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When you are late for a talk on time management

16 March 2018
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Blog, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Every couple of months or so, I give a lecture in Jerusalem on the theme of “time management”. It is usually held at the MATI innovation centre in south of the city, directed primarily towards new immigrants to the country looking to set up an enterprise.

We are talking about a highly motivated section of the community. They seek to make that extra difference to society. Their ideas include the food industry, apps, journalism, retail and beyond. And yet……

And yet, almost invariably, most of the participants arrive late for the start of the talk. I cannot understand it. Here I am, an experienced coach and mentor, looking to impart free advice for their new start, and they miss the most important part of a talk – the beginning.

The question is why.

When I ask the guilty parties, the reply is frequently limited to a shoulder shrug. Neither very helpful nor inspiring. Blame the heat of the Mediterranean climate is what I am told to accept, which I reject on the spot.

During the talk, I look for a volunteer. I tell them to consider one task that they have put off carrying out for some time, even though they know it is important. I then engage them in a question and answer session for 60 seconds or so.

I ask them to consider what would happen if they were to carry out the assignment. When they respond, I ask the same the same question. The next response draws the same question, and so it continues.

The scenario comes to an end, almost invariably, when the person mentions that as a result of everything, they can make a sale and so earn extra income. It is almost as if they have been programmed to believe that making money is an evil – an abomination, which they should be very wary of.

Somewhat immodestly, I then link this thought process back to the reason why people are late for my seminar. Consider: If they were to turn up on time, they might learn something. Implementing that advice could result in additional revenues. Ouch!

Why are people so afraid of extra commercial value?

 

Time management: Finding the value in procrastination

19 January 2018
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Blog, Business, Israel

An article in Inc.Com reminds us all of the well-known lesson from the billionaire Warren Buffet. He can buy almost everything, but he cannot buy time. As Buffet explains, you do not have to have a full and crammed diary in order to be successful.

I believe there is a deeper message here. When I talk about time management, as a business coach and mentor, I am faced with a misconnect. On the one hand, there are those people who are busy , but not with what they should be doing. That is procrastination at its best. And then there are those business owners who are fully occupied, working on the tasks they have set themselves, yet still cannot produce results.

I have met all of these characters this week in my office in Jerusalem. Whenever faced with this topic of time management, my approach is consistent. First, I have noticed how many people these days have abandoned the concept of the old-fashioned diary. At best they use an app of sorts on their phone.

Let me be clear, for most of my clients, it is evident that a diary on the phone rarely works out successfully. And even if tasks are included along with appointments, they are almost never time-framed. That is a major mistake. scheduling a phone call or creating  report is the same as having a meeting with yourself!

Second, almost invariably the uncompleted tasks revolve around the issue of money. It is as if the previous generation have educated them that asking for money, billing clients, achieving a positive cash flow are all considered poor qualities in a person.

For example, one of my clients told me that she has always aspired to be a person of modest means. Excellent, I responded. However, she could not explain why this attitude does not allow her to have extra money to spend on hobbies, on children or in the next stage of his business.

Silence! I had hit the raw nerve.

For whatever reason associated with the past, procrastination occurs when we cannot appreciate the full “value” of what we are trying to achieve. Recognise that truth and you will find that the bottom line in your business will start to improve rapidly.

The CEO, the business mentor, and time management

17 October 2017
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

The cliché logic runs as follows. “I am the CEO. Therefore, I am important. Therefore, I know everything. And thus I am busy all the time and have to be busy all the time.”

This phrase seems to be particularly true in Jerusalem, where I have many clients. And as their business mentor and coach, I constantly strive to fight the false links in their thinking and actions. However, this begs the questions: What is the optimum amount of time that a CEO should be pouring into his / her business and in what manner?

I want to use three anecdotes that I have picked up just recently that together make a very powerful generic point for us all.

First, let me recall an interview featuring both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Watch it here, as Buffet reveals a half-empty diary. And he makes the point that he can buy almost anything he wants. However, he cannot buy time!

