Everyone is working harder than ever, often for the same or less money. At least, that’s what I hear from many of my colleagues. This certainly is the case in supply chain management where time quite literally is money. Therefore time management may be one of the most important skillsets a senior leader can address to gain a competitive advantage.
Even at the highest echelon of supply chain leadership, executives are pulled into the smallest details, playing “whack-a-mole” when one issue after the other interrupts material flow—a shipment stuck in customs, a supplier going bankrupt, a natural disaster takes a plant offline, critical components stolen in transit, or child labor discovered at a supplier.
Why do these “firefight” issues so often end up at the top today? One reason is increased visibility. Everyone has access to so much information. These types of issues gives a rush of adrenaline, then a great sense of immediate satisfaction as they are resolved. It is exhilarating to save the day. But there is a negative impact.
These daily issues take over our days, leaving little time for more important strategic activities and decisions. We now know that humans train their brains to react and to solve problems. Becoming entrenched in the process of daily firefights may take over the brain, leaving it unable – or at least subconsciously unable – to process more complex, conceptual problems and plan proactively.
Urgent or important?
A common business management misconception is confusion between urgent and important. For the adrenaline junkie, it may help to be very conscious of the following: If a problem is urgent, but not critically important, should I really be involved?
Rather, staying focused on how to position the company for growth in the future business environment may be much more important for long-term success. But if the building is literally on fire, that problem is both urgent and important.
Of course, the real issue in any position is to be much more proactive and focused. But how do you get started?
■ Hire great people and push the decisions down the organization to the right players.
■ Don’t reward “firefighting” if the fire should have been prevented in the first place. Instead reward your proactive staff members.
■ Refuse to be dragged into the drama of the day, unless it is truly necessary.
■ Use technology to get alerts and real-time dashboards where it is fast to dig down into facts.
■ Prioritize time to work on important issues. Select the peak time of performance during the day – or simply spend the first 1-2 hours each day on these issues, before getting pulled in to day-to-day issues.
■ Spend conscious time prioritizing every day. I personally do it in the morning shower, simply asking myself to define the most important issues I can focus on that day. ●
Hannah Kain is founder, president and CEO at ALOM
