Life in a social unit like a bank is timed by the ins and outs of employees, internal mobility and promotion linked to career management, and also to a dialogue with social representatives.

The second mission is to motivate the body of employees and executives to achieve the objectives set by General Management. To do so, this department must use functional and geographical mobility, usually accompanied by promotion, but this is more and more difficult for some professions have become too technical.

The third mission consists in managing the administration of the body of employees (salaries, social payments). This has to be done under the national regulations applicable to any firm, and under a collective agreement.

Professional training

Much importance is given to professional training in banks because changes in the environment give birth to new professions and deeply modify the existing ones.

Training has a major role to play:

General training to prepare a professional diploma.

Technical training in a special field to improve the expertise of employees.

Training to improve personal, negotiation and time-management skills

Training to retrain employees whose profession is disappearing.

The trainers can be either people within the bank, or employees of Bank Training centres or people from training organisations.

H.R.M. practices facilitate or hinder changes. For instance, when their pay levels are function of the seniority, employees are driven to stay in place and say nothing that could cause reactions, expecting that everything will always remain the same On the opposite, recruitment of young staff, individual promotion depending on high performance and innovative behaviour and investments in training are usually favorable to change.

In fact, the need for effective H.R.M. is obvious: in the C.I.S. there often is a shortage of suitably qualified people, with banking experience. Thus getting them can be difficult for a local bank. C.I.S. have not only to acquire a qualified manpower, but also to develop (educate and train), to motivate (have them completly involved in their jobs!) and to retain good, well trained staff. It is partly a matter of image of the profession

Ebtra’s Management Of Change module called « Change management methodologies » notes that « whilst the participation of all staff is essential to facilitate change, the Human Resources Management is becoming essential in guiding the company through times of crisis and change. In fact, the H.R.M. must assume many roles, such as establishing:

The employment policy:

- Definition of the functions and job profiles.

- Recruitment.

- Geographic and occupational mobility.

- Managing career paths (professional promotion).

- Evaluating (appraising) performance.

The pay structure:

- Analysis and evaluation of jobs.

- Defining the salary progression.

- Paying salaries.

- Implementing performance related remuneration.

The security and improved working conditions policy:

- Employment security.

- Improvement in working conditions.

- Health and safety.

The communication and information systems and policy:

- Interviews.

- Meetings.

- Work groups.

- Internal magazine.

- Staff circulars.

The training programmes:

- Analysing needs.

- Preparing training plans.

- Conducting and evaluating training.

We shall let the lecturers make up their minds concerning which, among these functions, are well assumed and raise up dynamism and the weaknesses of C.I.S. banks Human Resources Management.

We suggest only that, after this description, one refers to the board proposed earlier (named « Cultures and organisations that facilitate or obstructs changes »). It will allow some suggestive comparisons and help identify the major hindrances induced by the actual present lacks, and, thus, the points that should be improved in priority.

Fortunately, it appears, more and more often, that C.I.S. banks discover their needs to involve in improving their human resources policies and practices.

There is a need to put in place a new type of management which takes into account the new aspirations of the staff and the increased demands for improved economic performance in banks. Improvements are mainly necessary concerning:

- motivation of staff,

- (convincing) internal communications,

- leadership (that does not mean demonstrating power),

- delegation of responsibilities,

This is confirmed by « our experiences in training hundreds of banks managers in the previously communist countries of central and eastern Europe, (that) told us that in these countries, the need for a better management is obvious and necessary.

Even if the western “market economy” language (i.e. profit, free prices, competition, etc.) has been adopted, there is still a huge amount of managerial challenges to meet. An inventory of what we have had to face, shows that very well. We had, quite often, to cope with:

little understanding of international operations, laws of western countries and of contract arbitration and court proceedings,

low quality of products (based on a “blase attitude” to errors),

supply uncertainty,

outdated technologies,

traditional organisational forms,

That does not mean that there is nothing good in the eastern European companies! We often found high technical expertise, a huge amount of good will, and, at least, some very interesting and useful planning practices.»

C.I.S. banks become also aware of the necessity to improve their management of change processes. For instance, « every twinning project should incorporate training and methodology for the management of change, within the recipient bank ». Management methods and techniques, but also « right attitudes and style », are often ignored. Their improvement has to be done on several levels

This topic is developed in the Ebtra’s Management Of Change module named « How to develop managerial skills and best organisation practices » and will be developed at the end of this handbook

The economic, technological and methodological changes of C.I.S. banks necessitate a human resources change in the behaviours, but also in knowledge’s, skills, competences and qualifications of employees.

