According to former finance director of Sony UK Fraser Burrill, one of the most important ways for a director to manage their time is to develop an effective working relationship with their personal assistant. “In my case”, he says in reference to his time at Sony, “my P.A. knew me and how I liked to work, and she knew what was important.”
Once you’ve established trust and set expectations, things run much smoother. A good assistant can make a big difference, freeing you to work on strategic tasks. But there’s more to it than that.
Burrill says: “It’s really about getting organised in what it is you’re trying to do. The first thing I always tried to do in the morning was arrange any meetings I might have, because that way I was more likely to get peoples’ time later in the day. The second thing was to identify those activities which needed starting early and get them going right away instead of waiting until later on in the day.”
And Burrill recommends blocking off time to work alone. In a busy office, that’s sometimes hard to do. The former finance director for Sony UK says: “Any issues that required a bit of thought and time alone I tried to schedule for after 5:30 in the afternoon, or at home. Given the way our office worked, that was the best way to find quiet time. Otherwise you’ll have to constantly re-gather your thoughts after each interruption.”
The former FD says that technology tools are a good way to get organised. He specifically recommends using a calendar and reminder system, and he adds ‘don’t hesitate to revisit the task list and shuffle it around’ - even on a daily basis. After all, the list that looked sensible yesterday doesn’t necessarily look sensible today.
“I don’t try to keep my to-do list down to any particular number,” he says. “It can be from five to 30 items. But I sort the items into different categories. One group are those activities that require the involvement of somebody else. Another are the things that take time. And then there are those tasks which can be knocked off quickly. When you get that spare half hour, you can run through that last group. Psychologically, that’s a neat trick, because it gives you a sense of satisfaction of having finished several things very quickly.”
In the electronics business in Sony UK, Burrill had around £5 billion of turnover to look after. He also had responsibilities in other areas, including facilities, procurement, health and safety, environmental concerns, and governance. For all this he had around nine direct reports.
Mastering delegation
Of course your skills at managing people can make or break your organisation, so any discussion on productivity at the director level has to include something about delegation. Burrill says he tries to make sure the people on his team are on the same wavelength as him. You have to have built the trust so you can rely on what they’re telling you.
Login to post a comment.