WEBVTT - Watch for bottlenecks

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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 watch for bottlenecks when you are planning

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<v Speaker 1>out anything major that involves multiple people. Make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>everyone knows when other people are going to be depending

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<v Speaker 1>on them to do something. This doesn't solve the problem

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<v Speaker 1>of hold ups entirely, but it does lessen it, and

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<v Speaker 1>that is a wonderful thing in its own right. I

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<v Speaker 1>am sure everyone listening to this has been part of

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<v Speaker 1>projects that got stalled or delayed because of something small.

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<v Speaker 1>Because someone hasn't done a five minute task, other people

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<v Speaker 1>can't start on their ten hour tasks, and so time

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<v Speaker 1>keeps passing and getting wasted. This can be incredibly frustrating

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<v Speaker 1>if you are a more junior person waiting on one

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<v Speaker 1>small thing from a senior person who can't seem to

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<v Speaker 1>make it a priority. It is also frustrating if you

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<v Speaker 1>are a highly organized person waiting for something from a

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<v Speaker 1>team member whose strengths seem to lie in other places.

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<v Speaker 1>I will go ahead here and state my belief that

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<v Speaker 1>the vast majority of people do not actively seek to

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<v Speaker 1>be bottlenecks. Maybe one person in a thousand gets some

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<v Speaker 1>thrill from it, but in most cases it happens because

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<v Speaker 1>people do not know that future tasks are dependent on

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<v Speaker 1>their task, or they really haven't thought it through. Latter

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<v Speaker 1>case stems more from understandable issues than malice. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>someone might think it is perfectly fine to respond to

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<v Speaker 1>an email that came in around five pm the next morning,

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<v Speaker 1>and in many cases it absolutely is, but not if

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<v Speaker 1>a key team member waiting for a response is currently

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<v Speaker 1>at a conference in Australia, and this now means missing

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<v Speaker 1>the entire next business day over there. If you run

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<v Speaker 1>any sort of big project, you know that you need

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<v Speaker 1>to map out the steps, but as you do, pay

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<v Speaker 1>particular attention to where things get handed over or anything

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<v Speaker 1>where future steps are entirely dependent on one task being done.

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<v Speaker 1>Whenever you see those, note them. And then this is

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<v Speaker 1>key make sure the people who surround that potential bottleneck

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<v Speaker 1>know that it is there. This can be done nicely,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, John. We will need you to approve this

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<v Speaker 1>contract later this week, and we are hoping this can

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<v Speaker 1>be a quick turnaround by the end of the business day.

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<v Speaker 1>On the day that you get it, we will make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that you are included on any questions beforehand, so

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<v Speaker 1>when you get the final draft, this will hopefully be

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<v Speaker 1>a quick step or Ruth, we will need to meet

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<v Speaker 1>with you once the team has a potential presentation. We

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<v Speaker 1>are anticipating that will happen Thursday or Friday this week.

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<v Speaker 1>Can we block two spots in case they are delayed

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<v Speaker 1>or in case something comes up for you and we

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<v Speaker 1>will just hope the second spot isn't needed. You can

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<v Speaker 1>also make sure that when you or anyone else is

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<v Speaker 1>clearly handing over the baton, that the need for timeliness

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe even a deadline is mentioned. Stacy, thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for agreeing to look over this document. As you know,

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<v Speaker 1>Tom is in Europe right now, and so if you

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<v Speaker 1>can get it to him before ten am your time,

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<v Speaker 1>that means he'll be able to look at it before

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<v Speaker 1>the end of the day. For him. Advanced warning is

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<v Speaker 1>also good. We are really hoping for a two hour

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<v Speaker 1>turnaround once you have this document for approval. If we

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<v Speaker 1>don't get that, it could delay the whole project by

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<v Speaker 1>several days due to the upcoming long weekend. I can

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<v Speaker 1>give you twenty four hours notice of when it will

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<v Speaker 1>get to you, or whatever you can do along those

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<v Speaker 1>lines again, most people don't want to cause problems. When

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<v Speaker 1>senior people don't get to things that require their input,

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<v Speaker 1>it is often because there are many, many, many things

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<v Speaker 1>requiring their input. So if you are the senior person

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<v Speaker 1>and you work with a good assistant, you can have

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<v Speaker 1>the assistant be watching for bottlenecks. A head's up from

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<v Speaker 1>an assistant to look at something quickly can save you

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<v Speaker 1>the trouble of hunting for such things and also ensures

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<v Speaker 1>that things don't get delayed. Much in life winds up

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<v Speaker 1>happening later than planned. Some of this is inevitable, but

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<v Speaker 1>some really isn't. When we are on the lookout for bottlenecks,

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<v Speaker 1>we are more likely to keep there from being delays

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<v Speaker 1>for no good reason. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our times. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>before breakfast is spelled out with all the letters thanks

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<v Speaker 1>so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch

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