Next and unusually for me, I find myself quoting the actor Ashton Kutcher. No longer just a star of sit-com, he has made several successful investments in the world of high-tech. This is his secret as to why he has time for most things:

When I wake up…I spend the first hour of my work not looking at email, and actually just writing out what it is that I want to accomplish in a given day. And then before I go through my emails, I’ll do all my outgoing, outbound stuff, which is what I want everyone else to do for me. And then I’ll go and get reactive to whatever’s going on.

Finally, I was totally struck by an article in the Harvard Business Review, which surmarised the research of 1,000 successful CEOs from six different countries.

On average, about one-quarter of CEOs’ days are spent alone, including sending emails. Another 10% is spent on personal matters, and 8% is spent traveling. The remainder (56%) is spent with at least one other person, which mostly involves meetings, most of which are planned ahead of time. About one-third of the time CEOs spend with others is one-on-one; two-thirds is with more than one other person. (This data includes a CEO’s entire workday, not just time in the office.)

For me, the takeaway message is that just because you are a CEO does not mean you have to be 120% busy, 130% of the time. Thinking and strategizing are just as paramount. These create leadership and management skills that are to be valued, even more than an ability to be a road runner.

You and your small business – I dare you to value your time properly

16 August 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

My scope as a business coach and mentor in the Jerusalem area brings me into contact with a wide range of commercial operations. One theme that has come up a few times just recently is the issue of how to value time. And it ain’t that simple, especially if you are a small business.

Here are two case studies:

Let us call the client Barbara. Now Barbara has been providing a successful internet business for some years. Without a formal method or defined business model, the work has flowed in…that is until the flow of new clients dried up unexpectedly. Ouch! It is funny how in business people only turn to coaches in the bad times, where as in sport the opposite is true. I was duly summoned.

It became apparent that Barbara did not have enough time to spend on her commercial operations. Initially, she blamed the time she was required to spend at home. She really is a great, dedicated family woman.

However, further digging revealed that Barbara also likes spending her time helping others, day and night. People seek her out. They value her empathy and counsel. And she gives whole heartedly.

So, I challenged Barbara to limit the role of advice-giver to 30 minutes a day. Within a week, revenue was on the move upwards. And, interestingly enough, all those who needed to speak to her, still found a way to share their burden with Barbara.

In a separate case, David is setting up his business. The temptation is to charge low and haul the first set of customers through the door. This is an empirical formula, internationally accepted.

However, I challenged David to commit to how many work hours he wishes to invest in an average month of work. I then asked how much he wanted to bring home. And finally came the killer question: Of those hours, how many will truly be directed towards producing the service for the clients?

In other words, after all is said and done, how much time will David have to dedicate towards “working the customers”? In simple terms, if David wants US$200 a month and he only has one client for two hours, he has to charge US$100 per hour. Anything less, and he is not achieving his aims and may be making a loss.

Obvious? Yes, when written like this. So why do so many new businesses try to break the rule and thus end up with serious cash flow problems?

The punch line is that time is all around us, like air, yet seeming intangible. That is why many do not fully appreciate it…….at their commercial peril. Value your environment and that includes the time capsule in your very grasp.

Do you really have a time management problem?

21 October 2015
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Much of my work as a business coach takes place in and around Israel’s wonderful capital city, Jerusalem. Its beauty makes it easy to people to become side tracked by all kinds of issues.

And as a coach or mentor, I am often asked to help clients overcome the problem of time management. They are simply distracted and do not achieve even the most simple of tasks. They procrastinate.

This week, I have met separately with some very competent owners of small businesses, who are genuinely busy, nearly 24 / 7, all year round. When you start talking to them, you realize how dedicated they are. No internet surfing here just to catch up with the latest sports’ results.

And yet these same people purport to have time management problems. Why? Because they (and colleagues) do not fit into their day most of their mandatory tasks! This happens on a regular basis.

In other words, they work their guts out. What they do with each client or contract usually shows the hallmarks of high levels of competence. Yet, they do not feel that they are accomplishing anything. Seemingly, there is not enough time. But is this a time management issue?

Look again. What is really holding them back is a core fault in their business model. In other words, an imbalance exists between the total number of clients and how the CEOs are charging out for such services. Too few customers are not paying enough dosh. And so my CEOs find themselves chasing little sums into the dark hours of the night. This is the core issue that needs to be addressed, before all else.

