Managing is Messy -- Make the Most of It

Managers often bemoan their inability to get things done. Something always intrudes on the work, demanding our attention. Meetings clutter our calendar like productivity-sucking leeches. And when we are able to focus on a worthwhile project, e-mails start stacking up in the inbox demanding immediate action during our next free moment.

We've discussed in this space about how effective time management can lead to better decisions. But Harvard Business School professor Linda A. Hill has a different perspective. Forget about trying to devise the world's greatest time management process. Instead, accept that you live in a messy world and deal with it.

"The reality is, management is fragmented and reactive by nature," she and coauthor Kent Lineback write in a new blog post. "The problem isn't you, and it's not a lack of time management skills. It's management itself. It's a problem even for senior managers. Those who head major business units also struggle to stay ahead of daily events."

But that doesn't excuse managers from being effective in this chaotic environment. The question is how.

First, stop separating the tasks before you into piles of "important management stuff" and "unexpected daily problems," which are treated differently. Instead, be planful about incorporating important management stuff into the other things we deal with. The authors suggest, for example:

• Use an otherwise unproductive meeting to update a colleague on a change in a project plan.
• Use a crisis to reconnect with someone important in your network.
• Use a customer service problem to begin working through a broader issue with the boss.

What do you think of this idea? Is there a higher business purpose that can be accomplished in even menial tasks?

Related Reading

• Closing Your Day the Right Way
• The One Priority Leaders Need to Spend Time On (But Don't)
• Why Maybe, Just Maybe, We Actually Love Meetings