The IT Leadership Deal

A Leader's Biggest Timewasters

Business leaders carry out many time consuming activities that yield little value.

They are, in reverse order of wasted time:

5. Budgeting

The annual budget round has at times descended into farce, in particular:

• Guessing the cost and benefit of projects
• Hiding the cost of training inside other cost codes, as it is the first target for cutback
• Ensuring that as end of year approaches the budget is spent in full, for fear that coming in under budget will lead to it being reduced the following year.

Tip: Be clear on what you want to achieve first, then budget, not the other way around

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4. Playing e-mail tag, or the cc game

Far from making life easier and more effective, e-mails have over-complicated the communications process, and many people now write e-mails when none are needed. Furthermore, there seems to be little evidence of e-mail etiquette, with most hassles and wasted time being caused by aggressive/inaccurate mails. This is made ten times worse by other people being copied on the e-mail, often to make a point, sometimes to simply drop the recipient in it.

Tip: Don’t start the cc game - simply reply to the person that wrote without copying anyone else, and make all e-mails positive, no matter what the provocation. Count to 100 before replying to a provocative e-mail (if you are really busy ask someone to count for you). Or ideally, this.

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3. Accessing the right information, at the right time

Executive Information Systems have a lot to answer for. Often, they have done little more than produce more paper and irrelevant detail. As a result ad-hoc reports continue to be hard-coded, and some companies rely more on self developed spreadsheets.

Tip: Be clear what you need to know to drive your company forward, and focus on that. More

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2. Finding out who owns what

Damning indeed. Who owns what in the complex world of today’s medium and large companies seems to be a growing concern. When things go wrong inside their company, ownership becomes someone else's boiling potato. As a leader you need to know who is accountable, for praise as well as other actions.

Ah, I've discovered who it is, in your organisation at least.

Just between you and I

Tip: For mission-critical projects, publish accountability in your Service Charter. Naked Leaders take public ownership for everything that goes wrong, no matter what, and praise for nothing. Praise always belongs to other people.

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1. Attendance at internal meetings

The runaway winner. Few of these seem to follow any formal structure or reach clear action-based decisions and results, most are an excuse for politics.

Tip: Set a clear, defined outcome at the start of every meeting – and review if it has been achieved.

Meeting should come with a sanity clause. They may all have a part to play in our lives, and that is our choice.

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