Catch Time Thieves
60 min
“It is not that we have so little time, but that we have so much time that we don’t use”
– Seneca.
We often seem to add dozens of self-imposed expectations or outdated routines to our daily lives. And this is exactly what ruins our time resources.
Time thieves, or time guzzlers, are things that barge into your working day unannounced. They are usually not so important but manage to distract you from your priorities for a while. They upset your concentration because they turn up so unexpectedly. This leads to the so-called saw-blade effect: whenever you re-immerse yourself in your work, you will get disturbed again. And it then takes a bit more time to focus on your work once more.
If you feel that your team could use some guidance, play this activity together.
Steps to Take
1. Introduce the context to your team. Go through the list:
1. Unclear target setting
2. No priorities
3. Trying to do too much at once
4. Lack of clarity regarding the tasks and activities ahead
5. Poor daily planning
6. Personal disorganisation / cluttered desk
7. Paperwork and stuff to read
8. Poor filing system
9. Looking for notes, memos, addresses, phone numbers
10. Lack of motivation / indifferent attitude to work
11. Lack of coordination / teamwork
12. Telephone interruptions
13. Unannounced visitors
14. Inability to say “no”
15. Incomplete, late information
16. Insufficient self-discipline
17. Not completing tasks to the end
18. Distractions / noise
19. Lengthy discussions
20. Insufficient preparation for meetings and discussions
21. Imprecise or no communication
22. Private gossip
23. Too much communication
24. Too many memos
25. Procrastination
26. Wanting to know all the facts
27. Waiting times, e.g. for meetings / appointments
28. Rushing things / impatience
29. Too little delegation
30. Insufficient control of delegated tasks
2. Let each team member list their top 5 thieves.
3. Share-out to build empathy.
4. Select top-5 thieves common for the team.
5. As a group, decide what could be done to increase the amount of effective time. If the discussion takes too long, assign some problems to volunteers, who can work on the solutions outside of the meeting and bring it back to the group at the next meeting, for example, a Retrospective.
6. Follow-up by setting a themed Retrospective in two months.
Related products
-
Team Canvas
45 minOne of the key elements of effective teamwork is an alignment. Similar to business canvas, team can align on the way they work together. This would later help them with self-correction when supporting organisational vision.
-
Heartbeat Team Retrospective
60 minFrom all Agile ceremonies this one is the most important. If done right, it enables continuous improvement.
-
Robust solutions activ8or
60 minOftentimes we are overwhelmed with options. Which problem to tackle next? There’s an easy and effective method to move forward when we are stuck.
-
Root cause analysis
30 minA classic approach to root-cause analysis to ask “why” five times. Here’s a real-world example.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.