What Not to Assume About Time Management When Working with Others

What Not to Assume About Time When Working with Others

Are you looking to improve your time management skills when working with others?

Do you want practical tips you can follow to stay on top of your work?

No matter your job or profession, there’s a good chance you have to work with others on a regular basis.

Working together can be extremely productive.

And at other times, it can be anything but!

What’s the reason for this?

You may not realize it, but everyone has their own beliefs or assumptions about time.

Some people are adamant about certain aspects of time, while others are surprisingly indifferent, and vice versa.

In this post, you’ll find some assumptions about time you should avoid when working with others.

If you want to productively and peacefully work with others, it’s important to dispel common time assumptions from your mind.

Doing so will allow you to work in tandem with others, while showing the utmost respect.

Assumption #1. It’s okay to arrive late, fashionable, or otherwise. 

As the saying goes, time is money. Arriving late to an appointment disrupts everyone’s schedule. What’s more, arriving late is both rude and disrespectful.

Make a point to be punctual to your appointments and meetings. Everyone has arranged to have their schedules match up; the least you can do is arrive on time!

It’s best to err on the side of caution and arrive at least fifteen minutes in advance of your meeting.

Looking for some easy ways to arrive on time? You could get in your car fifteen minutes earlier than you normally would. You could take an earlier train to your appointment.

Or, you could log off your computer and walk down to the conference room several minutes in advance of your meeting.

Assumption #2. People can spare an extra five minutes.

Have you ever attended a meeting where the organizer asks participants if they’re okay with the meeting continuing for an extra five minutes? While some may view this as a thoughtful gesture, it’s highly inconsiderate.

Asking for additional time uncovers a huge red flag: the meeting organizer did a poor job of managing time during the meeting. Why should the meeting organizer’s mistake interrupt your schedule?

Never assume people have extra time to spare at a meeting, gathering, party, get together, or otherwise. Treat meetings and appointments at face value. This way, you won’t be caught in a difficult situation.

If you happen to be organizing a meeting, do your part and make sure the meeting starts and ends on time.

Yes, you may have to tighten up those presentation slides, nix non-essential materials, and rehearse your presentation countless times, but it will be worth it in the end.

Assumption #3. Everyone has an open-door policy.

You need your supervisor to review a document. You walk over to your supervisor’s office with the document in hand and ask them to review it.

A few weeks later, you’re assigned a new supervisor. You need your supervisor to review a report.

You walk over to their office only to find their door shut. On the door is a note that reads, “On deadline. Please check my online calendar and schedule a meeting with me tomorrow. Thanks.”

If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll note the assumption in the example above was that the new supervisor would have an open-door policy.

In a situation like this, the best course of action is to never guess how another person works.

The best thing you can do is to simply ask. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration if you take this piece of advice to heart.

Assumption #4. Time zones are irrelevant.

Working across time zones is a must in today’s global economy. That being said, it’s all too easy to assume everyone is working in the same time zone as yourself.

When scheduling meetings, specify at least one time zone reference so that everyone is on the same page. Even with today’s digital calendars and scheduling assistants, it’s worth keeping being cognizant of global time zones.

A quick time check can potentially save you from some major scheduling mishaps. Let’s say you want to hold a meeting with people located in San Francisco, California, United States of America, and Paris, France.

You could say the meeting is to be held at 8 A.M. Pacific Standard Time (San Francisco time)/5 P.M. Central Europe Time (Paris time). There’s no confusion as to when the meeting will start as you’ve clearly identified information for each time zone.

How about you? What assumptions about time do you make when you work with others? How are you looking to change your ways? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!

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About the Author

Rashelle

Rashelle Isip is a New York City-based productivity consultant who helps successful entrepreneurs and business owners manage their time and energy so they can reduce stress, work less, and make more money in their businesses. She has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, NBC News, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Atlantic. Get her free guide, 5 Unexpected Things You Need to Organize a Work Notebook, by clicking here.

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