And here comes a second common denominator. I found that my clients do not like to become involved in financial stats. I wonder why!

How a break can help you to get more work done

4 August 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

At least once a week I come across somebody who works hard, but never actually catches up with their backlog. They seem to expect me to wave a magic wand so that by tomorrow evening their desk will be clear. It is as if I am tackling a secret international crisis on time management that only business mentors can overcome.

There are many tools available to resolve such issues. Much revolves in ensuring that the client is familiar with their key priorities, and thus responding accordingly. Delegation is another subject to be explored. And there is the familiar topic of procrastination, which – pardon the pun – many of us like to shy away from.

Here is an additional consideration. I recently had a follow-up session with somebody in Jerusalem, who was clearly not very alert during our meeting. It emerged that she worked most evenings towards midnight. However, many of these late hours were brought upon herself by the fact that she could not work effectively during the afternoon.

In other words, our subject matter was devoting 12-14 hours per day to work, of which only ten or so counted. That means the bodily machine was recording approximately a 25% rate of inefficiency. Now, if that was just metal and wires, my client would have thrown herself out ages ago.

So what was missing? Simple, she had tried to cheat and had been caught out by the body police. How so?

First, she skips breakfast most mornings. In contrast, nutritionists teach us that this is the time of day when we most need to pump ourselves with some sugars. This is when we have to be alert, racing to work and flying off new ideas at our colleagues.

Additionally, lunch is a must. The body is like an automobile engine. If it does not have food (petrol), it will not function. And in that case, it is shut-eyes time (siesta) in the middle of the afternoon, as my client knows several times a week.

A balanced diet is also a must. Eat your carbs, because you need internal energy. Buy protein, like a tin of tuna. Try to restrict bread intake to the morning hours. And drink – this makes you feel fuller in your stomach.

One final tip: Nobody can rush around non-stop for over 12 hours, and carry on like that most days a week, every week.

Have a break. Have a proper break during the day. You will feel more relaxed. Your productivity will go up. And you will find yourself allocating your evening hours to more fun activities, which you will be awake for. Want to risk trying the new technique?

What is the best time of day to do my most important work?

1 July 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business

It is probably just coincidence, but I have had several people recently ask me what is the most appropriate time of the day to carry out their key assignments.

These tasks can vary from writing up a crucial report to client preparation to interviews and beyond. The key point is that they are the ‘something special’ projects, which must be done properly, efficiently and effectively, within a set time span…..or else.

My general advice is to slot in the important tasks at the beginning of the day, whether a person starts work at 7am or 11am. Usually, that is when we are most alert. The morning breakfast and coffee has kicked in. We have shouted at somebody on the way to work. The body is looking to be creative, assuming no parties from the night before.

(As a side issue, this is why many experts now encourage us not to skip breakfast, and ensure that it contains a healthy portion of sugars. We need that new energy to take us through the day. And cheating on the first meal of the day is a pathetically ineffective way to diet.)

The Harvard Business Review discussed the matter of  diary-scheduling last week.

You can maximize your productivity by calibrating activities to the right time of day. If a task requires willpower and complex thinking, plan to do it when you are at your most alert. In contrast, if what you’re after is a fresh perspective, use fatigue to your advantage by looking for solutions when your energy drops.

Yes. This is an individual issue. What works for me does not necessarily apply to somebody else. However, I stand by my initial observation about first thing in the day.

However, here is the catch. Many people schedule meetings for the morning. Thus, when it comes to writing up reports afterwards, they are tired, hungry and clock watching. It is this ‘clash of hours’ that as a business coach, I try to make people aware of and thus change their habits. After all, it can only lead to greater productivity and maybe even greater enjoyment in the workplace.

2 practical time managment techniques for 2014

8 April 2014
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

In the past week, at least four of my customers in Jerusalem have turned round to me and complained: “I work very hard yet remain behind the ball game in completing my tasks”.

And how do they know that? Well, the ‘to do’ list piles up ever higher, as – more crucially – the bank reserves run down, because they are not able to complete deliverables on schedule.

