Using Your Capacity Wisely

Unexpected twists and turns

In addition to purposely blocking out time for R-mode to discover insights, you should be thinking about your capacity more broadly. As you probably already know, being a manager can bring all sorts of unexpected twists and turns:

• Sometimes, the proverbial hits the fan, and you can get interrupted by the production system exploding and the fallout eating up the rest of your day.
• Perhaps, one of your team is having a hard time and needs to confide in you in private, despite the fact you’re in the middle of something important.
• Various points of the year trigger extra work, such as taking part in the budgeting process and preparing and doing performance reviews.

Flex for emergencies interruptions

You need to think about your work capacity and what you commit to. Ideally, you should be planning your week and your commitments so that you’re operating at a comfortable 85% capacity.

“But,” I hear you cry, “isn’t my own manager going to think I’m slacking off?” This is a good question. However, as the above list shows, there’s always going to be extra work. What it means is that you can take on that extra work willingly, diligently, and complete it to a high standard. If your team needs you, you’re available. If your own manager needs some help, you can offer some assistance. If one of your staff is getting stuck or is feeling unhappy, then you can easily flex into that spare capacity and be there.