At a management meeting, the Chairperson remarked that a certain officer was averse to colleagues visiting them without utilizing the alternative non physical engagements first.

A number of people in the room gestured their agreement with the Chairperson amidst some laughter!

In keeping with the humour, the concerned officer quickly agreed with the statement as factual but also indicated that it was all in the interest of properly managing the available time ( in its scarcity) and dedication to tasks at hand. It was submitted that sometimes, the officer would be caught in a moment where they were trying to mentally process a very delicate issue and it required their total attention. A break in that chain would perhaps send them back to square one and they would have lost valuable time. The concerned officer also drew a clear distinction between the different engagements and highlighted those that were routinely done physically and not necessarily by appointment as walkthroughs which colleagues were already mentally conditioned to expect, as incidences that were not under the cover of scheduled engagements.

The point I am trying to make here has ethical, efficacious and efficiency connotations.

From an ethical perspective, I again raise the issue of respect for others and their work as we perform our duties. Once we understand that our colleagues may not necessarily be available just because we are, we will naturally want to find mutual ground with them so that there is comfort on both sides. With ICTs, there are now modes of communication that have the same or similar effect as a physical visit but do not invade one party’s space to their detriment.

In terms of efficiency and effectiveness, sometimes a colleague who may have been invaded would behave in such a way as to first finish what they were doing before the invasion while the invader waits. There is little or no value added to an act of waiting in someone else’s space without a plan, so to speak. One could have spent that time more constructively, if only they had made that call to “schedule” a mutually convenient time… or even sent the proverbial email!

Being effective is a critical ingredient for success in most endeavours in an organization. One of the ways to achieve this is to simply cut out time wasting activities and focus on those that produce results. I heard somewhere that the difference between a workaholic and a peak performer is that the latter is result oriented whereas the former is more interested in the act of appearing “busy” even if it achieves nothing.

I reiterate my disclaimer that I am in no way suggesting that emergency and crisis management do not exist. My views in this article presume an “all things being equal” situation and offer the general solutions rather than the exception.

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