Stop Wasting Valuable TimeWord格式文档下载.docx

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Sep2004,Vol.82Issue9,p58,8p,1chart,2c

Companiesroutinelysquandertheirmostpreciousresource--thetimeoftheirtopexecutives.Hereareseventechniquesthatwillhelpyourmanagementteammakebetterandfasterdecisions

AFEWDAYSBEFOREAnyCo'

sbiweeklytopmanagementteammeeting,theCEO'

sassistantsendsoutane-mailaskingattendeestosubmitagendaitems.Ahodgepodgeofsuggestionscomesback.TheheadofHRwantstoupdatetheteamonanastyagediscriminationlawsuitthat'

sabouttogototrial.TheexecutivevicepresidentfortheEuropeanbusinessdivisionwantstodiscussdisturbingcompetitivetrendsinherregion.TheCIOasksforafewminutestoreviewplansforSarbanes-Oxleycompliance.ThemanagerofthelargestNorthAmericanbusinessunitneedstopresentamajorcapitalinvestmentproposalforafactoryautomationprogram.Themarketingseniorvicepresidenthastoshowsomealternativesforabigprint-advertisingcampaign.AndtheCEOhimselfwantstokickoffanefforttorevampthecompany'

sannualplanningandbudgetingprocess.

Theassistantcreatesadraftagenda,listingtheitemsintheordertheyweresubmitted,allotsabestguessofthetimeneededforeach,andrunsitbytheCEO.Hereorderstheagendaabit,puttingtheroutine,operationalitemsupfronttoensurethatthebulkofthemeetingisfocusedonstrategicissues.

Butwhenthemeetingtakesplace,hisplangoesawry.Thegrouphasalong,drawnoutdebateaboutthelookandfeeloftheadvertisingcampaign,andthediscussionofSarbanes-OxleyturnsintoagripesessionabouttheITdepartment.Theexecutivesendupwithlittletimetodevotetothedeeperbusinessissues.Theygivethefactoryautomationplanagreenlightafteracursoryexamination--totheCFO'

sgreatdiscomfort.TheyputoffconsiderationofEuropeancompetitionforafuturemeeting.AndtheyhaveanunfocusedandultimatelyinconclusivediscussionabouttheCEO'

snewplanningprocess.Whenthemeetingbreaksup--anhourlate--peopleleaveinasourandcynicalmood,complainingtothemselvesaboutanotherwasteofvaluabletime.

ThescenarioI'

vejustdescribedisplayedoutonaregularbasisatalmostanycompanyyoumightname,including,mostprobably,yourown.Foralthoughtimeismescarcestresourcemanycompany--afterall,noamountofmoneycanbuya25-hourday--thesadrealityisthatfewtopexecutiveteamsmanagetheirtimeatallwell.Aswe'

llseeinthefollowingpages,thetypicalcompany'

sseniorexecutivesspendlessthanthreedayseachmonthworkingtogetherasateam--andinthattimetheydevotelessthanthreehourstostrategicissues.Moreover,inmyexperience,thosethreehoursareseldomwellspent:

Strategydiscussionstendtobediffuseandunstructured,onlyrarelydesignedtoreachgooddecisionsquickly.

Thepriceofmisusedexecutivetimeishigh.Apartfromthefrustrationsthatindividualmanagerssuffer,delayedordistortedstrategicdecisionsleadtooverlookedwasteandhighcosts,hastilyconceivedandharmfulcostreductions,missednewproductandbusinessdevelopmentopportunities,andpoorlong-terminvestments.

ButasIwillalsoshow,drawingontheexperiencesofmyfirm'

sclients,afewdeceptivelysimplechangesinthewaytopmanagementteamssetagendasandstructuremeetingscanmakeanenormousdifferenceintheirefficiencyandeffectiveness.Andoncethemembersoftheleadershipteamgetthebasicsright,theycanmakemorefundamentalchangesinthewaytheyworktogether.Strategymakingcanbetransformedfromaseriesoffragmentedandunproductiveeventsintoastreamlined,effective,andongoingmanagementdialogue.Forcompaniesthathavedonethis,managementmeetingsaren'

tanecessaryevil;

they'

reasourceofrealcompetitiveadvantage,enablingtopexecutivestomakebetterdecisionsandtomakethemfaster.

HowValuableTimeIsSquandered

Averyrealconstraintonthefinancialperformanceofmostcompaniesistopmanagement'

scapacitytoreachgooddecisionsquickly.Bothqualityandpaceareimportant.Obviously,poordecisionsmadetooquicklywillleadtoactionsthatdestroyshareholdervalue.Butgood--evengreat--decisionsmadetooslowlycandepresscompanyperformanceaswell.Unfortunately,researchshows,fewcompaniesmanageexecutivetimeinadisciplinedorsystematicway.

Inthefallof2003,myfirm,MarakonAssociates,collaboratedwiththeEconomistIntelligenceUnittoconductasurveyoftopmanagementteammembers（theCEO,COO,CFO,businessunitpresidents,managingdirectors,andsoon）from187companiesworldwidewithmarketcapitalizationsofatleast$1billion.Wewantedtounderstandhowtheseteamsinvesttheircollectivetime.Specifically,wewantedtoknowhowmuchtimetopmanagersspendtogetherasateamand,whentheymeet,howtheysetpriorities,howtheymanagethetime,andhowsuccessfultheythinktheyareatreachingimportantdecisions.

