The Organized Executive

The Benefits of Personal Organization

It's been a long time since CEOs could get away with taking a weekday afternoon off to hit the fairways. These days, most chief executives consider themselves lucky if they put in less than 60 hours per week on the job. Not surprisingly, effective time management has become one of the most important skills for today's business leaders.

But according to Vistage speaker Bruce Breier, time management is but one part of a bigger picture that involves personal and corporate organization. Successful executives, he believes, must manage four basic areas of organization -- time, information, projects and people. When they do, they experience the four "C's" of personal organization:

Confidence. Having your time under control provides a greater sense of confidence about the day. Effective time management allows you to become more proactive rather than merely reacting to events as they occur.

Clarity. When you take time to plan the day or week, you gain acute knowledge about what to do and when to do it. Of course, things don't always happen on schedule. But knowing when they should provides a clarity that allows more events to happen on time than not.

Comfort. A broad-based planning process that takes into account all professional and personal activities provides a level of comfort because you know you haven't overlooked anything of importance.

Cohesion. When all executives in a company manage their time well, teamwork tends to improve significantly. People feel the need to interrupt less often, they communicate more effectively and they experience lower levels of stress.

Time Management

The secret to effective time management lies in daily planning -- not once or twice a week, but each and every day, regardless of whether you feel like it or not. Developing discipline around this one principle, says Breier, will have a greater impact on your personal organization than anything else you can do.

An acknowledged expert in the field, Breier practices a disciplined process for daily planning that consists of five basic steps:

1) Allocate time to recap the day and plan for tomorrow.

Set aside 30 minutes at the end of each day for next day planning. Write this time down in your calendar and treat it as a serious commitment that you consistently keep. Try to do it at the same time each day so that it becomes part of your routine rather than something that feels forced into your schedule.

2) Make it quality time.

Close your office door, turn off the phone and permit no interruptions. Prepare a checklist of things to do during your planning time so it doesn't become a random or haphazard exercise.

"I look at daily planning like getting ready to fly an airplane," explains Breier. "Pilots can't start down the runway until they go through their pre-flight checklist. So before you 'take off' for the day, make sure to go through your checklist to plan for tomorrow. After 30 years of daily planning I still use the same sequential steps to end my day."

3) Recap the day.

Check off the day's completed "to do" items and reschedule incomplete tasks as needed. However, do not automatically reschedule incomplete activities to the next day if you know you won't get to them. Instead, move them to the next available day when you have the time and the desire to complete them.

4) Process all new paper, voice and e-mail messages.

Ending the day with a clean desk and a clear mind requires processing any remaining papers and responding to unanswered communications. "You have three options with paper," notes Breier, "file it, route it or throw it away. For voice and e-mail messages, use the save, reply or delete keys. By processing all messages every day, you prevent them from building up to unmanageable levels."

5) Plan tomorrow.

Planning for tomorrow involves organizing five categories of activities: things to do, people to see, places to go, people to call and things to discuss or delegate. Prior to leaving your office, suggests Breier, send an e-mail or voice mail to the people you want to delegate things to for the next day. When they come in the next morning, they will have your message before their day gets started. This allows them to fit your request into their day and saves you the time of going from office to office telling people what you want them to do.

"Daily planning is a simple process, but one that requires discipline and consistency," acknowledges Breier. "Fortunately, it only takes a few days before the benefits become obvious. Those benefits can then serve as a motivator for sticking with the process, even when it feels forced or uncomfortable. Once daily planning becomes a habit, you will welcome the time to clear your mind, clean your desk, refresh your spirit and get re-energized for any evening activities -- all of which help you start the next day far more effectively."

Information Management

The primary goal with information management is to create an uncluttered office -- one without stacks of paper, overflowing in-baskets or dozens of unanswered voice and e-mails beeping away at the back of your consciousness.

