time management and written communications

Speed Reading
Research has found that reading material slowly has no effect on comprehension - so speed up when reading written communications!. Reading material twice improves comprehension by between 5 and 10% but effectively halves your reading speed. When reading reports and articles read the introduction, then the summary and then the contents list. Decide on the relevance of the material. Do you need to understand it fully, or have you gained sufficient understanding from the introduction and summary? If you feel that you would benefit from being able to read faster then you may want to develop a speed reading technique. The idea behind speed-reading is straightforward, but the technique requires practice and needs to be developed over a period of a few weeks:

Take any written communications and draw two vertical lines, so that the page is divided into 3 equal parts. Start reading but don't look at the first word. Look at the group of words immediately to the left of the first line. Now move your eyes over so that you are looking at the group of words in the middle column, then at the group of words in the right hand column. In this way you read the line in three steps, by moving your eyes three times.

When this becomes easy, divide your page into two parts by putting one vertical line down the middle and read each line by moving your eyes only twice. When you have mastered this, focus only on the dividing line, and try to take in the whole line without moving your eyes. If you spend some time developing this technique, you should very quickly be able to double your reading speed - thereby dramatically increasing your speed of processing written communications.

Speeding-Up Written Communications
Writing a letter takes longer than using the phone, fax or email to communicate the same message. This is because a letter is seen as more formal and people tend to spend longer planning a letter. If you have problems getting started on a document, simply write down any thoughts you have, as getting your thoughts down quickly without thinking about them too much can help you avoid writers block. Tackling your writing in batches of similar types, for example, emails, letters and reports can save time as you will be in the right frame of mind for each. If writing is a large part of your work, learning to touch type or use voice recognition software may also save you time. Readers remember the first and last ideas in a document best. In the introduction outline the main points that you want your readers to take on board and reiterate these in the summary. This in keeping with the golden rule of any presentation - tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you've told them. It will minimize the amount of time you spend clarifying material to your colleagues, if you are clear and brief in your written communication.

Prepare an outline of the key points.
Structure the document to include introduction, main points and conclusion.
For reports consider producing a Management Summary on the first page.
Keep it as simple and short as possible.
Avoid over editing which is a great temptation when using a word processor.

Whether you are writing for directors, managers or people on the shop floor your writing style should sound as though you are talking directly to the reader. It is better to avoid using an impersonal and indirect style and to put across the relevant information as directly as possible. Finally, try to make sure that there is only one idea in each sentence, keep paragraphs to between 5 and 10 lines and use straightforward language to express what you want to say.

Hold Meetings Only When Necessary
Meetings are vital for both keeping people informed and making things happen. Unfortunately they can also be a top time waster. To make the most of meetings, first consider whether you need the meeting or whether the information could be exchanged more efficiently; by for example, using a memo, email, the telephone or by video conferencing. If you decide to hold a meeting, make sure that you clarify its purpose - for example, whether it is to discuss, decide or inform. This will help you focus on what you need to get out of the meeting. It should also establish who should attend and help you to plan what needs to be achieved.

As a general guideline, all meetings should:
Start and finish on time.
Have an agreed purpose and agenda.
Keep to the agenda.
Enable all participants to contribute.

Meetings should be planned and the agenda prepared in advance. This enables the agenda to be circulated to the participants, who will have time to prepare themselves by reading any relevant papers and collecting the information that they will need. The meeting should be planned to be as short as possible, as people find it increasingly difficult to concentrate in meetings that last more than a couple of hours. If you have to hold a long meeting then it is important to schedule frequent breaks. If the objective of the meeting has not been agreed beforehand, then it should be the first item on the agenda. The meeting should be chaired by someone who is both effective and neutral. This means keeping everyone on track, keeping repetition to a minimum and preventing any individual or group from dominating the proceedings. The chairperson should also ensure that discussions don't stray too far from the agreed objective.

Efficient Email
Email allows you to pass information to as many people as necessary in one 'send'. It is also useful as it prevents you from getting into long phone conversations when all you wanted to do was pass on a short item of information. Unfortunately, because emails are so easy to send, many people find themselves receiving dozens, sometimes hundreds of emails a day. Many of these are not relevant to them and a lot of time is wasted sifting through them trying to find the important ones. If you are receiving a lot of irrelevant emails, you should keep track of where they originate and ask to be removed from the senders email lists.

When sending email:

Use meaningful subject titles.
Summarize the purpose of the email in the first sentence
Be as brief as possible.
Think carefully about whom you are sending it to.
Avoid attachments if you can, they can take a long time to download, especially if the recipient is using a dial-up connection.

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