Time Management
Probably the most talked about topic... about 1,650,000,000 entries on google, but probably the least understood...
Yesterday I happened to be at a function comprising of an orchestra, a comedy show and followed by dinner. The show was scheduled to start at 7:00 PM which actually started after 7:30 PM. The comedy show was scheduled towards the end of the orchestra, which got slipped in during the interval for the orchestra. The comedy show took almost an hour and thus the rest of the songs in the orchestra had to be re-scheduled post-dinner. Many of us who had attended the function only for the orchestra had to sacrifice half the show or had to wait till late nights.
It has become a customery at least in Indian culture not to honor others' time. Surprisingly we find proud in saying IST means Indian Stretchable Time. We have lost, or should I say we never had, a sense of understanding value of time? It has remained only in the management jargons and not really understood or followed by many of us.
There are couple of aspects for this. For a function like the one mentioned above, where around 500+ people were expected, that too on a working day it's hard to have all 500+ people present at the scheduled time. Moreover, it wasn't a paid show. So people took it casually and reached the venue as per their convinience. What was important was to start the show at the slated time. If everybody knows that the programme would start at exactly at the said timing, people who are really interested would make it a point to reach on time. Others who loose the contents would be on time from next time onwards.
(At the same time I can see that performing in front of only 15-20 heads will not be a good experience for the singers and other performers, but... catch22?)
Forget about these social events. People are lax in their professional life as well. Even if it's a small meeting, 7-8 person, I can see people either forget about the meeting, or find it "prestigious" to come late for the meetings. Probably they want to show how much busy they are, as if all others are sitting idle. In this modern world where we have access to all sophisticated tools for time management, why don't they use those tools? A simple meeting planner provided my MS outlook would help you plan your meetings and remind you before the meetings. One just needs to have a willingness to do the needful.
These defaulters need to understand that even others have their priorities. A delay in one meeting might upset someone else's whole schedule. And more importantly, one of them could on the other side, waiting for some third person to join the meeting. Perhaps, then only they will understand the loss. It should become a habit to be on time, at least in your professional world, where each minute is important. Failing to do so, you might be wasting thousands of rupees from either your company or from someone else's pocket. But ultimately it IS a waste.
I hope people would understand ...
Yesterday I happened to be at a function comprising of an orchestra, a comedy show and followed by dinner. The show was scheduled to start at 7:00 PM which actually started after 7:30 PM. The comedy show was scheduled towards the end of the orchestra, which got slipped in during the interval for the orchestra. The comedy show took almost an hour and thus the rest of the songs in the orchestra had to be re-scheduled post-dinner. Many of us who had attended the function only for the orchestra had to sacrifice half the show or had to wait till late nights.
It has become a customery at least in Indian culture not to honor others' time. Surprisingly we find proud in saying IST means Indian Stretchable Time. We have lost, or should I say we never had, a sense of understanding value of time? It has remained only in the management jargons and not really understood or followed by many of us.
There are couple of aspects for this. For a function like the one mentioned above, where around 500+ people were expected, that too on a working day it's hard to have all 500+ people present at the scheduled time. Moreover, it wasn't a paid show. So people took it casually and reached the venue as per their convinience. What was important was to start the show at the slated time. If everybody knows that the programme would start at exactly at the said timing, people who are really interested would make it a point to reach on time. Others who loose the contents would be on time from next time onwards.
(At the same time I can see that performing in front of only 15-20 heads will not be a good experience for the singers and other performers, but... catch22?)
Forget about these social events. People are lax in their professional life as well. Even if it's a small meeting, 7-8 person, I can see people either forget about the meeting, or find it "prestigious" to come late for the meetings. Probably they want to show how much busy they are, as if all others are sitting idle. In this modern world where we have access to all sophisticated tools for time management, why don't they use those tools? A simple meeting planner provided my MS outlook would help you plan your meetings and remind you before the meetings. One just needs to have a willingness to do the needful.
These defaulters need to understand that even others have their priorities. A delay in one meeting might upset someone else's whole schedule. And more importantly, one of them could on the other side, waiting for some third person to join the meeting. Perhaps, then only they will understand the loss. It should become a habit to be on time, at least in your professional world, where each minute is important. Failing to do so, you might be wasting thousands of rupees from either your company or from someone else's pocket. But ultimately it IS a waste.
I hope people would understand ...
Comments
The thing about being punctual is, there is no one to appreciate!