Eventhoughthecompaniessurveyedcompeteindifferentgeographicmarketsandindisparateindustries--rangingfromtelecommunicationsequipmenttowholesalebankingtoconsumerfoods--topmanagerswereremarkablyconsistentintheirviewsofhoweffectivetheirexecutiveteammeetingsare.Ourfindingssupportwhatmanyexecutiveshavelongsuspected--namely,thattheyspendtoomuchtimediscussingissuesthathavelittleornodirectimpactoncompanyvalue.Evenworse,theirmeetingsoftenfailtoproduceboththequalityandquantityofdecisionsrequiredtodrivesuperiorperformance.Specifically,here'

swhatwediscovered.

Topmanagementteamsspendrelativelylittletimetogether.Executivesatthecompanieswesurveyedspentanaverageof21hoursamonthtogetherinleadershipteammeetings.Moreover,thetimetheyspentinanyonemeetingwasrelativelyshort,seldommorethanfourhoursatastretch--andlessinbiggercompanieswhosemanagementteamswerewidelydispersedgeographically.Giventheimportanceofthetopteam'

sdecisionstocompanyvalue,it'

sclearlyimperativethatsuchlimitedtimeisusedwisely.Sadly,thatwashardlythecase.

Agendasettingisunfocusedandundisciplined.Athalfthecompaniessurveyed,topmanagement'

sagendawaseitherexactlythesamefrommeetingtomeetingoradhoc.Infact,whenaskedhowtheysetmeetingpriorities,mostexecutivessaidtheyweredrivenbythecrisisofthemoment（"

WehaveaproductionprobleminUnitA;

therefore,thismonthwewillfocustopmanagementonUnitA"

）;

historicalprecedent（"

EveryNovember,wereviewourhumanresourcepolicies"

oregalitarianism（"

Everyoneintheroomwillgethisorherchancetospeak"

）.

Inmanycompanies,theproblemiscompoundedbythefactthatnooneisexplicitlyresponsibleformanagingtheleadershipteam'

sagenda.Sotheprocessforgettingimportantmattersinfrontoftopmanagementcanbeinefficient,evensloppy.Onefirminoursample,forexample,settopmanagement'

sagendathroughwhatitdescribedasa"

firstin,firston"

process--where（asinourhypotheticalexample）theCEO'

ssecretarysettheagendabyaddingtopicsastheywerephonedinbyexecutiveteammembers.Notsurprisingly,toomanyitemsfrequentlyendedupontheagendaand,consequently,theteamoftenranoutoftimebeforeitcouldaddresskeyitems.

Lessthan5%ofsurveyrespondentssaidtheircompanyhadarigorousanddisciplinedprocessforfocusingtopmanagement'

stimeonthemostimportantissues.Theresultsarealltoopredictable.Theurgentcrowdsouttheimportant,andmeetingsendlate,frustratingteammembers,or--worseyet--endontimewithoutreachingimportantdecisions.Ineffect,topmanagementdelegatesmanyofthecompany'

smostimportantissuestolowerlevelsintheorganization--toindividualsillequippedtodealwiththeproblems'

underlyingcomplexityandpoorlyplacedtoseethelargerramificationsoftheirdecisions.Suchdecisionsoftenconflict,asastrategychosenbyoneunitworksagainstthestrategychosenbyanother,slowingexecutionandunderminingperformance.

Toolittleattentionispaidtostrategy.It'

sprobablynotsurprising,giventheadhocwaymeetingprioritiesaresetatmostcompanies,thattopmanagementspendslessthanthreehoursamonthdiscussingstrategyissues（includingmergersandacquisitions）ormakingstrategicdecisions.Infact,ourresearchreveals,asmuchas80%oftopmanagement'

stimeisdevotedtoissuesthataccountforlessthan20%ofacompany'

slong-termvalue.Atoneglobalfinancialservicefirminoursurvey,forexample,aseniorlineexecutivereportedthattopexecutivesspentmoretimeeachyearselectingthecompany'

sholidaycardthandebatingthebank'

sstrategyfortheentirecontinentofAfrica（wheretheyhadmadesignificantcapitalinvestments）.Theyarehardlyexceptional:

Theexhibit"

WheretheTimeGoes"

givesadetailedbreakdownofhowatypicaltopmanagementteamspendsitstime.

Topmanagementmeetingsaren'

tstructuredtoproducerealdecisions.Mostleadershipteammeetings（morethan65%,accordingtoourresearch）arenotevencalledforthepurposeofmakingadecision.They'

reheldfor"

informationsharing,"

"

groupinput,"

or"

groupdiscussion."

Themeetingsthatdofocusonstrategyaremostcommonlyoff-sitebrainstormingsessions--typicallyamorphouseventsthatproducefewtangibleoutputs.Asaconsequence,veryfewexecutivessurveyed（only12%）believedthattheirtopmanagementmeetingsconsistentlyproduceddecisionsonimportantstrategicororganizationalissues.

Whenleadershipteammeetingsdoproducedecisions,manyorganizationshavedifficult