How long can you spend on this?

Line up for a little time management

With Ann Humphries ETICON

(CNN) -- You all but kill yourself to get there. Behind you, lampposts lie in the street, traffic signs are down, pedestrians are calling for oxygen, traffic is in turmoil.

You run all the way from the car, deck three colleagues on the way and stagger --- into line. Maybe you're waiting for the elevator. Maybe for your replacement company ID. Maybe for lunch. Maybe by the time you get to the front of the line, it's dinner.

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	How big an impact does time have on your career? Major. I don't have time to answer this. Varies. Sometimes I'm slammed, sometimes slack. Almost none. I'm not in a deadline-driven career. View Results

CNN: We asked Ann Humphries of ETICON just what's going on these days with time in business. We all seem so aware of it, so short of it, so oppressed by it -- so in fear of losing it, misusing it, running out of it ... OK, we're wasting too much time. Ann?

Ann Humphries: This is a complex subject. In the United States and other Western cultures, time has become a currency for us. The measure by which we conduct our lives. Other cultures look at us and wonder why we're so compulsive about time.

Here, in fact, you honor people by honoring their time. We know companies, in fact, that have made their reputations and success on the issue of time -- FedEx is one, of course. Speed sells in our culture.

•   But let's step back and look at people's experience of "us" -- of our company, your company, in terms of time. We all like to say we honor our clients' time but then we put you on hold for 15 minutes. With some companies, you can get better treatment than that by paying more -- being a $60 subscriber to something, rather than a $25 subscriber; being a $100,000 investor instead of a smaller investor at your online brokerage.

One of the things you need to do, from the company standpoint, is recognize peak busy times and see if you can frame the wait that's going to occur as an advantage. Maybe you're a food-service company and you know everybody wants deliveries made just before lunchtime. How can you "add value" to the inevitable wait? More lettuce? Think about it.

Think about departure gates with the Airport Network in them (like CNN, an AOL Time Warner company). Or maybe you've heard of the man who moved around O'Hare in Chicago during the holidays, singing and lightening people's moods as the unavoidable travel crunch set in.

One thing banks -- and Disney -- have learned is that the "just" and most efficient way to make people line up is with the single-line format. Instead of watching someone in the next line get up front faster, everybody snakes around in the same line, the front person being always the next one up.

•   Now, in your own work -- as opposed to the company's stance -- be aware that one of the most important things you can do is return phone calls, e-mail and regular-mail messages quickly. Give people 24 hours to get back to you, though, before pressuring them.

And if you're going into a situation you know very well may be tight time-wise, let them know you're running short. You can ask a waiter at your table, "Can I get in and out in 20 minutes?"

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This is part of being realistic. Sometimes we just cram too much into too small a time-space. Traffic. I hate it. But we have to allow time for traffic. Waits in the doctor's office or post office. Take something along to do while you wait. Allow more time at lunch hours, you'll need to wait longer to be seated and served. Have realistic expectations.

Meetings -- we've talked here about this before. If there's to be a delay in starting a meeting, tell your people that. And they'll wait for something when they perceive it to be of high value. If you're going to have to leave a meeting early, alert the leader beforehand.

You may sometimes have to interrupt long-winded people. Know when you're talking too much -- get to the point, get your business done. Same when you get on the phone to do business: Have your account number ready, your data, whatever you'll be asked for. And if that loud soul is still yammering on, just say,"This is really interesting but I do have to finish this report by such-and-such a time."

Except for when you visit a personal home, you somehow build credibility for yourself when you arrive early. Being set and ready to go before the rest of the crowd builds credibility.

Another place time matters: Thank-you notes. Send them quickly. The faster they arrive, the more impact they have.

So that's it: Honor your commitments and be aware of people's time. Try not to promise to take on more than you can handle -- don't overcommit and underdeliver. You'll stay on time better.

Ann Humphries and ETICON have a special health care seminar planned, "Through the Patients' Eyes: Creating a Culture of Service for Health Care Providers." It's set for March 28 in Columbia, South Carolina, and sponsored by Palmetto Health Alliance/Physician Services in Palmetto Baptist Auditorium. Two sessions will be offered, one from 8:30 a.m. to noon and the second from 1 p.m. to 4:30. Tuition is $59 per person. Topics to be covered: what rudeness costs health care; how to manage all the impressions you make; "a way with words;" and "one moment, please" telephone skills. For registration information, call Linda Silver at 803-296-5769.

Ann Humphries, founder and president of ETICON, Inc. and a Certified Professional Consultant to Management, includes several Fortune 500 companies among her clients. She's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Money, and on CNN, CBS and Lifetime TV. You can contact her at www.eticon.com.

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March 1, 2001
Medical manners: The cure is killing you
February 22, 2001
You want service? Take a number
February 15, 2001
Road etiquette: Careerists at large
February 8, 2001
Colleagues and cultures: Mark your calendar
February 2, 2001
Listen to your co-workers
January 25, 2001
When bad things happen to co-workers
January 18, 2001
Surviving the sickouts, and managing your cold
January 11, 2001
Write your thank-you notes
January 4, 2001
Working your way into the real millennium: Out with the old
December 28, 2000
Charitable solicitations at work: 'I gave at the office' -- and gave and gave
December 21, 2000
Gift exchanges in the workplace: The business of gifts
December 14, 2000
What not to do at the business party: Survive it with your career intact
December 7, 2000
What to do at the business party: Working the room
December 1, 2000
How to handle the business RSVP
November 23, 2000
Cellular phones in the workplace: We've got your number
November 6, 2000

ETICON, Inc.

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