Well, this is not a new subject. Moses wondered how he would get 600,000 Israelites out of Egypt on time. Today, there is plenty of on-line advice. Just take these two articles, posted this week: –

Good reads. As a business coach, I am looking to offer my clients a practical methodology. So I have come up with two methods.

First: Do not lie to yourself, because you cannot cheat the clock. There are only 24 hours in a day. In an average day, you cannot work more than about 10 hours. Beyond that, there may be one-off longer days, but they are not repeated constantly and certainly not with quality output.

And here is the clever part, be you a rising star in your organization, manager, or senior exec; all of us have to divide up our day between three or four different categories of work: admin, r&d, marketing and production. (And do not forget lunch breaks, which our bodily car engines need). Yes, each section applies to us and thus needs dedicated time.

So, if you take on a task, which seriously minimalises your time investment in one or more of the other groups, you are going to end up …just where you do now want to be. Why? Because you tried to invent hours that do not exist.

Second: Turn your phone off, twice a day, for one hour at a time, at least. If somebody calls you, when you are trying to concentrate on a task, that interruption – even if you just look to see who it is – puts you back in thought time and your ability to complete a task. I cannot think of one person in the world who needs to be on call 24/7, 365 days a year…… and that includes you and me.

So pls, work out what you intend to do with your next ten work hours, of which 20% of which does not involve your mobile phone. Have a productive work day!

7 simple tips to get things done at work – it’s all about honesty

23 May 2013
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

“I don’t seem to cope – there’s too much to do – I never catch up.” Whether people consider themselves good or poor at time management, these are the sort of comments that I hear time and again as a business coach.

So when I confront people with the fact that I complete 85% – 90% of my set tasks in any given week, I am faced with looks of incredulity. How? Well, here’s the secret that I expounded to a client in Jerusalem this week.

1) Use a diary or calendar. Whether you use an electronic system or resort to a paper-and-pen method, find something that work, is readily accessible, ……….and stick to it.

2) Every task has to be written down – meeting, phone call to be made, visits to the doctor, whatever.

3) Differentiate between personal and private issues. Personally, I colour-code meetings in yellow and my family commitments in blue.

4) Divide your diary page into two – one side for meetings and one side for reminders or notes. Thus, when you are supposed to be in a meeting, you cannot allocate that time to call somebody, prepare a document or otherwise.

5) If your meeting is scheduled for an hour, ensure that you have also blocked off extra time to arrive and return – even if that only means popping out to another floor in the same building.

6) If you have one or a series of projects to complete, map them out in full. Define fully what tasks will need to be completed by when, and how much time each stage will require. Then, when those parts have been broken down, enter them individually into the diary. Thus, you should not be scheduling meetings when you have allocated time for that (equally?) important work.

All this can be summarised under Point 7 – be honest! Don’t try to pretend that you can cram 25 hours into 24 hours, because it rarely works. You are cheating nature and I do not know of too many people who get away with that for more than a brief period of ………..time.

You are a CEO and you think you know your problem

24 March 2013
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel

A well-tweeted article on LinkedIn last week by Michael Lazerow pointed out the crucial need for business leaders to be able to focus. “If an entrepreneur (or CEO in general) can’t name their top 3 priorities without hesitation, how will the rest of the company know?”

I think most of us can agree on that. But how to focus? How to identify what is the problem?

I would like to tackle the subject from another angle. All of us cry out in pain. It can be physical pain. It may be a pain that something – in life, in business – just ain’t working right. Either way, this is leading to some hard, internal grief, which we do not like.

However, quite often, if we are truly honest, we become so tied up with the immediacy of what is going on around us, the plot escapes us. We lose sight of the key issues. We run about putting out fires rather than making long term decisions. And how true that is in commerce and business.

Everything has to be done at once. Cash flow pressures throw us around that we do not know whether to rush to cajole a client, appease a bank or ignore a supplier. Production lines need maintaining, but you need to spend money on raw materials. A new sales person has to be trained, but your car has broken down. And so the list goes on.

How to list the issues in terms of importance and what to deal with first? For all the horrendous problems of difficulties, has the CEO identified the key issue? In the case above, it was an inability to manage their time efficiently.

