Have You Got a Minute?



Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Have You Got a Minute? article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Such an innocuous little phrase, yet when you are hard at work, really focused and engrossed in what you are doing this seemingly harmless request can be a nightmare distraction.

“The average American has 50 interruptions a day, of which 70% have nothing to do with work” W. Edwards Deming

Interruptions are on of the main time stealers that get in the way of productivity. Whether it is phone, email or person generated, have you got a minute? can really break your concentration, affect your mood and make you feel irritated and frustrated.

Have you got a minute can so easily turn into 5, 15 or even 30 minutes and suddenly your day is behind schedule but, remember you let it happen. However, the good news is that it is within your control to do something about it. You can stop or at least manage these situations
Here are my top 5 tips for managing interruptions

1.If you work in your own office – close the door and put a notice on the outside saying please do not disturb until 2.30pm (or whatever time you will be finished doing what you are doing)
2.If you work in an open plan office, put a note on your desk or on top of your PC saying I need to concentrate, please do not disturb , then take it down when you are finished
3.If you need to have uninterrupted time each day, switch off your phone, close down your email and let your colleagues, boss and team know that for example, you do not want to be interrupted, plan meetings, chat etc every day between 8.30 and 9am
4.In response to the Have you got a minute? You can say
a.No
b.Not at the moment but if you come back in 30 minute I will have
c.I have a maximum of 5 minutes. What specifically do you want to speak to me about and is 5 minutes enough? If so go ahead. If not, suggest a more convenient time
d.Tell me what you specifically want to talk to me about and then I’ll tell you whether now is a good time to discuss it
5.Educate your colleagues, team, boss to do all of the above and respect their wishes too. This helps create good habits all round


Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81



More Articles:


1. Make The Elephant Jump -- Leading With A Kind Heart
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required. E-mail to: brent@actionleadership.comWord count: 567Summary: A leader who wants to consistently motivate people to meet tough challenges and achieve extraordinary results must have a kind heart.Make The Elephant Jum…

2. How to Make a Fortune in the Stock Market >> Stock Market Education ... Using Day Trading Systems
How to Make a Fortune in the Stock Market >> Stock Market Education ... Using Day Trading Systems .- BY http://www.MomentumStockTrading.com Profitable day traders and investors recognize that knowing how to pick and trade stocks with momentum is among the fastest and most effective ways to harvest BIG piles of cash in the stock market. The problem is that if you don't know which stocks to look for and how to approach them while limiting your risk, you won't even get close to making some …

3. Online Business Peace of Mind By Phil Jones
Is your online business disaster-proof? Online businesses face a unique set of challenges. Unlike our offline counterparts, we must worry about hackers, credit-card fraud, loss of data, virus attacks, websites going down and more.The good news? You can fix most of these problems in under ten minutes each!The freedom of owning your own business comes with a price. That price often means taking care of the 'little things' that were provided us in our 'employee' days.One challenge we face is bein…

4. Come Home Rich - How to Get the Most out of Your Next Conference
Success in your career depends upon how well you manage your professional development. A prime source of this development comes from being a member of a professional association that relates to your career. As a member, you can attend conferences where you advance your skills and meet people who can help you.Some people, however, treat conferences as a paid vacation. They party, they skip sessions, and they return home with little more than a stack of receipts. That costs them (or their business…