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The "working" manager... I think this subject has not been raised enough.
After some experience in O3 I now find myself with [b]more time for "other things than management"[/b].
It was a big investment in the begining to organize my schedule around O3. It also made me realise that I had too many directs and I decided to change the organisation charts a little bit.
Now the rythm is taken. I get very little interruptions from my directs during the week because they know they will get their O3 next monday afternoon. They also did the same with their directs so they experience the same. And, yes the form of the O3 is not always ideal, the duration is sometimes more than 1/2 hours ... But it finally works : performances of the company are raising everyday, with people taking more resposibilities.
My only scheduled time in the office is Monday. This is the day when I have my team meeting and my O3s. The rest of the time CAN be out of the company, visiting suppliers and customers, or ... any activity.
Has anyone experienced the same?[b][i][/i][/b]
Do O3s help you "concentrate" your management time
I would have to agree that many of the experiences you outline are similar to mine -- Interrupts are down, delegation higher, and in general schedules/tasks/projects seem to be running smoother.
It is a huge investment ... all day on Thursday for me is taken up with 1on1s but I would never go back. It would be just darn ineffective.
Steve
Do O3s help you "concentrate" your management time
It seems to prove that the O3 is the really best tool to reduce what is the worst source of waste and dysfonctions in the execution : bad communication.
It is proven that very often the execution is lousy, not because of lack of skill, but because of lack of communication.
Do O3s help you "concentrate" your management time
cedric - great observation
"Bad" communication: maybe. In my experience, it's the [i]undisciplined [/i]communications that O3's have really curtailed...
[i]"It's been a while since I since I checked in with Jean, and I really don't want to buckle down and start this project, so maybe I'll stick my head in her office and ask: 'Hey Jean, how's it going?'"[/i]
That was me - guilty as charged.
-Hugh
Do O3s help you "concentrate" your management time
I also find that I'm ahead of issues. In the past, I might not check in with someone because another project is "on fire" and theirs is not. The O3 now gives me early insight, and that first project never ends up "on fire" because issues are addressed early.
At the risk of using a cliche: they're proactive rather than reactive.
John
Re: Do O3s help you "concentrate" your management
[quote="cedwat"] I get very little interruptions from my directs during the week because they know they will get their O3 next monday afternoon. [/quote]
Cedwat,
I had a circumstance today where I almost "poked my head" in my manager's door to ask her a question...but, as I headed down the hall to her office I thought, "this situation is important, but not urgent. It can wait until my O3 with her."
Had I "dropped" by I could have disrupted her from something important and urgent that she was working on. Knowing my manager she would have made the time for me, but I know it would lowered her estimation of me.
O3s are a great tool for structured communication--I believe someone earlier said it reduces undisciplined communication. How true!
I am the same way as my manager. I always make time for my directs even though it goes against my natural inclinations. I am still getting a handle on O3s myself but over time hopefully my directs will learn what I have learned with my manager.