mindgraffiti

A discovered caveat to laissez-faire style managing: our white board projects have fallen by the wayside. Freedom can be a hard responsibility. In an effort to balance the site updates with projects that can have a real impact on what we do every day, I am attempting an experiment.

As of Wednesday, January 2, my days are split between B-List responsibilities - web site updates done by hand, and A-List activities - projects and ideas written on the white board, but never acted upon. B-List work happens between 8 a.m. and 12 noon. A-List items are from after lunch until I head home (12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the shortest).

I can’t remember where I read it, but I recall a recommendation that you spend as much time as possible on the A-List items, then work on the B-List items, then the C-List items if there is time left over. I know from experience that 4 hour blocks of time hone my concentration on any one task without burning out or becoming bored with it.

The A-List items here are written on our white board. They are the ideas that could radically change our work flow or change what services we offer our clients. For over a year they have sat, withering on the vine. We have not released a new feature or better service for our customers since November 2006. Hopefully this altered schedule will help.

The B-List items are imperative tasks, that if I don’t finish, I will get in trouble for it. They steal 80% of any given day. Yet, the A-List items are working towards big improvements for the future. How can we ever get ahead if they do not become a priority too? I am testing out this schedule for one month (or until my B-List piles so high I do get into trouble!) to see how effective I can be. Change is good. Project managing, however, is very, very hard.
It’s the beginning of a new year. Are we still capable of doing the impossible? I have to know. I am going to find out. The first A-List task: research the technical aspects and answer my boss’s questions about our team’s chosen CMS.