We’re probably more in love with being productive than ever. Most every article online is about being more productive. Today, I want to reflect on the vicious cycle of clearing an inbox just a little too quickly, or sending something off to someone else a little too quickly.
One of the most common tips you read is to clear your inboxes efficiently and thus delegate quickly. This hunt for clearing out ones inbox as quickly as possible however comes at the expense of overall efficiency when delegating comes just a matter of shifting the problem quickly around.
See, done properly delegation is wonderful. Done poorly however it’s just an excuse for asking someone something that you could have easily found out yourself. This comes at the expense of everyone’s time.
When you force the problem onto someone else, even if it is simple, you need them to shift focus, look into it, become familiar with it and then get back with a reply. If this is something that you could have found out by doing a couple of minutes of research yourself, then this is nothing good.
I get the feeling that we today are a little too quick in dropping a problem into someone else’s lap without spending even just a few moments thinking about the bigger picture and familiarizing ourselves with it.
To me, this is a big problem and something to shy away from. I’m far from perfect myself, but I try and make it a habit to think something through twice before sending it off to someone else. It benefits all of us in the long run.
