Other People’s Money, OPM, is the often maligned method to fund a small business. But to Get Things Done a leader must not only manage the money — the budget, but get things done through people: management.
What is the First Rule In Management?
The good manager does not manage his time. He does not really manage his people.
He manages Other Peoples’ Time.
Nothing should sit on your desk
And Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling will follow.
Keep the ball rolling.
No paper should rest on your desk
The manager manages other peoples’ time — as well as other company assets — talent and treasure.
I would submit that managers worry less about managing their own time; their own “to do lists” and focus on the subordinate’s time.
So where does OPT-in start?
The Manager’s Desk.
Piles of paper are decisions not made. You, Gentle Small Business Manager, run your small business with your experience, wisdom and judgment. Start with your workspace.
Think of your desk as a pyramid with the apex pointing up. Paper does not rest on your desk.
Paper is never allowed in horizontal file piles.
Whenever a memo or an email attachment comes to you, it will slide off — back to whoever carried it in. It will have your signature on it, an action to be taken (by someone else), filed or destroyed (by someone else). You will not let it rest on your desk — even as you think about.
Do, Delegate or Destroy. Don’t put that memo on the corner of your desk.
However, Bill Allison at the Amazing Time Management Secrets offers caution on a clean desk:
A cluttered desk (or a house with toys strewn all over) is not necessarily a sign that a person is a poor manager of time. It could be a sign of a person who understands the difference between doing things right and doing the right things.
Are you spending your short life doing things right or are you doing the right things for this season of your life?
There’s a tension either way. Which tension are you currently choosing?
Paper should breeze off your desk
I would submit that the small business owner manage with a clean desk. An empty inbox. Not Paper; not electronic.
Your Business Blogger recommends the Biblical reminder that, Today has enough trouble of its own. Do not carry today’s worries — today’s paper — on your work space for tomorrow.
This should be a professional trend with small business owners: Do not let the sun set on a piece of paper on your desk. Or an email in your inbox.