Simultaneously, the induced change of attitudes (need for development, autonomy, power and responsibility) affects the value system in the workplace and requires risk taking by motivated employees.

But what are the strengths and weaknesses of C.I.S.’ banks staff considering adaptation to these changes?

We often found that they had in majority the characteristics that are summarized in the following table. But some aspects require some explanations.

General education is usually high in the C.I.S. countries and provides a good background for banking business’ competencies (even if there is, here and there, a shortage of economics-based education in the universities). Training in banking techniques (even for young people) is still a great need (see further).

Due to the systems in which most people were raised, old beliefs remain very strong. Thus, attitudes and psychological aspects are of a major importance to achieve the required changes in the C.I.S. economy and banking. It has been noticed that, in some countries, most of the Soviet-era bureaucracy remains untouched. Il is then vital that local banks learn how to change their cultural backgrounds to adopt the (often unconscious) behaviours and values inherent in banking in the West. For instance, the neglect of the concept of client and of the importance of the customers’ demands has also to be overcome.

So, westerners and easterners, not only speak different languages, but also have different historical backgrounds and references and thus, different mentalities and interculturally diverging behavioural patterns.

Fot instance, the relations with managers in use in the C.I.S. banks have obviously to change. In fact some traditional cultural weaknesses have to be overcome:

In working groups or meetings, it appears that the participants feel it impossible to express opinions that differ from what older or senior participants say.

THE MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF MOST C.I.S. BANKS STAFF

Banks have often to face the devaluation of the individual contributions to the performances of the organisations: for instance, the participants in the training courses have difficulties in talking about themselves and even in expressing personal views, ideas or feelings.

It is also often obvious that team spirit is non-existent, due to insufficient communication skills.

Banks’ employees are used to lack of trust and punishment of initiative in the old society. So, it is difficult for them to « make decisions, not just carry out orders ».

Thus, the absence of a decision-making culture, within the middle management of the banks (mainly those who are issued from previous state structures within National Banks) was mentioned several times as being the major factor explaining the difficulties to change.

We have analysed these tendencies more precisely among managers from East Europe and C.I.S.

That does not mean that there is when we tried to explain such behaviours, « we have seen four characteristics of eastern European managers:

1- Attitudes linked to the historical slavistic culture:

An assumption that their situation is unique and a strong perception of the special nature of their problems. Russians, for instance, feel that their country is a very special one, quite unlike any other country, as a result of a combination of:

Russia’s ancestral suspicion of the West,

what Dyker (1992) calls “Xenophobic populism”.

We found several proofs of this wariness of accepting foreign solutions to Russian problems. Some eastern managers don’t even feel that they have anything really valuable to learn from western management experience.

This is also linked to a high self esteem and belief in themselves, etc. which is at a terrific degree in some eastern countries which have, in fact, a prestigious past. Sometimes, the local managers seem to behave as if they had nothing to learn from anybody (particularly westerners) – as if they were wanting to protect their self-esteem, somehow destroyed by their history during the twenties century. The consequences are that:

they are not yet convinced of the value of what they are taught,

for them, the west is seen first of all as a source of techniques, not of ideas!

Indeed, the eastern countries have a history which didn’t lead them to be commercially minded. For example, from the middle ages, the countries of eastern Europe, which had to face frequent invasions coming from the east, were societies with a high proportion of warriors and lords, and a very small part of the population dealing with trade. Thus, the population has occupations, and were undertaken by the Jewish population.

We could add that slavistic interpersonal relationships are also unique, as the Russian theatre and literature have illustrated. No doubt there is some reflection of this today in the persistent disagreements among individuals such as politicians and frequent conflicts between factions (pressure groups, etc.).

2- Misunderstanding induced by concept previously learnt during the Soviet era.

As most Russian managers were Party men, and have experienced a minimum of ten years under the central planning system, old practices inevitably persist. It is, therefore, understandable that most of C.I.S.’ managers reject advice which conflicts with their own managerial experiences. It is essential that courses deal with the following issues:

The treatment of individuals is ideologically inspired, and devaluates the importance of the individual, because of the primacy of the communal spirit. This is probably the reason why they avoid referring to themselves in the first person, as we have observed.

