Almost every one of us knows the saying "Accuracy is the courtesy of kings." However, not everyone knows that this is just part of the saying. In full, this statement sounds like this: “Accuracy is the courtesy of kings and the duty of all good people". This is the saying of the French king Louis XIV actually caused the rapid development of etiquette in Europe. Since then, punctuality, accuracy and skillful handling of one's own and other people's time have been highly valued in society.
AT modern world When business processes and relationships have reached their peak in their development and are moving at a tremendous speed, time management has become one of the most important business skills. What gives us the ability to manage our time? Plenty is enough influential people believe that time is the most valuable intangible capital, which is always in short supply. At this time, it is very similar to another valuable human resource- health. They are the most valuable wealth and, at the same time, a significant problem. If a person is unable to manage own time, then he will not be able to control anything and anyone else.
A recent survey among managers transnational corporations showed that out of a hundred managers:
- Only one has enough time.
- Ten people need ten percent more time.
- Forty managers need twenty-five percent extra time.
- The rest are missing fifty percent of the time.
Value and true value time can be understood by sincerely and honestly answering the following questions:
- How do you handle your time?
- Do you have enough time?
- What does time mean to you?
- How much time do you have left?
Right now you have taken the first step towards good governance with their time. Think about what question made the most sense to you. strong impression And are you satisfied with your answers?
How often are you surprised that your working day has passed, and the tasks set have not been fully completed? Do you feel how fast the days go by? Do you notice that you do not have time for anything and wonder where the time has gone so quickly? Add to this the daily stress and pressure and think about it, is it time to radically change this situation? After all, becoming more efficient and working less, and doing more is not such an impossible task.
The so-called "Time Eaters" prevent us from fully controlling our time. Before embarking on a decisive fight against them, it is necessary to carefully study them and determine which of the “time wasters” are most clearly manifested in you personally:
- Lack of cooperation or division of labor.
- Lack of self-discipline.
- Fuzzy goal setting.
- Trying to do too much at once.
- Excessive reading.
- Poor work planning.
- Lack of priorities in business.
- Lack of a complete understanding of the upcoming tasks and ways to solve them.
- Personal disorganization, "littered" desk.
- Poor system of information on your problems professional activity.
- Lack of motivation (indifferent attitude to work).
- Distracting phone calls.
- Search records, memos, addresses, phone numbers.
- Insufficient control over delegated cases.
- Unscheduled visitors.
- Too rare delegation (reassignment) of cases.
- Inability to say no.
- Haste, impatience.
- Incomplete, belated information.
- Long waits (for example, an arranged meeting).
- Failure to complete the task.
- Desire to know all the facts.
- Distraction (noise).
- Delay Syndrome.
- Protracted meetings.
- Excessive business records.
- Insufficient preparation for conversations and discussions.
- Excessive communication.
- Lack of communication (communication) or inaccurate Feedback
- Chatter on private topics.
Now that you have carefully studied these "time wasters", it's time to draw up a plan to combat them. For convenience, we advise you to fill in the following table
- My time waster
- Reasons why this "sink" in my life
- What can I do to eliminate this "sink"
You probably noticed that many of the above "time sinks" are somehow related to the rules business etiquette and in their elimination one should not forget about the culture of business communication.
personal disorganization.
This "sink" not only robs you of valuable time, but also jeopardizes your reputation and relationships with customers, colleagues and partners. After all, the sloppy organization of the workplace, documents and personal belongings scattered on the table, the inability to quickly find desired document and many other things testify to your irresponsibility and frivolity. It is well known that the perfect order on the table, in the briefcase, prepared business papers before the appointed meeting indicate respect for the partner, contribute to establishing contact and creating a climate of trust. Therefore, think carefully about how your qualities will tell others about your professionalism and business success.
Distracting phone calls.
Many have been in a situation where, during a responsible conversation, business negotiations or important meetings, suddenly phone call and at the most inopportune moment. How to act in such situations? An unwritten rule of business etiquette states that during business negotiations, the phone must be turned off. If the specifics of your work include situations when you personally communicate with a partner and, at the same time, they call you very often, try to adhere to the following tips:
- Apologize to your partner, remove handset and only in the most extreme case, have a business conversation on the phone, moreover, as briefly as possible.
- Apologize to your partner, pick up the phone, explain to the caller why you can't talk now, write down the caller's phone and call back when you're done with the private conversation.
- Apologize to your partner, pick up the phone and ask the caller to wait by the phone, explaining the situation. Be sure to say how many minutes you will have to wait, and ask if the caller has such an opportunity.
- Apologize to your partner, pick up the phone, and ask the caller to call back later, explaining the situation. Be sure to say how long it will take you to be ready to speak.
Finally, it should be borne in mind that a business partner will feel his importance and your respect for him if you do not interrupt your conversation with telephone conversations.
Protracted meetings.
This time waster is a very common problem in modern organizations. According to a sociological survey, American managers believe that only fifteen percent of the meetings were of real benefit. Often, modern meetings drag on for several hours, leaving employees exposed to severe stress, conflict and cannot make a constructive decision.
