Studies have concluded that an interruption costs an individual an average of 20 minutes in productivity. Most individuals don't understand the cost of 10 minutes of wasted time. Let's say that you stop and talk to three people a day about non-business issues. How much does that cost your career? Over a ten-year period of time, it will cost 29 weeks of lost work. Since you are talking to another employee, it will cost your company 58 weeks of lost work. At $34 per hour, that's $78,880 in lost productivity.
On the other hand, it must not be assumed that time spent talking to other employees is wasted time. A comfortable, friendly work atmosphere is as much to be desired as an increased bottom line. Building and maintaining this atmosphere through high levels of communication—even getting to know other employees better through chatting—can have as profound an effect on productivity as spending time with clients or selling.
However, if wasted time detracts from the 20% of time that produces 80% of the results, the cost to the company will be $1,183,200 in lost opportunities. The true cost of lost productivity is impossible to measure. If that ten minutes was invested into talking to or supporting a client or into an additional sales effort, it could result in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company. That ten minutes of extra focus and discipline could result in many great accomplishments, opening the door for a raise or a new opportunity within your company. Don't ever underestimate what a little wasted time will cost you.
Even time-wasters that seem minor add up. They cost you, the team, and the customer. In the end, they can cost someone a job or a promotion. Most people never know on a conscious basis what they have lost. They just have this nagging feeling that they aren't living up to their full potential but don't know why. The difference between achieving your full potential and failing to achieve it may be that ten minutes of wasted time after work, the fifteen minutes it takes you to get started working in the morning, or your 4:55 departure at the end of the day.
Look for the wasted time in your day. Take that extra time to learn something new that would help you to advance to the next level, either of financial success or of interoffice communication. You will be happy you did.
Irrational: that which goes beyond reasoning; illogical; senseless; the adjective employees apply to results expected of them when they do not understand the purpose behind their actions. Irrational. It's only a word, but it has the power to keep your company from reaching its goals. After all, if an employee does not understand the rationale behind a task, chances are it won't be done as well as it could have been.
IRRATIONAL. This word can strike even when employees think they understand why they are assigned certain tasks because they misunderstand the purpose of those tasks. They don't see the "big picture." For instance, someone in the New Product Development Department may approach a new project without considering the profitability potential.
These definitions for irrational may seem petty, but they could mean the difference between the success or failure of a project. However, there is a way to counter the consequences this one word bears. First, anticipate that employees may not see the true value of their work as it applies to the company. Knowing that they may be thinking merely in terms of paychecks and benefits, take the time to establish the purpose of the project. Discuss with them the benefits this project will bring to the company as well as the individual employee. Show them the short and long-term opportunities that will arise due to the success of this project.
Once you have done this, develop a plan for the project as a means of assuring that all of your employees will be moving in the same direction on the project. Your plan should have five major steps, the fifth one tying back to the desired result. Let employees see the plan in its entirety so they know where they fit in. Although this process may take additional time, the time you take to plan now will save you time in the future, especially if this is to be an ongoing project, or if other projects will spin off of it.
In order to develop the necessary momentum to carry you and your employees through those big projects, planning is essential. An increased sense of responsibility will accompany the increased understanding your employees will have toward the project and will eliminate the irrational.
The company that fails to set aside time to help its employees understand the purpose behind their tasks is being irrational. When you plan your projects, you build in understanding. What could be more rational?
Your company's two greatest resources are money and time. Proper use of these and every resource will advance your career in new and exciting ways. As you consider your own resources, remember this: Most CEOs will agree that the best employees are those who view their positions as a sort of ownership of their own company. It's human nature to be more cautious and concerned about our own money than someone else's, so thinking of your company's resources as your own leads to effective stewardship. This, in turn, will benefit you as well as the company.
Ask yourself, "If this were my money, would I invest it in this manner?" This same thought process is powerful when working with clients, too. Look at what the customer is paying for your company's products and/ or services, and then ask yourself, "What can I do within the scope of my job to help the client receive more value for his investment?" The client will love you, and your attitude will spread to those with whom you work.
The perspective that everyone around you is a client brings a whole new attitude of service and team building. By serving those around us as clients, our attitudes adjust to new levels of service and assistance.
The following are some great questions to ask yourself as you look for ways to increase the effectiveness of your (and your co-workers') time and resources:
1. Is there work for which you are responsible that could be completed by a lower-cost resource?
2. For the work that is completed, what gains the best results? The worst results? Can you reallocate resources so you then can focus on tasks that gain the best results?
3. What tasks take the most time and get the worst results? What can be done to fix those situations?
4. What do clients value the most?
5. When did you last have your clients complete a client satisfaction survey?
6. List two or three small actions that you could take to create a WOW experience for your client.
7. Which of your and your team's specific skills are not being fully utilized by the client?
8. Are there actions that were successful in the past that you could start doing again?
It might seem unrealistic to view your job as an ownership position, but the better you use your company's resources, the greater the benefit to you. A successful company means successful employees!
Put yourself in your boss's shoes. Does that sound too far out to be a practical business tip? You might not feel like you have much in common with your boss, but you do... if you view your position in the right light.
Try treating your job as if you were the president of your own company. If you are in operations, consider yourself an operations company; if you're in marketing, consider yourself a marketing company. How you would run your company? If you feel pain when you make a wrong decision and benefit when you make a right decision, you learn quickly to adjust and gain the most from your current position.
This attitude will give you energy as you strive to make your "company" more profitable. Any great employer will not only value this attitude but will give you many opportunities for growth and advancement.
Whenever you make a decision, think, "Did that decision increase or decrease my personal financial resources?" Figure out how much your time is worth (based on your goals for your next level of income), and then figure out how your work could be done with a lower-cost resource. Identify what activities generate the most value for your company, and then focus on those activities. Don't allow the low-level activities to draw away your energy and focus, as is so often the case. People who live in the past think that they can protect their positions by not allowing systems or lower-cost resources to take over their jobs. With the world economy, the Internet, and technology, the only protection you can have is the ability to move to new levels of understanding, knowledge, wisdom, and application.
If you can go into a position and put systems in place that require a lower-cost resource, you become very valuable to a company. If you leave the company, they will continue to benefit from your time with them. The real benefit still lies with you as you take your valuable knowledge to your next position. There always will be top positions available for people who know how to transfer their knowledge to others or put systems in place that lower company costs to complete a task.
Think of a mistake you made at work and how you'd feel if you had to pay for that mistake directly out of your pocket. That mindset will help you grow much faster, and you will learn a great deal more because you are treating company resources as though they were your money being spent on your choices.
