PROGRAM D-6758
Every Christian should be very careful to make good use of his or her time, since we will be accountable to God for this most valuable resource.
We talked about interruptions and paper shuffling as some major time wasters. What about meetings? In most organizations at least fifty percent of meeting time is wasted. If this is a problem where you work, I strongly recommend that you either suggest or institute (if you have the authority) guidelines for all meetings. Those guidelines should include:
- Every meeting must have a written agenda, distributed prior to the meeting, if possible, to enable attendees to come prepared.
- Every meeting must have a start and stop time that is strictly adhered to. You start on time even if no one is there, and you don’t stop and recover the territory for those who come in late. And you stop on time even if all the agenda is not covered.
- The person in charge of a meeting must keep it on track with the specified agenda and eliminate the "bunny trails" which often occur.
- For short meetings, eliminate food, and for very short meetings, have them standing rather than sitting. This will make those meetings stay focused and go much faster.
If you spend a significant amount of time in meetings, it is undoubtedly one of your major time wasters. Get proactive and see what you might be able to do to get those meetings under control.
Here’s another major time waster: lack of delegation. If you need to delegate but you don’t, why not? Maybe because you think you can do it better? Or because you simply like to keep control and try to be super-person?
Well, lack of delegation will keep you in crisis mode, and it withholds opportunities for others to learn and grow. I have learned that I need others, and furthermore, we produce a much better product when other ideas and talents are involved. So, ask God to help you learn to delegate.