Welcome ToA Short Program on

Productivity and Time Management

Northeast UtilitiesJanuary 29, 2013

Bill Jawitz

A Little Help Please?

Post-Merger Context• Reduced resources• Multiple IT platforms• New people (colleagues &

clients)• Shifting culture• Natural resistance to change

Response to Change

Shock

Anger

Depression

Reconstruction

Upward Turn

Acceptance & Hope

So perhaps . . .

• To support each other even more

• To practice even more refined decision making

• To focus even more on best practices

• To grow your skill sets

Materials• TM Self-Assessment• Top Time Wasters• Daily Planning Checklist• Task Time Estimate Log• Best email practices• Time Management Tips

Handouts

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The 8 Elements1. Plan Effectively2. Capture & Review Tasks3. Prioritize & Schedule Time4. Delegate & Supervise5. Organize Your Info & Space6. Optimize Procedures & Systems (email)7. Manage Expectations & Boundaries8. Know and Grow Self & Others

Three Truths about TM• It’s a misnomer

Self and others• Always more to do than time

available Choice management

• If you don’t control how you spend your time, events and other people will

Span of Control

• What can you control?• What can you influence?• What is truly beyond your

control/influence?

Productivity Defined

1. Rate of output relative to labor and materials

2. The quality of something that causes or assists healthy growth

The 80/20 Rule

20% Input 80% Output

Smooth Processes Legal workflow –File opening / closing –Research–Doc creation & mgmt.–Discovery; dockets–Outside counsel mgmt.

Process Schematic

Wheels & Checklists

Daily & Weekly Planning• Self-Assessment – How well

do you plan?• Daily and weekly planning is

THE first and most important discipline

• 15 minutes each morning• 30-45 each Monday

Daily Planning

Do first thingHandout

Review your scheduleReview your to-do’sScan next few daysAdjust as neededSelect to-do’sDetermine whitespaceEstimate to-do timeBlock in time

Daily Planning

Types of Tasks to BlockDaily and/or weekly:• Production (client work)• Communication (initiating or

responding)• Admin (time recording)• Client development

Time -Task EstimatesHandout

• Check whitespace• Determine scope• Pause to reflect• Add 33%• Track for one week

Planning Benefits• Makes you proactive, less

reactive• Puts anchors in your day• Reduces interruptions• Minimizes multitasking

Myth of MultitaskingA B C D E F G . . . . Z1 2 3 4 5 6 7 . . . . 26

A B C2

E GD F1 5 63 4 7

Cost of Interruptions

151116582541,250

687 hrs

687 / 248

2.7 hrs a dayStress: higher risk of mistake,

increased rework, longer hours, more frustration

Types of Interruptions

•Good Interruptions (when you do it)•Bad Interruptions (when someone else does it to you)

Minimize Alerts

• Try it for an hour a day• Search YouTube to learn how

DND Your PhoneEven for 30 minutes a few times a day

Prioritizing• Pick 2-3 must-do’s per day

during planning time• Establish precise, incremental

objectives • Build in Buffer blocks • Reassess every 90 minutes

and adjust

PrioritizingMake criteria explicit• Contributes unique value• Will build capacity• External deadlines• Speed to completion• Removal of impediment

Urgent &/or Important

Urgent but

Not Important

Importantbut

Not Urgent

Not Important and

Not Urgent

Urgent and

Important

Managing 360

Across, up & down• Your clients, colleagues, and

outside counsel• Your boss(es)• Your support team

EducationWhat do you need from people so you can serve them most effectively?• More specificity?• Less micro-managing?• More lead time?• Better prep?

Education• Everyone’s favorite station: WIIFM• Share how their cooperation will get them more of what they want

The Effective NO

The Roots & Fruits of NO

YES?

YES!

NO

What to Say No to• Coordinating or doubling up

on meetings• Initial or low-level research• Non-legal work• What else?

How to Say No• Acknowledge request first• “That’s not something we’re

able to accommodate”• “I’ll be able to get to that in

__ days/weeks”• ???

Enforce Boundaries

“A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

Control Phone TimeEstablish timeframe at the front end of each interaction

39

Personality Styles

• Drive• Influence• Steadiness• Compliance

DISC Style Indicator

Email Overload

• Multiple inboxes with rules• Batch email response time• Educate others

Handout

Time Spent on Email

2485012,400224,800

41.3 ten-hour days per year413

hrs

42

Get Control of Email

43

Categories:•Action Needed• Information•Request•Confirmed•Delivery

ACTION NEEDED: Schedule Jones deposition for next weekDELIVERED: Baker summary judgment motion for your review

Subject Line Prefix

44

EOM (End of message)

NRN (No reply/thanks needed)

Subject Line Suffix

45

• Change subject line instead of re-using an old email

• Don’t perpetuate bad subject lines

Subject Line As Message

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Concise and focused• 1 subject per message• 1 thought per paragraph• Main points, attachments and action

request at top• Use bullets• Short sentences• No jargon

Effective Content

Recap• Transition Opportunity• Productivity = making things

healthier• You can control & influence• The planning imperative• Prioritizing consciously• Expectations and boundaries• Use good email practices

Five Frogs Were Sitting. . .

Wish Want Intend Commit Act Persevere Achieve

1

109

87

65

43

218 30

2019

17

1615

1413

125911

4629 45

4447

2827

2625

24

31

23

22

34

32

21

33

42

43

41

4039

38373635

58575655

5453

5251

5049

48

60

1

109

87

65

43

2

1211

1

109

87

65

43

218 30

2019

17

1615

1413

125911

4629 45

4447

2827

2625

24

31

23

22

34

32

21

33

42

43

41

4039

38373635

58575655

5453

5251

5049

48

60

Your Action Plan1. Take the time management

and time wasters assessments

2. Pick 1 or 2 issues to address or techniques to practice starting Monday

Thanks!

Questions?

Comments?