Yesterday, I was reading about the biblical story of the children of Israel as slaves in Egypt. In the book of Exodus, it describes how they called out in pain. It would be simple enough to explain that the cry was due to the physical tasks that had to be performed. Yet, commentators teach us that it took a “Higher Authority” to listen to them and realise that the true pain was the fact that the men were no longer able to have marital relations with their wives. To such depths they had fallen, but could not pinpoint their agony.

In a modern sense, this “Authority” is a mentor. As we know, a business coach is somebody who can listen and see the whole picture and then suggest a way through the dirt. Obvious? Maybe, but how many of us, when facing some serious troubles reach out for help?

Miracles, time managment and “the trial”

28 October 2012
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Categories: Business

Last night, I received a very upsetting email from an associate; health problems, work complications, career issues – all at the same time. It was a Hollywood moviescript that had come to life.

We all go through those phases. It becomes difficult to plan our lives? As the troubles pile themselves on top of each other – with you at the bottom – we struggle to gain perspective and understand what is important. What should we tackle first?

Be the problems at work or in the home, modern terminology refers to the solution as ‘time management’. Crudely speaking, this is a group of skills, which allow us to handle a combination of difficult issues at any one time. Simple enough in theory, yet for many it becomes a nightmare to put into practice.

Earlier yesterday, I heard a different take on the issue from a leading rabbi in London, Shlomo Levin. He was discussing the biblical character of Abraham. Seemingly a simple nomad, he moved his home numerous times in his 185 years. The fact is that the first forefather faced ten tests of character or trials. Each one was complex. Each needed to be resolved….without email, mobile tech, modern medicine or the UN.

Levin commented how in Hebrew the words for ‘trial’ and for ‘miracle’ have a common root or background. And this goes towards confirming the strength of Abraham’s character.

I suggest that there is a more direct and practical lesson for us today, coping with the ever increasing speeds and pressures of global technology. Whether you have a religious faith or not, the next time you face a ‘difficult patch’, look at it as a trial. As Levin observed, more often than not, whenever we are tested as individuals, we come through better prepared for the future.

Health, choices and mentoring

27 May 2012
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Categories: Business, Israel

Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

Thus quotes Dr Robert Books on nurse Bronnie Ware. Although, it was only last week when I mentioned Brooks’s discussion on “regrets” and business, I feel that this sentence is extremely powerful and needs further comment.

In mentoring, I frequently come up against people, who seem to have been plodding along quite nicely. Then, almost suddenly, they come to a realisation that they are in a rut. However, on analysis, the truth is often very different. Matters have not been good for ages, but they have been able to deceive themselves until now.

And that is often the fact. We allow ourselves – out of convenience or even from fear – to delude ourselves that all is OK. After all, if we have our health, things cannot be that bad.

How many times have we seen people review their situations, only after suffering by an illness? And it may not be chronic. Some years back, I ripped a muscle in my lower leg following a freak accident. I could no longer charge off to meetings at will. I thought my life was at end end…………until I realised just how many of these appointments were not so important. It proved to be a painful but valuable learning experience.

Similarly, when I sit down with clients and work on their time management skills, I am often surprised by what I hear. I have to encourage and mentor people to utilise basic common sense, when planning a regular day.

For example, so many skip first appointments of the day, because they do not feel so good in the morning. What frequently happens is that they have worked late the previous day and / or not eaten properly. The body is effectively saying “no can do”.

Net result? Having tried to fit in extra work hours, the client loses out on “production time” the following day. Worse, potential revenue may be sacrificed.

So before you have any further regrets, make sure that your schedule is not so heavy that you are mistreating your body. When you understand that limitation, you will realise the scope of your freedom to act.

Bad at time management – blame your kindergarden teacher?

4 February 2012
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Categories: Blog

Time management is one of those subjects were few of us like to admit that we ain’t that good at it. You have survived school. Advanced education has come and gone. Work experience has been accumulated.

So why shouldn’t you know how to plan your day efficiently?

And yet, when all is said and done, so many of us just do not get done what we want to do, need to do, should do. Why? It is a subject that I come across time again as owners of small businesses try to organise themselves and don’t really hit the target.

