WEBVTT - Honor others' time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to honor people's time. If you are in

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<v Speaker 1>charge of how other people spend their time, being a

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<v Speaker 1>good steward of this resource means spending your time making

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<v Speaker 1>sure that others don't waste theirs. I read a story

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<v Speaker 1>in the Wall Street Journal recently about how some companies

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<v Speaker 1>are responding to the labor shortage by really thinking through

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<v Speaker 1>how employees spend their time. If you have got a

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<v Speaker 1>five person team on a project, and you just can't

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<v Speaker 1>hire a sixth person, making sure that the existing five

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<v Speaker 1>people aren't wasting two hours a day on meaningless work

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<v Speaker 1>is there's one way to open up the equivalent space.

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<v Speaker 1>One company simply deleted thousands of meetings from people's calendars.

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<v Speaker 1>Others streamlined apps for submitting expenses, some made it easier

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<v Speaker 1>to log in. I am glad these companies are thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about these things, but I shudder to think how long

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<v Speaker 1>those thousands of easily canceled meetings were showing up on

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<v Speaker 1>people's calendars. The companies said it freed up over three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred thousand hours by doing that, but imagine what would

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<v Speaker 1>have happened if they hadn't been wasting that time in

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<v Speaker 1>the first place. Wasting employees' time is a terrible idea.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if people do have to be there eight hours

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<v Speaker 1>a day, they can get eight hours of real work done,

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<v Speaker 1>or they can get decidedly less work done. The former

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<v Speaker 1>sounds a lot better now. Of course, I understand that

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<v Speaker 1>from a managerial perspective, this is hard. Deciding what other

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<v Speaker 1>people will do with their time is work, and it

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<v Speaker 1>often feels like thankless, unnoticed work. And yet, while you

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<v Speaker 1>want to empower people to make their own decisions, you

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<v Speaker 1>do need to give some guidance because otherwise, since people

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<v Speaker 1>want you to believe that they are working hard, they

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<v Speaker 1>will show up in meetings even if they are not

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely necessary. People want you to believe they are thorough,

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<v Speaker 1>so they do extra research on topics that you didn't

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<v Speaker 1>really care about, but you didn't communicate that fact. People

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<v Speaker 1>want you to think they are dedicated to their jobs,

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<v Speaker 1>so they respond quickly to your emails, even if you

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<v Speaker 1>would have been fine with them batching tasks so they

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<v Speaker 1>could get more done. It is challenging, but it's also

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<v Speaker 1>just a matter of spending time on this just like

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<v Speaker 1>anything else, so make time for it. If you plan

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<v Speaker 1>your own weeks on Fridays, why not take a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit of time to check in with others about their

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<v Speaker 1>goals and your expectations too. These check ins don't have

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<v Speaker 1>to be formal thirty minute meetings with calendar invites. Just

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<v Speaker 1>call or pop by the person's desk and have a

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<v Speaker 1>quick chat. Be clear about what you care about and

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<v Speaker 1>what you don't so people don't waste time on the latter.

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<v Speaker 1>Give clear instructions so people don't waste time. Figuring out

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<v Speaker 1>what you meant to the best of your ability. Help

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<v Speaker 1>people establish what a good day or a good week

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<v Speaker 1>looks like so everyone can have the satisfaction of a

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<v Speaker 1>job well done. Ask people to tell you about inefficiencies

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<v Speaker 1>or anything that seems pointless. Sometimes these things have a

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<v Speaker 1>point that you can explain, but if they don't, then

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<v Speaker 1>maybe that is something to take care of. All of

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<v Speaker 1>this goes for our personal lives too. Those of us

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<v Speaker 1>who have kids are often in charge of their time,

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<v Speaker 1>and they have even less ability to seek out other

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<v Speaker 1>places where their time is better honored than employees do.

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<v Speaker 1>Kids time is precious, so it is good to pay

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<v Speaker 1>attention to what interests them, which friends they truly like seeing,

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<v Speaker 1>and when they need space to explore. I think it

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<v Speaker 1>is also wise to avoid wasting their time when it

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<v Speaker 1>is possible not to. One of the reasons my family

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<v Speaker 1>has gotten extra driving help sometimes on weekends and afternoons

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<v Speaker 1>is so younger kids don't have to spend a beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>day stuck in the car driving bigger kids to activities.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a big responsibility to have authority over someone

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<v Speaker 1>else's time. Time is the ultimate non renewable resource, even

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<v Speaker 1>if you are paying someone for their time. Good stewardship

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<v Speaker 1>of a precious resource means not wasting time when you

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<v Speaker 1>can avoid it. So if you are in charge of

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<v Speaker 1>someone else, make sure they can feel efficient, effective, and

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<v Speaker 1>happy with their time too. It will likely help you

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<v Speaker 1>get more done, but I bet it will make life

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<v Speaker 1>more pleasant too. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's b E. The number four. Then Breakfast pod. You

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<v Speaker 1>can also shoot me an e at Before Breakfast Podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>at iHeartMedia dot com. That before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters, thanks so much. Should I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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