Your Organization’s Most Unmanaged Resource
In western cultures it would not be uncommon to hear someone say, “Time is money.” That reveals a slice of our worldview that would be different than other cultures who value relationships over time. But regardless of one’s cultural orientation, everyone has the responsibility to be a good steward and that includes how we spend our time.
Generally when we think about stewardship of time the focus is entirely on the individual responsibility we have to organize and prioritize our daily activities. Technology has multiplied the ways individual workers can be interrupted. And the expectations for availability are nearly impossible to manage. With WIFI on planes there is hardly any place you can escape the pressure of a nearly immediate response.
Researchers at Columbia University have actually created an algorithm called “automated social hierarchy detection” that maps the power distance of employees in an organization based on how long it takes them to respond to an email. Timeliness in response is interpreted as dependability and going dark even for an hour at a time can be perceived as a lack of commitment to the team.
Your staff, especially outside of the executive suite, will not be able to manage their own schedule well without support from the organization. In this month’s vlog, Steve Moore shares why time isYour Organization’s Most Unmanaged Resource, and what to do about it. The stakes are high because unlike money, you can’t ask a donor for more time.