Earlier today, I read a very interesting article by Zvika More, who specialises in helping children with ADD / ADHD issues. He describes the classic situation of a parent rummaging through the schoolbag of a child, discovering yet another yucky old sandwich from weeks gone by. And the parent yells at the spouse that they must do something and that this is the last time, and that there will be no more pocket money. etc etc etc.

Zvika raises the interesting point. If this was a child at kindergarden, there would be no raised blood pressure. However, for some reason, when the youngster reaches the age of six, it is assumed that maturity has set in. The child has been taught everything that they need to know by the ruler of the kindergarden playground.

Wrong. And wrong again, when we hope that the child will immediately know better in the next year or four. In fact, when does maturity set in?

Time management is a skill that has to be learnt. Some are naturally good at it or pick it up quickly, like playing a musical instrument. Some can be taught, just like a sport. And for some it is down right problematic, and continues to be difficult even if society assumes otherwise.

What can be done? Like everything else, first admit you have an issue and then find somebody to guide you, just like in your early days of education. Alternatively, you can continue to procrastinate and to put off not completing what is important. Then I suggest that you assess what you are missing out on.

What to ask your business mentor?

25 November 2011
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Categories: Business, Israel

When a business mentor starts off with a new client or meets up with them after a bit of break, there is often a feeling of “positive tension” in the air. What the devil am I going to be asked now? Can I help? Can I direct or coach them?

One common starter thrown to me is: “How do I find new clients?”. Funnily enough, I often find that the client already knows the answer. They just have a mental block looking at what may be the very obvious.

For example, earlier this week, I was asked this question in a very challenging manner by a customer. 10 minutes later, after cooly forcing them to consult their contact list on their mobile phone, they had compiled a healthy list of people to call.

Time management is another of those recurring themes, which is often discussed at my sessions. And I have written about it extensively under various guises.

Possibly a different approach is to consider what one blogger has determined as “the third rule of business“. Put it simply; if you don’t keep focused, you don’t get nowhere slowly.

Let me expand. If you have a clear sight of your vision, then you will know how to form a strategy. If you have a definitive methodology, you should be able to identify what tools you are missing. And whatever is lacking, you will dedicate yourself to go out and get it, somehow, legally.

No focus means lots of opportunity for commercially valueless tasks, which is a politically correct term for poor time management. 

Another topic, usually raised by tech-savvy entrepreneurs, is why they have to invest so much time managing. Why can’t people just get on with their tasks by themselves?

An article in this month’s Harvard Business Review cheekily posed the challenge: “Let’s fire all the managers”. After all, “management is the least efficient activity in your organization“, no?

The study is worth reading in full. My point is somewhat more basic. An entrepreneur tends to come into commercial life, wishing to concentrate on his “baby”. They soon face the startling realisation that they have to take responsibility for a whole concern; admin, finance, sales, strategy, legal and even the post. Time and detail. Yuk. Remaining focused ain’t always that easy.

As for the mentor, well they have their own enterprise to operate. Fortunately, they should have the skills to empower the client to engage successfully such subjects.

So, I suggest that the first question the customer should ask is what experience the coach has handling all of these an similar subjects.

The link between time management and your profit levels

20 November 2011
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Categories: Business

A recent blog reviewed 10 simple ways for small businesses (SMEs) to save money. All are very relevant but none referred to saving time.

Why should they? Well, we all know that time is money. But there is more to it than that.

My point is that most owners and employees in SMEs do not have enough time to complete all their tasks. A typical case is a new client that I am about to visit this week – a service supplier, he knows that he is busy, but the effort does not result in more sales. Help, he cries to his mentor!

Siu Ling’s latest edition of “Ruminations” deals with this very issue. She looks at the imperative need of good managers to create ” habits that support high productivity”. Specifically, Siu suggests : – 

  • decluttering the mind
  • a firm morning ritual
  • “block times”

I will add one other “must” factor. Before – and I repeat, before – I commence my week, I have my schedule already listed out. To be specific, for each day, I know when I will be in meetings, when I have time for phone calls, time for blog writing, time for thinking, time for whatever.

  1. The first advantage of this is that I do not waste valuable hours planning away at the beginning of the week, often a very productive time for most people.
  2. I can never double book times for projects. Everything has been allocated a slot.
  3. In parallel, everything (known) will be dealt with.