Many of the eastern managers have been trained to consider as normal the “old hierarchical and gerontological system” (Aslund and Layard, 1993), mainly administrative and associated with the heavy political and economic machinery of the central planning system. They, thus, perceive themselves as “bosses” (i.e. authoritarian leaders) wondering only at what is thought in the upper level of the structure, and not interested at all, about what their staff’s feelings are.

They are also used to living in a system in which one had to wait for all instructions from the top, and to strive for the fulfilment of “plans”, and in which personal initiatives could be punishable offences. This encourages self-effacement, and lack of initiative. It is, thus, normal that the eastern managers have some aversion, or, at least, are ill-equipped, to take personal creative initiatives. It is a direct consequence of this fact that the whole system, where no-one taught the managers to think, failed to encourage innovative and dynamic managers. It is what some authors describe as the “helpless syndrome”, resulting from constantly operating within the barriers of the old socioeconomic system which hindered initiative, independence and entrepreneurship (Hanin, 1991).

This is also consistent with the fact that we found it hard to convince eastern managers of the significance of the strategic and tactical dimensions of management activity, and of the fact that information is regarded as a key management tool in the west. Self-direction seems to be a problem for Russian managers.

We also found that many eastern managers have very little appreciation of, or even, no consideration at all for the human aspects of management: human resources management, industrial relations, communication, motivation, leadership styles, etc. They have no idea that, management being “the art of getting things done through people”, leadership and motivation are a crucial part of modern thinking on management. We can thus understand why we often had to face:

poor interpersonal skills,

lack of motivation,

total ignorance of what Organisational Development can produce.

Some eastern managers are perpetuate a deep-rooted practice that deceiving higher authorities is part of their work, and have tendencies to colour the truth, and try to demonstrate apparent short-term output maximisation, with output-oriented success indicators.

3- Effects of the dominant initial trainings

Many eastern managers are qualified as engineers, and have, therefore, some tendency to be solely technical and production-oriented, that is mainly concerned with -or even dominated by- the needs of production, and not considering the requirements of the clients, or financial matters. Additionally, for 75 years the rule book always prevailed. It is thus normal that most eastern managers have no commercial awareness and ignore what true marketing is: one could say that, for some Russian managers “customer orientation is notionally and operationally meaningless” (Mejevitch, 1993). We had an example of that when we saw, in Warsaw, in 1989, a lot of people waiting in a queue, because there was only one cashier working. It was not planned that the other cashiers, who were there, should open their desks at that time! There is still a huge amount of training to do to transfer the necessary knowledge of the fundamentals and practice of marketing and advertising, the understanding of the customers’ requirements, the search for clients, the presentation of companies and corporate image, customer relations or commercial relationships with banks, etc.

The inflexibility of this way of thinking, has appeared strongly as the current business situation in Russia became worst, until the present crisis, with eastern Europe becoming now non-planned and non-market economy, with an emerging recession which dismantled the social system and disillusioned the population.

To adapt their thinking and behaviour, the most important aim of the eastern managers’ development is to change their attitudes. Eastern managers are in need of new business practices, new ways of thinking and doing things, they require a radical change of attitudes towards the world of work and professional activities, and new forms of interpersonal relationships.

But eastern managers are still wondering about what they should do. They are still working under uncertainty, without a clear and complete perception of the “rules of the game”. The future role of management largely remains undefined: eastern managers have no concept of what their actual status is, and of what their own personal future development (their career) could be. »

Do you agree with this description concerning your bank? Of course, you should think that some points are accurate and some are not. Wouldn’t it be useful, now, to take into consideration the points you agree with and to refer to the models previously presented? Use them as check lists to assess whether your bank should be highly flexible or not and to identify the major hindrances you should encounter.

Let us start by some universal observations, showing, first, a conceptual frame that is currently used in western enterprises to deal with the difficulties of change.

Then we shall present our perception of the characteristics of the C.I.S. banks that can facilitate or hinder the needed changes.

Quick and sudden breaks run into the nature of civilisations which, being built on continuity of values and tradition (concerning education, authority, family, social life, etc.), are usually conservative. Thus, major changes are always difficult to endure and require personalities that will remain positive in front of the frustration that result unavoidably of changes (”to change is to give up”).

General models can help understanding in advance what could be the main difficulties to overcome.

For instance, at an individual level, three « spontaneous » behaviours can be found when looking at the way people react to something (in this case a change) that is disturbing what they are used to do (and which is, therefore, percieved by them as an agression):

Many other reactions can be observed. But these are the most often found. They are not very positive. The question is how to develop more constructive approaches.