For effective meetings and acceptance rational business decisions it is necessary to clearly set goals, distribute the roles of participants, approve clear regulations and encourage employees to fruitful collaboration. Only a carefully planned and prepared meeting can give the desired result.
Fuzzy goal setting.
If a person does not set a clear goal for himself and hopes for "maybe", then the probability of success in any of his affairs will sharply tend to zero. From the disorganization of a person who does not think through his goal, his partners also suffer - after all, they, like the person who did not deign to think over the goal, lose precious time. And time, as they say, is money.
Long waits.
The Germans have a wonderful saying: "The one who is late is punished by life." Being late means not respecting your partners. By being late, people steal other people's time, which their colleagues and partners could have put to good use. Encroaching on someone else's time, we will not be able to strengthen our reputation and create a positive image.
Chatter on common topics.
Conversations about personal life and chatter on important topics such as politics, sports or the arts are normal practice in many companies around the world. However, excessive enthusiasm for this occupation takes time for both employees and the company itself. Discussion of yesterday football match can drag on for several tens of minutes, thereby violating important matters. Discuss non-work related issues during the lunch break.
For total control over your time and building a bridge to personal and professional success, you need to develop personal approaches to time management. Of course, you should take into account the specifics of your business environment, personal biorhythms and features of professional activity. We also advise you to pay attention to such recommendations for time management:
Rules for starting the day
- Check your plan for the day.
- Take care of important and difficult tasks in the morning.
- Start the day with a positive attitude.
- By solving a relatively simple problem, create a good mood for yourself.
- Start work at the same time whenever possible.
Rules concerning the course of the day
- Finish what you started rationally.
- Reject additional pressing issues that arise.
- Fix deadlines for completing tasks.
- Avoid actions that cause backlash.
- Control time and plans.
- Reserve quiet time for yourself (id: 276 hour) for important, but not urgent matters.
- Take breaks between serious tasks.
- Perform small homogeneous tasks in series.
- Avoid unplanned impulsive actions.
- Take breaks in time and keep a measured pace of work.
Rules for the end of the working day
- Make a plan for the next day.
- Exercise control over results and self-control.
- Finish the unfinished.
- Go home with good mood: To do this, identify the most important positive event of the day.
Treat your time like your health. Take care of this valuable resource and respect the time of your colleagues, friends and partners. Make it so that not time passes by you, but you pass through time! And remember that precision is the courtesy of kings
Everyone knows this expression. A guy comes to a meeting with friends on time and says this: “Accuracy is the courtesy of kings, figli.” Like, what a handsome man, he was not late. And no one really thinks what this phrase means.
The full phrase of Louis XVIII sounds like this: "Accuracy is the courtesy of kings, but a duty for their subjects." When the context is clear, it is immediately clear that the meaning is completely different from what we are used to: Louis says, they say, if I arrive on time, I will show respect, but God himself ordered you, lackeys, to do everything on time - otherwise you definitely won’t go to the gallows be late.
However, even the well-known, abbreviated version, do not believe it, means exactly the same thing. The phrase refers exclusively to kings and to no one else. Well, to be more precise, to those who are in power.
This is especially true today. Why? Because today only the king can afford to arrive on time. Because only for his sake will they block the avenues, the streets, only he will be given a limousine directly into the cabin of the helicopter and delivered to twenty-seven hands (and the twenty-eighth will keep a fiddle in his pocket - from impotence). Because only the king has the opportunity to arrive on time. And there is an opportunity to arrive at the wrong time - if the king does not want to seem very polite.
Everyone else has two options: arrive earlier or arrive later. Practice shows that these options are extremely stable and indestructible: if you usually arrive somewhere later, then in 9 cases out of 10 you will arrive later. If earlier, then earlier. And if you arrive exactly one minute at a time, you are in luck. This is not politeness, but an exception to the rule. Well, or you go on foot (today in the city this is a subject of separate envy), although it is still not a fact that you will arrive on time.
And now - a little revelation in the course of physics. Time doesn't exist. It's just dimension. Just as there is no length, width, height - they are also only measurements. That is, ways to measure something. Who needs to be measured? Only to a person. Therefore, man gave properties to objects. Dimensions properties: length, width and height, three dimensions. The property of changes in physical objects is time, not a generally accepted (as far as I know) fourth dimension.
It is also a tool designed for convenience. In particular, for convenience social life, the interaction of people with each other. It is no secret that each person has an individual internal clock by which he lives. But man does not live alone, but in society. And in order to adequately contact this society, there is also the “time” tool. And serifs on time were invented. For example, 10:00 am is the cutoff at which you should be at work.
A banal conclusion follows from this: if 9 times out of 10 you are late, you just you do not want(consciously or unconsciously) synchronize your internal clock with someone else's. This is logical: it is much more comfortable to maintain inner harmony without compromising time or someone else's internal clock. Moreover, this is absolutely natural: the instinct of self-preservation, self-defense from the outside world, which is trying to rebuild your internal clock to suit its own, is operating.
But what about accuracy? That accuracy... It is the politeness of those to whom we have nothing to do. And if we can't be kings, why hurry?
