The best way to get the most important tasks done within the shortest time is to have fixed deadlines, thus, framing our work within a time box.
In our daily lives, we experience fixed deadlines. Some examples are:
- Catching an airplane
- Celebrating a holiday (Christmas, birthday, etc)
- Participating in a wedding ceremony
- Completing weekend chores from our “to-do” list (weekend ends Sunday night)
- Winning a sports game against an opponent in the regulation time (game over when time clock reaches zero)
In all of these, we have to be ready within the appointed time. Otherwise, we suffer potential and costly consequences such as missing your plane, or even worse, your wedding!
Fix deadlines force us to be more efficient. Some reasons are:
We prioritize. We identify the tasks that must be done and work on the most important ones first.
We do less. We only have so much time, so we skip the things that are unimportant or not urgent that can be done at a later time.
We focus on getting things done. We limit distractions and interruptions. Success is not measured on how many things we are “doing”. It is how many things we complete (and complete well). What good is it to order a tuxedo for the wedding if it does not arrive in time? Or it is the wrong size?
We break up things into smaller tasks. Tasks must have a size that can be completed within the deadline set by the time box (otherwise by definition it will not get done).
We are open and honest in reporting status. We know everything will be known and visible when the deadline arrives.
We seek help and ask for it earlier.
We gain experience to measure how much we can accomplish in a set time. For instance, we learn how long it takes to get ready to go to airport. We become better at estimating. We figure out our “sustainable pace” for working.
We celebrate and reflect. We played the game and it is over. The wedding has happened. The chores are done. We get to reflect back on how we did. If things did not go as planned or work did not get completed, we think about what we might do differently next time.
In summary, fixed deadlines force use to work efficiently. For future work, we plan better because we understand the value is in the work which gets completed.
If interested in how this works in software development organizations, consider looking at the Scrum framework for more information on teams developing in small fixed increments. Visit www.agile2success.com to learn more about Scrum and other ways your teams can work better together.
