanding.
===
When delegating a task what else might we consider?
Perhaps ‘there’s more than one way to do it’?
Allowing people the freedom to decide HOW a job is to be done is a good thing. They might even streamline the process with a useful shortcut.
TIMTOWTDI (pronounced 'Tim Toady') is an acronym from Perl, a computer programming language, for: There Is More Than One Way To Do It.
Rather than micromanage, give people responsibility for the entire task, from go to whoa. They might surprise you with an elegant solution you never considered.
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Copyright Nina Sunday 2011. All rights reserved. Published in Sydney, Australia
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For Time Management training for your group of 10-16 staff in your organisation's training room, visit our Time Management training web page
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