5 Ways To Buy Time & Give Yourself An Advantage
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from my mentor and two-time boss Marijean Lauzier, is don’t feel compelled to respond or react immediately and “Buy yourself time” to give yourself an advantage.
And as the world speeds up around us, and Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook feeds blur with so many posts and stories and question, and email continues to pile up on top of Slack, IM, texting and other platforms, resisting the urge to jump right in is increasingly important so that we can 1) make a bigger impact with our communication and 2) give a thoughtful, thorough response.
In today’s world, people – clients, colleagues, partners, neighbors, teachers – expect us to have immediate answers on matters that actually require thought and perspective. And it’s seldom, unless you’re thoroughly prepared – meaning you’ve already taken the time to think lots of responses through – that we respond thoroughly on the spot to a complex question. This is why First Responders train and train and train – so that their muscle memory kicks in in an emergency and instinct takes over.
Response Time Expectations Sped Up
When we moved from letters to faxes in the 1980s there was a huge change in expectation for response rate, from days or weeks to 48 hours or less (and that’s being generous). Another of my important mentors who I miss daily, Chip Morse, an incredibly well-respected business lawyer in Boston in the 80s, 90s and 00s, used to yell at, and essentially hang up on, his clients who called right after a fax had been sent to ask for his response.
Push button phones became more popular than rotary dial phones in 1980. When we moved from rotary dial phones to push button phones and then speed dial numbers and now voice command, that evolution created another exponential speed up in response expectation.
When we moved from fax to email the response expectation moved from 48 hours to 2 hours; add chat and texting and the response expectation moves from hours to minutes and even seconds.
It’s crazy.
We need to think. We’re not built to respond to everything like Wonder Woman with her bracelets to deflect incoming questions and requests with bands of steel. We need to buy ourselves some time to provide an answer that doesn’t require additional work. Unless there’s blood, or could be blood – then we need to jump right in.
5 ways to buy yourself some time.
In person. Tilt your head a few degrees or take off/put on your glasses and say “tell me more.” Marijean perfected this. I’m convinced she actually wasn’t just listening; she was using the time to form her argument or opinion, while she made sure the other person actually had a well thought out issue or solution. She bought herself hours every week with that head tilt and when she did talk people were ready to listen and listen hard to hear.
In email. Respond to every email with “Hi, Joe. Letting you know that I received this and will get back to you within 48 hours. If you need an earlier answer let me know and I’ll see how I can move some things around.” Why respond at all when you don’t have an answer? So that the person sending (assuming it’s a client, colleague, partner, etc.) knows you’ve seen it. How many emails, texts or calls do you get a day that start with “did you get my email?” Do you need 48 hours? Maybe, maybe not. By setting a deadline for your response you are re-framing the expectation for the sender and allowing yourself flexibility in your schedule. By asking if the time works for the sender, you’re honoring their schedule too. 99% of the time, 48 hours is good. Just make sure you deliver within whatever time-frame you set.
In IM, Text or other immediate communication platform. Instead of responding right way with an answer that requires some thought, thought that takes time you don’t have right now.
Don’t do someone else’s work. Often people ask others for information that is not your responsibility or that you don’t have the full picture on. Don’t take on work to answer immediately if you don’t need to (see above comment on blood or could be blood). Add the person responsible or who’s part of the team to the communication with “Looping in Joe here who is carrying that ball. Let me know if I can help” Now you’ve been helpful without adding to your time.
Schedule yourself “answer time” every day. Reserve an hour on your calendar every day to work through the responses that you actually have to handle. Batch processing this task helps you create focus and efficiency.
Email is a great tool to make someone else’s priorities yours. Don’t fall into the trap of responding immediately with an opinion unless you actually have a fully formed one. These 5 tips will help you buy time throughout your day so that you can communicate, direct, answer, and delegate with authority and efficiency, which will give you one of the biggest advantages you can have in business.