Time stealers/wasters
Category: HRM
A Time Stealer/Waster is an obstacle that gets in the way of achieving the job objective and does not contribute anything positive. See list below:
| Lengthy discussions (on phone or otherwise) | Telephone calls |
| Drop in visitors who will not go | Excessive socialising |
| Having a — “my door is always open”- policy | Leader losing control |
| Repeating oneself in conversations | Doing too much reading |
| Other people rambling on in conversations | Data addiction |
| Indecision by leader | Fear of small mistakes |
| Making decisions but not implementing them | Travelling |
| Irrational decision making techniques | Recurrent crises |
| Would rather be “doing” than “thinking” | Doing pointless tasks |
| Postponing the unpleasant or difficult | Paper shuffling |
| Doing other people’s jobs for them | Forgetting to do things |
| Doing too much at the same time | Always looking for mistakes |
| Spending a long time looking for information | Cannot get jobs finished |
| Not having the necessary information available | Lack of concentration |
| Other people failing to keep you informed | Perfectionism in all tasks |
Time stealer/waster action sheet
1- Join with a colleague and tackle the following task list. Spend approximately half the time on your own list and then spend the rest of the time on your colleague’s list.
2- From the list of “time stealers/wasters” identify a minimum of three which are a major problem for you.
3- Ask yourself why this is the case. Try to be as specific as you can. What do other people do that contributes to the problem? What can you do?
4- Try and identify as clearly as possible the consequences of the problem. For you? For others?
5- Now identify what you need to do to solve the problem? What others should do? Develop an action plan.
6- Talk through the above with your colleague who should give you feedback and ask questions which help to clarify your thoughts. Make any necessary amendments. Repeat the process for your partner.