Other models describe what is happening when one faces a need to change. Reactions often follow the same spontaneous process:

These two descriptions are very much alike. They can be used to illustrate the changes processes and their difficulties.

They could also help identifying how to accelerate the change processes

We can say, thus, that two main factors are to be taken into consideration:

- the characteristics of the people involved in the changes,

- their culture, as influenced by the society in which they have been raised and the organisation in which they work.

So, let us try now to identify how the characteristics of individuals and of organisations make change easy or difficult.

We will then describe how these characteristics apply to C.I.S. banks:

the behaviours that can be expected from their staff, when facing changes,

the behaviour of the managers which, in turn, will influence the behaviours of the staff,

the way the staff is treated, due to the Human Resources Management that is in use.

Individual characteristics of Human Resources that facitate or limit the ability to change easily:

* increase of work load, changing working time to hours that are not so easy for one’s private life, loosing part of one’s salary or some employment security, etc.

Any individual that has characteristics registered in the left column and who does not correspond with the criteria listed in the right column has chances to be able to support changes successfully. And the opposite is usually true also.

Characteristics of cultures and organisations that facilitate or obstruct changes:

Exercise:

Look at the major characteristics of your organisation (or your project’s conditions) and give one point to each of the cases of this board where is written a sentence with which you would globally agree. Then summarize the total of your answers per column. You should then have a clear picture of what facilitates and what could slow down the changes in such a context. You will just have to complete this in trying to identify solutions to the main negative factors that you will have identified along this project.

Let us, now, try to imagine how things are presently going on in the C.I.S. banks and how it could influence or make difficuult the implementation of the required changes.

We would like, now, to describe the perception that western consultants often have of the C.I.S. banks’ present situation, their abilities and weaknesses that will oppose to the necessary changes or make them easier. This should be considered as, somehow, a suggested synthetic description of the characteristics of C.I.S. banks’ staff, to show their limits and dangers in dealing with changes.

We shall analyse these in the three parts concerning the characteristics of people, of managers and of Human Resources Management.

If on-the-job training is to be efficient, it must be organised and carried out on the basis outlined below:

- Obtain information from the training office regarding practical steps and available tools; on-the-job training is an area that has been studied and refined for many decades, now. Find out what training Within Industry (T.W.I.) has to offer, investigate courses currently on offer, examine the available documentation and support, etc.

- Carefully define the desired learning objectives; failure to do so will make it virtually impossible either to select appropriate subject matter and teaching methods, or to avoid “drowning” trainees in an over-abundant display of knowledge.

- Above all, seek to motivate staff to want to be trained and, if possible, to train themselves:

- Help them set aside time for study and refection.

- Carefully analyse their expectations.

- Look for any and all opportunities to stimulate their curiosity.

- Show them how interesting, useful and important it is to learn (give the subject depth and breadth).

- Start off with concrete situations and real problems that they can relate to from experience (i. e., try to get trainees to experience the training actively and meaningfully, while bringing them round to your own approach, through quizzing, illustrative anecdotes, etc.).

- Provide them with the means of identifying their own shortcomings or successes, measuring their own progress, etc.

- Make sure that trainees are quickly and regularly provided with feedback that deals with specifics. Teaching adults, and motivating them to learn, necessarily involves putting them to the test: not overlooking their failures and shortcomings, but (more importantly) always encouraging them to succeed and praising each success.

- In everyday supervisory relations with staff, adopt a management style that is positive, constructive, “educational” rather than punitive.

- Organise training methodically:

- Design courses and curricula.

- Draw up a structured timetable that takes account of the trainees’ time and yours.

- Instruct trainees yourself, or assign this to others.

- Follow-up on learning progress.

- Present items to be learnt in a lively way:

- A diagram is worth more than a long lecture. Always have a flip chart and markers handy. Try to develop your own ability to illustrate (or comment) graphically, visually…

- Encourage trainees to develop their reasoning and critical faculties by giving logical structure to your own explanations and remarks.

The progress of each member of the staff should be monitored on a continuing basis (individual training plan, meeting employees individually, etc.)

- the acquisition of facts and data (knowledge)

- the ability to perform certain acts (know-how)

-the capacity for attitudinal and behaviour change (outlook)

Examples:

- Knowledge: On completion of the training session, participants can articulate the difference between knowledge, know-how and outlook.

- Know-how:

- On completion of the training exercise, participants are able to outline a written report on an economic or monetary topic.

