Working Woes ......

Another characteristic common among effective men and women in management is their focus on service and contribution. They understand that they are where they are to make something happen. Thus, they focus heavily on the 'KRAs' - the Key Results Areas.

Effective managers understand The Pareto Principle or the often called 80-20 rule. Pareto noted that work is of two sorts; which he called the 'trivial many tasks' and the 'vital few tasks'.

The trivial many tasks are all the routine things you must do; the relatively unimportant things that you must do. About 80 percent of your time - the vast majority of it - is spent on the trivial many.

What time is left - about 20 percent, or one day in five is devoted to the vital few - the truly essential tasks, or the key results areas.

Effective managers are not going to tolerate a situation in which they must spend almost all their time doing busywork and for the most part ignore the key results areas. What do they do about it?

First of all, they delegate.

What should be delegated?

Many tasks that should fall under the category of the trivial many. Managers are the strongest member of the your team. Your time must be freed up. Give away work! You are after results.

Effective managers, before they pick up any new piece of work, before they take any action, always ask themselves: is this worth my time? Is this something that is going to improve the profitability of my organisation? Is this going to contribute to a better way of doing things? If the answer to those questions is 'no' - the effective manager will not do it.

Remember that success in management does not come in cleaning out your inbox every day. It comes from achieveing results. Thus, effective managers understands this concept and keeps it clearly in mind.

For effective managers to stay contribution focused, they always ask themselves, Why am I here? What really is the purpose of my job in this organisation? What does the customers need? What do the people I am here to serve require? How can I create customer satisfaction? How can I provide to my customers something better than I am giving now?

After answering those questions effective managers move ahead, making the necessary changes and bringing about the desired outcome.