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Issue #19
Permanent Solutions
by
Laurie Weiss, Ph.D.
Barbara Wells, Managing Partner at Minor and Brown, has found a
solution to a problem that plagues many managers in professional
firms.
Work delegated to busy junior professionals (attorneys, in Barbara’s
case; accountants, architects, designers — you name it — in other
situations), gets put into a pending pile. Little if any progress is
made on completing the work until shortly before it is due. Time
needed to complete the work is underestimated, and completing the work
becomes extremely stressful.
Clients, whom the junior professionals may never have met, can be
disappointed. The manager is frustrated because explaining the reasons
for delays to clients is never fun. The manager is also frustrated
because she has work of her own to complete, and does not want to
spend her time checking up on others.
Many managers have procrastination problems of their own, largely
because they have so many high priorities to juggle. The common
problem that “management is a series of interruptions, interrupted
by interruptions,“ causes them to arrive very early or stay very
late to try to get their own work done.
Barbara’s responsibilities include monitoring attorney progress,
workflow, marketing, cashflow, collections and billing, as well as
strategic planning and staff management in a firm that includes 13
attorneys. Almost everything was going smoothly, except for the
workflow monitoring. When challenged to create a system to make
everyone responsible for their own work, she devised a brief,
mandatory, weekly “Tasklists Anonymous“ meeting.
Her system is simple. Every task that is assigned to an attorney is
placed on a list — a common practice in professional firms. However,
Barbara takes this several steps further. Based on the premise that
all work should be completed within 2-4 weeks, each professional‘s
list is divided into three parts.
1. Tasks that must be done by next week.
2. Tasks that must be done by 2 weeks (from now) and/or should be done
next week.
3. Tasks that must be done by 3 weeks (from now) and/or should be done
by 2 weeks.
Her rule is that every task should move up to the next higher category
every week! The way the rule is enforced is that everyone, including
herself, presents their updated lists at the weekly “Tasklists
Anonymous“ meeting. No penalties are necessary. Social pressure is
enough. The work progresses, and Barbara has more time to devote to
other priorities.
Coaching tip: When a problem persists, look for a system to that will
solve it permanently.
EXTRAS!!
NEW!!
The e-Booklet, 124 Tips for Having a Great Relationship,
is complete. You can download your copy immediately from HERE.
The print version is now available;
order it HERE
Empowerment Systems When
Change is the Challenge.
Jonathan
B. Weiss, Ph.D., and Laurie
Weiss, Ph.D., have helped thousands of people make significant
changes in their lives. Working together at Empowerment
Systems for 31 of their 43 years of marriage, they maintain a
coaching, consulting, and psychotherapy practice in Littleton,
Colorado, USA.
Copyright 2003, Empowerment Systems. Please feel
free to forward or reproduce this Newsletter for any purpose, as long
as you give detailed credit, including this copyright line; if you
reprint it in a publication, we request that you send us a complete
copy of it.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail to weiss@empowermentsystems.com
To arrange a free introductory coaching session
with either Jon or Laurie Weiss, email us or call us at
303-794-5379.
Laurie’s email: laurieweiss@empowermentsystems.com
Jon’s email: weiss@empowermentsystems.com
www.empowermentsystems.com
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