Page 144 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

Autonomy or not Autonomy? that Is the Question � 123

` settIng expeCtAtIons

Riddle: What is 250, 100, and 150? Answer: The number of e-mails
John gets a day (250); the number of those which are for information
only or spam (about 100); and the number of which actually make
John do something (about 150). Imagine 150 requests that need a re-
sponse each day. Each one pulling at your attention. Each new one dis-
tracting you from excellently completing the one on which you had
been focused. Each perhaps spawning several other actions.
Now manage that e-mail load while taking your laptop out and
shoes off while going through the Transportation Security Adminis-
tration (TSA) line at the airport; or while you are taking the taxi to
your next appointment; or when you finally hit the hay in a hotel that
has only intermittent Internet service. As with a paintball fight, these
time-sappers are coming at you from all directions—from clients, em-
ployees, your boss, and, yes, maybe you even get a couple green (envy)
or red (angry) or blue (sad) ones from your family each day. Splat,
splat, splat, splat . . . thud! Pretty soon, if you’re not careful, you are
deluged and drowning.
It turns out that setting expectations makes all the difference; those
expectations will be different for different people. John lets his em-
ployees know his priorities and what he needs, and doesn’t need, from
them. In a very busy week with many priorities, he will tell his em-
ployees where they stand in that list. His expectation will be that when
they send him something they will tell him what he needs to do with it
and when he needs to do it by so he can prioritize his time. He doesn’t
expect employees to send little acknowledgement notes, because that
increases his workload significantly. For example, every time someone
writes back and says “thank you,” he has to spend another millisec-
ond opening that e-mail. “I tell my folks I have a presumption, having
a Southern upbringing, that you are a very polite person,” he says. “I
know you’re appreciative. I know you’re dutiful. You don’t need to send
an email that says only ‘thank you’. Likewise, I believe that if I ask a
member of my team to do something they will do it. I don’t need them