"A cluttered workspace produces demoralization, discouragement, distress and distraction," says Breier. "It reduces your passion for the job and dramatically cuts into your personal productivity. In contrast, an uncluttered and stack-free office allows you to work without distractions and interruptions. It frees you up to focus your full attention on the task at hand."

Good information management depends to a large extent on the daily planning session. If you fail to plan on a daily basis, your ability to manage paper and information will seriously decline. In conjunction with a disciplined process of daily planning, Breier recommends the following information management systems:

Proper desk layout. Use an L-shaped desk with a credenza behind you, thus creating a U-shaped environment. The only papers on your desktop should be those directly related to the project or task in front of you. Put your phone, calendar, pens, pencils and other items on the return. On the credenza, arrange four trays:

1. The first tray holds everything that comes out of the chronological filing system (see next bullet point). Keep it behind you and, one by one, bring the documents to the front to work on.
2. The second tray holds projects in process. If you tend to work on many projects at once, use a standup vertical tray with eight or 10 slots.
3. The third tray contains "pending" items, such as paperwork that requires people to return your voice or e-mail messages.
4. The fourth tray serves as your "out" tray and primary paper flow tool for your administrative assistant. Ideally, 100 percent of today's work should go into this out tray.

"Notice that this system has no inbox," points out Breier, "and for good reason. In most cases, the inbox becomes a dumping ground for others and a constant interruption to you. If you have an inbox, get rid of it. The only paper that should walk into your office is that which has been diagnosed as crucial (important and urgent). Everything else should go to a central mailbox system in which everyone has a slot."

Chronological filing system. This system manages "recurring" paper, the documents you need to see again, but not today. Set up a file drawer (in your desk) that contains 43 hanging Pendaflex files. Label 12 for the months of the year and 31 for the days of the month. When you need to see a document again (but not today) put it in the appropriate file. If necessary, your assistant can manage this file, but you will get better results by doing it yourself.

Categorical filing system. This stand-alone file cabinet holds non-recurring documents that you need to see again but only when the situation calls for it. Most companies organize these files alphabetically. Instead, Breier recommends filing categorically for easier retrieval. Ideally, you should be able to access any document within 20 seconds.

To maintain a clutter-free office:

Schedule time to completely purge your office. Go through everything. You'll be amazed at how much paper you no longer need.

• File, route or dispose of all new paper during your daily planning at the end of each day.
• Ruthlessly rid yourself of all unnecessary and unwanted paper. When in doubt, throw it out. Shredding paper (instead of just tossing it) sends a subtle but important message that you won't tolerate clutter.

"It can take weeks or even months to get used to this kind of system because it requires constant attention," admits Breier. "But if you use it every day, it will work. Once you get your system up and running, you will discover a newfound pride in your office environment. More important, you will find yourself working a lot more effectively."

Project Management

Do you often fall behind on projects? Do you continually find yourself scrambling to meet deadlines on your personal commitments? If so, you're not alone. According to Breier, large numbers of CEOs and executives report ongoing frustration with their inability to keep on track with projects and personal commitments.

The solution? "Private work time (PWT)," a concept whereby you schedule time to make yourself unavailable to others in order to focus solely on your commitments.

"Most executives who have difficulty managing projects don't schedule quality time to work on them," notes Breier. "They wait for an opening in their calendar and hope for the best, or they put in serious overtime as the deadline approaches. Neither represents an effective approach to project management.

"I recommend private work time (PWT), whereby you schedule time in advance to work on your projects and commitments without interruption. Ideally, you want to set aside one or two hours each day, for a total of five to 10 hours a week. The key is to schedule the time in advance and then have the discipline to stick to it. It also helps to make sure that your employees understand and respect your need for PWT."

To use PWT to maximum effectiveness, says Breier:

• Allocate and schedule five to ten hours per week to work on projects and commitments. Write it in your calendar.
• Predetermine the project tasks to be completed during each PWT session. PWT can also be used for e-mail correspondence activities.
• At the appointed time, close the door and turn off the phone. If necessary, put a sign on your door so people know not to interrupt.
• Consider changing your voice mail message to reflect PWT.
• Conduct management "rounds" prior to each PWT session. Walk the floor and take care of any issues before making yourself unavailable
• Accomplish what you set out to do.