- On completion of the seminar, participants are able to use specific teaching methods and techniques.

- Outlook:

- On completion of three days’ training, participants know how to conduct a training session.

- On completion if the course, participants can make changes in their management style as required by the situational or transactional context.

Obviously, the proportion of each type of “learning” will vary from one training situation to another. It is important not to overemphasise the “knowledge” component when training adults, because:

- further training should be clearly distinguished from academic, school-based learning (its goals are different),

- the amount of time available is limited,

- knowledge divorced from know-how is quickly lost, etc.

The refinement of learning objectives in terms of knowledge, know-how and outlook is essential and should greatly facilitate the planning of courses and the choice of instructional methods and techniques.

How to detect the training needs and determine training objectives?

Identifying training objectives

In drawing up an analysis of job specifications, past performance, critical success factors, current or foreseeable changes, etc., it may be desirable to use the following techniques:

- discussions at relevant management level (i. e., those in charge “ordering” training),

- discussions with trainees… and examiners… regarding successes and/or failures,

- analysis of tests and reports,

- surveys (via questionnaire),

- brainstorming sessions (among trainers).

How to formulate training objectives?

Formulating training objectives

Training objectives ought to be defined as precisely as possible. The first step is to draw up a list of outcomes that the training should ideally produce. These goals are then classified (ranked) in a coherent, logical and structured order.

Training objectives are well formulated when:

- they have been defined in terms of expected on-the-job professional performance, once the training is completed,

- required performance levels are based on observable data,

- The learning attitudes and know-how that are being targeted are, in fact, crucial to the exercise of the profession in question, such that if acquired through training, work performance is guaranteed,

- the training “sponsor” (funding body) has been consulted on, and has agreed to the choice of the objectives.

Training should always meet a need. Otherwise it is not efficient. The need arises from a problem situation involving skills, which may be defined as a “skills gap” (the gap between actual and desirable skills).

Any training needs analysis should cover the following factors:

- Actual change (in products, markets, technology, careers, etc.).

- Operational objectives: strategic planning, development plans, projects, and action plans.

- Human resources management: qualifications, mobility, career changes, promotions, competence, etc.

- Job definition and characteristics (roles, responsibilities, activities, etc.).

- Outcomes and results to be achieved: productivity, quality, etc.

- Situational analysis: unsatisfactory situations, dysfunctions, problems to be solved, etc.

- Individual or group claims, aspirations, interests, expectations, advancement, etc.

- Once identified, needs must be ranked.

The outcome of this stage is: “Needs analysis summary”

What is a training objective?

According to R. F. Mager (1972), a training objective is “an aim stated in writing which describes a change that is desired in the trainee. This statement specifies how the trainee will have been altered or modified after having successfully completed a given course of instruction; it states which behaviours it is hoped the trainee will be able to demonstrate.”

As can be seen from this, objectives flow logically from the study of the needs: they indicate who is to be trained to reach which outcome when.

Defining training objectives

It is essential to set training goals, to define the scope and understand the overall significance of the training.

Why should training objectives be defined?

There are, at least, five reasons:

- The design of appropriate training programmes that…

- meet the real needs and performance levels expected of trainees on completion of the programme, which assume that the course aims have been clarified beforehand. Objectives are set in order that trainees can actually reach them!

- allow the company or the establishment to achieve its own objectives, i. e., having skilled employees who are ready to meet the challenges of their present and future work,

- indicate clearly “where we wish to end up”, and, thus, provide a reliable guide (for trainer, trainees and institution alike) to “where we are headed” at any given moment in time,

- facilitate communication between the various participants: every communication situation benefits from all actors knowing what the “rules of the game” are, before “play” begins.

- Trainee motivation (insofar as they know what they will be doing, why it is to be done and how).

- At the implementation stage, objectives are the pivotal reference-point which allows appropriate methods to be selected; the more specific and well-focussed the objectives are, the easier it is to choose the right training methods. This also ensures that trainees will, in fact, be able to perform pre-defined tasks. For instance, even the most brilliant lecture by an expert in the field is not sufficient, if the desired result was to train participants to repair a microcomputer.

- To make adjustments, whenever necessary, to the training programme, as it progresses: in other words, to correct or re-position the aim as required (to make it more relevant to long-term goals, for example, or to bring it more in line with trainees’ expectations and needs, etc.).

