When I was a graduate student, I worked for Don. Don was a great supervisor. He set clear expectations, took time to nurture my development as a professional and maintained an empathy that was appreciated by everyone on the staff. He was also extremely busy. In addition to directing the career center where I was a graduate assistant, he taught classes, served on committees, and worked with several outside clients.
I wanted to respect his time and yet had endless questions since I was new to the field. So many managers complain of the constant parade in their office. That’s the one thing I wanted to avoid. After all, who needs someone traipsing in and out of your office with one little question after another? This is especially true with what I call “permission questions.” These are the questions that begin with, “Is it okay if I . . .” or “I was thinking about . . .” If you have empowered the people around you to make decisions, this parade should not exist.
Toward the beginning of my time working for Don, I leaned into his office one morning and said “I’ve got three quick questions.” He smiled, held up an index finger and said, “One.” I asked him my question and he answered it concisely. Then he held up two fingers and said, “Two.” And so it went with question number three. In a space of five minutes, I had gotten all three questions answered, yet came away feeling like he was really present and attentive.
Over the several months, that became our cadence. I would store up my questions for when I saw that Don seemed to have a few minutes. I would lean into his office and say, “I have three (or four or five) questions.” In return, he would hold up an index finger and say, “One.”
This is not something Don taught or demanded of me. I simply did it out of respect for his time. He, in return, provided me with concise responses. In a matter of minutes, I could get the answers I needed and felt empowered to act.
Now, you might argue that I had the presence of mind to place myself in Don’s shoes and anticipate the way he worked best. Unfortunately, this is not something we see as much of in today’s workplace. But Don also was quick enough to take my cue when I said three questions. Not every supervisor and contributor clicks like this, of course. Then again, we might ask what can be done to facilitate this more often. Here are a few ideas:
First, let the people around you know how you work best. Tony, a manager I’ve gotten to know over the years, lets people know that he usually focuses on the main project on his desk for the first 90 minutes of every day. Hint? Don’t interrupt him before 9:30. He also tells people that he glances at email once every 60 minutes. But that doesn’t mean he will respond right away. He generally responds to email twice a day, noon time and around 4PM. Hint? If it’s really critical or time sensitive, text him. But it better be critical or time sensitive. If someone thinks that everything is critical or time sensitive, Tony sits down with that person and helps them to understand what really is.
Second, compel those around to you be concise. Think about the last time it took a long time for someone asking you a question to get to the point. This might have been for one of two reasons. First, the person felt a need to provide the big picture. Second, they had not taken the time to think through the problem and determine what the real issue or question was before coming to you. For issues that require some background or context, ask those around you to put that information in an email or memo along with the problem to be resolved. That saves time and allows you to contemplate how to act in advance of your meeting with them. It will also compel them to think through the issue before impulsively taking your time. You might even conduct a short discussion on how to do so during an upcoming meeting. If we’re all stopping to clarify our questions before approaching each other, it will save all of us time.
Third, ask people to respect and use your time wisely. As in my experience with Don, lots of little questions can be consolidated. Rather than asking six questions at six different times, ask them to combine everything into one conversation. A hidden benefit to this, by the way, is that they will be compelled to resolve some of those questions without coming to you since they are time sensitive. If you have set the expectation that your team should make decisions without you, why would they come to you to begin with? Will there be mistakes? Sure. But we all learn from failure and if you discuss it with them fairly and help them learn, they will grow in their confidence to act independently.
There is a belief among some that resolving every issue right away saves time because you don’t have to deal with it later. Unfortunately, that ends up creating the parade in your office you are desperately trying to avoid. If you condition those around you, whether they’re on your team or colleagues who have endless got-a-second questions, they will come to expect instant access and that’s the kiss of death for your time, energy and focus.
What do you do to ride herd on the endless questions and issues that arise every day? Put them into the comments below. We’d all like to know. And don’t forget to subscribe to this channel and ring the bell so you’ll be notified when I post more helpful content just list this.