Time management for entrepreneurs and managers is a continual issue, because we tend to effect our management in a reactive fashion. One needs to develop systems to insure that crises don’t develop or are minimized. If you have a staff, this training is critical to insure that every issue is not something that requires a decision from you. One of the best ways to do this (either with your staff or for yourself) is to assume chaos and the unexpected will occur and do that planning with the 3P (sometimes called the PDR) process.
- You Prepare (the first P) by asking yourself what is the goal or purpose of a given activity. You need to determine who will be involved or affected by these actions.
- You then Perform the task. (This is the second P.)
- You then must Process the information and results you obtained. (This is the third P.) You need to determine what you might have learned, what happened, and did it differ from the expected outcome.
The key concept behind the 3P process is that everything you do is geared toward achieving the goals you have already set. Even in a crisis, you are still working towards the chosen goals, continuing to train your staff, and/or determining better processes with which to respond to events.
Keep in mind that the 3P process is not continuous, but discrete. There are three distinct stages- prepare, performance, and processing. And, should you not be a solopreneur, you must train your staff to employ the 3P process, as well.
To do this, you start by previewing the tasks they plan to accomplish. As part of this preparation, you can suggest changes or ask questions as to their approaches. Make sure their approach fits with the goals that have been set. Once this stage is complete, let them perform the task. Of course, if the person is brand new to your organization, you might first perform it yourself with the new person watching what and how you do what you do. You then should process the event with him/her, so he/she understands what you learned and determine what they learned. You can then choose to monitor the novice the next time, but by the third time, they should be on their own. (This is the proper way to delegate actions.)
No matter what, the primary consideration is that you must process (evaluate) the activity (the perform or do phase)- whether or not it was successful, so that everyone learns how to handle the situation next time- and knows the parametric bounds that are acceptable within the organization.
Roy,
Great Post! For a long time I was haphazard with the tasks that I would perform. Once I got a grasp of what I needed to do every day I was surprised at the time it freed up when I stuck to the tasks and got the job done.
Your post has given me an even clearer vision for how I want to make sure certain tasks are completed. Thank you!
Tammy
Tammy Matthews recently posted..Top 10 Secrets To Releasing Negative Self-Talk
Tammy:
We all need to continually improve our task management and time management. We tend to become overloaded with all the opportunities that are at our fingertips- and with the demands of our staff, our family, and our own needs.
Thanks for adding your $0.02 to insure we all can improve.
Roy.
I didn’t get the point where you mention that they aren’t continuous. Don’t we decide what to perform (prepare) and then act on it (perform) and then evaluate the process? Would love it if you could clarify that for me.
Hi, Hajra:
There’s an adage out there- Ready, Fire, Aim. It is another attempt to solve our task/time management problem. It also recognizes that we rarely have all the information necessary to solve a problem completely. But, it also acknowledges that there are three separate steps.
You are not going to bring out a new product without determining that it is ready for the market AND you have a plan for that introduction. These are discrete, separate steps. And, you can’t determine if the plan was successful during the first sale- you need to examine the results from a series of sales, compare the customers, perhaps even hone the product. All separate steps in the process.
Even though we think that walking from our house to our car is continuous, each single step is a discrete process. If you don’t see the loose gravel in the path, you may even (G0d forbid) fall on the way to the car. Hardly, a single step!
Thanks for helping make this clear.
Roy
So clear and so true, Roy! I feel that processing the information and results is often overlooked, so that a company can focus on productivity instead. They forget that true productivity comes from self-assessment and analysis. I also love the idea of modeling individual self-assessment to employees. =) Great tips!
Samantha Bangayan recently posted..The Launch of a New Beginning
Samantha:
We all try to shortchange the effort, as part of our attempt to cut the time each effort requires. But, cutting out the process evaluation means we either learn nothing from our success or failure- or fail to assess whether we achieved the goals for the effort.
Thanks for sharing.
Roy
Hi Roy – I like this post and the simplicity with which you explain time management. However, what should one do if one gets stuck in the Prepare mode? Perhaps this is a subject for a follow-up post. 🙂
Lisbeth Tanz recently posted..Empower Someone Else – Ask For Help
That’s when they call ADJUVANCY or LisBeth Tanz, no?
I have a client that needs advice (and has needed that same advice) for some 20 years now. He has the “enemy” surveyed. He has his “ammunition” in place. He just never hears the word “fire”!
And, yes, I agree that there needs more exposition to help those who miss collecting the $ 200 because they never pass go!
Roy
I am very impressed with your website and and I feel your content is very interesting and informative.
Thanks for visiting, Bob, and for your comments.
Please come back often.
Roy