Everyone encounters them. Many do it seamlessly. Others have no idea that they encourage it. The 5 minute meetings KILL productivity within your business day. So what is a 5 Minute Meeting? The answer is: anything work related or non-work related that deviates your time away from the task at hand. Basically the need to reallocate your scheduled and accounted for time that is not intended or included within your daily plan.
The truth of the matter is very few have any idea that the typical “Do you have a minute?” type meetings, can quickly turn into 5, 10, 15 minutes of conversation that is a productivity standstill. How many times do you fall into this office trap as a criminal or a victim?
According to a 2005 Salary.com article 2.09 hours are wasted each day at work by the average employee. Of that, 2.09 hours 23.4% of that time is coworkers socializing. Essentially 49 minutes a day is never to be seen of again. What could you do with an additional 49 minutes daily?
Think about it three “5 minute meetings” throughout the day to chat around the water cooler about last night’s Survivor episode, Jersey Housewives, or your Fantasy Football lineup. Let’s take a look at the big picture: Let’s say the typical “5 Minute Meeting” lasts on average 15 minutes. Therefore, 45 minutes per day equals 3 hours and 45 minutes gone FOREVER every week. This equates to 195 hours or a little more than 8 days every year. Try multiplying 8 days by
So…how do you counteract this and maneuver around these not-so insignificant pitfalls?
1) Realize you’re doing it! Once you realize you are doing it, you can take a conscious approach to counteract this. Especially if you’re conversing with a fellow employee and consuming their time.
2) If you get roped into this, ask (respectfully) ask to have the person email you so that you can add it to your task list. That is of course only if it’s work related. If it isn’t a work related matter, the person looking to chat will probably figure to not email you.
3) Don’t try and avoid the typical culprits, but set precedence when interacting with them. Try to not approach them without having a legitimate and scheduled work related matter.
4) Above all, if you’re looking to help yourself manage a more effective workday, try working through lulls in your day where you would otherwise be wasting your (and potentially someone else’s) time chatting about golf scores, next happy hour, or that small prison sentence you sustained in Tijuana.
Happy Selling and better yet: Happy Time Management!
-SalesBoogie
