Tony Williamson

Dos't thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.

- Benjamin Franklin

Last week I made the point that the telephone had two sides to it. It saves time and it steals time. We are all aware of how it saves time, but few people realise how much it robs time. It is a classic time stealer.

There are, however, strategies to employ to tame this tiger these strategies are used by busy, successful executives, most of whom find the time to return your calls, the principle of managing the telephone extends to housewives as well. A housewife may not have someone else to answer the phone for her, but she does have voicemail at her disposal.

A very serious challenge to an executive's time is the incoming telephone call. If one does not have a strategy to manage it, one will rarely get much done in the average workday. These incoming calls do not really arrange themselves into priorities. Calls come in from anyone, from anywhere. If you are some kind of public figure, it's worse.

MANAGING INCOMING CALLS

One very successful way of preventing random telephone calls from distracting an executive, disturbing his or her concentration, is to have the skilled, professional intervention of a secretary or assistant.

A secretary's first concern when she takes a call on behalf of her boss is to determine the urgency of it. Secretaries and assistants will come to realise that a significant number of incoming calls directed to the boss or manager can, in fact, be directed to and handled by someone else in the organisation.

A secretary or assistant might have a greater challenge if the caller wants information on a subject that is the manager's area of responsibility. A secretary can politely and diplomatically discover the purpose of the call and ask whether she may provide that information since she is privy to it. This, of course, presupposes that the secretary has been empowered by her boss and given the liberty to use her brain and the authority to act. So many managers hold on to information as if they were the sole repository of all facts in the organisation, and must personally deal with all matters. This is not good management.

If the caller requires information that only that particular executive can handle, the assistant must determine whether it is of sufficient urgency to warrant interrupting her boss. She may well say, "May he call you back when he is free?" If the truth be told, it is not a bad idea to have automatic callback responses to everything but emergencies. This allows an executive the power of control, the ability to work uninterrupted until he or she has a convenient time to speak on the telephone.

A thinking secretary can develop the skill of being helpful to both executive and caller. She can put the caller on hold and say simply, "Let me see if I can interrupt her." She then asks the executive for a quick answer that will suffice the caller. This type of interruption can be so rapid that it is not a serious distraction to the executive, who immediately resumes her work while her assistant provides the required information to the caller. This type of collaboration between the executive and her secretary comes with practice and an understanding between them.

There are tremendous advantages of managing the telephone by a callback system. It allows the executive the time he or she needs to work without interruption, and gives the executive the option to decide which calls he or she wishes to return personally. Many busy executives schedule a set time of the day to return calls. Some do so first thing in the morning, others last thing in the afternoon.

Reduces interruptions

The grouping of calls in this manner dramatically reduces the number of interruptions. What is more, it places the executive in control of the telephone instead of the telephone controlling him. The callback system also allows the secretary to provide the executive with the information he needs when he returns the call.

Clients will often call my office and say, "What is the cash value of my policy? Can I get a loan on it?" My secretary takes this information, researches the query and provides the answer. When I return the call, I can be specific. Often, however, she will return the call, providing the information, leaving me to continue my work at hand.

Also, many people don't dial their own calls. A secretary or assistant will do that for them and connect the call. This saves time for the executive.