5 T H I N G S YO U C A N D O TO …
HELP EMPLOYEES
STAY FOCUSED ON
PRIORITIES
• Productivity Partners, Inc.
• Cynthia Kyriazis
• Productivity strategist, coach, trainer
Priorities
When I first began my business I gave presentations
and training to employees about time management. I
noticed there were a lot of comments about having
difficulty identifying priorities.
Years passed and the comments were more about
having too many priorities.
SOME THOUGHTS
More years passed again and the questions and
comments now were how to handle all these ‘priorities
du jour’ because what was important kept shifting.
Today the questions are about how to protect the
focus required to actually work on what’s important.
The intent of this booklet is provide something of a
reminder about the elements needed to work on
what’s important…routinely…and consistently. Because
that’s how we get to where we want to go.
“The main thing is to remember that the main
thing is the main thing.”
Stephen Covey
Let’s begin with a reminder from Dr. Covey.
Urgent AND Important|
#1
Don’t become overwhelmed with the chart to the left.
It’s just a tool.
1
It’s a matrix, commonly known as the Covey Matrix,
because it was developed in the 1970’s by Dr. Stephen
Covey, an educator –especially of how to use available
time. The 4 quadrants in the diagram represent the 4
areas in which we choose to our spend time.
Quadrant 1, represents time spent with things you
can’t really control…emergencies, some immediate
customer issues, last minute changes. It was the 1980’s
and Dr. Covey suggested we should spend about 15% of
our time in this quadrant.
Fast forward to 2015 and the book ‘5 Choices’ was
published. It was based on the results of a 6 year global
study that examined how employees actually spend
time today. The results? Today employees spend 27.6%
of their time in this quadrant…almost double.
• What quadrant I activities can you identify that
happen in your own world?
• Which of these events seem to be repetitive? Can
you mitigate some of these when it comes to your
employees?
#2
Urgent but NOT Important
Quadrant III is about things that cause a sense of
urgency, but aren’t that important.These types of
things, simply put, hijack our attention.
Our brains have two parts brain. One responds to
things calmly, objectively, and perhaps analytically. The
other responds more emotionally. We need both parts.
But sometimes our brain gets hijacked and the
emotional, reactive, responsive side takes over when…
maybe…it’s not the right time. That’s how our day
slides into quadrant III.
Covey suggested employees should spend about 9% of
our time in this quadrant.
III
Today employees spend 23.6% of their time in this
quadrant.
• What quadrant III activities can you identify that
happen in your own world?
• Which activities seem to be repetitive?
• Are you able to reduce the frequency of these
activities for your own staff>
NOT Urgent…NOT Important
#3
It’s obvious by looking at quadrant IV that from a time
management perspective, it’s not a valuable way to
spend time. To relax, yes. But to spend an increasing
amount of time in this quadrant is simply put, wasting
your time.
Yes…you can call it relaxing, fun and really needed after
the 24/7 type of business environment we work in
today.
But again, it’s an issue of the amount of time spent in
this quadrant.
Covey said employees should spend only about 1% of
their time here.
Research says we’re spending 17.9% of our time here.
1V
The concern isn’t one of whether or not we should
spend time in this quadrant. The concern and question
is…are you getting value from the time you spend here
at the expense of other activities in your life?
• What quadrant IV activities can you identify when it
comes to your employees?
• Which activities seem to be repetitive?
• How much time do you think your employees
spend during the work day in quadrant IV?
#4
Not Urgent…BUT IMPORTANT
So now we land on quadrant II – commonly referred
to as Q2. I use the expression ‘commonly’ because for
those employees and organizations that use the Covey
matrix as a tool use Q2 as a short-hand reminder of
where they should be focusing their time.
II
Covey referred to Q2 is the ‘results’ quadrant because
activities in this quadrant should be time you work on
your priorities. The important things. These activities
matter when it comes to moving your goals forward -because priorities should always be connected to the goal.
Covey said we should spend a full 75% of our time in
this quadrant. Research says employees currently only
spending 30.8%.
Why? A lot of the time we used to spend in Q2 has
floated into Quadrants II and III…not important ones.
• Are your employees identifying priorities based on
their goals?
• Can employees identify what quadrants their time
float into at the expense of their priorities?
• Can you help employees identifying solutions to
their Q2 hijack?
Last but not least
#5
When time and focus shift away from Q2, it generally
results in a very low return on time invested.
1
1I
The idea is to try and stay above the RED LINE during
your workday. True you can’t control some of the
quadrant 1 activities, but you can work towards
returning to Q2 focus at the right time.
Easy? Not always. But if you’re motivated consider
some of the suggestions below to begin protecting
your Q2 time.
❑ Does the goal motivate the employee? If not, then
working on priorities doesn’t motivate them either.
Re-visit the goal.
III
1V
❑ Are interruptions and distractions interfering with
employee focus? As a supervisor, are you potentially
the cause of some of these?
❑ Consider opening a discussion within your
organization about designating certain days or hours
when interruptions of any kind (technology or
people) are either not allowed or seriously
restricted. For example, focus time is 8 to 10am
daily. Or no meeting Mondays. Or no email Fridays –
which Intel practices. I have tried focus time with
clients with great results.
❑ Short of using earbuds, is there an office, area, or
zone that can be designated as noise/interruption
FREE? Google has one and it seems to work
because employees respect the intent of the room.
Important reminder
Helping protect employee priority time isn’t always
easy but it can be done.
SUMMARY
1.
Ask employees. Open a dialogue around what
type of system or practice employees would like
to see put in place to help them remain focused
on Q2 activities. For example, Q2 activity only
the first hour of every day – no interruptions.
2.
Behaviors needed. If a system is put in place to
protect focus time, it will probably also require
employees learning to set boundaries. On
themselves as well as others who don’t respect
the system or practices put in place. At the same
time employees will need to learn to limit
distractions they cause for themselves (such as
social media mania).
3.
Plan B. There will obviously be times when the
system/plan might not work. Be ready to get it
back on track without letting the situation slide
into what it was before.
“The key is not to prioritize what's on your
schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
Stephen Covey
Cynthia Kyriazis
Founded Productivity Partners in 1992 to help employees learn
how to manage the 24/7 demands on their already frazzled time.
Services include coaching, training and presentations to a
nationwide clientele including Fortune 500’s, government agencies,
and nonprofit organizations.
Interviews in Wall Street Journal online, Forbes, Philadelphia
Inquirer, and other major newspapers and radio stations. And
Amazon best-selling author.
Cited as ‘One of the 28 best time & productivity experts online’ in
Time management 2.0,
Past-Secretary to the National Association of Professional
Organizers (NAPO), Past-President of the International Society
for Performance Improvement- Kansas City chapter, consultant to
the American Coaching Association, Certified Professional
Behavioral Analyst (CPBA), Certified Professional Values Analyst
(CPVA).
Let’s connect!
.ProPartnersInc.com
Cynthia@ProPartnersInc.com 913-649-0878
Website I LinkedIn I Twitter
Amazon Best-Seller
This book is filled with practical information, approaches and
tips to help overcome the challenges you face with managing
your time in an ‘always-on’ business environment.
Based on Cynthia’s trainings topics include…
getting organized
goal setting
prioritizing and focus
scheduling and planning
managing meetings and email
managing interruptions and distractions
delegating
and … procrastination