Involvement in Routine and Detail

Published: Apr 6, 2004

Application

Routines and paying attention to details are important aspects to any manager's life.

What is more important is how these consumers of valuable time are managed.

Routines

Identify what tasks are routine. Are they repetitive? Do they require minimal thought while processing? This exercise may not be as obvious as it sounds.

Delegate them out of your time budget. Can they be automated and triggered without your initiative? Can they be eliminated with impunity? Can they be used as development projects for your associates?

Make them more efficient. Can they be bundled to an appropriate time period? Can they be combined? Can you apply some work simplification methods? Can you perform them in less time?

Details

Distinguish between essential and non-essential. Can this be done by simple examination? What is the risk of distinguishing by skipping details on one or more occasions? Are your personal motives clouding your business judgement? Are you enjoying detail work too much?

Eliminate your attention to detail for most I-U+ items (refer to the Introduction to Time Management). Can someone else summarize the details for you? Can you calculate the cost-benefits of neglecting them? When is the last time you found an error and how serious was it? Can you apply your success to the I+ categories?

Increase your efficiency. Can you improve your speed reading skills? Can you develop better techniques for checking? Are you familiar with auditing principles? Do you recognize 'flags' or other alerting signals?

Stories

Stories from members will add great value to these maxims

Please post your story by emailing it to max@unclemaxsays.com.

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Outcomes

More time devoted to the important tasks.
Managing routine and detail better will earn more respect from your associates.