Sure, emergencies come up. Commerce is dynamic, not static. You have to be flexible.

However, since operating this system, I achieve much more. And when I see similar positive results in the bottom line of my customers’ revenue streams, it makes you want to think how we all survived up to now.

Wellness, time management and innovation

8 June 2011
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Categories: Business, Israel

I attended a fascinating lecture this week on “wellness”. This sector has mushroomed in the past decade, seemingly valued at billions in whichever country you are resident.

And in a period, where the “pace of life” is constantly driven faster by new apps and smaller devices, “wellness” devotees correctly pose the question: “Are managers and business owners able to find time for everything they want to do”? What important tasks get ignored at work? And how many of us are guilty of cutting in to family time?

Solutions are not simple. One interesting approach was offered by my IIB colleague, Siu Ling Hui from Melbourne, Australia. Writing in the latest edition of her monthly posting, Ruminations, she questioned if “we are busy with the right stuff”.

And if not? Siu wonders if businesses invest too little time, money and resources in innovation and marketing, activities which create value today and in the future.

…..innovation isn’t just about inventing ground breaking world shattering products. It is equally about harnessing new technologies or new ways of doing things so as to be able to deliver your products or services more effectively to your customers than your competitors………..

 As for marketing,  Siu concludes that you must invest creatively or perish. For example,

Whilst many of the major (Australian) retailers are crying poor and bitching about the competitive threat of internet, there are many new small retail businesses which have harnessed the power of technology to create innovative business models.

Kogan (consumer electronics) and the Shoes of Prey are just two young innovative retailers who are thriving ……

Consider the book retailing industry. The REDGroup, owner of Borders and Angust & Robertson book store chains in Australia, went into administration in February 2011. Price competition from the internet and the protectionist policy that forced local retailers to buy from Australian publishers were blamed for the demise of the chains………Small independent book stores have been able to survive because they offer their customers something extra beyond just books: knowledgeable staff who genuinely engage with the customers. The “soul-less” large chains didn’t provide that to compensate for the higher prices.

Innovation is so often linked to hightech, that we forget how it is relevant for just about every commercial sector and beyond.

Two of my current customers could learn a simple lesson from Siu’s advice. One runs a gift store, which is open long hours. Local competition is fierce, but the owner is reluctant to risk taking on new items in case he will be copied by others. Another is looking for a career change, but will not bring themselves to decide on new opportunities.

In both cases, the client remains (for now) encased in the comfort zone of the past. Yet they are engaged in spending time doing what they do not enjoy. The result? Not a lot of wellness and an unhealthy bank account.

The cost of poor time management to a small business

25 March 2011
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Categories: Business

Managing your time – how many of us think we are pretty good at it? And how many of us are deceiving ourselves?

Three times this week, I met up with good educated people, offering quality services to clients. And each one was flunking on their own time management. Ask why, and the excuses came tumbling out:

  • Not important
  • Get by anyway
  • Too afraid to think about it
  • Etc

And as the business mentor, it was my job to “prick their cosy bubble”.

Let’s face it, many of us procrastinate. We are afraid of putting out price proposals in case we bid too low. We don’t call back prospective clients, just in case they say no. We delay completing tasks, because we are afraid of criticism. And sometimes, we are just down right lazy.

We all have that job at work (or at home) that we want to put off. So how do you get around all that twisted thinking?

I have started to introduce to my clients a very crude method. I get them to write out a very large sign with the word “MONEY” printed in bold letters. Why?

Whenever you do not get something done in time, you are giving up on an opportunity to increase your income. That money has the same value as a treat for your partner, a holiday with your kids, some home renovations, or whatever. 

And in a small business, if you blow that opportunity, there is rarely somebody else to pick up the slack. The income has gone, and you are left with finding silly excuses as to why you are not as successful as you could be.

If and when my clients flap around in the future, I assume that they will be looking at that sign and feeling the true cost of their nonsense.

Underperforming managers – why?

6 December 2010
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Categories: Business

According to a new survey released this week by the Australian Institute of Management, one third of bosses admit they’re underperforming. When asked if they could be putting more effort and input into their role, 34 per cent resoundingly said yes.

