It is always a challenging experience to step into a transaction at the last minute because you know little about the deal or the issues or personalities involved – I had to complete a major PFI deal once whilst a colleague went skiing - which meant for an extremely interesting week. They had to buy me a very expensive lunch!
A few years ago, I stepped in for a more junior colleague on a complex IT transaction whilst they were away on leave. I was concerned I would not help the IT contract negotiation because of my lack of familiarity. In fact, at the end of my two-week involvement I was thanked for my contribution and a commercial colleague said that what everybody (including the other side) really appreciated was that I didn’t rush and, by comparison to my colleague, explained complex issues more slowly and carefully.
This was not particularly conscious behaviour, but I have begun to realise more and more how important taking your time is and not hurrying. On a call about some critical matter with a very senior manager recently I recall being impressed by how they were very careful to make everybody slow down and get to the basics about all of the issues. They would have been the busiest and most responsible person on the call with limited time available, but they seemed able to forget about all other matters and just to concentrate on the problem at hand. There was no sense of being rushed, just to understand and draw the correct conclusions.
And the more pressing and difficult the problem is the more important this approach becomes. There are some excellent training videos featuring John Cleese including Meetings Bloody Meetings which focus on the importance of time management in this context. But I think it is more than being prepared and organised. It really is about taking the necessary time to make the correct decision.
And the reverse – always rushing has been described by some as “hurry sickness” defined as a "harrying sense of time urgency" – see this article – which is not good for business or for your health. Have a look at this material produced by London Business School where Professor Richard Jolly found that 95 per cent of the executives he has interviewed suffer from what he calls 'hurry sickness'.
So, when things do get rushed and stressed, it is a real skill to be able to recognise that is the very time when it is critical to slow down and get things right.
As Robert Louis Stevenson said He who sows hurry reaps indigestion.
A few years ago, I stepped in for a more junior colleague on a complex IT transaction whilst they were away on leave. I was concerned I would not help the IT contract negotiation because of my lack of familiarity. In fact, at the end of my two-week involvement I was thanked for my contribution and a commercial colleague said that what everybody (including the other side) really appreciated was that I didn’t rush and, by comparison to my colleague, explained complex issues more slowly and carefully.
This was not particularly conscious behaviour, but I have begun to realise more and more how important taking your time is and not hurrying. On a call about some critical matter with a very senior manager recently I recall being impressed by how they were very careful to make everybody slow down and get to the basics about all of the issues. They would have been the busiest and most responsible person on the call with limited time available, but they seemed able to forget about all other matters and just to concentrate on the problem at hand. There was no sense of being rushed, just to understand and draw the correct conclusions.
And the more pressing and difficult the problem is the more important this approach becomes. There are some excellent training videos featuring John Cleese including Meetings Bloody Meetings which focus on the importance of time management in this context. But I think it is more than being prepared and organised. It really is about taking the necessary time to make the correct decision.
And the reverse – always rushing has been described by some as “hurry sickness” defined as a "harrying sense of time urgency" – see this article – which is not good for business or for your health. Have a look at this material produced by London Business School where Professor Richard Jolly found that 95 per cent of the executives he has interviewed suffer from what he calls 'hurry sickness'.
So, when things do get rushed and stressed, it is a real skill to be able to recognise that is the very time when it is critical to slow down and get things right.
As Robert Louis Stevenson said He who sows hurry reaps indigestion.
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