- To monitor and confirm attainment levels (i. e. that targets are being reached):

- verifying, at each stage of the training process, that both trainer an trainees are achieving what they had hoped or expected,

- assessing results once training has been completed: the final impact of the training. How else can efficiency is determined, except through defining what the training was ultimately to be used for?

The different levels of training objectives

Training objectives can thus be situated on different levels:

- Firstly, they say what is to be learnt: the behaviour which, at the end of the training, the trainee has acquired (“what we want the participants to be able to do once they have finished the course”).

- Beyond this, they also describe hoped-for outcomes: what trainees are supposed to be able to achieve when they return to their jobs, the changes that will be observed, the expected improvements, the progress to be made, the criteria for evaluating the consequent outcomes.

It is especially important to distinguish between:

- operational objectives: business targets to which training can contribute,

- the tasks inventory, which defines general aims and related training areas,

- performance objectives: how training will affect the performance of trainees in their day-to-day work,

- training objectives: actions which trainees will be able to perform, in a work situation, on completion of training,

- instructional objectives (also called learning objectives), which specify attainments to be achieved at the end of a training session and are thus necessary for shaping the course structure itself (e. g. course content, relevant learning activities, sequencing of course modules, etc.).

Delegate whenever possible – downwards, upwards and sideways.

Delegate tasks but do not abdicate them. If it is your task, you still have the final responsibility

Agree the reviews, which are part of the delegation process.

Do not keep interfering with your subordinates’ work.

Always make the instructions for the tasks you delegate complete a clear and ensure that they have been understood.

Always give or agree on a final completion date.

Concentrate personally on those tasks the success of which depends on you.

Find new tasks and new ways to delegate. This saves time and develops your staff.

Arrange for decisions to be made at the lowest realistic level.

Discipline

Time Management is 99% self-discipline.

Recall your Mission, Aims and Objectives. Do you really want to achieve them?

Do the unpleasant task first, or as early as possible.

Stop being the “nice guy” all the time. Learn to say “no”.

Make sure you do the job right the first time. Every time you have to re-try, you are wasting time.

How open is your “open door” policy?

Avoid procrastination. Get on with the job.

Avoid all those time wasters.

Set yourself personal deadlines for most tasks and stick to them.

Do one thing at a time.

Always have something to do, even if it is constructive relaxation.

Always be on time yourself.

Meetings

Conduct effective meetings.

Allocate both starting times and finishing times wherever possible.

Always ask yourself – “is the meeting necessary?” “is this the most effective way?”.

Make your meeting agenda mean something. Do not just have a “shopping list” which does not tell the members whether they are to discuss, to decide, to recommend, etc.

Stick to the meeting agenda as far as possible.

Are the right people attending the meeting?

Have you got everything ready for the meeting and have all the relevant papers been sent out beforehand.

Define and state clearly your objectives for the meeting and stick to them.

If you are attending and speaking at another person’s meeting, try to obtain a definite entry time.

Planning

Plan your time. Do not let time control you.

Leave time for the unexpected.

Have the things you need constantly, together in one place, close to hand.

Assess your work (Projects, Tasks, Post, Etc.) and allocate priorities.

Arrange and allocate your jobs into categories “A”, “B”, “C”.

Do the “A” jobs yourself and try and delegate the “Bs” and the “Cs”.

Stick to your daily work plan.

Select your “PERSONAL” and “BEST” times at work to get he jobs done. Plan to do your most important jobs in these time periods.

Chop a big task down into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Estimate the end time for a task, not just the starting time.

Always ask the questions: – “what”, “who”, “why”, where”, “when”, “how”.

Reading

Read only what you must.

Increase your reading speed/comprehension rates.

Learn how to scan important items.

Telephone Control

Master your telephone techniques.

Plan your telephone calls by grouping your calls instead of making individual ones.

If possible arrange a specific “call back” time. do not just say “i will ring you later” or even worse “please ring me later”.

Cross-index your telephone directory as follows: – Name as one Entry.

- Organisation as the other entry.

When speaking on the telephone to the other person get straight to the purpose of the call. It is pleasant to socialise but it wastes a lot of time.

If there are a number of telephones in the office ensure that the phone system will permit you to answer any incoming calls from any telephone point.

Travelling

Do not leave it to the last minute before you set off on your journey.

Plan your visits to obtain the maximum benefits.

Use travel time as “thinking” time.

Use train time to: – Read

- Write

- Discuss

- Brainstorm ideas with yourself

Consider having a car phone.