Well, they say that admission is the first stage towards solving the problem. And not surprisingly, there is a direct impact on more junior members of staff. They feel under appreciated if not misunderstood. One big recipe for disaster.

Well, there are lots of techniques for resolving these issues; group dynamics, bonus systems, away days, etc.

My experience increasingly points in another direction: appreciating your time and then managing it efficiently. Here’s what I mean.

Many managers often feel that they work hard, but just never get ahead of the “ball game”. When given a few moments to reflect, they often find that thy do not use their time properly. Here are just three reasons:

  • prioritising the wrong things
  • never getting around to subjects they enjoy
  • spending too much time on non-productive subjects

Result? Underformance, disillusionment, passing on unnecessary pressure to colleagues and staff, and thus our familar circle of departmental boredom and ineffciency kicks in.

The question is how to move forward. (See next blog)

Growing club of busy managers, always paddling in circles

8 September 2010
1 Comment
Categories: Business, Israel

Heard this before? “I need to meet you, but I am too busy to confirm”. 

Or: “I’ve had a frantic week, but I am not too sure how effective it’s been”. 

How about: “Sorry, I’m late. I was just finishing off my blog – it’s sooo interesting”. 

I am sure you get the drift. How many of us are busy managers, but with no time for what we want or need to do? A few years ago, if found myself admitting that I invariably left for meetings late. Looking for an explanation, I realised that I often tried to cram in one last task before setting out. That way, if I was late, I could explain to others how busy I was – ie, I assumed they would think that I am an important person. 

Was I that convincing to everyone? Did I not miss out on some of the networking prior to the meeting? Did I make a full contribution to the discussion? All those points were non-issues in my mind, back then. 

Time management is often one of those subjects that we believe that we are good at. Quite often, the truth can be otherwise. The number of people I meet who tell me that they are too busy to meet. Why? Because they have to take a kid to the doctor, cannot be sure when a previous meeting will end, are waiting to hear back from others, or need to take the cat for a walk. 

But they are busy. Doing what? Well, a lot of something, with little control nor direction.  

Let’s recall the picture of Israel’s Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, with his kids of holiday a few weeks back. Smiling away, sitting on the back of a kayak, his paddle stroking through the water. Idyllic! Except that all the others were paddling in a different direction! 

Ignoring the obvious satire of Israeli governmental policy going around in circles etc, this is what happens to CEOs. Busy, they are. Working efficiently, they are not. And the result can be readily detected in weak cash flows or awkward meetings with bank managers. 

Michael McLaughlin, writing in Management Consulting News has summed up this pattern  eloquently: 

Often, though, it’s not just that we need more time to address the items on our to-do lists. What we really need is the chance to think, plan the future, and come up with new ideas for our businesses. ….. It takes mental bandwidth so you can focus and think straight. 

To do your best thinking, first and foremost, you’ve got to clear your mind. Of course, you can find tons of advice on quieting your mind through disciplines like yoga or meditation. But here’s a simpler way to get started–and you don’t have to know how to chant. 

If you want to create more mental bandwidth, wherever possible, get rid of the clutter in your life. 

Time management – 2 brief case studies

22 July 2009
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Categories: Business, Israel

I recently commented on twitter about how to “get the right work done”. In a nutshell, simple techniques to focus on what is important and not to be sidetracked. The net result will be ….net results!

I have been working with 2 SMEs in Israel, serious and industrious teams. They are committed to establishing their respective businesses, both very ambitious. They have different backgrounds, both arriving at commercial life with good experience and support groups.

And here’s the interesting point. For all the good intentions, neither were sure how to move forward.

To put it another way: The final goal or vision sounded great, but proved to be too cloudy and near frightening.

In both cases the way forward has been to: –

  1. Define precisely the vision.
  2. Give that vision a time deadline
  3. Working backwards, set out the task leading up to the vision. 

Inevitably, this creates new sub-challenges, re logistics and budgets, and that is marvellous. Effectively, the small business owner invites themselves to take a hard look at what resources – time, money, raw materials – will be needed and when.

If they cannot meet that time framework, which they have set, the question arises if they are really so committed. If they are not, time management becomes a very difficult issue.

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