Time management is becoming almost as big a part of my job as actually writing documentation and training. The biggest problem I'm finding is the lack of linear planning and prioritization.
It starts out looking great - Someone comes to me with a big, important project with plenty of time to complete it - let's say 2 weeks. I get started, and am happily working away. The next day, someone comes to me with a request for documentation that a customer needs "right now". Of course it's a fairly quick little thing, and won't take long, plus it is urgent, so it takes top priority.
The next day I get a medium sized project, maybe 4 days worth, that is also needed "Right Now", so that takes priority... Everyone can see where this is going. By the time the big important job is due, I've spent about a day on it because everything else gets prioritized first. And of course the first requester says "But I gave you plenty of time to do it".
The sad thing is that eventually people realize that stuff that needs to be done "Right now" gets worked on before things that are considered important, but have more flexibility in the delivery date, so requests start coming later and later in an effort to have them prioritized.
For a lot of people this isn't news, and doesn't seem like a big deal because they deal with it all day. For me, though, it's a pretty big change from my 12 years of doing either break/fix support, or planned linear roll-outs. I'm warming up to it, so I'm sure i'll find a comfortable middle ground shortly.
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1 comment:
Interesting to know.
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