People Management

People management revolves around three critical areas: interruptions, direct report briefings and meetings.

Interruptions

According to Breier, interruptions represent the major cause of unproductive executive time. They also represent a leading cause of managerial job dissatisfaction because they create a day of constant starting and stopping. Interruptions lead to a lot of unfinished "to do" items at the end of the day which, over time, leads to chronic demoralization.

Despite these negative consequences, interruptions are deeply ingrained in the cultures of most organizations. Eliminating them requires a two-step process:

1. Establish a standard operating procedure on internal interruptions. Every employee needs to know what constitutes an interruption and when it is appropriate (or not) to interrupt.
2. Diagnose prior to causing or receiving every interruption. If the situation is urgent and important, interrupt. If not, use voice mail or e-mail or hold the interruption for a more appropriate time.

"Keep in mind that a customer or client never represents an interruption and should never be considered one," cautions Breier. "Interruptions have to do with the way your people communicate with each other, not with the outside world. In my experience, 80 percent of all interruptions are unnecessary. When you diagnose before interrupting, you can eliminate the unnecessary ones, thereby raising everyone's level of productivity and job satisfaction."

Direct Report Briefings

This people management tool involves allocating 15 to 30 minutes per week for a "one-to-one briefing" with each direct report. Each briefing should be a scheduled, non-negotiable time commitment in which you give the direct report your full, undivided attention. When done with consistency and the full commitment of each person, these briefings can works wonders to improve communications between CEO and direct report and get both working on the same page.

According to Breier, each one-to-one briefing should follow an agenda that includes:

• A progress report and update from the direct report
• Discussion of issues needing your advice and support
• Anything you want to delegate to the direct report for the next seven to 14 days
• Any remaining miscellaneous items

"Scheduled briefings are far more productive than interruptions," states Breier. "In addition, this kind of proactive communication strengthens your relationships with key managers because you pay attention to their agenda. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a half hour if you schedule the briefings consistently and permit no interruptions."

Group Meetings

Most people say they dislike meetings. What they really dislike are disorganized and unproductive meetings. When properly managed, says Breier, meetings become informative, effective and even inspirational. To run great meetings:

• Never conduct a meeting without an agenda.
• Always start and end on time.
• Note the cost of the meeting on the agenda.
  (cost = the sum total of an hour's worth of time for everyone attending the meeting)
• Encourage participation from everyone.
• Assign a designated note taker.
• Gain clarity and agreement on all assignments at the conclusion of the meeting.

Key Leverage Points

Over the years, Breier has spoken to hundreds of Vistage groups on personal organization. He knows how difficult it can be to implement some, much less all, of the tools he recommends. However, when asked which tools unquestionably yield the most bang for the buck, he nominates:

• Daily planning
• Scheduling private work time
• One-to-one briefings with direct reports
• A completely organized e-mail environment

"If Vistage members take nothing else away from my presentation or this write-up, I strongly urge them to at least give these four a shot," says Breier. "In regard to the daily planning, I realize that 30 to 45 minutes a day sounds like a lot to give up. But I guarantee you will get back double or triple that amount of time each day from working more effectively. Plus you gain tremendous peace of mind from feeling more in control of your life and your work flow. As for the private work time and the one-to-one briefings, just try them once or twice and I think the benefits will convince you of the efficacy of those activities.

"I know that entrepreneurial CEOs tend to thrive on crisis management. They enjoy the adrenaline rush of putting out fires and derive great satisfaction from solving one crisis after another. If you prefer that management style, more power to you. But if you want more stability and predictability in your workday, give these tools a test run. Schedule them in advance and show up at the appointed time. You will be amazed and delighted with the results."