We’re all busy. Our personal lives are stuffed full of appointments. Our business lives have seemingly endless reports, deadlines, meetings and problems to solve. Time management has never been so important.
How often have you and your team spent hours of valuable time trying to solve an important problem only to end up back where you started? Not only is the initial problem not resolved, but you’ve spent hours not resolving it. It can be easy to think that you’re approaching the task in a logical fashion when in actuality, it’s organized chaos. Oftentimes, the root cause of this common difficulty is not fully understanding the parameters of the issue in the first place.
There are different ways to address a problem using a structured method, and you might find that one way works better for you. You could use a flow chart, a “Who? What? Where? When?” approach, or make a list with a statement of the problem you want to solve, followed by all the ways you think you could solve it. The important thing is to use a structure.
The goal is to attain clarity. Start at the top: What is the problem you’re trying to solve? It may help you to come at this from another angle: What are the problems you’re not trying to solve (at the moment)? Only work with one problem at a time, and use one diagram per problem.
Structured thinking is also helpful in business communications. You might be amazed by how much meeting time you can save if you stick to just one specific subject. Don’t allow anyone to stray off topic. Set a finite time for the meeting, and end when you have enough data and input to deal with the one problem.
Structured communication can be especially important when you’re interacting with upper management. Fight your instincts, and begin your interaction with the solution to the problem. Executives often want you to get to the point, and they often prefer to hear the answer first. Then, if necessary, you can provide your supporting research.
Carry this idea over into your business writing as well. Most people hate rambling emails. They’re inefficient, and after the first paragraph, most people have zoned out. The clearest sequence is always to give the summarizing idea before you give the individual ideas being summarized.
Structured thinking and structured communication may not come easily to you right out of the gate. These skills, like any others, may require some practice, but the more time you put into perfecting your use of them, the more time you’ll likely save each and every day.
This article has previously been featured on Forbes